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I get asked all the time by girlfriends what are the baby/toddler essentials they need to get through the first two years with a new addition. I put together a comprehensive list of the basic baby things you need to get started for putting together a registry or shopping for your baby. I made this list when G was about six months old, and have updated and made changes to it now that Lulu is (almost) 9 months. I hope this list and my opinions on these items help you get prepared for welcoming a baby into your homes!
Bathing and Toiletries…
Tub: We mostly just do sink baths or I dunk Lulu in with G for a quick rinse.
Towels: We use the Aden+Anais towels and washcloths for post-bath drying. They’re thick and well made and last forever!
Baby Wash & Lotion: We use California Baby shampoo and body wash and other products. We also love Dr. Bronner’s, we use their almond, lavender, and unscented soaps. A great site for looking at toxin levels in beauty/bath/sunscreen products is the Environmental Working Group. Burts Bees and Hello Bello also makes some great baby products.
Sunscreen: I prefer to use Badger Baby Sunscreen. It’s expensive but it doesn’t have all the bad stuff in it. (Pediatricians only recommend sunscreen after 6 months). Again, the Environmental Working Group is a great site for finding the best/safest sunscreen for your family
Tiny Colds: When Lulu gets sick we rely on the brilliant NoseFrida. It is totally disgusting but it works to clear congestion in a way those little bulb snot-suckers don’t. Kyle (and lots of other Dads I know) won’t go anywhere near it but mom’s everywhere love it. We have one in our travel bag too. It’s a lifesaver.
Tiny Fevers: We invested in the Braun Thermometer and love it. It’s fast and easy and accurate and it’s great for sneaking in for middle of the night fever reading.
Potty Training: We recently discovered and love this NextStep Toilet Seat. It fits discretely onto your toilet and the kid seat magnetically connects to the larger lid so it’s easy for everyone to use without having a bulky or awkward separate seat. We will keep our Baby Bjorn Toilet Trainer Seat in the car for long road trips and visiting friend’s houses.
Diapering Needs…
Newborns: Disposable diapers are must in the early days! They fit tiny babes and have a yellow line that turns green when they are wet so you know when you need to change them.
Cloth Diapers: We tried a few but stuck with the BumGenius 4.0 Diapers. We love them. I did a big post here on cloth diapering.
Disposable Diapers: I always have current size, fragrance free disposable diapers on hand. We gave up trying to use the cloth diapers at night or while not at home.
Wipes: We use the Kirkland Premium Baby Wipes (the Costco Brand) and love them. They’re soft, inexpensive and unscented. The main issue for us is keeping as much unscented as possible. We never used a baby wipe warmer.
Diaper Cream: We use Bourdreaux’s Butt Paste or Hello Bello cream for diaper rash. Be sure to use it with disposable diapers only. It will create a water barrier on your cloth diapers and make them less absorbent. I never use baby powder but do sometimes use a bit of plain corn starch for major rashes.
Changing Table: We didn’t have a changing table! I found over the ten years that I nannied diaper aged babes I very rarely used one. Most of the time kids were changed on a mat or blanket on the floor. You never have to worry about the baby falling… although changing on the floor does allow for a faster escape once they’re mobile! We just put down a swaddle or little mat and changed them on that!
Sleeping…
Swaddles: We love the Aden+Anais brand for swaddles. They are easy to use and hold tight. Plus, these beautiful swaddles can be used for just about anything and everything. They’re on the top of my baby essentials list.
Chair: Baby Bjorn Chair By far one of my favorite baby items is the . It was one of the things we used the most. We also had extra covers for it.
Blankies: Gigi fell in love with the Aden+Anais Issie Security Blankets. She sleeps with them every nap and every night… we have 12! We’ve gotten a few of the Aden + Anais Dream Blankets for all the kids.
Co-Sleeper: We always used a travel crib/cot. Most recently, with Roux we used the Nuna Sena and LOVED it.
Crib: The crib we used for all kids was a IKEA Gulliver crib. We got it in white but they have it in natural wood too. It’s inexpensive and simple. It transitions into a toddler bed as well so it works for a really long time.
