Newborn Essentials: Simple List of Everyday Baby Essentials

These are my newborn essentials. I tried to keep it minimal and simple as I could! You really don’t need much during those first few weeks, but after that it’s nice to have some extra things to make the tradition into parenthood a little simpler (like that baby bouncer was the only way I could get a shower those first few months!). Below are all the items I included in my Newborn Essentials video plus other items that I use and love. Congrats on your new baby and I wish you the best of luck in your new adventure of parenthood! Now, onto all things baby…

Let’s start with top 2 things right off the bat, because navigating other peoples essentials can be difficult to know what exactly will fit your lifestyle and baby, but these two were hands-down the best additions to my life as a new mom.

#1 SNUGGLE ME ORGANIC CO-SLEEPER

We co-sleep. Not for everyone, but a lifesaver for us! The Snuggle Me Organic was what Harriet slept in for the first 4 months of her life and it was magic. I loved how portable it was and cozy it was for her. The design behind is that when you set the baby in the middle of it the side come in slightly to “hug” the baby. I loved how I could bring it around the house for her to sleep in and I could sit be near her and watch her where ever I was in the house. It was also great for travel!

#2 BABY CARRIER

I LIVED in my Solly Wrap (first photo) for the the first month of maternity leave. I would wakeup, put on a tank top, wrap the Solly Wrap around me, pop baby in and out during the day to feed, diaper change, play, etc. The material is incredible soft which makes it feel like you’re simply wearing a loose shirt all day over your tank top.

Baby wearing is a perfect way to keep baby feeling cozy and comforted next to you, while still keeping your hands free! While the first few weeks you should really take your time to rest and stay in bed with your baby, after that the Solly Wrap gave me the freedom to make myself food, a coffee or even just brush my hair. I know, ground breaking stuff here, but that first month after your first baby is born is pure survival, yet complete bliss all at the same time.

After the first month or so, I started venturing out of the home more and joined the rest of the world and found the Solly Wrap a bit of a pain out-and-about to put on. I swapped out my wrap for either the Sakura Bloom Scout (second photo) or Sakura Bloom Ring Sling (third photo). The Scout is more your traditional baby carrier, perfect for walks, wearing in a baby-and-me workout class, and everyday activities. It has great support, yet packs up nice and small. The Ring Sling has been my go-to baby carrier when Harriet was able to sit up on her own and preferred to be carrier more on my hip so she could see what’s going on around her easier. It also packs up nice and small, super soft and always in my diaper bag now.

Now, for the a general overview of my newborn essentials…

CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES

CLOTHING
I had two styles of bodysuits I dressed Harriet in a long sleeve organic cotton bodysuit with side snaps and that kimono style bodysuit you see pictured above. In that photo she’s also wearing organic cotton mittens to protect her from scratching herself. Baby nails are so sharp on their new skin and they grow so darn fast! These style bodysuits made it gentler to get her dress each day as the head hole was super tight. Harriet was born in the spring and her first few months were in sunny weather so we kept her in a hat often. My favorite was a this brimmed bonnet.

SWADDLES & BLANKETS
For nighttime we put her in a sleepsack/swaddle thing. In the first few months she slept in the Love to Dream swaddle. She only wanted to sleep with her hands up by her face and that’s exactly what the Love to Dream swaddle allows and she slept sooooo well that way. Once her startle reflex had relaxed, she moved up to the Halo sleepsack with swaddle for the occasional time we still bundled her up like a burrito. I have many swaddles and blankets. These swaddles by Little Unicorn and this quilt also by them are my all time favorite. At first I thought a carseat cover was a bit unnecessary, but now I can’t recommend them enough. They’re perfect for going out in public places to keep strangers from reaching in a touching your baby. Sounds strange, but trust me people love babies and weirdly will reach into your carseat and touch their hands or feet without a second thought totally freaked me out the first time. This carseat cover became a staple in my diaper bag.

PACIFIERS
We avoided a pacifier until breastfeeding was well established, about three weeks. Then, we went with the Avent Soothie one that our breastfeeding class recommended. Again after breastfeeding was well established to ensure she was properly latching, that we setup a good milk supply and I understood her feeding cues. At about 4 months Harriet upgraded to this eco pacifier that’s cute and awesome. We keep one of those brown pacifiers on a little wood and silicon beaded clip for when we’re out and about. That way it won’t drop on the floor.

DIAPERING

I went through a diaper bags and the best one I’ve found for my lifestyle has been the boxy bag by Petunia Picklebottom. Pricey but oh so nice. After Harriet grew out of newborn size disposable diapers, we moved to cloth diapers. I have a whole video about how to cloth diaper if you’re interested. It’s much easier than I thought and my husband’s even on board with it, who was definitely not convinced pre-baby. For a quick run down we use this steel diaper pail (actually doesn’t stink!), this reusable diaper pail liner, these all-in-one cloth diapers, this soft rubber changing pad, and these on-the-go wet bags.

BATHING

We kept it super simple and just got one of those soft flower petal skin inserts. It was great for the first few months. We gave her baths in the sink for a long while.

FEEDING

Harriet is exclusively breastfeed and to be honest never really loved the bottle. The bottle we use is this glass with with a no.1 or no.2 flow nipple. I didn’t know there were such things a slow flow nipples until having a baby. We use a water based bottle warmer, which takes much longer to warm up than the others on the market, but it’s supposed to help maintain all the good stuff in breastmilk. For cleaning we use Dr. Bronner’s baby castile soap with this eco bottle brush. We have one of those grasses, but in WHITE! It keeps our kitchen looking, well, aesthetically pleasing. I found having some specific burp cloths were nice to have. We got these organic burp cloths ones and still use them, especially with runny noises and teething.

GEAR

This is the area I felt most overwhelmed by when registering for our baby. There are so many options out there for baby gear that make you feel like they’re all necessary and everyone seems to love one of them. Here’s a quick rundown of what I got and why. I feel like all of them will be used again for our next baby and everything folds up or is compact enough to easily store.

UppaBaby Vista stroller and UppaBaby Mesa carseat
I LOOOOOOVE this stroller. Worth every penny in my opinion. I was lucky enough to score it at Nordstroms on their black friday sale while I was pregnant. Harriet wasn’t a huge fan of the bassinet, so I went ahead and bought the UppaBaby Infant SnuggleSeat Insert for the rumble seat and she loved it! Also, got this clip-on battery-powered fan for the stroller which truly necessary during the summer months here in Minnesota!

Auto Rock-n-Play
This was great for naps during the first two months or so. While not super necessary, it was nice to have something that would rock and vibrate to help sooth her to sleep at times.

Baby Bjorn Bouncer
A bouncer seat is definitely a necessity for me! It was the only way I could take a shower those first few months. Love this one because it folds down easily for storage and you can easily remove the fabric seat to clean.

NURSERY & TOYS

I tried not to go too crazy with nursery stuff and toys but I like (and still use every night) this sound machine. I added this mobile dimmable night light last minute to my registry and used it all the time during those middle of the night breastfeeding sessions. I also bought the Lovevery Playmat at about 2 months and wish I had gotten it sooner. She really liked all the colors, sensory and activity it provided.

HEALTH

I’d recommend a forehead thermometer to easily take their temperature. And the NoseFrida is a huge necessity for me! We still use it all the time when she’s stuffy or has a runny nose.