Hellobee

What gear to buy can be very overwhelming for new parents to be, so in this edition of the Swarm, the Bees share what they absolutely couldn’t have lived without for their newborns.

I couldn’t have lived without:

• Diapers
• Wipes
• Diaper cream
• 5-10 footed sleepers
• Car seat
• Rock ‘N Play (or some other sleeping/set-down place)

Our absolute essentials were:

• diapers & wipes
• nail clippers
• 5 long sleeve onesies
• 3 pairs footed pants
• 7 footed sleepers
• crib, mattress, waterproof mattress pad, sheet – Or somewhere to sleep. But both babies slept in their crib from day 1.
• 2 bottles – I supplemented with Charlie a little the first month.
• double electric pump – This may not be an essential for some women, but it was for me to keep up my supply, keep going when we had breastfeeding troubles, and boost my supply.
• car seat – We weren’t allowed to leave the hospital without one.
• sling, carrier or stroller – To go to doctor’s appointments — we used the snap and go with our car seat.
• 1 jacket or bunting – to go to doctor’s appointments. I had 2 cold weather babies. But those nifty car seat covers would probably have been easier!
• 1 warm hat for winter baby

Technically could have lived without these items, but I wouldn’t want to!

• 4 pack Aden & Anais swaddle blankets, but in the beginning we just used the hospital swaddle blankets
• 2 swaddle wraps (Swaddleme)
• baby bathtub
• baby bodywash/shampoo
• baby lotion
• fragrance-free detergent

My list includes:

• Bassinet, 2 bassinet sheets
• Diapers and wipes
• Boudreaux’s Butt Paste
• 3 Aden & Anais blankets
• 5 footed sleepers
• 1 kimono-style pajama set
• Carseat
• Stroller (only used a few times for doctor’s visits but was helpful to have)
• Boppy Newborn Lounger Pillow (for somewhere to set her down, she didn’t like the swing in the early weeks)

• boppy pillow
• infant carseat and stroller frame/caddy
• diapers, wipes, petroleum jelly (for the circ)
• 7 snap-up/zip up footed sleepers, 5 snap-on/wrap shirts, 5 pairs pants
• pack and play, p-n-p sheet (2), 2 packs of waterproof pads (good for everything)
• nail clippers
• 1 hat
• 5 flannel receiving blankets (for messes and for swaddling)
• 1 aden + anais swaddle blanket
• fragrance-free detergent (a “free and clear” style)
• tears-free/gentle soap
• NUK pacifier (once he found his thumb he dropped this though!)
• fluffy blanket (for car rides, to lay him on, etc.
• bouncy seat (somewhere to put him that wasn’t the p-n-p)

• breastfeeding pillow
• diapers & wipes
• diaper cream
• 5 onesies
• 2 swaddle blankets
• moby wrap
• bassinet/cosleeper/crib – somewhere safe to put him down
• carseat
• 2 sheets for above
• nipple cream (this was for me, but it was essential!!)

• carseat
• stroller (we had a snap ‘n go)
• carrier (we used the ergo and baby k’tan)
• nursing pillow
• diapers and wipes
• diaper cream
• A+E ointment (for the circ)
• 3 woombies
• 5 footed sleepers w/ the foldover hand things
• 5 short-sleeved onesies
• 3 pants
• 1 hat
• 3-4 burp cloths (we used gerber prefolds)
• A&A swaddle blankets
• cosleeper/rnp/crib (anywhere for sleep)
• 2 crib and co-sleeper sheets
• nail clippers
• baby shampoo and bodywash
• fragrance free detergent
  2-bottles (for pumping, and i=I started giving him a bottle a day since he was 2-wks old in order to prevent a bottle strike).

I think after four kids what is necessary seems to be much less than what I had for each of the kids. Plus twins put a twist into what we needed. But I think these few things were what I really would have needed for each kid. (With the twins I had more clothes because two babies go through lots of onesies.)

• For my adopted son I needed bottles and formula since he was not breastfeed at all.
• car seat
• place for baby to sleep plus two sets of bedding (bassinet/cosleeper, crib)
• diapers and wipes
• Bordeaux butt paste
• 3 swaddle blankets
• 2 warmer blankets
• 5 onesies
• 5 bottoms
• 5 sleeper pajamas
• baby shampoo

I’m already having trouble remembering!