Crib Mattress, etc: We got this Sealy Foam-Core mattress because it’s lightweight which makes it easy to change the bedding. We couldn’t afford the nice organic mattresses but this one has great reviews and we’ve loved it. We have this Organic Waterproof mattress pad cover and love it. It’s soft and cozy and easy to wash and dry. I originally bought cheap sheets from Target and we’re still using them but I don’t like them. I will be replacing them with these inexpensive Carter’s Jersey Cotton soft sheets.
Noise Machine: I can’t say enough about the Sleep Sheep. We loved it. It bought us lots of sleep! It works in two settings 23 minutes and 45 minutes. It takes babes 20 minutes to fall truly asleep so the 23 min setting was great for soothing her into sleep, it’s designed to shut off just after they’ve fallen asleep so it doesn’t disturb them or shock them out of slumber by shutting off too early or too late. Babies sleep in 45 minute cycles so the 45 minute setting worked great for buying us extra sleep cycles early in the morning. We listened to a lot of waves and rain those first six months (not so much the heartbeat or the whales)! We never really used the sheep itself but took the sound box out of the back and took it everywhere we went! This time I will be purchasing the On the Go Sleep Sheep which is smaller and straps onto the car seat or stroller.
Baby Monitor: We never really used one.
Movement Monitor: We did not have a movement monitor when G was a newborn but we got one this time because I had pretty severe postpartum anxiety last time. I was pretty nervous and anxious and checked on Gigi about 5,000 times a night/a nap in those first months (I wish I was exaggerating). The Snuza Hero Baby Movement Monitor snaps onto the diaper and is designed to vibrate if the baby hasn’t moved (a.k.a taken a breath) in 15 seconds, a audible alarm sounds after 20 seconds. It’s $120 but I loved it. It gave me such peace of mind and I was able to relax and get more sleep. We used it until Lulu was rolling around (up until she turned 6 months). I am so glad we got it this time.
On the Go…
Infant Car Seat: Diono, Britax, Nuna are our favorites.
Car Seat: Once your baby reaches the height/weight limit you’ll need a bigger car seat. We love the Diono car seats beacause they last forever. Our kids used them to rear face, then forward face. Our five year old son is still in his!
*If buying or registering online through Amazon I highly recommend choosing a car seat that’s “shipped and sold” by Amazon. Our infant car seat was sold from a smaller company via Amazon and when we had an issue with it, it was impossible to deal with! Had it been purchased directly from Amazon they would have been able to replace it/work with us directly. All three car seats i linked to above are shipped and sold by Amazon.
Stroller: We have and love two Nuna strollers, the Nuna Ivvi Savi which is a fancy “luxury” stroller, and the Nuna Pepp Luxx which is an umbrella-type stroller. Now we have the Ergo Baby Metro Stroller because our Nuna Pepp was stolen in England.
Baby Carriers: We have the Ergo Baby Carrier and love it. It’s comfortable and can be used for a long time. The only other baby carrier we have is our Solly Baby wraps. They are lightweight, beautifully made by wonderful mama named Elle, and I can’t say enough about these wraps and the Ergo. They’re must haves! We use the Ergo for more active outings and the Solly for lighter use.
Diaper Bag: I mostly use my great Tano purse that has lots of pockets as a diaper bag but for bigger outings and when Gigi was really tiny we also used the Skip Hop Duo Diaper Bag. It was inexpensive and it wasn’t ugly. That’s saying something when it comes to diaper bags! The Skip Hop bag is still in use ELEVEN years later!
Emergency Kit: After 10 years as a nanny and 7 as a mom, I’m a big believer in the “emergency kit”. It’s amazing how many times I’ve been saved by having a bin in the car with extra diapers/wipes, a change of clothes, a few squeezy packs of food, a small container of formula, an extra bottle, a blankie, pajamas, a binki, a board book… The trick is to remember to replenish it when you deplete it.
Nursing/Breastfeeding and Eating…
Breast Pads: Lansinoh Nursing Pads are the way to go, they are the best disposable breast pads. There are also great washable pads that I’ve used and loved. I know some moms who have used used and loved the reusable silicone Lily Padz.
