And just like that, Baby Hug is three months old.  Well, almost three months old.  In some ways, it’s hard to believe that it’s already been that long.  In other ways, it feels like it’s always been this way.  Today, I’m sharing what I think are newborn essentials for the first three months.

The truth is, the first few weeks home with a newborn can be kind of a blur.  There’s a lot of eating, sleeping, diaper changing, and repeating.  Everyone is learning together and figuring out a new normal.  When we had Little, I had no idea really what we needed.  We had all the newborn baby products.  We’ve made some changes this time around and I’m excited to share what we’ve been using with Hug.

Newborn Baby Products for the First 3 Months: The Essentials

Before getting to our list, I want to just make note that I realize that all babies are different and all parents have different styles and tastes so what worked for us may or may not fully work for others.  So, I hope you’ll take this newborn essentials list as a guide – a good place to start – when thinking of necessities for a newborn baby.

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Sleeping

We opt to have our little guy sleep in the room with us, so he’s not in his crib yet.  These recommendations then are for having baby sleep in mom and dad’s room.

Graco Pack-n-Play Playard – Even though we’re keeping Hug in our room right now, we want to be sure to have him on a flat, firm surface to keep him safe and to make the transition to his crib easier.  The pack-n-play has worked out great for us.  It feels more similar to a crib and since it’s easily portable, we can take it with us when we travel so baby gets to have the same sleep space home and away.

Sleepsack Swaddle – We love our swaddle blankets, but if I’m completely honest, I’m not good enough at swaddling to trust letting Hug sleep through the night with just the swaddle blankets.  Instead, we use Halo’s Sleepsack Velcro Swaddle.  We used this with Little, too and it is a huge help in the early months when baby’s startle reflex is still so strong and can easily wake them up.  Once they start to lose that reflex and are able to transition out of the swaddle, I still use the velcro part to sort of “hug” baby’s core.  This way, his arms are out, but he still feels snuggly.

Footed pajamas with snaps – Ok, footed pajamas are no surprise on this list.  But I wanted to add here, that I really prefer the ones with snaps for sleeping.  Individual snaps take maybe a few seconds longer to close up, but when we’re changing diapers in the middle of the night, the sleepsack zips downward and all the sleepers zip upwards.  So, if I use the ones with zippers, I have to all but take off the whole swaddle blanket off.  We still use the zipper ones for daytime play though.  Just saying.

White noise machine – A white noise machine is a really great tool to help with baby’s sleep.  We use the myBaby Sound Spa for both boys and think it does the job.  A white noise machine will help baby know it’s time for sleep while also drowning out any sudden noises from outside.

Feeding

Nursing Pillow – This is my favorite one and although I use it significantly less with Hug, it was a lifesaver for me with Little.

Nursing Cover – I’ve used this so many times with Hug, I can’t even count.  This allows me to modestly nurse in public and around others comfortably.

Burp Cloths – Because spit happens.  It happens whether you choose to breastfeed or bottle feed.  We have a ton of burp cloths around here, but even so, I’m not entirely convinced that you can have enough.  My favorite burp cloths are these tri-fold cloth diapers.  They are big enough to clean even the biggest spit-up messes, but not overwhelmingly big.  Basically, perfect.

Breast Pump – When I was working away from home, I used this double-electric pump which was covered by our insurance.  This time around, I’ve been using the Medela Harmony Manual Breast Pump.  I love the manual pump because it’s so easy to grab and go, if you will.  I usually pump just once a day while Hug is nursing on the other side to build up a small freezer stash in the even that I’m not able to nurse him for a full year, I’m away from him when he needs to eat, and to use for pureed foods when he starts eating solids.

Bottles – We used these Avent Natural Bottles with Little when I was working and when I was away.  These are the only ones we used so I don’t have a comparison.  The nipple shape was great for Little and we didn’t have any issues with nipple confusion.  They didn’t leak, and served the purpose.  If you are thinking about breastfeeding, be sure to look for a bottle whose nipple closely resembles the shape of the breast and has a slower flow.

Bottle Warmer – to help warm up bottles for feeding.  Since breast milk can’t be microwaved, having a bottle warmer helps quickly heat up milk before serving.

Boon Bottle Drying Rack – We use this thing all the time for pump parts, and even water bottle parts for Little’s Camelbak.  It’s really helpful to keep all the baby things and parts separate from the other dishes.

Diaper Changing

Diapers – We primarily cloth diaper, but because newborns go through diapers so quickly, so we use way more disposable diapers in these first few months.  Pro-tip: Babies grow out of newborn diapers so quickly, so be sure to have some size 1’s on hand, too!

Wipes – We aren’t picky about wipes over here in terms of brand, but we are adamant that they be fragrance and alcohol free.

Diaper changing pad – This is the one we use (and we actually have three around different places around our house).  Bonus, it’s super easy to wipe clean if needed.

Diaper caddy – This is something that we just added this year since we have two in diapers now.  It holds all the diapers, wipes, diaper rash ointment, and anything else we need.  BONUS: It makes an excellent baby shower gift box, just saying.

Diaper Pail & Wet Bags – Newborns go through a lot of diapers so a diaper pail that keeps the smell at bay is essential.  We use the Dekor pail with resusable wet bags since we cloth diaper.  We have several friends that use the Diaper Genie as well.  Whatever you choose, it’s just important to be sure that you have a place set aside for all those diapers.

Bathtime

Infant Tub – Babies don’t need a bath every day, but when they do, you’ll want to have something small enough and safe for them.

Hooded Towels and Washcloths – To keep babies clean and dry and snuggly warm

Fragrance Free Body Wash & Shampoo – Again, I know a lot of people love the fresh baby scent that comes with a lot of baby products, but babies have such sensitive skin, we prefer to use fragrance free products to prevent irritation and over-drying.

Playing & Extras

Fisher Price Rock-n-Play – This was really helpful for us for the first 5-6 weeks.  I realize that doesn’t seem like a long time, and it’s not, but for those weeks, I was so grateful for it.  I could easily put Hug down when he was asleep, I could move it around as I needed it.  It has a vibrate feature, which we opted not to use because I didn’t want him to get use to sleeping with the vibration.  The Rock-n-Play has a flat surface, but is on an incline, which was really helpful for a few days when Hug was a little stuffy.

Baby Carrier – Now that we have two little ones, I have started baby-wearing much more frequently.  Having a great carrier that you are comfortable using lets you be hands free, but still snuggling your baby.  It is key for getting things done for us.

Activity Gym – This is a fun place for baby to play.  Both of our little ones have loved to lay underneath the toys and kick their little feet.  Not only is it super fun to watch, but it’s fun for them to have a place for exercise, too.  We sometimes let this double as a tummy-time mat also.

Bouncer Chair – And lastly, we use a bouncer chair similar to this one almost every night for dinner.  Because newborns lack head control, they won’t likely be sitting in a high-chair during the first 3 months.  This lets us eat as a family with baby Hug at the table with us.  Once he’s a little older, he’ll also be able to play with some of the toys.

Swaddle Blankets – I know I mentioned that I don’t feel confident enough in my swaddling abilities to swaddle our baby with a blanket for sleeping.  BUT, I’m still adding swaddle blankets here on the essentials list simply because they are so versatile.  We use them for blankets, play mats, burp rags, and so much more around here.  And I know they’ll last a long time – my toddler even uses them still!

And that’s it.  All the products we love and have been using these past three months.  I’d love to know if there is anything I’ve missed that you all loved also.  What are some of the things that made your life easier in the newborn stage?  Was there anything that you thought you’d use that you didn’t?  What are your newborn essentials?

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