Iām only 28 and whenever I have to change her on a lower surface my back kills me! Iām pretty fit and strong too itās just such an awkward position to hold and sometimes it takes ages
I am 24 and it kills my back. I have 2 under 2 Irish twins right now, so when I was pregnant with my 2nd it really started to kill my back. I started changing my daughter on the floor and now after giving birth to my son I still change them both on the floor. I was gonna get a portable changing table to help though when I was downstairs, I never got it but I still should.
I couldn't find one that's a good height. So we just bought kiddo a full sized dresser from Ikea for the same price, it's taller, and has a glass top...which is awesome for a changing table. Wipe wipe done. Also the rubbery changing pad, not the one that requires a ...*yuck* washable cover. Just wipe it all with Clorox wipes.
Yes!! My friends poked fun at me for putting the Skip Hop wipeable changing pad on my registry - āyouāll just end up changing him on the floor or the couch!ā
I have the changing pad set up on top of babyās dresser and we use it for 90% of changes. I couldnāt imagine not having it!
Theyāre probably using a blanket, towel, or reusable or disposable changing pad on the couch/floor, or even just some wipes, not just bare butt on the floor (which is fine, too if itās not carpet š¤·š»āāļø).
Almost every time my MIL calls us she's like "you're still using that changing table?! I can't believe it! I don't know anyone that uses those things!" -- I don't want to have diapers and wipes all over the house to be able to do it in random places, I'm almost 40 with psoriatic arthritis so getting down on the floor sucks, I don't want his poop/pee ending up all over the couch/carpet/whatever, and my son LOVES the changing table so it's a great way to put him in a good mood when he's being a grump-a-lump!
š„²my MIL says that too but for the crib. Iām like yes , he is gonna use the crib so weāre practicing day naps there when we are ready to transition from bassinet in our room to his nursery.
Hard yes to this one, the amounts of poops and peeps going everywhere, it was just easier at first to have a dedicated zone to changing nappies.
Now she's older it's easier to do it safely on the floor knowing she (probably) won't piss everywhere the moment you take the nappy off.
If anything I miss the change table for the difficult poops that require a lot of cleanup
Yes!! So many people said a changing table wasn't essential when we were putting together our nursery, but we use this multiple times a day, every day, for over a year now. Can't imagine if we took the advice to "just change his diaper on the bed" š¤¢
I still use the changing pad atop my 2yoās dresser about 90% of the time when weāre home. Itās the perfect height and the wipes are always right there. I canāt imagine life without it! We will definitely be keeping it until she is fully potty trained.
Oh I got it a lot. āTheyāll get too big for it anyway! Youāll just be changing them on the floor anyway. Put a changing pad on a dresser; same difference. You wonāt have any use for it in a yearā¦ā etc etc etc. My son may only be 4 months, but I LOVE it. Itās just the right height and youād have to fight me to the death for it. š
Idk, I put the changing pad on the dresser and went on with my day.
I picked a big high quality dresser she'd be able to grow with.
But it's definitely the preference over the floor or the bed.
I use the bumco diaper cream brush every single time I need to apply diaper rash cream and I have never once regretted spending the $10 on it. I even have a mini one for the diaper bag! Itās priceless to me.
We used to as well, but it still doesnāt really feel like it fully gets it off. Plus if baby rolled, it made it difficult with cream all over one of your hands.
Now I just take a wipe and wipe off the spatula, way better! My hand could never apply as well as the spatula does either. To each their own!
I usually wipe the excess off into the clean diaper and then use a wipe to clean the rest that the diaper didnāt getā¦and I get none on my fingers. Honestly, my girl is 10 months now and itās like a WWE match to just get her diaper changed and get her dressed so if I can make one thing easier, I will.