Lanolin: I loved the the Earth Mama Angel Baby Natural Nipple Butter and I loved it so much. I also had a few of these Lansinoh Soothies. If you put them in the fridge for a few minutes before putting them on sore or cracked nipples it will help you get through the first few weeks of breastfeeding! Another thing that works great is taking cold green cabbage leaves, rolling over them with a rolling pin and then tucking the cold leaves into your bra… green cabbage has antibiotic and anti-irritant qualities and reduces swelling and engorgement. Also, you look really glamorous with cabbage in your bra.
Breastfeeding Pillows: I loved my Boppy Breastfeeding Pillow. In the early weeks I propped it up with an extra pillow to get Gigi up to the right height. I know some moms prefer the My Brest Friend Pillow but it looks a little cumbersome to me. The third and fourth time around I didn’t use any pillows, but it was great in the beginning with G and L.
Cover: Sometimes I used an Aden and Anais Swaddle, but mostly people just saw my boobs.
Pump: The Madela Breast Pump In Style is the best breast pump around. I didn’t use one after baby 3 or 4 cause none of my babies like bottles until way later (like after six months).
Bottles: I’m a fan of the Born Free Bottles. We have both the glass and the BPA Free plastic ones in both the 5 and 9oz sizes . They are easy to use and Gigi never seemed to have any issues with air bubbles from bottles. They are wide-necked so the nipple is wider which Gigi also preferred.
Highchair: In place of a highchair for Gigi we opted for the more discrete Stokke Handysitt which also allowed Gigi to sit at the table with us rather than separately. It’s made by the same company that makes the Handysitt. This time with Roux we got the Nuna Zazz and GREAT. We now have the amazing Stokke Tripp Trapp highchair
Baby Food: You can read my big baby food post here. I bought about 50% of Gigi’s baby food and made about 50% of it. I made it in large batches using our Cuisinart which worked perfectly. However, Gigi was a slightly picky little eater and flat out rejected many of the combos I made which left me feeling exhausted and frustrated with a lot of wasted food/time. I love the idea of using a small system like the Beaba Babycook Baby Food Maker because you can make smaller batches, defrost frozen food and you only have one small thing to clean instead of several large things but I have opted to use a 4 Cup Cuisanart Food Processor instead. After reading French Kids Eat Everything I’m determined to introduce Baby #2 to a variety of foods early on and this will make that easy and doable without all the waste and all the dishes. Lulu has been loving her purées and I’ve made them all at home. I use a small pot with a lid and a simple basket steamer and then I use a Hamilton blender to purée the food really fine, as she grows we are using the Cuisanart Food Processor more (it leaves a bit more texture than a blender). I use these OXO Tot storage containers, this set has both 2oz and 4oz containers. We love both these Baby Bjorn “pelican” Bibs, and these Aden+Anais Bibs.
Miscellaneous Things I LOVE…
Sophie the Giraffe Teether toy. All kids have LOVED it. It’s cute. It’s French. It worked on her little gums.
We had a salt rock lamp in our room when Gigi was sleeping with us. The light was soft and peaceful and made it easy to see her, change diapers, feed her, etc. but it didn’t interrupt her sleep or ours. I normally need it to be really dark for sleep but this soft light never bothered me. We never used a nightlight and Gigi doesn’t have on in her room now. It would be wonderful to have a dimmer switch in her room/in the nursery for late night visits/diaper changes/etc.
Gigi loves her Melissa and Doug shopping cart, her Fisher Price Medical Kit, and her Ikea Kitchen.
Books…
Secrets of the Baby Whisperer and The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems which have great methods, ideas, routines and advice. The Baby Whisperer books were my favorite and I still use the Solves All Your Problems book now.
Brining Up Bébé was a fun book to read and gave me some perspective on the French parenting style which I am really drawn to. French parenting seems to be a bit more in sync with my instincts than some of the more American based options like Free Range or Attachment Parenting. I didn’t always love the author’s attitude but I appreciated the main points about parenting.
Well, there you have it! Feel free to chime in with your thoughts and opinions in the comments below! This list is bookmarked along the left hand side of the blog so you can easily refer back to it.
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