As a new mom, you will get endless lists and advice on what you need for both yourself and baby after delivery – all the things that companies want you to think you need and what others tell you.
I was overwhelmed by the amount of things people and companies told me I needed, and much of it went to the wayside and was either donated or sold long after I had her without being used or maybe used once.
So, while it is still pretty fresh on my mind, I decided to put together an actual list of what I thought I needed, and didn’t and what I needed and no one ever told me about. It seems I had a ton of useless stuff and not enough of what was actually necessary.
So, let’s start at the beginning and go from there. Here is my list of what I truly needed and things I definitely did not. This may work for you, or you might find that you used the shit out of something I found useless – either way, here you are. I hope it’s helpful.
DO GET:
· A cozy, button down night gown for the hospital. This was one I absolutely was so grateful for. I was able to nurse and be comfy and wear it home and not feel gross in it. I got one from amazon and it was super soft and lovely. This is not to be confused with a fancy birthing gown. Don’t do it. You are giving birth, there is nothing pretty about that – the gown is going to get disgusting. It will be covered in fluids and blood and all the things, do not waste your money on something pretty to do something absolutely disgusting in, you will want to just throw it away after, just use the hospital gown. I promise. You can buy something pretty to wear after for photos or what not, but don’t buy in to the hype of the birthing gown. Nope. Here is what I got: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z1RFXXK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
· Your own pillow for the hospital. This was also something someone suggested to me and I am so glad they did. I felt much more comfortable and like a little piece of home was with me. I did not use this for labor, because again, gross. I did use it after, and it was such a great idea. Do it.
· Nursing bras. I was not going to get these, however, I am so glad I did and I continue to wear them long after nursing has ended. They are so incredibly comfortable and no underwire. I wont ever go back to that nonsense. These are totally worth it. I snagged these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TVKJ2GY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
· Zip up jammies. For the baby, not for you. Though if they made them for adults, I would probably suggest it. People purchase all sorts of cute outfits for babies, and they are not worth. Buy the zip up jammies. Zip up, no snaps, only zips. They are so much easier to manage than clothes, they keep the baby cozy and are easy – that is worth mentioning twice. You do not need to add stress of dressing up baby, I promise, only buy or register for zip up jammies. At least for the first six months or so.
· Baby Brezza. If you plan (or don’t plan but find yourself doing it anyway) to formula feed in any way whatsoever, get this. It is so worth the investment, and makes it much easier to make bottles as opposed to mixing them by hand and trying to avoid the bubbles. Get it, worth it.
· Owlet sock. I know this one is a huge investment, and the new version is not nearly as great as the old one (so if you can find the old version, it is much better). The difference is, the old version monitors oxygen, the key here. The only reason this thing is worth it. It does track sleep, which is great as well, but that oxygen monitor is the best. It saved our girl for sure, without it, we would have waited longer to go to the hospital when she was sick and she would have been sicker. I am so grateful for this thing, and would recommend it to any and everyone.
· Diaper pail. Not to be confused with the diaper genie, you do not need anything special, just a sealing trash can will do the trick, and not cost you a ton in specific trash bags. No genie with special whatever, just a nice, sealing trash can.
· Floor play mats. These get a ton of use at my house, obviously not immediately, but by six months or so, she was on the floor all the time and rolling around and now crawling. They have been such a help to give her some space. And nothing fancy. Target sells little mats you can push together for a bigger space. Or some of those puzzle ones. Just something a little softer for her than the hard wood floors.
· Boppy. I actually had two of these – one for the living room and one for her room, only because I received two for my baby shower. However, it was awesome and they came in handy constantly, to feed her, prop her up, give her some supported tummy time, etc. They were awesome. Highly recommend. I kept one and figure I can use it in the future for reading or something, I am sure.
· Adjustable highchair. You think you will not need a high chair until later but that is not the case. If you get one that will adjust to recline all the way back for infants, it is incredibly useful when you need to sit down and eat. You can eat and put them in it, recline back, and able to feed them with one and eat with the other. Genius and it was helpful for those moments when it feels like she would only cry when I would sit down to eat.
· Bottle Sterilizer (microwave). Now, I heard so many people telling me that this was not necessary. However, it is. It is insanely helpful – I can wash bottles and toss them in the microwave for three minutes to complete and have them totally clean. Absolutely worth it.
· Sound Machine. This is such a necessity for the nursery. I am convinced this is part of the reason we have such a great sleeper – and why the dogs being stupid noisy never really woke her up.
· I am sure this list could go on and on with what I found helpful but these were the most important ones. I still find most of these items super helpful. Now on for the not necessary ones.
DO NOT NEEDS:
· Music for the hospital. Yikes, I spent hours putting together a play list for the hospital. My husband even purchased a speaker and everything. We never turned it on. Not once. The idea was great, but we did not actually have time or energy to turn it on, we just turned on the TV and talked mostly.
· Birthing classes. Oh this one will ruffle some feathers. I was adamant about these classes, and unfortunately because of Covid, things were limited and we ended up getting some online classes. This was so important to me, and looking back I have no idea why exactly. I wanted to be prepared and have peace of mind. Honestly, I used nothing from these classes and ended up just going with the flow and allowing everyone around me to help me do just that. I also did not have a birth plan – I found it to be useless and too stringent, I wanted to have some space to breathe during this time. The classes about advocacy also made me super stressed, they made it seem like everyone was out to get me and just wanted to get me in and out as quickly as possible – and that was far from what I experienced, I had an amazing staff around me and truly felt supported, and did not need to watch videos about how awful everyone was going to be. I thought this would be so important and they did little to actually prepare me for anything. Honestly, there is nothing that can prepare you, and there is no birth plan I would imagine that actually goes as planned.
· Crib mobile. How do you even say this? Mobeel/mobil? I have no clue, and that’s how I feel about using it as well. They are pretty much useless, and that’s really the end of it. I don’t get it, and probably wont, but my opinion would be to not waste your money.
· Wipe warmer. I don’t understand this – if babies don’t know warm wipes, they wont know the difference, right? Maybe, I guess some probably get pissy with cold wipes, but this seems so useless. And do you have to turn it on and wait for them to get warm? Seems odd and like something a company wants to convince you to need rather than something you actually need.
· Fancy bottles. We went through so many bottles trying to figure out what would work best – when she actually did not mind the cheap ones (tommy tippee, so not super cheap), why I thought I needed to keep trying to find something different when I already had bottles that worked I have no idea. I would see an ad for bottles that were supposed to be the most amazing thing and buy them and she would hate them. Total waste of money, time and energy.
So there you have it. That’s my list, and like I said I am sure there are many more to be had, however, these were the most important to me.
Happy new parenting!! Add to the list if you know of something super useful – or not- that I left out here.
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