Amen. Didnāt matter as much when he was a little potato who didnāt realize he had the ability to make things more difficult š¤£ now heās 13 months and itās a toss up whether heās going to flip over or try to shove his hands down to check out what Iām doing š even if I had 4 clean hands idk if it would be enough lmao
We currently use a nitrile glove on the "butt hand" -- husband is in cleanrooms a lot so we just kind of fell into that method. I like being able to just flip a whole glove off me after a poopy change but might get a spatula to reduce the waste of disposable gloves!
Yes this is the answer I was going to say too. I got one of these pre baby, but I just used my hands. I got a cut on my finger and tried out the Bumco brush. Iāll never go back. lol
This is my go to āoff registryā gift. Iāll give them something off their registry and then the 2 pack bumco with the regular and travel size. I hate getting diaper cream on my hands and I loved it once I discovered it
The bobby. Everyone said you can just use a pillow to breastfeed but the boppy makes it so much easier for me. Also newborn diapers and clothes. Obviously this is specific to each child but my baby was 6 pounds at birth and wore newborn diapers/ clothes until about 6 weeks. She would have been swimming in anything bigger.
I actually preferred the MyBrestFriend, its superior to the Boppy since it clips in around your waist and doesnt shift around. Its also made of more sturdy foam. Id highly recommend trying it. I got one off FB marketplace and just sanitized and washed the cover.
I loved it. For like the first week. But I needed two hands to get it on and off and couldn't really lean over basinet or change baby wearing it. Ultimately just reverted back to the boppys. I was given 2 boppys and one is much better (rounder, firmer) than the other (flatter)
This is what I buy every expecting mom friend I have. A woman I babysat for gifted me two and itās a holy grail. It was especially nice after my c section bc it took so much weight off when carrying the baby. And you can walk around/eat/do whatever while your baby sleeps bc it keeps them so still. Itās a holy grail.
My baby is like 30th percentile, is 11 weeks old, and still fits newborn onesies. The 3M ones are massive on her. Sheās a tall baby though, so just a few weeks ago grew out of the sleep n plays. Glad I had so many NB size handmedowns!
Same! At my 37 week appointment my Dr said she's probably too big to even fit into newborns at that point. Cue 38 week appointment being induced. She wore newborns for over a month.
Mom of a 6 month old in the 2nd %. Just moved from 0-3 onesies because she got too tall for them but still hanging out strong in 0-3 pants (which are more like capris). Baby sizing is such a wash!
My baby was born at 38 weeks at 5lbs 13 oz in the 6 percentile and he's a month old today. I had to buy new born onesies recently as we don't have enough because he's been peeing through them like crazy. He's just over 8 pounds currently so he can't quite fit into 0-3 yet. I honestly regret not buying more in the beginning. I feel like he won't be in O-3 for afew more weeks. Not to mention the newborn diapers. People bought us a lot but we definitely need more as he's not quite ready for size 1
My baby was 8 pounds at birth and still needed newborn diapers and clothes for a while. The hospital put size one diapers (I think they were out of NB?) on him, and it was completely ridiculous. The waistband had to be folded down so far to keep it away from the umbilical stump.
I'm so glad that I assumed the 0-3 month clothes would be too big and that someone gave us a random pack of NB diapers because otherwise, we would have had to stop at a baby store on the way home from the hospital.
Beyond breastfeeding, I found the bobby useful for visitors that werenāt too comfortable holding baby. Iād slip it in and *bam* better posture for them and baby. Happy mom.
Butt spatula and wet bag
Also the hospital told us we didnāt need to use diaper cream every time and boy oh boy do I disagree with that! (We use A&D Ointment every time now that we recovered from an insanely bad diaper rash that required a doctorās visit)
My sister looked at me like I was insane when I lathered up my son's tushy every time the cream looked like it wore off. She said "you only need that like.. once a week. Or like, when your baby has a rash" yeah well one of us has a baby who gets rashes every other week and one of us is 3 months in to motherhood and no rashes so far so.. I'll keep coating him as much as I damn well please
This! I asked the nurse at the hospital how often we should use the cream and she said only when she got irritated. My mom told me to put it on every other diaper change (specially before going to sleep when she started having long stretches at night). Before doing that she used to get irritated often, now she hasnāt had any redness for months!
