New Mama Necessities: Newborn

Aden and Anais Swaddle Blankets: In addition to coming in tons of adorable (but not too cheesy) prints, these muslin blankets are soft, a great size and can be used not only for swaddling, but for a nursing cover, burp cloth, play blanket or changing mat in a pinch.

Swaddlepods/Woombies: So yes, you have to get over the fact the they look a little like a baby straight jacket, but these are wonderful in the middle of the night when swaddling with a regular blanket challenges your dexterity and patience. It’s s little strange to get used to zipping the baby up in a pouch, but ours relaxes and falls asleep as soon as we get him in it. It keeps their little arms from flailing around and scaring them but has enough stretch for some wiggle room.

Side Snap Onesies: Dressing a tiny newborn is scary business. These are great for the first few days, when you’re afraid you will hurt them if you pull something over their little heads, and later, when the baby is being particularly fussy and you don’t want to make it worse. Gerber makes inexpensive 3 packs (and the patterns are so sweet!), if you want to get fancy, we had favorites from Kate Quinn organics and Tea Collection as well.

Kickypants: Hands down my favorite clothing for babies so far…introduced to me by fellow Hive mom, Lisa. Soft, stretchy and super cute patterns…these also seem to magically fit for longer than all the other clothing brands I have tried. I managed to hit a great sale and stocked up, keep your eyes out for one!

Boppy: Yeah, yeah…everyone knows about these. But seriously, get one. Or some kind of breastfeeding pillow (I’ve heard great things about My Brest Friend as well)…and get extra covers, those things get messy! Even if you arent breastfeeding, they are just a good way to give your arms a break, and our baby loves to just chill out in his and watch us go about our business.

Cloth diapers: Not for actual diapering, silly (although if you are going that route – props to you.  I had good intentions of trying but convenience and cost won out in the end). These old school white cloths can be used as a stand in for burp cloths, bibs, and most importantly, a diaper change shield for little boys. Those cute little tepees are clever, but don’t actually do much good. We go through a stack if about 10 cloths a day, and keep them stashed in every room.

Hand Sanitizer: Keep one in every room.  Washing your hands is tough with a little one in tow, and you’ll want all your guests to use it before they try to put their grubby hands all over your baby.

Angelcare Video/Movement/Sound Monitor: OK, so we got a little extreme with the monitoring. But for me, being able to see what he is doing keeps me from running into the room every 30 seconds to check on him.  For an extra level of crazy, ours even has an alarm that will go off if he stops breathing.  For me, the extra $50 was worth being able to sleep better, knowing I will be alerted immediately if something is wrong.   Adjust your investment accordingly, depending on your budget and level of paranoia.

Bouncy chair: We chose this one from Bjorn because of its small size and portability…as well as the breathable fabric (our house gets toasty in the summer becuase of all the windows!).  It can also be used as a toddler chair once he gets older.  We can give our arms and backs a break but still interact with the baby while we eat dinner, work on the computer, do household tasks, etc. The toy bar is detachable and you can clip additional toys on as well. I also highly recommend getting one with a seat cover you can take off and wash…I’ve already had to do this twice, and he’s only been using it for a few weeks!

Car Mirror: Driving with a newborn in the car is TERRIFYING. Every other driver suddenly becomes a crazy maniac, every intersection a death trap. In addition to the other drivers, I was gripped with paranoia that something horrible was happening in the car seat…were the straps too tight? Could he breathe? Did the blanket over his feet somehow make it over his face to suffocate him? (as it turns out, his silence merely indicated a nap – shocking, I know). The ability to peek back and see his sweet snoozing face saved me from pulling over to check.  Ours has cute toys, music, and now that he is older, he enjoys looking at himself in it as much as I like to see what he is doing!

Lap Pads: Thank goodness someone told me about these! The pad on top of the changing pad (or sheets, or play yard, or blanket)…who knew?  So much easier to just throw this layer into the laundry, rather than constantly washing that oh-so cute changing pad cover (or sheets, or blanket).  We started with cheapie ones, but they are starting to look a little rough so I am planning on upgrading to these.

Nightlights: When a friend told me I would be able to change a diaper in the dark, I had a hard time believing her. It’s not exactly pitch black in there at night, but thanks to our nightlights I don’t have to fumble around with a lamp or disrupt the “nighttime” vibe at 3am. We just grabbed cheapie ones at Lowes, but decorate to your hearts content (I am coveting this Jonathan Adler one). We also have one in our bedroom while the basinette is in there, I can just peek over and check in him whenever I start to hear fussing.

White Noise: Because of our home’s temperature issues, we have a good old fashioned fan/heater combo, but I’m thinking of investing in a sound machine as well. Our baby sleeps so much better with the lull of white noise in the room, and we don’t freak out about clattering dishes or opening doors at night once he’s in bed.

Cuddle Monsters: This has been Bowie’s favorite stuffed animal so far – at just a few weeks old he would lay in his crib and stare at it and start “talking”.  I’m not sure if it’s the big eyes or fun patterns (on ours – see first photo) but he LOVES it.  Ours is from Dwelling Spaces,  featured in our Spring Issue’s cover story.

