Experienced moms - help. Do I need all this stuff? (list)

[DebbieF]

Ladies, I looked up the bath sponge op was referring to and it looks like it goes in the sink/tub for baby to lie on since she stated she doesn't have a baby bathtub. It looks pretty handy to me.

https://www.diapers.com/p/summer-in...google.PJ-338&CAWELAID=1338715337&kpid=PJ-338

 

[mod19]

Ladies, I looked up the bath sponge op was referring to and it looks like it goes in the sink/tub for baby to lie on since she stated she doesn't have a baby bathtub. It looks pretty handy to me.

https://www.diapers.com/p/summer-in...google.PJ-338&CAWELAID=1338715337&kpid=PJ-338

That does actually look pretty handy. Although I still plan on bathing her when dh takes his nightly bath... Yes, I have a husband who takes baths... It's so weird

 

[hobbnob]

I never used a nose suction or a nose frieda thing. My child is 2 and we have never used those things. If I found I would need one I would have bought one at the time I needed it, but I never found a need. Your child might need on and might not.

Also, yes the hospital usually gives you stuff to take home they gave us a pacifier (which my child never took to; I bought numerous different one and she never liked any of them. Just keep that in mind) and they provided lanolin nipple cream and some other crap they probably get for free from companies so you will buy their products.
I think we got some diapers and wipes. You can make your own wipes; You can cut up pieces of cloth and then make a mixture of 1 to 2 cups distilled water and a tablespoon of soap (like Dr. Bronner's baby soap) and you can put a drop of tea tree oil in there if you want. That is what we used in the beginning for a long time with our daughter; put the solution and cloth in a tupperware container or something and you can use that as your wipes. (you need to wash them just as you would your cloth diapers; I assume you are cloth diapering if you need a wet bag)

Good luck

 

[hobbnob]

Ladies, I looked up the bath sponge op was referring to and it looks like it goes in the sink/tub for baby to lie on since she stated she doesn't have a baby bathtub. It looks pretty handy to me.

https://www.diapers.com/p/summer-in...google.PJ-338&CAWELAID=1338715337&kpid=PJ-338

This does look handy. One of the most daunting things for me in the very beginning was giving my infant a bath. It was so scary to me because they literally have no control over their bodies and are so little. I think that the sponge thing looks better then a bathtub honestly.

 

[luz]

i like the idea of the bath sponge - kind of. I worry that the baby will roll off of it, or that it will become a breeding ground for germs, mold, and mildew. Seems like more of a pain to have one than to just lay the baby down in the tub. Baby baths don't last very long anyway

 

[kajastarlight]

I always either bathed DS2 in the kitchen sink or with me durring the time that he would be small enough for a baby bath Their was NOTHING that would relax me more than taking a bath with my LO

 

[Sarah1508]

^ agreed! Taking a bath with lo is so lovely and really bonding ( also saves on cost from buying a baby bath or seats and accessories to sit/lie baby in for big bath or sink) I still take baths with my lo from time to time and he's two and a half now he loves it though he shouts all excitedly "Yey! A mummy bath!"

 

[Mintastic]

At work all day and catching up!
Thanks everyone soooo much for all the advice and tips!
This is all very helpful.

I can't go name by name but I will answer some questions and then I have some questions myself!

-Sorry about the US terms/products - I knew pacifier was dummy but didn't know the UK terms for anything else. Feel free to enlighten me.

-Yes, cloth diapering...kinda. Got G-diapers (the cloth outer shells) with a combo of cloth and disposable inserts. We can't have a washing machine in our apartment otherwise I would do all cloth. But yeah, that is what the wet bag is for.
And I don't have a diaper pail yet and was just worrying about that so thanks for the tip about the $3 one from Home Depot!

-I am going to do the coconut oil instead of the nipple cream - it is much cheaper for many more oz!!!