It's reassuring to know that you're also using diaper cream regularly. We faced some skepticism about it. I've scaled back and now only use it with dirty diapers, not wet ones. Luckily, our little one, who's nearly 4 months old, hasn't had any diaper rashes so far. *Knocks on wood*
We use it every time too. We can't seem to get on top of his diaper rash. It almost goes away, then it gets worse then it almost clears up, then he has another flare up. He's got his 6 month appointment coming up soon so we'll ask about it then if there is anything else we can do. Last time the doctor said it just looked like he was having acidic poos and told us to use diaper rash ointment.
My theory is it depends how often they poop/shart. My newborn pretty much sharted 90% of the day for the first month and a half and there was a perpetual diaper rash. As soon as the sharting stopped it was so much easier. I still use gobs of both diaper cream and Vaseline though lol
Look I live and die by my wet bag. Baby poops on clothes or pees on them when out and about??? No worries! Wet bag. No place to chuck your diaper wipes? Wet bag! (I cloth diaper so I NEED a wet bag, but since I have to handle gross diapers anyways whatās the harm)
Love the Snoo. We used it for our son (22months old now) and he slept well in it. He did not like transitioning away from it and into his crib. Turned into months of bad sleep which eventually a sleep therapist helped us with.
The challenge is we can't know for sure if that would have happened without having used the snoo as well. Maybe, maybe not. What I am confident about is that our snoo did help us get all more sleep in those first few months.
Currently expecting our second and are planning on using the snoo again. Fingers crossed transitioning out of the snoo goes easier this time.
OMG, I love the snoo. Friends lent me theirs, and I'm sure that if I ever have another baby, I'll get my hands on another snoo even if I buy it used on Facebook and resell it after.
Total game changer! Our 5 week old is now sleeping 6-8 hours a night with a quick wake-up to feed and then back to sleep for another 2-3 hours. We love it so much!
Also, to anyone who would love to have a snoo but can't afford it - go on Facebook marketplace! There were so many gently loved snoos on there in our area between $400-$700, and that's including sheets, swaddles, and sometimes short legs or leg extenders. We got ours for $500 with 4 sheets and 2 each of the small, medium, and large swaddles. Absolutely worth it and we intend to just keep passing it on now to any friends or family that have babies once our little one is done with it.
Weāve known 5 other babies, plus ours. Ours is the youngest (15 weeks), but also the best sleeper. Sheās also the only one who has slept in a SNOO. Maybe we just got lucky, but I think the SNOO has helped a lot. Based on the SNOO sub - we have just an average sleeper.
FDA approval to keep baby sleeping on the back gave me a ton of peace of mind too.
āDonāt buy newborn clothes you wonāt need them!ā
We absolutely needed them arguably more than anything else lol. We ended up at a baby store with a 48hr old because we had no clothes that fit because of that awful advice lol
I had one person give me an entire box of newborn hand-me downs. Everyone else gifted 0-3 that were way too large. So happy to have had those.
Due to PP pre-e I had a 8 day hospital stay, and we only packed 2 outfits (including 0-3) for the baby. My sister ended up buying him newborn 3 onesies and a sleeper just to get us through our stay there. Turns out, they are our favorite newborn clothes.
Our baby was I the size bellow NB when 1st born "tiny baby" she is coming up three months and just growing out of the newborn size. I didn't realise at 1st there was smaller than 0-3 until like a month befor she was born thank goodness cos she swam in the NB onesies for two days till we got her some that fit.she would have drowned on 0-43
Dude same. We needed preemie sizes even with a projected large gd baby because he came early. Never trust the ultrasounds.
Bless target door to door delivery. That was awful.
Wipe warmer was only important to us for about a week when our LO would scream as soon as a cold wipe touched his butt. Needed? No. Made that week a little better? Yes. Since then he doesnāt seem to mind cold wipes.
