Essentials for newborn

[hoohaal]

What would you say are the essentials for a newborn?

Trying not to buy a load of stuff that I don’t need!!

So I’m thinking:

next 2 me crib & bedding etc
pram
carseat
Moses basket
bouncer chair
a play mat for tummy time??
baby carrier wrap
basic clothing - vests, sleepsuits, pramsuit, hats (winter baby)
sleeping bags
dummies
breastfeeding pillow
baby monitor
baby bath & products, towel etc

Anything else obvious that I have missed?

I do have 2 other children but I can’t remember what I need!!

I found the next to me really annoying as it blocks you getting in and out of bed easily as so far down if bedside

Maybe a consideration if your have epilepsy and need to get out of bed easier after being unwell

I would get the newborn seat for stokke highchair (or equivalent) if I had another child with older children around. A safe high up place you can put them at arm height without child falling on them

Bibs for winding after feeding,
Blankets or a sleeping bag and maybe warm socks/ for under the baby gro in the winter.
My son was an October baby and it was hard to keep him warm enough at times even wrapped up.
Also hats for going out as they loose a lot of heat through their heads and mitts especially if little hands escape the blanket!
Cream for nappy rash in case they break out.i found my boys were bad when teething no matter how often they were changed.

I am always intrigued by the people that don’t need muslins… I’m going through 10+ a day 😂 we only bought a pack of 5 but got gifted/handed down a lot and I’m so grateful!

Everyone told us we wouldn’t need newborn size clothes, but we did. I had only 2 baby grows and 5 vests in newborn. She got through that in an hour! We ended up with about 12 newborn baby grows and even then we were still doing laundry constantly! She was in them for a month.

We found we did not need mits or socks as all baby grows have built in turn overs these days.

I was also handed down a breastfeeding pillow (boppy?) and clothes with breastfeeding flaps. They have been invaluable! I would never have thought to buy this stuff but having them from the get-go was perfect!

Edit: a final regret is buying her beds/seats (Moses basket, pram bassinet safe for sleeping, bouncer, stokke newborn attachment for high chair and cot) she wanted to be held 24/7 and has yet to sit/sleep in any if them. I live in hope the cot might get some use 😭

It’s me, I’m the person who says you need 5000 muslins 🤣🤣🤣 I had 2 v refluxy babies who were still spitting up horrible smelling fluid 2.5 hours after feed 🤣 I was draped in them for the first 7mo of their lives!

@FunnyOrca - we never used newborn as Ds was 54cm born so too long for any we bought.
Never used muslins either apart from to dry bum after changing, he never was sick after feeds. He was breastfed and ate little but often if that made any difference

I would say don’t bother buying new baby towels as they are too small to last very long. Your regular towels are fine.

I am always intrigued by the people that don’t need muslins
Never had particularly sicky babies so never needed them much. I bpught a pack of 10 and half of them never made it out of the packet. DC1 used to bring up a bit after some feeds a few times but not so much we needed more than 1 muslin a day and not every day.

I was given a pack of the three giant ones and never figured out what they were for. I had no interest in covering up when I was feeding and had a proper cover for the pram to provide breathable shade.

That is interesting because my baby is also breastfed and eats all day long often. There must be another variable! Does this mean you never got projectile spit up on?

We got a pack of 3 giant muslins handed down and with a baby that spits up a lot they are dead handy for putting on the floor for tummy time and over visitors with nice clothes on when they want a cuddle.

@FunnyOrca - sorry but no. He never even dribbled milk at that age. Never used a fabric baby bib as they seemed pointless. Used long sleeve wipeable type when he started eating food ( then he made a mess head to toe)
He was an incredibly fussy baby so lived upright in sling most of the first year, so maybe the milk just settled downwards?

Giant ones I sometimes used to cover up when feeding my summer baby. In winter I find it’s a non-issue because I wear a couple of layers that open in different directions (eg t shirt and flannel button up) and that keeps me covered enough for my liking. I also sometimes used the giant ones as a super thin blanket in the pram if the temperature dropped a little and the sleeveless body suit wasn’t enough clothing or just to keep the little baby feet out of the sun if the oral’s sunshade and parasol weren’t quite doing the job.
Now baby is a little bigger and we’re weaning and I’m pumping milk at work, smaller muslins are used to clean up the baby food spills and are also wrapped around ice packs in my pumping bag and my baby’s milk bag to keep the bag nice and dry. So I get through multiple muslins or tea towels a day easily. I find the muslins preferable to normal tea towels because they are softer. I also use them as tea towels for wiping up counters after they’ve been used to wrap an ice pack - so they’re not perfectly clean because they’ve been absorbing moisture all day but they also aren’t really dirty either.

A nasal aspirator! It’s a little device that allows you to safely suck mucous from their noses (without going in your mouth!) as newborns can’t breath through their mouths and it’s horrible if they come down with a cold.

Never had, or felt the need for, muslins. On the other hand, the old fashioned square terry nappies were used a lot for when winding babies, putting babies down on floor, and many other things. They are still in use (my youngest is 36) but threadbare. I eventually put a pack of new ones on last year’s Christmas list but some of the old ones are still going!

Slightly off topic - we're actually testing an idea at the moment that's aimed at helping expecting mothers get prepared for having a baby. Still very early days so we want to talk to some expecting mothers before we build it.

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Either way, wishing you well x

Moses baskets are annoying because they make a noise when you touch them, often. We had a pram with a carry cot, a pushchair and car seat all in one product . Later we bought extra smaller maclaren style wheels too, as the original ones were large. It was an incredibly useful pram, as we could wheel the baby into or out of the house and leave him to sleep, and carry the carrycot part upstairs at night without waking him. I seen to remember it was from Mamas and Papas, although I expect newer models have come along, as baby is 22 now!