Although its been a minute since I’ve had a newborn in the house, I’m currently going through a purging phase. I have SO MUCH STUFF I’ve hidden away, or that was stored after Aubrey grew out of it and then brought back out for Blake. Blake is now on to toddlerhood (cue the proud Mama/yet wants to keep her a baby forever tears) and it’s time to pass along the baby items. I did a couple posts a long time ago about the key things we registered for with Aubrey and our newborn faves, but now that I’ve gone through it twice, I’d love to share another perspective!
When I was registering and looking for baby gear during my first pregnancy, I felt like I was focusing on what was new, trendy, and looked nice. Looking back, there was a few things that really ended up being worth it – but for the most part, just because its new or fancy does not mean functional! By baby #2, function wins every time!
Diaper bag | a backpack style diaper bag is just so helpful! Carrying a shoulder bag, and an infant car seat, and probably and bag or two of groceries is just a set up for disaster. My bag was constantly falling off my shoulder. I felt like I was always leaning to one side to keep it up which made carrying an awkward newborn even more uncomfortable! I invested in a Skip Hop backpack when I was pregnant with our second and I’ll never go back! Super comfortable and frees up your hands for the other 10 million things you need to carry! There are so many cute options now too!
Things for baby to go in | Lets face it, most of the time babies want to be held. But when you do get that time they’ll sleep or hang out somewhere else besides in your arms, you need somewhere to put them! We had quite a few “things for our babies to go in”, but we had the best luck with the Rock n’ Play for napping or just hanging out when they were little little! As for bed time, I loved the Halo Bassinest. I could adjust it so they were the perfect height for me to see them even while I was laying in bed! I could swivel it over when I needed to get them out, and even rock it a bit if they were fussing.
Carriers | For the times they don’t want to be put down (basically always) baby carriers saved me – especially with my second! I found that the Baby K’tan had the feeling of a wrap, but was super simple to use and I loved it when Blake was a newborn!! Once she got big enough to support herself a little better, I moved into my Beco Gemini and haven’t looked back (we are still using it at 14 months)!
Nursing | I literally felt like I was nursing the majority of the hours of my day. Along with a good Netflix series, a super long phone charger cable, and plenty of snacks I recommend a water bottle you love and an awesome nursing pillow. I tried a few, but the My Breast Friend Pillow was always the sturdiest and most helpful for me! I also loved the little pocket on the front to store my phone/water/snacks when I would get up and move.
Sleeping | Sleep is like a four letter word for my babies, but if I did have any luck it was because of swaddling and sound. We still use these sound machines to this day anywhere that they’re napping! And the Halo Sleepsack Swaddles have always been our favorites! Once they grew out of wanting to be swaddled we used the sacks without the velcro arms. Perfect to act as a blanket for them!
Newborns don’t need much – but these items definitely saved us during those crazy weeks of feeling like a mombie. I wish you luck with your new babe if you’ve got one on the way!!
xoxo
Whitney
the Whitney Michaels blog 