When I was pregnant with my first child, I researched everything. What a baby will do, what will help him/her sleep, what will turn a baby into a genius. The amount of STUFF that I was told I “needed” was overwhelming. As a natural skeptic and a frugal consumer, I felt like the consumerist culture was preying on our fears and desires to be perfect parents. With my second child, there were a few changes I made. In this post, I will share with you my top picks for new baby must-haves, and the items I decided to forgo.

Top Picks:

-Bassinet: My babies slept in bassinets until they were 4+ months old. I love the convenience of keeping the bassinet right by my bed at night, so I can simply pick up my baby and feed him, then put him right back into his bed. The wheels are amazing for easily and gently rolling the bassinet around the room. The bassinet portion unlatches from the wheeled base, so we often took the top of it with us on overnight trips. It’s smaller than a pack and play and the baby is accustomed to sleeping in it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Ergo: The most comfy baby carrier that will grow with your baby from infancy until 3+. The versatility of the Ergo is hard to beat! Carry your baby on the front as an infant to 8 months, but when the baby has more neck control he can safely and comfortably ride on your back. The padded shoulder straps ensure a comfortable fit.

-Video baby monitor: I had a regular baby monitor for our first, and received a video monitor for our second. The regular baby monitors work just fine, but the video screen is so nice to see if your little one is making noise because he’s hungry or simply making noise as he’s going back to sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Velcro swaddlers: After trying to carefully roll a baby up into the perfect burrito for the fifth time in a night at three in the morning, I was so over the regular swaddlers. Simply lay your baby down, slide the feet into the bottom, fold arms and secure the velcro around them. No kicking out of the swaddler and arms stay put, too!

 

 

 

 

 

-Baby washcloths: Cute, soft, inexpensive squares of fabric that I use for everything! From giving a baby a bath (duh) to stuffing in my nursing bra to catch any leaks to wiping up spit up, these washcloths are useful for everything. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soothie Pacifier: This particular brand of pacifier worked very well for my boys. It falls out of their mouth unless they are actively sucking, which is a major pro for me. I think this helped them learn to fall back asleep in the middle of the night without a pacifier in their mouths. There are also holes on the side to attach a pacifier clip or stuffed animal (because HOW CUTE IS THAT GIRAFFE??!! I love it!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I decided to opt out of:

-Diaper Genie: a magical pail that makes poopy diapers not smell. Friends swear by it, but there are still dirty diapers sitting around for a few days until you take out the trash, which I just found gross. I opted to purchase simple, scented trash liners and took out the trash from the nursery every day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Bumbo: I encouraged my boys to learn to sit for themselves in a tripod position and slowly stabilize themselves. The Bumbo has amazing reviews and works well for a lot of people, b

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Boppy: a really expensive pillow. Know what works well? A regular pillow. I know these have a cult following, but regular pillows worked just fine for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-White noise machine: Noise machines create a soothing sound so infants can rest easy. My house has enough white noise, and I didn’t want my baby to become dependent on another gadget that I would have to drag along any time we traveled overnight. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Disposable bra pads: I used these for my first child, but stopped using them for my second. With my first child, I really needed these nursing pads for unexpected leaks at inopportune times. My body seemed to have muscle memory with nursing, because with the second I was just able to use infant washcloths stuffed into my bra on the side I wasn’t nursing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoy these tips for newborn necessities! To receive more tips and updates from Mud and Merlot, sign up for the newsletter!