Essentials for bringing baby home (first two months)

[TTCfirstovr30]

Hello! Need some advice from some experienced mommies!

My baby boy is due in July. I am not having a baby shower and I have ZERO items for baby right now.

Question: What are the essentials that I really need for the first three months with a baby boy? I made a list and included below. Am I missing anything, is this too much stuff?

My plan is to buy only the essentials to get me through the first two/three months and then at the baptism (about three months after birth), I will send out my registry for the bigger items and gifts. I am on a tight budget so if there are things that I don't need please let me know!

Here is my list (I will be formula feeding from start):

Travel
- Car Seat & Stroller (Travel System)
- Baby Wrap

Play Time
- Swing

Nursery
- Crib / Changing Table & Pad
- Mattress
- Waterproof Matress Cover
- Crib Sheets (Flat & Fitted)
- Mobile
- Baby Monitor
- Night Light / Sound Machine
- Hangers for Closet
- Diaper Pail
- Blankets

Medical
- Baby Medial Kit (Nail Clippers, thermometer, Nose sucker etc.)

Feeding
- 12 Bibs
- 12 Burp Cloths
- 16 Bottles (4oz & 8oz)
- Bottle & Nipple Brush
- Drying Rack
- Baby Dish Soap
- Bottle Sterilizer
- Formula Dispenser
- Dishwasher Basket for small items
- Formula
- Thermal Bottle Carrier
- Bottle Warmer
- 2-4 Pacifiers

Diapering
- Diapers
- Wipes
- Baby Rash Cream

Clothing
- 8 receiving blakets
- 8 Onesies

Bath
- Infant Tub
- 12 Washcloths
- Baby Soap
- Baby Lotion

 

[MindUtopia]

I think you can get by with quite a bit less than this. Some of these things I never had and never would have used and others I had but used for like a week and found them pretty pointless. A wrap and muslins or other small towels or burp clothes were really useful as was a vibrating swing chair. The wrap especially (we had a moby) was a lifesaver and I don't know how I would have coped without it. But things we didn't need were:

Mobile or sound machine - We did have a mobile at one point, but it was pointless, made no difference at all and she mostly slept in with us anyway.

Formula dispenser, bottle carrier or warmer - Beyond the first few weeks, if I went out, I used ready-made formula cartons or I took a bottle made at home that was hot and put it in my bag if I knew I'd be feeding her within about an hour and a half (formula is safe at room temp after being made for 2 hours). By the time she was ready to eat, it would be cooled to the perfect temp. If I needed a feed for later in the day, I'd just put the sterilised bottle in my bag and open the ready-made carton when I was ready. She just had it at room temp. I did take powder with me once and tried to make up a bottle with boiled water on the spot, which had me stuck in the disabled toilets soaking a boiling hot bottle under cold running water for 10 minutes while my daughter screamed and people banged on the door wanting to use the bathroom. Never again. It was too much of a hassle and also not especially safe to be handling hot water and mixing up formula when you're trying to hold your baby while out if you have no help. It was much easier to make it at home and leave to cool or use the ready-made stuff.

You probably don't need loads of blankets. I found I managed with about 3-4. They didn't get dirty too quickly as we only used them in the car when out or for sleeping and you're doing the wash constantly anyway, so I'd just wash them. You could probably get away with fewer wash clothes to start too. We didn't even do a bath except every 2-3 days and we didn't use soap anyway, so we didn't go through them too quickly.

A good variety of comfortable clothes is good. I had probably 10-12 vests and 10-12 sleepsuits for the first few months (I'm not sure what you'd call these in the U.S., but vests their legs stick out the bottom and sleepsuits they don't, they're totally covered on top and bottom). There will be enough accidents early on that you'll be changing clothes quite a bit, sometimes a few times a day if they get wet or dirty. You can get by on less if you are someone who washes and dries clothes daily anyway, but we only have a washer and everything is hung up to dry, so that adds about 24 hours to the process, so it was good to have extra.

We didn't have any outfits at all besides the vests and sleepsuits and that was fine. We got a few as gifts after she was born (we didn't do a baptism) and that was plenty for the first few months.

 

[xdxxtx]

Travel
- Car Seat & Stroller (Travel System) - necessary
- Baby Wrap - necessary IMO - so you can wear your baby and get things done.

Play Time
- Swing - My fourth-born would not sleep unless I was holding him or he was in the swing. My other 3 hated it and would cry in it. They all had a bouncer that lit up and played music and had little toys that they could smack, which all four of mine loved... It was the Fisher Price rainforest one, and I'm not sure they still make it. The swing is hit or miss, though.