• 5 footed sleepers (preferably with hand covers)
• 2 swaddle wraps (Halo and SwaddleMe)
• Diapers & Wipes
• A&D Ointment
• Rock N Play
• Bottles
• Sound Apps or Music
• Infant Carseat and Cover

Essentials:

• Help around the house who doesn’t just offer to hold the baby (my mom stayed for four weeks and did all the cooking and cleaning)
• white noise machine
• nuk pacis (waited a couple weeks until bf’ing was established)
• A+A swaddling blankets
• Clothes with fold-over hands
• 6 kimono t-shirts with fold-over hands (layered them under anything that didn’t already have fold-overs)
• 3 elastic bottom sleepers
• car seat
• small, cozy sleep space (we used the bassinet attachment from our stroller, but lots of friends used the rock n play)
• waterproof pad and sheet for sleep space
• lots of cloth wipes
• diapers (switched to cloth around 4w)
• moby wrap or other carrier
• My Brest Friend pillow
• Lanolin ointment for mom

Used a lot and loved:

• Prince Lionheart washPOD
• California Baby super sensitive baby wash
• regular adult fingernail clipper
• Breast pump (to get a little extra milk to “top him off” before bed at night)

Essentials:

• A car seat: Or they don’t let you take the baby home.
• Somewhere for the baby to sleep: we had a bassinett or moses basket in our room. Neither of them even had a crib until 3 months (Ria was still in the crib when Sunny was born).
• Swaddling blankets: The A &A ones are super nice, but we couldn’t afford them and we did just fine with flannel blankets as long as they were pretty big. It was winter.
• 5-10 sleepers and/or shortsleeved onesies. It depends on the time of year.
• Diapers: We used disposable newborn diapers, then after a week we used the Applecheeks size one diapers.
• Wipes: (we used cloth)
• Baby carrier: I like the Ergo with the infant insert
• Nursing pillow: It’s not just for nursing, it’s really nice for anyone who wants to sit and hold the baby!

Things that I used a lot:

• Baby swing: With Sunny, it was the only place she would sleep (other than my arms)
• Carseat bunting bag (winter, again)
• Change table and changing pad: ours was a dresser
• I didn’t do bottles or soothers until around a month.

My initial reaction to this Swarm question was that our needs were minimal. Diapers, wipes, car seat. Then I started to think about what we used in that first 2 weeks, and my list kept growing and growing…silly me I guess.

Here we go:

• Car seat
• Diapers & Wipes
• Gauze and A+D ointment (for circumcision)
• Aden and Anais swaddles (which we didn’t NEED in the first week – he was still small enough to use the swaddle blankets we snagged from the hospital, but we kept using these for MONTHS so I was glad to have them early)
• A pack of 5 Carters onesies and a couple of newborn sleepers
• Snuggabunny swing – Little C slept here a TON, probably more than anywhere else.
• Crib – we never really committed to the pack n’ play that we planned to keep in our room for him, because I couldn’t sleep a wink with him next to our bed. We started him in the crib within a week or two.
• MAM pacifiers
• Medela Freestyle pump – to relieve major engorgement

•  Car Seat
• Swing
• Diapers & Wipes
• Aden & Anais blankets (those were the best for swaddling I felt) as well as other blankets for swaddling
• Onesie and sleepers
• Pack and Play with Bassinet Attachment
• Breastpump
• White Noise Machine
• Avent Pacifiers on hand
• Bottles on hand
• Boppy
• Snap and Go

• bassinet with two sets of sheets
• burp cloths (I easily used 10 a day)
• diapers & wipes
• gas drops
• diaper bag
• playtex drop in bottles/nipples (8 each)
• playtex drop in liners (100 count)
• boppy (pillow and two covers)
• sleepers (the kind that zip, not snap)
• onesies (I changed her probably 3-4x a day)
• pants with feet built in
• rock n play
• newborn tub
• hooded towels
• lotion, soap, nail clippers
• fleece car seat cover (Chloe was a fall/winter baby)
• diaper pail and liners
• Dreft laundry detergent

I omitted things like a crib because while we had one (and ten sets of sheets), she slept in the bassinet and pack n play for the first twelve weeks. And, it’s hard to remember how much clothing we actually had but I recall an awful lot of laundry those first few months and changing her clothes a lot on a daily basis.