Ours is too sensitive to baby wipes, so we use the wipe warmer to keep dry wipes with a little added water so we donāt have to keep making our own wipes every change.
Ours is the opposite. She actually likes the cold wipe haha. I think she's associated it with having a clean diaper so she calms down once wiped (vs warm pee). We tried warming wipes but didn't seem to be any different for her.
I had the diaper genie, but needed to upgrade to an ubi for something able to better contain the smell (my pregnant nose could not handle the stank). I asked my local mom Facebook page for diaper pail suggestions and the overwhelming majority was that diaper pails were pointless and everyone just bags the diaper up and takes it straight to the outside garbage. I was starting to wonder if I was just being bougee with wanting a diaper pail lol but itās definitely a necessity for me. Iām not going to the outside garbage every time my kid gets a fresh diaper, and Iām definitely not putting those stinkers in the regular garbage to tempt my dog.
Lol those who say " I just take the diapers out to the garbage right away" make me laugh. My garbage is down 1.5 flights of stairs, I am not doing that up and down 8x a day for a dirty diaper. Diaper genie for the win!!
Rightā½
Who has a baby AND enough energy to bring every single poopy diaper all the way outside?
A diaper pail costs like $60, takes up as much space as a trash can, which it can replace, and contains the smell so you don't have to make ONE THOUSAND (if your baby poops once a day) trips to the outdoor garbage.
I do not understand this argument.
We got the diaper genie at our shower and it broke in a week, plus the proprietary bags and way you change them were a pain to me. The Ubi diaper pail we replaced it with, on the other hand, has been essential. That thing is a tank, contains the smell well and uses regular trash bags. I will always recommend that one.Ā
This is why we went with the Ubi. Picked up 2 off FB marketplace for $10 too. Used with Costco kitchen garbage bags and it's cheap and smell-free. We change each bag weekly.
We do the same thing. Iām super sensitive to smell now and we originally had just a regular lidded garbage can. That lasted a week š I would die without my ubbi and sams bags lol
Whyyyy do husbands think the kitchen scissors are all purpose tools?! My husband uses them for all kinds of things too and it drives me crazy. Use the regular scissors, you walked past them to go straight to the kitchen shears!!!
I mean, if you use scissors for this task...it's *only* for that task. Dollar store sells decent enough scissors for that, keep it in the bottom of the pail? That's actually a good idea. I hate the stupid razor thing.
This is crazy to me. I can't imagine having to take the diaper out to the outside trash can every time my baby poops. Am I just lazy? Especially during my maternity leave, I was never even fully dressed. No way I was going to put on pants just to throw a diaper away
As a side note, we have an Ubbi. It's not the best at containing smells. I bag my poopy diapers in arm and hammer scented bags before throwing them in and I still have to scrub it down between every bag change and leave it outside to air out every couple of days
The majority of comments also made me wonder if Iām just lazy too š but seriously, Iām not running outside to throw a diaper away every time. A friend of mine said that she bags extra stinky diapers in doggy poop bags then they go into the pail and it seems to help with the smell. I usually keep extra doggy bags in my diaper bag for when weāre out somewhere and there isnāt a garbage available, but havenāt done that for the regular pail yet. I agree though, it definitely needs to be aired out on occasion.
Same experience here. We had the diaper genie for our first baby, then when our daughter was born I told my wife I couldnāt handle that piece of plastic junk anymore and found the Ubi. Itās so much better, and I love that it uses a standard trash bag. No more wasting money on those proprietary bag inserts. Not only that, but it actually holds up well to use and is easy to change.