-Yeah the bath sponge is to lay on, not a washing sponge. DH doesn't take baths (he can't, he has skin issues) so relying on taking a bath with baby would mean he couldn't ever be the one to bathe him her. My parents always washed me in the sink but sadly our sinks are awkward small shapes that just won't work for that.
Several said just lay the baby straight in the tub - that seems scary - the tub is so hard! Am I wrong? Someone else said on a rolled up towel but then you have a soaking wet towel that takes forever to dry - or am I missing something?
Going back and forth on if I should get this one or not...

-Changing pad - sounds like I don't need it but if I throw a towel on our bed/couch won't pee potentially leak through onto our sheets/couch?
Our floor is hard wood. I guess 2 towels on the floor could work.
Will likely ditch this one. Thanks!

-Nasal bulb. I guess I will just get the spray and wait to see if the hospital gives me a bulb. Thanks.

-Thermometer. Someone gave us the forehead kind at our shower. It got good reviews (many forehead brands did not). Was hoping to not need a rectal one. I will ask my doctor.
Actually, I think I still have an old glass thermometer somewhere. I think that can be used rectally?

-Wipes - fantastic! I will try making my own wipes to start. I have tons of old t-shirts that I need to get rid of anyway. Will see how it goes and buy some cheaper wipes later if it doesn't work out.

-Bottles. Yeah, I'd really like glass bottles but I'll research a bit more to see if I can't find them cheaper elsewhere. The one I already have is a plastic one I got for shopping at Destination Maternity (as someone mentioned). There are studies starting to come out now that even BPA-free plastic isn't so great so I'm not going to go insane over it but I'd like to minimize exposure where I can.

-Breastfeeding. I hope to be able to EBF for the first 4-5 weeks and then introduce a bit of pumped after that so I can go places, go to work eventually, and DH can participate in feeding. So, maybe I can hold off on the bottles a little longer. I just get nervous that those first 4 weeks are going to fly by and then I'll be rushing around trying to get everything.

-Pacifiers/dummys - Sounds like I will get some at the hospital. Another item off the list. Whoo!

Thanks again, and thanks if you read all this - I know it is long!

 

[CassieSims]

Just thought I'd say that you will get the nasal bulb from the hospital I'm a U.S. mommy and there was one in our supplies that we left with!

 

[mod19]

Just thought I'd let you know, babies r us has 3 packs of the glass evenflo bottles for $10.99

 

[Mintastic]

Thanks mod! I'll look into it. I liked the nipple/similar to breast on the AVENT also but will definitely look at the evenflo at that price.

 

[Sarah1508]

At work all day and catching up!
Thanks everyone soooo much for all the advice and tips!
This is all very helpful.

You are very welcome everyone here is happy to help! It's so nice being able to get tips and advice from others!

-Sorry about the US terms/products - I knew pacifier was dummy but didn't know the UK terms for anything else. Feel free to enlighten me.

Hmm let me think... I think the only ones I actually know are Pacifier= Dummy and Diper= Nappy

-Yeah the bath sponge is to lay on, not a washing sponge. DH doesn't take baths (he can't, he has skin issues) so relying on taking a bath with baby would mean he couldn't ever be the one to bathe him her. My parents always washed me in the sink but sadly our sinks are awkward small shapes that just won't work for that.
Several said just lay the baby straight in the tub - that seems scary - the tub is so hard! Am I wrong? Someone else said on a rolled up towel but then you have a soaking wet towel that takes forever to dry - or am I missing something?
Going back and forth on if I should get this one or not...

Oooh I totally forgot about laying baby in the bath with just the water very shallow. We did it several times with Kian and he loved it! I will admit though any way you bath your newborn you are literally shitting yourself so scared for the first few times till you get used to it! ive actually got a photo of Kian in the bath this way! He is older then newborn though as I don't think I took any photos in the bath this way at the newborn stage and if I did I can't find them
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/200x300q90/537/TUHkgT.jpg
One thing to make sure of if you do it this way though is to have the house nice and warm as the water is shallow and baby would get cold easily if the house isn't toasty

The sponge thing does look handy though but if you don't have it in your budget to buy it there are pleanty of other ways to bath baby

Changing pad - sounds like I don't need it but if I throw a towel on our bed/couch won't pee potentially leak through onto our sheets/couch?
Our floor is hard wood. I guess 2 towels on the floor could work.
Will likely ditch this one. Thanks!