Rockabye Baby CDs: I had seen these and just thought they were a shower gift novelty, but I got a few from my sister and we listen to them all the time!  The series takes popular music and turns the tune into an instrumental lullaby.  We are a pretty music centered family, so always have the ipod on in the nursery (I’ll share my favorite baby playlist in the next New Mama Post!)…these are great for bedtime or feeding times…soothing for babies, but provide a little entertainment for mom and dad as they can sing along with their favorite tunes (Kanye’s “Golddigger”, anyone?).

Play Gym: I always cringed at the thought of having cheesy baby stuff all over my house.  While it’s taking over a little more than I anticipated, I found a few lines that are a little easier on the eyes.  Skip Hop is cute, affordable and widely available, or drool with me over this gorgeousness from Finn and Emma (actually, I drool over everything by Finn and Emma).

Wrist Rattle and Foot Finder Set: It takes a while before newborns really start to interact with their toys, but this set has been a favorite from early on – we can hold them and practice tracking, let him feel the different textures, have finger puppet shows, etc…and now that he has discovered his hands a bit more, he is playing with them independently.

Organic Toys – I just think these are great – they come in all kinds of shapes, give you and your baby a visual and textural difference from all the plastic and bright colors…and will be great later for teething.  I found the Guitar on the Little Alouette Etsy shop, and Little Sapling Toys makes all the states, plus a ton of other shapes.

Nursing Tops: I was unsure of whether I needed these, but especially during those first few weeks where you pretty much just sit around the house nursing all day – these are extremely convenient.  I have a few of the pull down kind that are still on permanent rotation on weekends and evenings.

*Speaking of just sitting around the house nursing all day, I found it helpful as well to have a little kit that I carried from room to room with me.  It was stocked with essentials: nipple cream, chapstick, my GIANT water jug (I have never been so parched in my life as during the last month of pregnancy and while breastfeeding), cloth diapers/burp cloths, a packet of crackers or a granola bar (for 4am breastfeeding munchies), an extra pacifier, etc.

Healthy Snacks: After my husband went back to work, there were a few days where I just had to cram whatever food in my mouth that was within arms reach (and keep in mind, that’s only one arm).  Not ideal when you are providing nutrition for both another person and yourself, and trying to heal from birth.  A local company called Harvest Crate was nice enough to send me a fabulous New-Mama box full of yummy fruits and veggies…it was wonderful.  It would be a great gift, or just have someone run to the store and stock up for you.

My Harvest Crate (sorry for the iphone pic…again, I was one-handed)

Apps: There really is an app for everything…in fact, there are tons to track your baby’s feeding, sleep, diaper changes and more.  It sounds a little silly, but as the days and nights blur together and your doctor asks you how many times you’ve fed/changed them, you won’t have a clue.  There are also some that offer daily tips on things you might be seeing with your baby, offer ideas for playtime, tips for moms, quick reference guides and more.  I used the What to Expect and  WebMD Baby, but have heard great things about  lots of others as well.

One of the best pieces of advice that I got was to take some control over visitors for the first week or two (or however long you want).  I have yet to meet anyone that actually wants a ton of people at their house the first day(s) they get home from the hospital. Whatever you are personally OK with, just remember that this is YOUR experience and your family.  There are several factors to think about – you’re exhausted, you are pretty much nursing your baby around the clock (I literally spend a whole day in nothing but a nursing bra and cardigan before my nursing tops showed up in the mail), and just generally trying to get things figured out.  Also, your hormones will be out of control, so the smallest piece of “advice” from a well-meaning visitor might send you over the edge.  For me, it was also really important to spend some quality time bonding with my new family.  My husband got a week off work and I wanted us all to spend as much time together as possible that week, getting to know each other, letting him bond with the baby and just learning the ropes.

Everyone will have a different way of handling things, but here’s what I did: I asked that visitors call ahead before stopping by, and wasn’t afraid to tell people if it was a bad time (which there are alot of – between feeding and trying to sleep while the baby sleeps, there aren’t many  free hours). I limited drop ins to around 2 a day.  I went ahead and stepped into the other room if it was time to nurse (every 2 hours the first week or so), no matter who had just arrived or what was going on.  And I used my husband as the bearer of all this news.  I’m pretty sure I made a few people mad, but I didn’t want to sacrifice my baby’s health (or my own) to save hurt feelings.  The way I see it, you’ve got a window to act like a crazy bitch, you may as well take advantage of it.

As the weeks went on, I loosened up a bit, but still stayed pretty hunkered down.  In my mind, those 6 weeks I had off work were my chance to spend all day, every day getting to know this little person who had spent 9 months inside me…and I didn’t want any distractions.  I’m so glad I did – turns out, he’s an amazing guy.

So there’s my take on the first couple months of motherhood for newbies…next edition: Back to Work!

I’d love to hear about your favorite products, tips and new mama tricks…please let me know!!