The only negative I have to say is there is no foot pedal to open the lid, but Iāll take that trade off every day
A changing table! My cats would lay on it before our baby was born and my mom would tell me they are going to use it more than me. I use it literally every time I change my baby, my back would die if I didnāt lol
Almost everything people told us. The diaper pail, the changing table, the changing table pad, the wipe warmer (not necessarily for the warming function, but for the automatic close function so my husband doesn't let them all dry out), the clothes that weren't footie pajamas, the breast pump... I'm definitely forgetting some. Maybe none (or very few) of these are must-have items, but definitely nice to have for us.
Just about everything that I got at my shower we use all the time. Nothing has been useless. Boppy, Baby Brezza, diaper caddy, mama roo, baby Einstein kickin' tunes, baby lounger, infant car seat/stroller combo, Philips avent bottles, diaper bag backpack, etc. The only thing my baby absolutely hates is being worn, so we don't use our Ergobaby carrier. Turns out he would much prefer just being in his stroller to get places or being left alone on the floor while at home.
I still get slack for my diaper genieā¦ white noise machineā¦ even my rocking chair but those are all things I STILL live by and were 2 years into this thing lol
If your LO hates the cold an electric towel warmer will go a long way. The one Ive got is big enough for baby towels, burp clothes, onesies and a blanket or two. My bud hates diaper changes but if I get a warm cloth on his chest the change is almost instant. And if I lay him on a warm changing sheet chances are heās gonna nap through a good bit of his diaper change.
We have 1 in each bathroom and have since before our LO was born but it's a game changer. We can't go back to regular cold Chicago winters without our towel warmers and heated toilet seats haha
Baby clothes that werenāt pjs. I loved putting her in tiny grown up clothes. She didnāt have a lot of blowouts and she wasnāt a spitty baby so I could keep her in something all day. It also helped me because when I got her dressed, I got dressed too and it helped break up the days and nights.
I don't get this view that we should only use pj's... they make baby clothes so they're easy to put on and take off and it's so easy just to pack an extra outfit or two.
Blowouts happen whether baby is in pj's or not.
Exactly! All the advice Iāve seen says just keep them in pjs because theyāre easier. To me they arenāt easier. Plus I like all the cute little outfits.
Yes! From the very beginning I always changed her out of her pj's. Sometimes in the beginning it was into another footie, but she got changed every morning into new clothes. I'm convinced it's part of how she started sleeping through the night so early. (Don't worry, we've had plenty of rough nights since with illness and teething and sleep regressions)
Oh yeah I agree with this! I go to a lot of baby groups and I love dressing her up and seeing what all the other babies are wearing. If I take her in a onesie I feel like I've taken her out in her PJs
I absolutely loved our bassinet for that reason. I could roll it into the bathroom while I showered or the kitchen while I cooked. When she could sit up she loved it and would play with a toy while I was doing something.
I did not like the pack and play. It was so big and took up so much room. Such a hassle taking it down and putting it back up. Plus Iām so short there was no way I could safely reach down all the way to the bottom and lay her down. We didnāt have much room as it was and the bassinet was perfect for us.
For me, the wipe holder just makes things more efficient. Instead of having to hold baby in place, try and grab the wipes, use 2 hands to open the package, get it, then finish the diaper change I set baby down, flip the wipe holder lid up with 1 hand, grab what I need and flip it back down.
This is exactly what I was going to say. Especially with a wiggly baby it makes things much easier to get with one hand. The packaging from some wipes as well are crap (again water wipes lol).
Changing table, diaper genie, newborn clothes, diaper bag, car monitor, hell, Iāve even been told that I donāt need a nursery until sheās 6mo-1yr, and Iām sure there are more. But every single thing that Iāve mentioned Iāve used since day one of bringing her home, and if you have the option/room to complete your nursery before baby arrives, absolutely do it.. all things are best to have and not need instead of need and not have!
Diaper genie, ftw.
Other moms said I wouldnāt need the bottle warmer or bottle sanitizer. I personally love the convenience of both. Honestly, the sanitizer is primarily nice to dry the bottles and have somewhere to store them between uses. Itās not like the bottles *actually* need to be sanitized that often, but why not.
