Newborn baby essentials

Now that each of our kids are no longer in the baby phase (<12 months), we can now confidently share what we used during that essential window when you just want to make sure your little one is safe and happy. A shout-out to my wife who did most of the research and compilation of these items - thanks to her it made our lives as parents to newborns much easier and we were much more prepared (thanks, wifey!)!

For starters, we recommend two books that helped keep us sane, especially as we tried to navigate the best ways to soothe our babies, get them to sleep better, and get help identifying their different milestones (i.e. why they were going crazy):

• The Happiest Baby  

  • The 5 S’s for soothing babies (Swaddle, Side/Stomach position, Shush, Swing, and Suck) in this book were a huge help when we were trying to figure out the best way to soothe Gavin and get him to sleep better

• The Wonder Weeks: How to Stimulate Your Baby's Mental Development and Help Him Turn His 10 Predictable, Great, Fussy Phases into Magical Leaps Forward

  • This helped us know the different milestones each week (especially when our kids were fussy we’d quickly reference this book and understand why they were acting the way they were). Also, get the app - it’s worth the download and you’ll be surprised how often you check it.

And now on to the essentials - we compiled this list for a few of our friends and now it’s easier to just point them here! Below are some of the stuff we registered for/ended up using with the babies:

Stroller and Car Seat: 

• UPPAbaby Vista stroller

  • We tested a lot of different strollers and chose this one because of its versatility and intuitive design. It was easy to collapse and open up, and was light-weight enough for both my wife and I to maneuver.

  • This was light-weight and you could collapse the stroller really easily.  The car seat was also easy to put in and out of the car, especially with just one hand (versus some car seats you need to use two hands to press a button down and pull up, which can be challenging if you’re also holding the baby).

  • The stroller stands upright when folded and is easily stored, and the storage basket is really big!

• Car Seat – UPPAbaby MESA

  • Easy design to pop-in the car seat into the base.

  • A ton of padding and an infant insert underneath the butt so our newborns had a ton of support in their first two months.

  • The car seat base is super easy to install on the car. The car seat itself clicks into the base with ease and is very secure. We felt very comfortable hearing the “click” once the seat was in place.

2018 UPPAbaby MESA Infant Car Seat - Jake (Black)

Bedside bassinet:

• Arm's Reach Concepts Cambria Co-Sleeper Bassinet

  • We used this for both Gavin and Hailey and appreciated how light-weight it was, easy to move around, and we felt safe having our newborn babies sleeping in it.

Arm's Reach Concepts Cambria Co-Sleeper, White & Espresso

Pack n Play:

• Graco Pack and Play

  • We still use this and our kids are 3 and 1 years old - we just recently brought it to our vacation to Tahoe and used it as a makeshift crib for Hailey to sleep in.

Monitors:  

• Infant Optics DXR-8 Video Baby Monitor with Interchangeable Optical Lens

  • We have two cameras for each of the kids’ rooms and this has been our saving grace. We did have some issues with the batteries not charging correctly or having short battery lives, but customer service has been helpful to provide us with replacement batteries.

Baby carrier:

•  LILLEbaby Carrier

  • We used this for both kids and loved it - it’s sturdy, provides sufficient back support (I’m an old man and need it), and it’s breathable so you don’t feel like your baby is suffocating. The straps are adjustable but if you’re not flexible (like me), it may be difficult to reach behind you and make adjustments, so I had to rely on the wife to help with that!

Lillebaby The Complete Airflow 360° Ergonomic Six-Position Baby & Child Carrier, Silver

Travel Bassinet: 

• Munchkin Brica Fold N' Go Travel Bassinet

  • One of the BEST baby investments you will spend. We took it around with us all the time with the kids.  Safe secure place to put the baby when you travel about or go to people’s house.

Baby seat:  

• BABYBJORN Bouncer Chair

Mobile:  

• Manhattan Toy Wimmer-Ferguson Mobile

  • This is supposed to be good for brain development with the high-contrast images that are visually stimulating - results TBD!

Baby Gym:

• Skip-Hop Baby Play mat

  • This is a must-have for tummy time - the kids stayed busy looking at all the random things on the mat, and that gave us time to relax and take a break!

Baby tub:

• Puj Tub

  • Soft and comfortable and fit in our sinks perfectly

Pacifiers:  

• Hospital recommended– Soothie Pacifier

• Also Hailey loves her WubbaNubs (we have 3 for her to rotate through)

Swaddle:

• Love to Dream Swaddle UP

  • Hailey did NOT like to be swaddled the standard way (with her arms down or over her chest) - this swaddle was our alternative which allowed her arms to be up above her head, allowing her to stretch and have free-range of her arms. We' were really glad this swaddle existed and was our go-to every night for her.

Love to Dream Swaddle UP, Gray, Small, 8-13 lbs, Dramatically Better Sleep, Allow Baby to Sleep in Their Preferred arms up Position for self-Soothing, snug fit Calms Startle Reflex

This list is by no means exhaustive. We could easily add 20+ more items to this list. Now that we think about it - there was a ton of stuff we got on top of this but then forgot we had it. By the time we remembered, the kids had outgrown that phase and it was no longer needed. So, when I say essentials, these really are the top items we needed and actually used - anything else off this list was likely icing on the cake.