MY TOP 10 NEWBORN MUST-HAVES

It feels so funny writing this blog post because I am such a newbie mom – I have no idea what I’m doing and ask for advice and help with everything! So it feels strange to be giving any sort of “mom advice” on the blog.

Also, before Lily was born, talking about any type of baby equipment was equally boring and confusing. I was also overwhelmed with all the options while simultaneously not understanding what half of it was for. How can something so small require so many things?

But, just like all first-time moms, I have started to learn this new language and can now decipher between a bucket and bassinet or Baby Bjorn and Baby Brezza.

So while I’m no expert, I have come to rely on a few products that make day-today life with a newborn a little easier.

Here are the top 10 items I would consider newborn must-haves:

It doesn’t necessarily have to be this exact one, but a good swing is key for the early days. The trick is finding one the baby likes…Like all things baby and pregnancy, everyone will swear by their swing but it really depends on if the babe likes it. This one came highly recommended by one of my best friends and I liked that she could go in it really early on. It takes up a ton of space and the music is really annoying but it keeps her entertained for a few minutes. She doesn’t actually fall asleep in it which I was hoping she would but maybe she will eventually. A swing is just a great “extra set of hands” and I like to keep it in a place where I can see it from the kitchen.

At first I thought having a sterilizer was super bougie but once we upgraded from a pot of boiling water to this mini spaceship I was not going back. Having to sterilize bottles and pump parts is so annoying and we only use one bottle a day! This is a huge eyesore and takes up so much space BUT it dries everything after it’s sterilized and for that I love it!

This is something I wish I had right away because it’s a carrier that the baby can go in even if they are really small. It comes pre-assembled so it is really easy to get on. Don’t look at the instructions on the box that show how to wear it – it just makes it confusing. Instead watch this YouTube video and you will figure it out in a second. I got this in light grey because I figured it would be less hot and sweaty in the summer. The baby can face in or out so it will be good in a few months too.

This is the bassinet that Lily sleeps in overnight. We keep it in our bedroom but might be moving her out soon because she sounds like a barnyard animal at night. I like it because you can adjust the height to your bed. We have ours so that it slides just over the bed and I can easily reach inside of it. I use the swivel feature to rock her, pull her closer to give her the pacifier or to easily get around the bassinet when I’m getting in and out of bed. I love that the sides are mesh so it doesn’t make me nervous and I can see her through it. It has 3 motion settings that move the bassinet to mimic things like rocking but we have never used them because we don’t want her to get used to sleeping in a moving bed.

One of the first times we were in the car with Lily, she started crying and I couldn’t sooth her. She wouldn’t take the pacifier like she normally does and I thought we were f*cked. Then I remembered that someone once told me babies love white noise. So I quickly YouTubed “white noise,” put the phone next to her carseat and immediately she settled down. After that, we got this portable noise machine and literally don’t leave the house without it. We clip it on to her stroller or car seat and turn it off once she is settled. It’s really small, has 3 different types of white noise to choose from and also comes with a charger instead of batteries.

Like most babies, Lily loves being swaddled really tightly. Our night nurse did the best tight swaddles with a blanket ever but we really sucked at mimicking them. These velcro sleep sacks saved us! We are able to wrap her super tight to mimic the “night-nurse burrito” and it takes only a second. Now Lily prefers to sleep with her hands out so we transitioned to that but keep her in this same sleep sack. The point of these sleep sacks is that they act as safe “blankets” that they can’t pull over their faces so definitely key to have a bunch of these!

The Haaka is a silicone pump that works manually with suction. It’s great if you just need a little release but don’t want to empty your whole boob or if you are on the go and don’t want to pack the electric pump and all the pieces. A lot of people use this pump while they are breastfeeding to collect the letdown of the other breast instead of it going to waste. I don’t leak on the other side when I feed, and when I did try to use it during nursing, Lily kicked it off. So I just use it for now instead of the electric pump for a little release. It’s also great if your nipples need a bit of a break because it doesn’t use any suction or stimulation of the nipple, it just puts pressure all around the boob as if you were squeezing it with your hand.

Okay, so even though these are illegal in Canada, you need to get your hands on one 😉 Basically you wanna pee on a stick and then secure your dock-a-tot on the black market, that’s how good these are. They were discontinued on the Canadian marketplace because the dangers of babies sleeping in them. We don’t let Lily sleep in hers unless we are awake and in the same room (and of course if she does fall asleep in it, I end up checking her every 2 seconds). Otherwise it’s just a great thing to put babies down in because they can’t roll over in it. I also think babies like it because it’s cozy and comforting to them. I bring Lily around the house in it all day long. I’ll move it from the bed when I’m getting dressed, to the bathroom floor when I’m getting ready to the kitchen table when I’m making breakfast. They do make other versions that are legal in Canada like the one I linked on this photo but I haven’t tried them out. Also, how insane that I can’t even link it -any .ca website bans it!

This is the electrical pump that I use. I will save all my personal pumping details for the breastfeeding blog post coming up. I like this one because it is simple to use and the pump is small so I can fit it into the pocket of my bathrobe or pyjama pants and walk around the house pumping and getting sh*t done.

This product was named perfectly because it literally is my best friend. If you come over at any time of the day in my house, you will see this strapped around my waist. And if it were socially acceptable, I would also wear this pillow all day long outside of the house. Because for me, breastfeeding without it is really hard!! This is perfect for cross-cradle nursing which is the position I nurse in. Lily has a shallow latch and my boobs are huge – a bad combo! So this pillow makes feeding a lot easier for me.

So that is all for the items I would highly suggest getting for the newborn phase. Of course, every baby is different and some of the items you or your babe might hate but these are what have been useful to us and have helped us survive the first 7 weeks!

I hope you found this helpful, and as always, leave a comment or send me a DM if you have any questions!

xoxo