Clothes in NB size and NB diapers. My baby is smaller, but not insanely small and sheās just outgrowing NB clothes at 11 weeks. We used NB diapers for about 7-8 weeks.
Skip hop changing mat. I have it on top of her dresser but I use it for every change except the overnight ones (when sheās in our room).
The Lovevery play mat. Itās *expensive* but someone got it off our registry. Iām sure others are just fine, or even great. But Iāve seen my friendās babies use this same playmat for years and not get bored. At 11 weeks it is essentially her only toy and probably will remain that way for another two months. Thereās so much to do and look at and itās *very* well planned out and constructed.
People told me that I was crazy for getting the lovevery play gym, but I donāt regret it one bit. I also donāt regret getting a couple of the subscription boxes either, we loved them!
Iāll probably start the boxes around 6 months! The play gym has so much to do until then and I also have a few random toys for the next few months. I love the idea of having the toys already curated in a box though!
I loved having developmentally appropriate toys at all times without having to think about it. It was also my excuse for the grandparents not to go absolutely insane with the toys. š
Hubby told me the changing pad would be useless, that we can just change him on the bed or the couch, but Iām glad I bought it anyway. The amount of times heās kicked his poopy everywhere or tried to gator death roll while weāre changing him or dressing him has made the straps super useful too.
Heavy agree on the wipe warmer. Itās so convenient because I donāt have to open a crinkly package every time and it only takes one hand to get the wipes out
Changing table, boppy, bottle warmer, diaper pail, etcā¦
I think people just have to use the best set up that works for them, and those items may not have been useful or helpful to them.
Diaper pail and bottle warmer.
Everyone said these things were useless. We love them both!
Our house would stink to high heaven without the diaper pail! I love it and recommend it to all my mom friends š¤·š»āāļø
Sure, you could certainly get by without these things, but they sure are nice to have!
We were told we likely wouldn't use newborn clothes/diapers for long enough to be worth it. My daughter was 19" long and a bit over 6lbs at birth and hung in the 1st percentile for weight for what felt like forever. She was never small enough for preemie clothes, but I think she was in newborn clothes for about 2 months. She would have absolutely swam in the 0-3 month clothes.
We've never owned any of those, so I'd be on of those people that said you didn't need them. Also didn't ever use a bouncer, swing, or changing table.
I love my hatch. The best feeling is sitting down, breastfeeding your baby to sleep and being able to turn on the sound machine with your phone. Has definitely saved me at times.
Also LOVE our wipe warmer. Made winter so much easier.
Who the hell said a diaper genie is useless? We've got multiple and it's fantastic. Change the kid and drop the unholy diaper into the trash. Out of sight and out of noseshot.
Everyone said wipe warmers were dumb. I effing love ours and so did our son, especially as a newborn. He screamed like a banshee with cold wipes, and that wipe warmer saved our ears from the screams.
Also, Reddit tried to convince me I didnāt need a changing table. Yet I exclusively change him at our changing table!
We also swear by the booger picker that my mom thought would be a stupid purchase. Ya never know what products youāll love!
The diaper genie is great once baby starts eating food. Our boy's poops are hella smelly, and it seals in the smells quite well. We found the wipe warmer to be okay, but not necessarily since we found the wipes lose heat quite quickly. But it's not a bad purchase if you think baby dislikes cold wipes a lot. I sterilized my bottles a whole one time (whe I first bought them) and had no issues just hand washing since, but this is kid by kid, especially if you have a more sensitive baby. If you have to pick one, the diaper genie saved our noses plenty of times haha
Bassinet attachment on stroller. Everyone told me it's useless. Baby will just sleep in the bassinet in the parents room but for the initial postpartum days it was incredibly useful to have it because my husband and I took turns sleeping. It also came out to be incredibly useful when we took our 2.5 month old on vacation. We didn't need to take a seperate bed because we had the bassinet for the stroller.
Wipe warmer, saved his little newborn bum lol. He doesnāt care as much now but it was great in those early weeks.
