Necessities

[krys]

What are some of your favorite things for baby that you "can't life without"?

 

[Beccaboop]

Dummy clips are awesome
swaddle blankets were great when he was younger too
Video monitor and movement monitor

 

[MumToEva]

Perfect prep machine if you are bottle feeding
Sleeping bags
Swing - didn't have one first time round, but helps a lot with me having a toddler to look after too this time

 

[weejenb]

dummy clips
dribble bibs
monitor
sleepytot bunny
sleeping bags
bumbo

 

[baileybubs]

I agree with the movement monitor!

Also sleeping bags, love them, I feel much more at ease with them than I did when I ha blankets on her.

White noise app on my iPhone!

Nelson's teething powders.

Coffee (for a very tired mummy of course haha!)

 

[felix555]

sleep sheep
jumperoo (as of last week)
sleeping bags (otherwise he pulls the blankets over his head)
ergo carrier
tommee tippee perfect prep
video monitor

 

[w8ing4bean]

Muslins and bibs!!! Phoebe is so sicky and dribbly!
Scratch mitts

 

[AnneD]

Muslins for puke.
Baby carrier.
Breastfeeding pillow for the first few months, ordinary pillows were crap.

 

[cupcaker]

Perfect Prep machine. I don't care if generations survived without this kit, and still do, to me, it's a god send and pretty much essential yes!

And gro bag style sleeping bags. My boy sticks anything over his face immediately and these are fab for my own piece of mind.

and another vote on the video monitor. Amazing. My son's great grandparents are in utter awe of it. They baby sat one night and just sat with the screen on their knees, they loved it so much.

 

[krys]

These are great, keep them coming!

 

[baileybubs]

Ooh for the first few weeks sleep suits with the built in scratch mitts as she just lost all the normal scratch mitts within minutes of them being put on.

A flask for feeds if ff, I know some people pre make but we find it just as easy and quick to use a flask of water that has been boiled and cooled for half an hour then put in a flask, really helpful for night feeds.

 

[sbl]

Grobags
Jumperoo
Pram attachment for buggy for the newborn stage.
Changing table

 

[KatieB]

White noise machine
dummies/dummy clip
nasal aspirator (great when he was tiny but won't let it near him now!)
sleeping bags

 

[catty]

Singing seahorse puts him right to sleep (and eats lots of batteries)

I bought a travel cot with changing table attchment which i use everyday and find so useful

swaddle (lifesaverrrr)

Now hes a little older - sleeping bags

lots and lots of muslin cloths as i never remember to put bibs on and just dab him with them

my changing bag take it everywhere (when hes with me)

nappy sacks

baby bath ( this seems to be a hit or miss with people but i dont no how i would have bathed him in the normal bath)

mobile for cot keeps him occupied

playmat so i can actually get myself washed

sleepsuit with built in mits, sometimes i would go and see him and hed have 100 scratches all over his face these were good)

think thats it, i use pretty much everything i bought as i didnt go to crazy!

 

[Saphira]

I'd find it really hard to live without:

Their big changing table
Pacifiers
Mobile/Crib Soother
Sleep Sacks
Tons of onesies
Tons of bibs
Diaper disposal system
Footmuff
SwaddleMe in the early days
Playmat when they were younger
Changing bag

We recently got a video monitor and are loving it too! Wish we'd have gotten one from the start.

 

[vegazbaby]

Movement monitor
Perfect prep
Grow bags

What I wish I didn't buy

Moses basket
Lots of the small size bottles, now useless and they were expensive
Manual breast pump (if I'd bought electric I'd probably have been able to bf)

 

[twobecome3]

receiving blankets - have used them for Everything. swaddling, rolled up for tummy time, dry her bum after a change, on the bed where we nurse.

baby cloths - use instead of wipes

ergo- essential in the early months. now that shes big enough to forward-face in the stroller, she prefers that.


nursing pillow - saved my back for the first months

 

[JenzyKY]

Activity mat and a cheap bouncy seat! If you want a shower, a bouncy seat can be a lifesaver.

 

[krys]

Thanks ladies! It's been a while since I had a newborn, this definitely reminded me of important things I had forgotten about!

 

[Mica]

I find that my necessities change every few weeks or so, as LO gets older he likes things he didn't seem to notice before and he gets tired of others.

Swaddle sack when he was a newborn. Worked like a dream.
Long-sleeve onesies with the built-in "mittens." The baby mittens just got pulled off too easily.
Diaper caddy is nice to keep that area organized.
Large changing mat for the diaper bag.
Boppy pillow - not so much for breastfeeding as for LO to lounge in, now I use it to support him when he's sitting up.
His rocker with mobile overhead was great for a while so I could get a little housework done. He doesn't seem to tolerate it as much now.
Musical toys.
Pacifiers.
Bottle warmer! I can't imagine having to boil water all the time.
That brings me to our microwave and the microwave sterilizers - bags or trays. Boiling water every day in the summer was no bueno. We were happy to not have a microwave when it was just the two of us. But I absolutely couldn't live without it now that LO is around.

A few things that proved unnecessary:
Side-snap t-shirts for newborns. These were suggested for the healing umbilical cord. They ride up and get all twisted, plus light cotton onesies really will not create too much friction against that area.
Receiving blankets. i got way too many small flannel receiving blankets that were barely big enough to swaddle my newborn. I wouldn't think you need any more than 2 or 3, personally. Bigger is better for us.
Mittens - just get pulled off and lost too easily.
Baby towels? I don't know why I thought our towels wouldn't be just fine. The baby towels seem kinda scratchy too.
Baby bath. Not for us. Bathed him in the sink first 5 months. Now trying the big tub. It's a little tricky, but getting easier.