Nursery
- Crib / Changing Table & Pad - IMO, none of these are necessary at first, as I use a bassinet for the first 4-6 months.
- Mattress
- Waterproof Mattress Cover - definitely! Also one for your own bed if you don't already have a waterproof one, as my water broke in bed with my first (lol) and I've had many a baby/toddler pee/leak pee or poo in my bed.
- Crib Sheets (Flat & Fitted) - fitted, yes. flat, never.
- Mobile - nice to have, and all of my newborns loved the ones that light up
- Baby Monitor
- Night Light / Sound Machine - nope
- Hangers for Closet
- Diaper Pail - are you cloth diapering? Yes. Are you using disposables? I personally just use a trash can with a lid, and if I'm downstairs, I use the kitchen trash or just take it outside to the trash can if it's really smelly.
- Blankets - I keep 4 Muslin blankets for swaddling or covering the car seat so baby can sleep peacefully, although one stays in the car (for covering car seat when we're out).

Medical
- Baby Medial Kit (Nail Clippers, thermometer, Nose sucker etc.) - I guess? The kits tend to stink IMO, I've owned 4, and the thermometers either don't work right or take a long time to take the temp, and the nose suckers grow mold if you can't open them up and wash and dry them completely, so be very careful with these. I just buy cheap baby nail cliippers and a good thermometer. I also have Nose Frida for runny noses, which I highly recommend, although it is gross!

Feeding
- 12 Bibs - Never used one for a newborn and just changed their outfits if they threw up on themselves because if they threw up, it was always too much for the bib to catch. lol
- 12 Burp Cloths - I love the idea of burp cloths, but they're never big enough for me. Always receiving blankets here, and I keep 4 of them around.
- 16 Bottles (4oz & 8oz)
- Bottle & Nipple Brush
- Drying Rack - I bought mine at a yard sale and LOVE it. It's the Munchkin brand one that's foldable and easily stored, so we take it on vacation with us, too.
- Baby Dish Soap - regular dish soap
- Bottle Sterilizer - Do you have a dishwasher? Run them through it here and there, and a sterilizer is unnecessary.
- Formula Dispenser - my second-born needed prescription formula, so I'd just take the whole can in the diaper bag OR put a portion in the DRY bottles we'd need, plus one extra in case of an emergency. I bought my sister the dispenser, and it made a huge mess when pouring it into the (narrow mouth) bottles.
- Dishwasher Basket for small items - I do love this one. Also bought it at a yard sale. Also, they have Facebook groups that are local to you, baby-based, where people can sell their old stuff they're done with, if the idea of "gently used" doesn't gross you out, anyway. Once you have a few kids, you realize how terribly gross everything is, and you don't bat an eye at this idea. lol
- Formula
- Thermal Bottle Carrier
- Bottle Warmer - I always just used a mug of hot water to warm my bottles
- 2-4 Pacifiers - Tons more, they get lost, fast... but you might have to try out several different brands.

Diapering
- Diapers
- Wipes
- Baby Rash Cream - watch the ingredients. I make my own, but I keep California Baby brand in my diaper bag because I almost never need diaper rash cream on-the-go.

Clothing
- 8 receiving blakets
- 8 Onesies - I actually own more like 30, and my refluxy babies tend to go through 4-5 a day, but I wouldn't buy more than 12. If my babies are really refluxy, I will just put them in a diaper and a blanket and put a towel under baby.

Bath
- Infant Tub
- 12 Washcloths - one package is way more than you'll ever need
- Baby Soap - watch the ingredients. I use Castile soap, baby mild.
- Baby Lotion - watch the ingredients. I use coconut oil or Honest brand baby body oil.

 

[Teri7489]

To be honest, you really won't need all that. Essentialso are really just vests and sleep suits, bibs and Muslin squares and a warmer Cardigan for baby if you go out. A light blanket to cover from wind (or people from being nosey) when you venture out finally.

Personally I wouldn't bother with the changing table, swing, 4oz bottles (they go past that amount so quick) sound machine, bottle warmer (kettle of water does the same) or too many blankets. People tend to buy them as gifts so you will end up with millions.

Spend your money onews things like bigger size nappies which you will eventually use, buy more pacifiers as they always get lost and stock up on baby wipes. They don't go out of date and trust me, you will use them. I wouldn't stock up on milk incase your LO doesn't tolerate it so stick with one or two boxes, even pop some money on a store card where you will be buying the formula from to make it easier at the time. But it can be an expensive mistake if your LO has allergies or reflux. xx

 

[kellyc1987]

I don't think you really need 16 bottles, especially as the baby may not get on with the ones you buy and you may need to buy a different brand.

I never used baby washcloths and still don't now (LO is 2)

Personally a wrap/sling didn't work for me, my baby hated it but lots of others have a good experience with these.

