Baby Must-Haves (and a few things you DON'T need)

Being a new mom is hard...like REALLY hard. And I kind of knew this going into

mommyhood. So, in order to "prepare," I registered for, and bought, so many things I didn't use. As a FTM (first time mommy) I wish someone would have told me that I didn't need many of the things I thought I needed/wanted for baby. It would have saved me, and my baby shower guests, a significant amount of money! Let's start with the things baby and I couldn't survive without during those first 100 days.

Quality diapers/wipes This goes without saying! Babies, especially in their first few weeks, pee and poo a ton! Making sure you have a stash of quality diapers and wipes is a must. I probably tested all of the diaper brands out there. Some definitely left baby with some leakage (Sorry! I wanted SO BADLY to love the Honest Co. Diapers). We settled with Up and Up (Target brand) and Babyganics diapers. I prefer Babyganics (because they are made with plant-based ingredients and don't contain many of the nasty things -like chlorine- that other many other diaper brands use). However, we will use Up and Up in a pinch!

Tommie Tippie Anti-Colic Bottles These are the ONLY bottles that help reduce my baby's gas and fussiness. They are a pain to clean, but they helped ease baby's pain and, in turn, allowed mommy to get more sleep...definitely worth it!

Boba Sling This thing! I'm often told to just let the housework go. Let the dishes pile up, let the bed stay messy, etc. I can't! I'm not made that way! The Boba Sling (and traditional baby carrier) saved my life. Baby loved being wrapped close to her mommy, and often the movement she experienced from me tidying up around the house rocked her right to sleep. I will say that sometimes the baby carrier is more practical (you don't have to fuss with wrapping YARDS of fabric around your body) when we are out and about.

Swing/Rocker I ended up investing in a more expensive, and rather large, swing...and I am glad I did. Babies loved to be rocked! This is one of the only things that helped me put her to sleep on her fussiest nights. Sometimes mamas get tired. Their arms get tired. They get sleepy. Putting baby in the swing and letting it rock her to sleep was so relieving. Now that we have a sleep routine, I use the swing to rock her while I take care of housework (of course I am still interacting with baby, singing to her and talking while I work).

Onsie Pajamas I didn't have the time or energy to dress baby in her cute newborn outfits most of the time. I was happy if we just made it out of the house. I kept her in zip-up pajama onsies because I knew she was warm and it made it easy to dress and change her.

Receiving Blankets Oh the glorious first weeks of life. I walked around not knowing caused all the stains on my clothes...was it spit up? Breastmilk? Something worse?? We ran through receiving blankets like there was no tomorrow. They cleaned up tons of spit-up. They doubled as a swaddle. They were light blankets for when I took baby out on warm days. They were great carseat covers. I even rolled one up in the car window to block the sun from hitting baby's eyes once.

Microwave Sterilizer This little device makes sterilizing bottles, pacifiers, pump parts, etc, extremely simple. I don't have the time or energy to boil everything on the stove. I simply wash them with warm soapy water, rinse, toss them in the sterilizer and push 5 minutes on the microwave. Simple.

Hospital Grade Pump I received a free pump with my insurance. I am extremely grateful. However, it hurt! Even baby feeding didn't hurt me. I changed the flanges, changed the settings...everything. But it still felt like I was having my nipples torn off. I ended up going to a local hospital's lactation store and renting the Medela Symphony. It is worth the money, let me tell you! Although nothing can empty the breast as effectively as baby, I feel that this machine does a pretty good job of emptying the milk, I get several let-downs using the "Let Down Mode," its relatively quiet, and it feels comfortable! Definitely worth it, especially if you live attached to the machine.

Organic Bath Products I am more particular about the ingredients in the products I use in my home since falling pregnant, and especially now that I have become a mother. I am careful about what I put on my precious baby's skin (and my own since we are always in close contact.) Since her birth, we have been bathing and moisturizing her skin using Shea Moisture Baby Head-to-Toe which contains soothing ingredients like chamomile, argan oil, frankincense and myrrh. I love the smell so much that I often bathe myself in it as well.

Okay, now for the things that we definitely DID NOT need. Every baby, mother, and family will be different...but here is a list of things I wish I didn't purchase:

Bassinet I know I'm going to get some criticism for this, but I 100% cosleep with my baby. The only time we used a bassinet was while in the hospital. When I was 6 months pregnant, I just KNEW I needed the Halo Swivel Bassinet. I saw all of the mommy bloggers and YouTubers raving on about how much they loved theirs. My Halo Bassinet is now used for holding water bottles and other items I may need in the middle of the night.

Pack n Play In my defense, I thought I would use a Pack n Play instead of a crib and save money. Just like my bassinet, it is also a storage device (I drop the diaper bag and baby carrier in there when we come home).

Bottle Warmer I really tried with this one. However, waiting 5+ minutes for a bottle to warm is extremely stressful when you have a hungry, screaming, infant. I use a pot of boiling water to warm her bottles. I have also found that running breastmilk bags under hot tap water from the sink is WAY quicker than both other methods (formula feeders can use this trick too, just pour the cool formula into a breastmilk bag and run it under hot water from the tap.)

Fancy Swaddles Those velcro swaddles? Not really necessary. For the same amount of money you are spending on one velcro swaddle, you could buy 10 receiving blankets and just repurpose them as swaddles.

Shoes Babies don't need shoes. Period.

Cute Newborn Clothes We kept our baby in pajamas 24/7. Even while on outings. They are just simple and easy. I also bought a bunch of plain onsies, which she would wear when lounging around the house.

White Noise/Sound Machine We had one and never used it. I did however use free Apps and YouTube videos that played heartbeat sounds.

Newborn Tub Newborns have sensitive skin and it's best not to bathe them frequently. We only used our newborn tub (the fancy one with a digital interface that tells you the temperature of the water) a handful of times. When she got a little older (about 6 weeks or so), I just started bringing her in the shower with me.

BABY OIL/BABY POWDER Baby oil is made with mineral oil. Baby powder contains carcinogens (the nasty things that cause cancer). Let's just stop using these all together.