Must haves for a newborn from a first time mama! These are some must haves if you have a little one or a newborn on the way!

We are officially 5 weeks into this parenting adventure and learning ALL sorts of things! Lol Why isn’t there a class for this somewhere through our educational career!? 😅

Despite being new to this and still figuring things out, we have quickly come across our favorite and “must have” items when caring for a newborn! 

This is definitely NOT an exhausted list and somehow these little ones collect so many “things” within their first few weeks of life, but these are the things that have really been helping us or that we notice we use often! Also, these are in NO PARTICULAR ORDER!

NEWBORN MUST HAVES:

NOISE MACHINE: This is BY far our most used item we have been given! So much so that we ordered a second one and will most likely order a third! We like to have a back up so that one is always charged, especially for nights and nap time. We take it EVERYWHERE! In the car seat, crib, stroller, grandparents house, etc. If you get nothing else, get this!

SWADDLE: Thankfully Cayden really likes to be swaddled, not always at first, but once he is swaddled, he usually calms down within a few minutes. I also like to have him swaddled when he is nursing in the middle of the night because sometimes little man likes to get crazy with his arms and it distracts him lol If your little one doesn’t like to swaddle with their arms down, maybe try the Swaddle Up! (thank you Sarah Bowmar for this recommendation!)

DOCKATOT: We didn’t use this a lot at first but it has now become a daily need. Cayden loves to nap in it (of course if he is next to us)! Sometimes he just doesn’t like to nap in his crib so it’s nice to see him comfy and still let him get some rest. We also will be traveling with it so it’s something familiar we can bring from home.

BURP CLOTHS: These are a MUST! Haha enough said! You need these all over the house! 

BIBS PACIFIER: These were a suggestion from a friend and I’m so thankful she told me about them! They are really light weight which allows Cayden to actually keep them in his mouth! And they have super cute colors!

PLAY MAT: This is the primary way we spend awake time while trying to work on some developmental tasks. Like I said above, we love to place the Bobby Lounger on the mat (since he is still so little) and he just looks at the the cards and works on his little developmental skills. I highly recommend this play mat!

BABY BJORNE: I for sure think this is a MUST! I take this little thing everywhere with me throughout the house! Kitchen while cooking, bathroom while blow drying my hair, living room while folding laundry, literally everywhere! Super lightweight so it’s easy to grab even while holding the baby.

SNOO: This is his bassinet. SO dang expensive but for us it has been beyond worth it! We did wait until it went on sale for 30% off (and I heard around Black Friday is has gone on sale for 40% off but I have never seen it). At first we didn’t know if the little man liked it but now it was been a game changer for us! 

NANIT: This is his monitor. We have the standup version, not the wall mount which we have liked because we have moved it a couple times since we now have the bassinet and crib in the nursery. I love everything about it! It’s shows the temperature, the humidity, you can play white noise through it, talk through it, we have just been so happy with it! 

MYLICON: For us, this has been a MUST for little man’s gas and tummy problems. We tried gripe water and he didn’t like it so we tried this next and it’s been working really well!

PROBIOTIC: This brand was recommended to us by our pediatrician and we now use it every night. THIS link or “carlyann” will get you 15% off on all their products which we use regularly!

COMO TOMO BOTTLE: For some reason Cayden decided to stop taking his Dr. Brown bottles one night and a family friend gave us these. We were told to have 3-5 different bottles in the house just in case he had a preference and thankfully we had these on hand. Now this is the ONLY bottle he likes (for the moment lol). I think it’s because it looks and feels more like a boob. But we are very thankful these were sent to us! 

BATH TUB SUPPORT: We now have a little routine of bath time before bed and Cayden loves it! Thankfully lol This bath tub support has been wonderful! I highly recommend it!

WIPES: NEVER run out of wipes lol That might seem obvious but keep that in mind! You’ll always want your wipe dispenser full, there is nothing like a screaming naked baby on a changing table and an empty wipe dispenser when the overstock pile is in the closest across the room. You’ll also want these in your diaper bag and your car! This link is for wipe refills for your dispenser on the changing table. 

DIAPER BAG WIPES: These are a wipe pack with an easy pop top to keep them fresh in diaper bag and readily accessible. 

DIAPER BAG: It took me FOREVER to find a diaper bag I love and THIS IS IT! I wanted something cute yet practical. This bag is perfect for mom mode as well as cute and fashionable. It’s pretty much my purse for the next however many years so I was totally fine with spending a little more money on it. ALSO, I love that every pocket is magnetic rather than buttons AND there are so many different strap attachments so it can be worn multiple different ways! They also have a ton of other cute bags, I have their “Weekender Bag” as well so you can click HERE if you want to explore their other items and accessories.

SOLLY WRAP: This is sometimes the ONLY way little man will calm down, and I am not mad about it because he is so cuddly and sweet when he is wrapped up. I like having more than one because he has had accidents in it before and I also like to have one in my diaper bag since we go back and forth to my parents house a lot. Honestly, I don’t know too many brands but Solly Wrap has come highly recommended!

Things we love but maybe not a “need”

NUNA PIPA RX: This is our car seat and we absolutely love it. This one does NOT require the base which was important to us. For one, we didn’t want to have to buy a base for every single vehicle, and for two, in the case of an emergency we wanted to know anyone could pick him up and he could safely be placed into the car. So this car seat can be strapped into a car without the base needed. This also makes it convenient to travel with since the base would be extremely difficult/heavy to travel with. Also, the RX is the newer version of the PIPA and offers a few more reclining positions for the car seat.

NUNA MIXX: This is our stroller and we are really happy with it! The wheels are nice and big which was something we didn’t think about but the roads and sidewalks around us are not nicely paved so having something that can handle the terrain was necessary. Our car seat clicks in literally in one click, and the entire stroller folds up so easily and truly isn’t that heavy! There are SO many stroller options out there but this was the one that works best for our family right now. We did find it on Offer Up for a lot less expensive and barely used!

Something we are NOT using (yet):

MAMAROO: This might just be us because our friends RAVE about it, but for now, Cayden is not a fan of his mamaRoo. We have maybe successfully used it twice but for us it is just not a purchase we needed. However, like I said, this came very highly recommended to us so if you want it, your little one might LOVE it. 

For now, this is my list of items we are loving and using almost daily! I know registries and “needs” can be so dang overwhelming so don’t feel like you need everything right away! And in regards to clothes, Cayden typically just hangs out in onesies for now! They grow SO fast and for us, he spits up on everything so I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on really nice clothes.

Hopefully this helps and congrats on your sweet bundle of joy!