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Eco-Friendly Family
JFH2010
member
Ok, what do I REALLY need?
JFH2010
member
Confession: I don't know much about babies. I'm excited to start a family, but the baby phase is a little intimidating. Yesterday I was trying to make a list of the things I need to buy, and the internal conversation was something like this: "it will poop, so I need diapers...it will want to eat, so I need bottles...I'll drive a car home from the hospital, so I need a carseat..." i just feel clueless! Add to that the fact that our culture sends the message that you must buy a million things for your nb or everything will go wrong.
So...what is the bare-bones list of stuff that I really and truly need to buy before this baby comes home? And what are the things that are not vital, but you really would not want to do without (eg because they're so convenient, make certain tasks much easier, etc). Thanks so much in advance!
So...what is the bare-bones list of stuff that I really and truly need to buy before this baby comes home? And what are the things that are not vital, but you really would not want to do without (eg because they're so convenient, make certain tasks much easier, etc). Thanks so much in advance!
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Re: Ok, what do I REALLY need?
food (breastmilk)
diapers
car seat
clothes
The rest is just... mostly unnecessary. We did like our Miracle Blanket swaddling blanket though.
Food - either formula or breastfeeding accessories (pump if you plan on going back to work, nursing bras or tanks, My Breast Friend pillow - it's about a zillion times better than a boppy)
Somewhere to sleep unless you plan to co-sleep
Clothing (I'd get a minimal amount until you figure out what you like)
Car seat
Some baby transporting device (baby carrier, stroller, etc)
Somewhere to bathe baby (a sink with a towel in it works fine or a baby tub or something)
Diapers and wipes
Baby medicines (tylenol and gripe water and/or gas drops)
Spit up rags or something like them (I like prefold cloth diapers)
Water proof mattress liner. Yes, seriously. For your bed. It will be a lifesaver even if you don't co-sleep
That's really all I can think of. They're pretty stationary and don't need much at first.
Ergo
ring sling or hot sling type
car seat
crib
a chair of some sort (for the baby)
NO CLOTHES, everyone buys you these
11 months
So true. We do not have any of the "extras" (we were gifted a hand-me-down Pack and Play with the bassinet insert) and we have been doing just fine. I am so glad that we do not have a lot of stuff just sitting around that we are not using.
Besides the items listed above, LOs favorite things are his blankets for swaddling and his Moby wrap. He will sleep for hours in that thing and I can get laundry and other work done while still staying connected to him.
Our neccessities:
Diapers (plus extra cloth for burp rags, spit up, etc)
Breast milk.
Boppy (was helpful for me since LO was so tiny)
crib/basket/pack n play/something PLUS spare sheets
Thermometer.
Bare minimum clothes (My kid wore the three shirts from the hospital over and over until newborn clothes fit, then we were drowning in cutesy outfits people had given.)
Waterproof mattress pad for your bed.
Baby carrier or some sort (sling, Ergo, what have you)
A friend calls it the "Sacagawea Principle", that Sacagawea had her son Jean Baptiste Charbanneau , in the middle of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, with NO BABY STUFF. She had a sling and her breasts. If you have milk and a way to carry the kid, everything else is extras
You're going to do great, and don't buy into the "you need everything" crap!
I would've died w/o my carriers at first and this time around I know I'll need them move w/ a 2 y/o to chase.... I HIGHLY recommend a wrap or sling or Ergo or SOMETHING!
Other than that, ditto pp's. You need boobs and/or formula (whichever you choose) and somewhere for baby to sleep mostly. Even for us, the baby didn't sleep anywhere but mostly ON me till almost 4 months. I could occassionally slide her off and onto the boppy pillow during the day to get some food or pee alone but that's about it.
We had one of those upright chair type things that had a little toy bar and would play music and vibrate and that was great to put her in to sleep or play so I could get my showers in. A bouncer type seat things works great too.
Bare minimum for me:
car seat
diapers
side snap shirts
swaddling blankets
place to sleep - bassinet or crib
bouncer seat - place to put baby while showering, etc
woven wrap
car seat
food
diapers
baby wash
a place for the baby to sleep
a way to carry the baby (stroller or sling)
blankets
DD#1 is 3! And LO#2 is on his/her way! Due Feb 26th, 2014.
BFP#1: EDD 5/7/2010 born on 5/20/2010. A little girl named Emily.
BFP#2: m/c 10/29/2012 EDD was 6/21/2012 Baby Hope was 6 weeks 3 days.
BFP#3: Twin B stopped growing at 8 weeks and 5 days. Found on 8/10/2014. EDD was 2/26/2014. Twin A is still doing great and due date is 2/26/14.
Need:
Boobs or bottles/formula.
Breast pump, storage bags and bottles if you are going back to work (or formula/bottles if you're not nursing).
Car seat.
Diapers and wipes.
Crib (IKEA has inexpensive ones that are fabulous).
Place to set baby down - Fisher Price rock and play, swing, bouncy chair, whatever.
Burp clothes - also great for putting on the changing pad for easy mess clean up (just toss in laundry basket and lay out a new one).
Onesies with pants and sleepers. (Don't buy too many in newborn - maybe one or two outfits, just in case your baby is bigger. 0-3 is better.) This is only if you don't receive 8239891 from family and friends, which we did.
Not vital, but loved:
Boppy nursing pillow.
Ergo carrier.
Stroller (we had a Kolcraft Contours three wheel and loved it, and we still use our Chariot Cougar and Quinny Zapp).
Pacifiers (the only one my DD would take is the Gerber NaturalFlex)
Camera and handheld video camera (we love our Flip!). I wish we had had our video camera at the very beginning - I regret not taking more video of her when she was tiny.
White noise machine (only way our DD started sleeping well - too bad we figured that out six months in!).
Swaddling blankets.
I second some type of wrap/sling/whatever and some sort of place to 'put' baby safely so you can pee/shower/cook when you need to and still have baby safe, entertained and out of your hands/not underfoot. We had both a bouncer (which for us got used more often) and a swing. Some babies take to one over the other, so if you can borrow and see what your baby prefers before you buy (or just borrow), thumbs up!
And yeah - the diapers/sleeping arrangement/carseat/whatever that other posters mentioned.