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When you’re due to have your first baby everyone tells you about things you “need” to have. The problem with this approach, for many minimalist moms like myself, is that your house is suddenly full of STUFF, most of which you don’t need.
The good news is newborns are generally easy since they don’t need a lot of toys to play with. I’m writing this article while my baby sleeps by my side in her Dock-A-Tot, she’s seven weeks old, so I’m writing this while I’m still “in” it!
1 – Snuggle Me and/or Dock-A-Tot
We have both a Snuggle Me and Dock-A-Tot and use each of them throughout the day.
The Snuggle Me stays in our room and is a great place to put our little one when showering, taking care of things around the house or if we want some safe morning snoozing in our bed. The Snuggle Me was particularly helpful in the first six weeks since it “snuggles” your little one, this was the only thing she could sleep in! This product (like everything I recommend) is flame retardant free and is made in Minnesota with safe materials.
The Dock-A-Tot is similar to the Snuggle Me, but allows for more room for growth. We keep our Dock-A-Tot in our living and dining room and place our baby there to sleep during the day, or when she’s content but awake. This gives me a much needed break from always holding her.
So do you actually need both? Not necessarily, but even for someone like me who doesn’t like a lot of things in my home: the Snuggle Me for sleeping and the Dock-A-Tot for your living room.
2 – Hand Pump
It is your decision whether you want to purchase a traditional pump that plugs into the wall, but what people don’t tell you is the magic of using a hand pump. I purchased the Medela Harmony, and for the first three months I almost exclusively use this pump throughout the day and night. The hand pump doesn’t need to be plugged in, it can easily rest on your nightstand, and is a fast way to express milk. This is especially true in the middle of the night when you’re tired and don’t want to hassle with plugging something into the wall, tubes, noise of a machine etc. The good news is the hand pump garners the same amount of milk as the traditional pumps!
3 – Bottle Brush & Drying Rack
Simply put, it’s nice to have a dedicated brush to washing pump parts and baby bottles.
4 – Nipple Cream
I like two nipple cream products, both vetted for safe ingredients: Motherlove and Earth Mama Angel Baby.
5 – Non-Toxic Car Seat
This is an important are to invest, read my article ranking car seats HERE. My choice? The Nuna Pipa Lite (make sure you get the lite version, the regular model does have flame retardants!).
6 – Bottom care
7-9 – Breast Pads, Nursing Bras & Nursing Friendly Pajamas
Nursing bras are arguably more important than maternity clothes! Little did I know :) This type of nursing bra is my favorite and be sure to invest in some re-useable organic bamboo breast pads.
10 – Naturepedic Changing Pad
Easy to clean, flame retardant free, cozy for baby! SHOP here.
11 – Non-Toxic Crib or Bassinet
Where your child sleeps is perhaps one of the most important spaces you can create for him/her. I wrote an entire blog on the best non-toxic crib on the market and my top picks for bassinets.
Do you NEED a bassinet? No.
12 – Bottle Warmer
We do not have a microwave and so having a bottle warmer is a fast way to warm up milk in the middle of the night. I highly recommend purchasing one of these, we use it many times a day!
13-15 – Sleep Sacks & Velcro Swaddle
We have managed to avoid buying any baby clothes, all of our friends have given us great gifts and hand-me-downs! Included in this generous bundle of clothes were sleep sacks, which makes changing baby’s diaper MUCH easier in the middle of the night.
We couldn’t use the velcro swaddles at first since they were too big on our baby (and instead used traditional swaddle blankets) but once she was a little bigger, these swaddles became our favorite nighttime sleeper. It keeps our baby cozy, sleeping, and she doesn’t unravel the swaddle overtime.
16 – Lovevery (Interactive Play Set)
I teased with my friends that I only wanted our baby to have “one” toy. Well the Lovevery is all we really need for the first twelve months! This interactive play mat and mobile is beautiful, small, easy to assemble/disassemble, and it’s specifically designed to foster a learning environment for the first year of your baby’s life.
17 – Wee Gallery Art Cards
I had no idea that these art cards would become such a hit in our household (other friends with babies agree!). In the first months of life, babies only see in black and white and their brains develop when looking at high contrast images. A friend gave us these art cards, and our baby laughs, smiles and stares at the cards all day long. Happy baby, smart baby!
18 – Diaper Cream
Simply put, babies get diaper rash. I recommend the Earth Mama Angel Baby cream. No harmful chemicals, thick application, works like a charm.
19 – Pacifier
Some people are wary of pacifiers, but the American Academy of Pediatrics says they can be effective for babies who have a strong sucking instinct. Our baby uses silicone pacifiers to avoid harmful plastics and we use this from time to time when she is fussy.
20 – RockerMama
Pictured above, this invention is brilliant, especially for the minimalist mom! Instead of investing in a full sized rocking chair (which I don’t have room for BTW), the RockerMama can be stored under or next to your couch, chair or closet. This product is especially important for the first three months when you’re doing a lot of rocking and nursing during the day. Extra bonus, this product is not treated with toxic flame retardants!
So there you have it. My list of 20 essential products for the first few months of motherhood. Your friends and family will give you a list three times as long, but rest assured, you don’t need to buy everything in order to have a fun and easy first few months with your babe.
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Thanks for the helpful info! I was curious if the Nuna Pipa has changed since your review was done or if there’s something I’m missing. On their website, it looks like all the different Nuna Pipas are now flame-retardant free, but I wasn’t sure if it just appeared this way due to “greenwashing.” I’d prefer not to pay more for the Lite if I can help it, but want to make sure I buy what’s safe. I was going to get the Nuna Pipa and buy the GOT certified insert that comes with the nicer models. Just wondering what your thoughts were on how they are marketing it on their website.
Thanks!
Perhaps they updated their product line! At the time, the Lite was the only FR free one. Generally speaking if something is FR free, they are.
Do you have a recommendation for baby body wash?