I would reccomend like you said for on the floor two towels or even just a big one folded up a few times and the same for the bed to prevent any getting on your sheets

-Thermometer. Someone gave us the forehead kind at our shower. It got good reviews (many forehead brands did not). Was hoping to not need a rectal one. I will ask my doctor.
Actually, I think I still have an old glass thermometer somewhere. I think that can be used rectally?

The whole rectal thing must be a US thing because even at the doctors here I have never heard of little ones temperature being taken that way? It's either one of them forehead strips people use (which are fairly cheap!) or a battery powered one like we had that you just either put in babys mouth or under their atm for a few seconds (they are a little more expensive but I felt more comfortable using one of them over the strips as I felt it would be more accurate)

Thanks again, and thanks if you read all this - I know it is long!

no worries I am exactly the same when I post something I end up typing paragraphs

 

[bungle]

Going against the grain here but I actually think that not buying a changing mat/pad would be false economy. The amount of towels you'll end up washing you may as well have bought the pad. It's not just them weeing or pooing on it that you have to worry about, babies throw up sick, you'll get nappy rash creme on it and then you'll have to wash and dry it. At least you'd be able to quickly wipe off any mess from a mat/pad. But of course it's up to you what you spend your money on hun x

 

[Cattia]

Going against the grain here but I actually think that not buying a changing mat/pad would be false economy. The amount of towels you'll end up washing you may as well have bought the pad. It's not just them weeing or pooing on it that you have to worry about, babies throw up sick, you'll get nappy rash creme on it and then you'll have to wash and dry it. At least you'd be able to quickly wipe off any mess from a mat/pad. But of course it's up to you what you spend your money on hun x

I'd agree with this but I don't think you need to spend that much, I have a couple that I bought from the pound shop. I'm sure there must be a dollar store equivalent over there. Also if you have a few cheap ones you can have one upstairs and one downstairs to save trecking around the house every time you want to change a nappy.

 

[maggz]

Oooh you went with the gDiapers?? What all did you end up getting?

I would suggest maybe holding off on buying a lot of the same bottles/nipples and pacifiers. You don't know what baby will end up liking so it would suck (hah no pun intended) to be stuck with a bunch of one brand that they won't wanna use.

As for changing pad, I think you could go either way. If you don't have a surface (like a dresser) that you're intending on keeping it on, I probably wouldn't bother with it.

Also, the reusable wipes - I went to Walmart (hate that place but we got some gifts from there so I had store credit) and got a pack of washcloths that were $3.50 I think for 18ct. They're fairly large so I'm intending on cutting them in half. I've heard from moms that use reusable ones that you end up using a lot less of them than of the disposable wipes.

Sorry, I'm not an experienced momma but I hope it's okay that I chime in!

 

[Scout]

I would not use the nasal bulb for too long bc if you cut it open you'll notice it gets really full of black yuck. There is no way to clean it out good. So gross. If you need something, and I think it's been mentioned but didn't read entire thread, the nose frieda is good and can be cleaned.

Changing mat...you can get a two pack of changing pads cheap. I started off just using a towel until I had a couple experiences of going thru on my bed and having to strip my bed and wash everything. The pads are nice.

The sponge thingy I looked at when I was pregnant. Are there still reviews about it getting moldy? There were back then. You really don't need anything for bath. Newborns you can just lay on a towel and sponge them off. Bathing with baby is easy and if you're worried about husband not getting to bathe baby, why not have his job getting baby undressed to hand to you and then he can dry and clothe baby afterwards so he's still really involved. Oh, and yes, before I discovered how easy it was to bathe with the baby, I put a towel down on the bottom of the tub to lay baby on, and then it did require me to wring it out and hang it up and took forever to dry, but it can be done. I had a baby bath that was a gift and it was a pain.