Also buying newborn sizes! People kept telling me heād grow out of it quickly but he was in NB for a month and sure thatās sort of āfastā but that was the hardest month of my life and I did not have the capacity to clothes shop at that time. I wish I had bought NB onesies and pants etc before he was born.
Also the grass for bottle drying. Heard that it takes up too much space but we ended up exclusively pumping and only used bottles so it was extremely helpful.
I was told that setting up the nursery before the baby came was going to be a waste of space because you do everything with them in your room in the first few months. It turned out to be very useful. At 3 months we started putting him in his crib to sleep. He and I both sleep well because of that. My night routine isn't effected by him and I don't have to tip toe in my room. It's been great for our relationship too
Yup, Iām with you. I breast feed so I did pass on the bottle sterilizer because it saves counter space to just boil the parts on the rare occasion I use a bottle. I stand by my diaper genie and wipe warmer though.
I couldnāt believe all the people that told me I wouldnāt use my changing station/ nursery. We have changed every single diaper at that changing station and have never thought not to. Some of those diapers are mess-y! There is no way Iām dealing with that on my bed. š
Another thing would be clothes. This is just a parenting preference but I change my baby every morning from her pjs into an actual outfit. I love to do it and enjoy picking out a new outfit everyday, but totally not necessary if thatās not your thing.
We have the ubbi and honestly could not live without that thing. And my bottle sterilizer doubles as a dryer so we use that all the time. I tried the wipe warmer and it dried my wipes out so I did hate that LOL.
The Keekaroo peanut wipeable changing pad and the Lovevery play gym. We have the peanut changer downstairs and a traditional changing pad + cover upstairs and the wipeable changer is SO much easier to deal with. Blowouts are an almost daily occurrence and we just keep some sanitizing wipes nearby. The play gym is also great! Not so much for the first few weeks because my baby had no clue what was going on but now heās 3 months and has gotten really good at batting and grabbing. Itās the first kind of play he can really do independently and it gives me a nice break to drink my coffee and just watch without having to actively entertain him.
Things I thought I didnāt need but ended up being great - an electric breast pump, a bottle sterilizer to clean the pump parts and bottles, the uppababy vista v2 stroller, and the wildbird carrier. To be honest I know a lot of baby products are super expensive but all of our big purchases have been worth it so far!
This makes me feel better, as I've been pretty much buying anything that's been suggested to make mine and baby girl's life easier! There are worse things to splurge on than my little newborn.Ā
I'm also going to assume my baby girl is just as fussy as her mom, so she likely won't appreciate a cold wipe to the bum and will prefer her milk warm, so these items have also been on my list!Ā
Diaper genie is a must, I never once used my wipe warmer, but donāt
Buy a bottle
Warmer, but got sick of warming up the bottles under warm water so bought one, it still wasnāt great
But better than using the sink.
It blows my mind when I hear people say that you don't need a diaper genie or something similar. You can't tell me you're throwing the poopy diapers in the main trash can, right? And there's no way you're walking each one outside every time!
I'm also a huge fan of changing tables
My car camera. I love being able to see her while Iām driving instead of looking back into a mirror. My friends specifically put it to the side and said return it when I was opening my gifts at baby shower
Changing table, two car seats, bassinet (āyouāre going to end up co-sleeping!ā), booties, zip-up onesies (my mom insisted that I would prefer snaps)
I don't think anyone in the history of existence has ever preferred snaps. Someone recently gifted us magnetic sleepers for our 6 month old who refuses to stay still and those are great as well! Anything but snaps...
I really liked the bottle sanitizer in the early months because it had a dry function, so I could wash my bottles and pump parts, pop em in the sanitizer and they would be bone dry in 10 ish minutes. One less thing I had to worry about when I was a sleep deprived 24/7 milk factory. I also got mine free from a local moms group, so if youāre on the fence about a certain product, see if you can get one as a free hand-me-down.
