Babies have a lot of stuff. When we were registering at Babies R Us, they gave us a checklist of "necessities" that was five pages long. We actually had to ask a worker what some of the things were. We obviously didn't get any of the things we had never heard of before, and figured we could do with a lot of the other things the list said we needed. Don't be fooled though, we still ended up with a lot of things. How can a tiny seven pound baby require so many
things??
These are some of the things that we've found to be necessary/helpful/nice to have the first three months. I might need to go back and look at this in case we have another little one. Woah, did I really just say that? Lisa, do not forget about how terrible it is to be pregnant!! This could also be a helpful list in case someone comes to me, as a supreme baby expert, to know what they might want for their own baby.
1. Swaddles. For the first few weeks of Julia's life we did not use a swaddle. We were dumb. Every now and then we'd wrap her up in a blanket (we actually watched more than one YouTube video on how to swaddle your baby with a blanket) but she would wriggle her arms out of those in no time flat. Once we got out of our "brand new parent haze" we got smarter and started using the swaddles that we had gotten at baby showers. Julia was not as good as escaping from these and she was able to actually sleep since she wasn't startling herself awake every five minutes. You feel like you're putting your baby in a straight jacket, which I guess you basically are, but it's so worth it. I haven't yet met a swaddle I don't like- we have the Miracle Blanket, some Summer brand swaddles, and several Aden & Anais brand swaddles.
2. Sound machine. We keep white noise playing in Julia's room and I think it really does help her calm down and also drown out other noises. Murphy doesn't seem to care that Julia goes to bed around 7. If he sees a dog/person/squirrel/leaf outside, he's probably going to bark at it. His barking hasn't woken Julia up at night yet, and that's probably thanks to the sound machine. I also use an app on my phone to play white noise if I want her to sleep while we're out and about. I just stick my phone on her lap in the infant carrier- she doesn't always fall asleep with this, but it will keep her from crying usually.
3. Nasal Aspirator/Nose Frieda. First off, do not judge on the nose frieda- I do enough of that on my own. Before getting one, I would dry heave at the mere mention of one. It still grosses me out. But when your baby is uncomfortable because her nose is full of snot and she sounds like a little bulldog when she is trying to sleep, you will do anything to help make her feel better. Before Julia was born (and even afterwards, but before allergy season when she got a snuffy nose), Jeff and I would make fun of the Nose Frieda and its users because it's probably the grossest baby gadget sold. And now we own one. Such shame.
Moving on...
4.Angel Care Baby Monitor. I do not think we would be able to get a good nights sleep without this thing. We would also probably still have Julia sleeping in our room at night so we could watch her sleep/make sure she was breathing. This monitor makes a really loud beeping noise if it can't detect breathing/movement from the baby. Julia is a bit of a squirmer at night (I don't understand how she moves around her crib so much when she can't even manage to roll over yet, but she does) so we've had the alarm go off a few times when the detector pad could no longer sense her because she had moved off of it. This, more than any other baby related item we have, gives us such peace of mind. It's a must-have.
5. Gas Drops/Gripe Water. We use these pretty interchangeably. The gripe water can get rid of hiccups almost instantaneously. I have no idea how, but I wish adults had such a quick cure for hiccups. The box says adults can use gripe water, but the dosage is like half the bottle. And it tastes gross (although Julia seems to enjoy it), so, no thanks. I'm not sure how effective the gas drops are, but if Julia's fussy for no apparent reason, we usually give her some to see if they help. From about 2 weeks-7 weeks we were giving her these almost daily and they seemed to calm her down and make her tummy feel better if she had gas.
6. Headrest Mirror. We have mirrors in our cars that go on the backseats so we can see Julia in her car seat. These are especially helpful so I can glance back in my rear view mirror to see why Julia is crying. It's usually because her pacifier has fallen out and I can reach back there and pop it back in her mouth. (A pacifier clip doesn't warrant it's own paragraph, but you gotta have one. Or several.) Sometimes it's because her headband has fallen over her face and is acting as an eye mask. She never appreciates that for some reason.
7. Bows. I don't know if people just assume all babies are boys, or what, but people are constantly telling us what a handsome little boy we have. Even when she is dressed in pink. And has a dress on. And is wearing a bow. And has a pink pacifier. And a pink blanket on her. Usually these people will eventually notice she is wearing a bow and correct themselves, but not always. (Just the other day a lady came up to us and said "Oh what a handsome little boy! Oh, but he's wearing a bow! So he must be a girl! She's precious!" and then she touched Julia's cheek. Get out of here, lady!) Annoying. So, bows are good to help strangers determine gender when they are obviously color blind. Plus no outfit is actually complete until a bow is on the head!
8. Cherish The First Six Weeks by Helen Moon. I read this at least three times. And Jeff read it almost once. When you don't know a lot about babies (yep!) this book does a pretty good job of telling you what's going on with your baby and suggests a schedule to follow to get your baby in a routine and hopefully sleeping through the night sooner than later. As a side note, we borrowed this book from Tony and Courtney (they used it with Oscar and swore by it) and I first read it while pregnant and it read more like a horror novel (no sleep! constant nursing! no sleep! did I say no sleep yet?) than a helpful guide to a happy baby. So, around two weeks, I started getting serious about getting Julia on a schedule and followed Moon's suggestions. And now she's a predictable baby that sleeps through the night. Viola!
We have a ton of other things (again, how can a baby require so much stuff?!) like baby carriers, play mats, tummy time mats, toys, toys, toys, swings, bouncy seats, super adorable clothes, etc. but these are the things that I would actually spend money on/pay full price for (that's saying something!).
PS. My number one baby-survival-must-have is a Jeff, but I think there's just the one and I already have him, so.... sorry 'bout that. Jeff does about as much baby stuff as I do (including getting up in the middle of the night if she makes a peep!), and that's really saying something since I'm currently the only one that can provide her food. He's the best.