Good luck.

 

[Mintastic]

I appreciate the alternative perspective on the mat. I don't think my local dollar store has one but I'll check around for cheapie ones.

I don't have to worry about upstairs and downstairs! I live in an apartment in NYC. We don't even have a nursery - just part of our bedroom (which is large by local standards).

You are all getting me excited about bathing with baby! I love baths.
Will baby potentially poop in the water though?

Maggz - Hi! That is a really good point about the bottles - I just read this whole article after you said that about lots of parents going through a number of brands before finding one the baby will take.

Sidetrack here that anyone who isn't Maggz can skip if they want:
As for the gdiapers - DH was being a typical guy on this one. I told him we had to sit down to figure out the diaper situation (after spending hours and days researching a jillion options and figuring out the costs of all of them) and he had no interest in discussing it and said to just pick one. I said "I did - I picked the gdiapers and you said they were the "worst of both worlds" " and he said "I trust you. Pick whichever you think is best." So I went with them. I found several lots on eBay - a combo of used and new - for way less than store prices and got a few shells in newborn, a few more in small, and a bunch of pouches/liners and some cloth inserts and some disposable/compostable inserts. Hope they work out!

Now I just need a lidded bin or two. (one for soiled cloth and one for poopy disposable items - we already have a compost bin for the pee ones). Someone here mentioned the super cheap homer bucket from home depot - but isn't the lid tough to get on and off?
I am definitely not getting any overpriced "diaper pails" that's for sure!

 

[Mintastic]

Oh also - thanks again to all. I've managed to whittle my current cart down by more than half! It sits at $50.20 right now - just going to sleep on it in case any other actual essentials occur to me that I can use the 15% off coupon on.

I did leave one expensive bottle on there (8oz, $9.81, comes with the slow flow nipple) just because after doing tons of obsessive first-time-mom research I became kind of obsessed with it - which of course means my baby will probably hate it so yeah - just getting the one.

QUESTION: Is diaper rash/nappy rash cream an essential item to buy in advance? Or is there a cheapo natural alternative for that too like the coconut oil nipple cream?

 

[Etoiles]

I wanted to mention that one thing I saw on your original list was nursing pads and that is one thing I also bought, some disposable and one cloth set that have never been opened. They sit in the closet new in package since I bought them figuring I would need them and I never did even though I breastfed for 18 months. My breasts just never leaked so that is one thing I regret buying. I might if I were you buy a small package just in case and then get more if you need them. Sometimes you can always get samples as well in goodie bags from the doctor or nurse so if you get a few samples you could always wait and see with those as well. Just a thought!

 

[MrsKChicago]

You can use coconut oil on his butt, as well as for nipple cream. It's safer on cloth diapers than a lot of store bought creams, too.

We're cloth diapering (well, we're trying to, a lot of my diapers are still too big), and we're using super cheap baby washcloths as wipes. We have a warmer on my SIL's recommendation, but there's no reason we couldn't just use them cold or run one under warm water. But honestly, at $30 for the warmer, it comes to less than a couple big packs of disposable wipes - just something to consider when your finances pick back up. These are the washcloths I'm using, but you could use any kind of cloth: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GB8EMZE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You can probably get a used baby tub for next to nothing on Craigslist, if you want one. If it's just plain plastic, it should be easy enough to sanitize.

Our hospital gave us a bulb, the leftover diapers, and that was about it for baby stuff. It seems like the bulbs are pretty universal. Our pediatrician recommends a rectal thermometer but is ok with a forehead one - presumably if we get a 100 degree reading on ours, they'd re-check rectally anyway.

I would get some kind of waterproof changing pad. It's totally worth the small expense to me, to have the protection from Mr. Poopfest ruining everything.

I'm an extremely inexperienced mom, though, so take my advice with a grain of salt