I never used a sound machine, we had a mobile bought as a gift but didn't really use it in the first 2 months

As others have said people tend to buy you blankets when LO is born so don't buy too many of those.

Diaper Pail - we had a tommee tippee sangenic and it was useful for us because we live in a flat and didn't want to be running to the outside bin all the time, however we stopped using it by 3 months and just used scented nappy bags.

Baby dish soap - i reaĺly didn't know this was a thing, I just used regular washing up liquid

 

[jessmke]

There are a lot of things on your list that I wouldn't consider essential, or not essential for the first couple of months. I wouldn't bother with the following:

Crib - for me we didn't need one for the first few months. Baby was in a bassinet in our room until she was 4 months old so we did eventually need a crib, but not at first.

Changing table - the top of a dresser works just fine, or the bed, or the floor...

Flat crib sheet - do they even make these? You should haven't any loose blankets or sheets in the crib, a flat crib sheet would be unsafe.

Swing - might be nice to have but definitely not essential. My LO hated the swing I put her in at my friend's house so it would have been a waste of money to have purchased one.

Mobile/night light/sound machine - I don't use any of these. We have a humidifier in DD's room which I guess would take the place of a white noise machine, but she doesn't need it for the noise it's more because it is so dry where we live.

Hangers for clothes - maybe once baby is older, but for the first couple of months baby spent almost all her time in sleepers so I wouldn't have had anything to put on hangers. A lot of people also gave us clothes as gifts and those clothes came with the hangers from the store so I've never had to purchase hangers.

Diaper pail - I would only get this if you plan to cloth diaper, otherwise I'd just use a regular small garbage can with a lid. If it's a small garbage can then you will be taking the garbage out before it gets stinky.

Blankets - oh my goodness everyone under the sun gave us blankets when DD was born and we only ever used 3-4 of them. I cut up all the other ones to use as cloth wipes.

Bibs - we never used these until DD was eating solids, but she was breastfed so that might make a difference.

Burp cloths - never once have I used a burp cloth, a swaddle/receiving blanket does the job just fine. DD also didn't spit up too much so we never had much need for them.

Baby dish soap - I didn't even know this was a thing. Regular dish soap works just fine.

Bottles and pacifiers - I would only buy a few of them at first as you never know what type baby will take a liking to. You might have to buy a few different brands before finding the right one, then you can buy more.

Infant tub - I got one as a gift and ditched it after the first use, we either just bathed her in the sink with a small towel on the bottle of the sink for padding and to keep her from sliding around, or I would get in the regular tub with her.

Baby wash cloths - We have some because they were gifts, but definitely not essential, and definitely no need for 12 of them. 2 or 3 would be lots.

You may need more sleepers/onesies, especially if your baby has reflux and/or spits up a lot. My LO didn't require many clothing changes as a newborn, she could have worn the same sleeper for a few days at a time without getting it dirty, but she didn't spit up or have diaper blow outs very often.

Hope that helps!

 

[noon_child]

I agree with the others - more onesies/clothes (newborn poo finds a way) at a few different sizes (they grow before you realise) and less nursery stuff. Here the recommendation is to have baby in same room as you for 6months, so nursery stuff is not essential. I had a few mobiles and all were pointless as my LO would not consider being awake while lying in her cot so she never looked at them - as soon as she was awake she was crying for me and we could only put her down asleep! Baby's don't really play much at first because they need to sleep so often. We got a play mat around 6weeks which became a hit around 8-9weeks. Once a baby is old enough to interact more with adults, back and forth games and interaction is the best play for them and inanimate objects/toys don't hold their attention for long.

 

[happynewmom1]

I agree with what the others have said. Some babies love swings.. Mine always screamed in them so would be good if you could find one second hand somewhere to try out. Also for us, changing tables were not a necessity. In fact.. I've never had one but we spend the most time in the toy room and living room. When home anyway so I have some diapers in both rooms to be handy and just change her on the floor.

Also agree with needing more clothes then that.

Pacifiers.. Our first two wouldn't take one. Our last dd did more but she was very particular with the brand so I wouldn't buy too many of one kind.

Burp clothes.. I did use a lot because my babies spit up quite a bit but I ended up making my own that are bigger this time. With our first, he spit up quite a lot so used receiving blankets with him for that honestly.

Also didn't need bibs until babies were a little older. Our first though starting drooling a ton when a few months old so bibs were handy but otherwise I used one every so often when on solids. This baby managed to pull them off anyway

Biggest use as far as accessories goes is a baby carrier. Had more if a wrap for newborn stage and got a soft structured one when older and still use one for her on walks, hikes, getting housework done and such.