My newborn essentials were (many are listed in my newborn sleep essentials post from awhile back)

• Fisher Price Rock N Play
• Pacifiers
• Swaddling blankets (Miracle Blanket)
• Diaper Bag
• Projection Mobile (we still use this every night)
• Diapers & Wipes
• Diaper Cream
• Onesies
• Sleepers/footed PJs with zippers, not snap buttons
• Bottles (we used BornFree and Playtex Drop-ins which were very useful for when we were out)
• Hooded towels
• Nail clippers
• Video Monitor
• Crib
• Crib Mattress
• Infant Car Seat
• Snap & Go stroller
• Dreft or similar-type laundry detergent
• Wash cloths
• Burp cloths
• Lanolin ointment for nursing
• Ergo or other type of wrap/carrier

We couldn’t have lived without:

• Diapers & Wipes
• Dr. Brown’s Bottles
• Sound Machine
• 2 Swaddles (We used Summer Infant’s SwaddleMe, but in hindsight the Woombie would have been better).
• 2 Phillips Avent Pacifiers (0-3 months)
• At least 8 burp cloths
• 6-12 onesies (I imagine footed sleepers would be better for winter babies)
• Crib or bassinet (we used a moses basket before our crib mattress arrived)
• 2 sheets for your crib or bassinet
• Newborn Mittens
• Graco SnugRide Car Seat
• Graco LiteRider Stroller
• Swing! (We LOVED our Snugglider since the SnugRide carseat strapped right in)
• Bottle Washer

• Car seat. I lived without a stroller for 4 weeks and hauled the cars eat around stores over my shoulder, which garnered strange looks and would not have been appropriate if I had a C section.
• Burp cloths. Gooey burps didn’t happen for quite some time, and we could have gotten away with all the unused dishtowels we have in the house.
• Nosefrida snot sucker. We lived in our carpeted basement for the first few weeks, and my baby must have the same allergy to dust as I do because she was congested every day.
• Flannel swaddles. These cinched tighter than the fancy muslin ones, but I couldn’t find any as big as the aiden and anais ones.
• Diapers – either Pampers Swaddlers with the wetness indicator for disposables, or a newborn size diaper in reusable, or a one size that will actually fit a small baby straight from the hospital like these softbums which fit down to 5 lbs
• 2-3 Pants with feet. With a summer baby I could have definitely lived without the onesies, but we did need some pants to go with all the onesies we had amassed, especially if we wanted to use the car seat with a onesie.
• Zip up footed pajamas with mittens.
• Wipes, either store bought or handmade from flannel
• Mattress
• Changing pad
• 2-4 crib sheets
• 2 waterproof mattress protectors
• baby shampoo
• baby head to toe wash
• boppy

• Diapers & Wipes – pampers
• Cornstarch
• Swing
• bouncer
• boppy+ 2 covers
• changing pad +2 covers
• diaper genie
• bassinet+2 sheets
• Aden & Anais blankets at least 3 or 4
• infant carseat/stroller combo
• Nuk Paci
• tons of onesies, short sleeved for my Summer baby, footie pjs for winter baby
• swaddle blankets- we used summer infant
• motorola moniter
• burp rags
• aveeno baby shampoo/bodywash combo
• aveeno baby daily moisturizer
• baby bathtub
• baby washcloths
• baby towel

These are the things I would absolutely want to have on hand if a new baby appeared at our house tomorrow (other than someone to pinch me so I would wake up– our house is, uh, full).

• Cloth diapers: Peachy Green size 0 (24) for daytime, XS Woollybottoms wool covers (2) and Kissaluv size 0 unbleached fitted diapers (4) for nighttime.
• 2 or more woven wraps
• a stretchy water wrap for co-showering
• a My Brest Friend nursing pillow and two covers
• these cloth wipes (3 packs)
• a peri bottle filled with room temperature water for diaper changes (and in our bedroom I would use a thermos of warm water, to make changes less wakeful/startling during the night)
• A convertible carseat suitable for newborn use (if we’re not in the car driving, I wear or hold my babies)
• we bed-share, so no extra sleeping place or bedding needed. For safety the adult bed has only a fitted sheet, and if I need a blanket for myself I use a smaller, throw-style blanket kept well away from baby’s face. Mr. T has his own, similar blanket.
• Nature’s Baby Organics shampoo/bodywash. I rarely soap up my infants’ skin– we tend toward dry skin, and plain water is cleansing enough. I do shampoo hair 2-3 times per week, and I co-shower with them (daily if they enjoy it, and as needed if it’s more like a form of inhuman torture). If they aren’t water babies, I will do most baths as “sponge baths” using a washcloth and plain water for the body, and shampoo for hair 2-3 times per week.
• A thermometer for taking baby’s temperature
• Earth Mama Angel Baby Bottom Balm (we use this stuff all over, wherever skin needs some TLC)
• A hospital grade breastpump (I would rent one in the beginning in case things didn’t go well and I needed help boosting supply)
• a baby scale (we rented one for the first three months so we could monitor weight gain at home and do weighed test feeds to keep an eye on how breastfeeding was going because I had serious supply issues with Ellie. Having a sensitive scale at home really allowed us peace of mind without having to trek to the doctor’s office).