With four kids, I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t when it comes to babies. And over the past couple months, I’ve put together a list of my top 8 must have baby item favorites that we use constantly, and I wanted to share them with you. This post may contain affiliate links.
I seriously can’t live without these things having a newborn and young baby. If there’s just a few things you can budget for your new baby, these are the things I have used on a daily basis with my baby.
Table of Contents
Dock A Tot
Since we exclusively breastfeed, cosleeping is a must. I have coslept with all four of my children using various ways. It makes nursing so much easier when I don’t have to get the baby out of the bassinet or crib. We can just snuggle in the bed together and get to nursing, and mommy gets back to sleeping. The DockATot is my favorite way to cosleep. You can get $10 off with this code!
Infantino Carrier
I have always practiced attachment parenting/natural parenting with all of my children. Part of that is keeping my babies close, so I like to use slings or baby carriers. In the past I’ve tried various baby carriers and made my own ring slings. This time I was looking at various baby carriers, but they are just so expensive! Then, I found this Infantino Gather Carrier. It’s just over $30 on Amazon. I LOVE this thing. We wear it all the time. My baby loves it and always falls right to sleep.
I’m a plus size mom and wear about an 18/20 and it fits me just fine with room to spare. My husband is a big guy at 275 and 6ft, and it fits him, too.
Pampers Swaddlers
With a newborn, we love Pampers Swaddlers. They fit perfectly and are gentle. And, the best part is that the blue line shows up when they’ve wet the diaper. That is a lifesaver for a newly breastfeeding baby. It’s crucial to count the wet and dirty diapers to know if they are getting enough milkies, and Pampers Swaddlers make that so easy.
All-In-One Cloth Diapers
When we get past that initial meconium stage as a newborn, we move to cloth diapers. I’ve cloth diapered all my kids after the initial first few weeks. These cloth diapers are some of my favorites. They are affordable and come with 2 inserts per diaper (many only come with 1). And, they have such cute, cute prints! These are also great for a heavy wetter like my Ivy.
WaterWipes
Every baby I’ve had is too sensitive for baby wipes until now. We’ve always had to just had a huge stack of wash clothes because the baby wipes, even the sensitive ones, broke all my kids out in a rash. But, WaterWipes are a lifesaver. They are 99% water.
Activity Gym
Now that our sweet little Ivy is 2 months, she loves to try to bat at toys and look at brightly colored things. I recently got her the Infantino Grow-with-me Activity Gym and Ball Pit. This is so cool! It has a net and comes with balls. So you can start it out as just a mat for them to lay under toys or for some tummy time, then turn it into a mini ball pit when they are a bit older. Right now I have the net up, so she can lay in it without the dog trying to lay down with her on the mat.
Fisher-Price Sit-Me-Up Floor Seat
Ivy is a little busy baby. She has been wanting to stand up for a couple months now, and that’s crazy for a 3-4 month old baby. She’s also been pulling with her core muscles to sit up. So instead of the popular Bumbo seat, which I feel doesn’t have enough support, I got this Fisher Price Sit-Me-Up seat that supports her back and neck. It has little toys attached. I can sit on the floor and fold laundry or pet the dog while she sits next to me. She just loves it.
Wrist Rattles
She’s been discovering her hands and feet for a while, so I love putting wrist rattles on her wrists and ankles. They make crinkle sounds along with different rattle sounds. She just loves the bright colors.