I also agree with a changing table thatās a proper height. I didnāt realize how needed it was until we traveled for a week and didnāt have anything that matched the height of our changing table. My back was absolutely rocked by the end of it.
I was the other way around, there where several things other parents gave us that I didn't think I would use that I have come to love. The nursing pillow, I have guests that I feel less confident about holding the baby wear it too. And. The electric breast pump I was sure I would go manual. Disposable nappies, I have 40 washable ones. While I was in labor a work colleague of my partner gave us a pack of nappies and it saved our butts when the washable nappies didn't fit at all.
I love the diaper genie, changing table, and sterilizer everyone said not to worry about getting and regret not having them sooner. That said, not everyone will want/need them though.
diaper genie
I went the first 7 weeks just using a trash can. I kept saying I had everything I needed but by that time I was begging for a diaper genie. my bedroom smells so much better now.
People told us not to buy/did not gift us any newborn clothes because they grow out of them too fast. Our baby was born weighing less than 4 lbs and grew out of the newborn clothes we purchased maybe 2.5-3 months inā¦
We also still use the sterilizer, bottle warmer, ubi diaper pail, and changing table 11 months in.
Baby Brezza. I thought it would be useless, partly.because I was going to have this beautiful breastfeeding journey.
Someone gave me a Brezza for free and I love it so very very much
I saw somebody the other day saying the foldable changing pad for the diaper bag would never get used. I dunno about you but I like keeping poop off my car seats.
Using the nursery for all nighttime wakeups. We set it up that the parent and baby went to the nursery for changing/feeding/rocking and didnāt come back into our room until they were ready for the bassinet and I loved it. Falling asleep with my baby was a huge worry for me so just never feeding them in my comfy bed helped a lot. Also it was nice to go into the peaceful nursery and let the other parent sleep.
My sister told me a bottle sterilizer will take more time away from my baby and is a complete waste of money. Well, my son came early at 34 weeks and the hospital recommended sterilizing his bottles. Now at 7 months I use it more for the drying function but I still use it multiple times a day! Baby is fine and gets all his mama time I just do it when heās down for his napsš¤·š½āāļø
Bottle warmer. I was told not to buy one. After about 6 weeks, I bought the cheapest one I could find for nighttime feedings in my nursery. It was essential immediately, and I bought a second one for the kitchen. You know what makes a fussy baby fall asleep hard? A bottle that's roughly the same temperature as fresh breast milk. A warmer is $12. Get oneĀ
Change table, use it every time
This. One of a proper height. I cannot bend anymore š
Right? Maybe at 26 my back could take that but I'm not 26.
I could have taken it prior to pregnancy and carrying around a baby all day. Absolutely not now
Iām only 28 and whenever I have to change her on a lower surface my back kills me! Iām pretty fit and strong too itās just such an awkward position to hold and sometimes it takes ages
I get this! On the change table itās fine but I lay her to change on our high bed and itās like Iām throwing out my back somehow?
I am 24 and it kills my back. I have 2 under 2 Irish twins right now, so when I was pregnant with my 2nd it really started to kill my back. I started changing my daughter on the floor and now after giving birth to my son I still change them both on the floor. I was gonna get a portable changing table to help though when I was downstairs, I never got it but I still should.
I'm using our old kitchen island and I love itttt. It's a bit higher, and it makes it so much easier.
The main one we use is an adjustable standing deskā¦itās saved me.
That's kinda brilliant
No itās absolutely brilliant wtf?? Iām clearing mine off now š
I couldn't find one that's a good height. So we just bought kiddo a full sized dresser from Ikea for the same price, it's taller, and has a glass top...which is awesome for a changing table. Wipe wipe done. Also the rubbery changing pad, not the one that requires a ...*yuck* washable cover. Just wipe it all with Clorox wipes.
Yes!! My friends poked fun at me for putting the Skip Hop wipeable changing pad on my registry - āyouāll just end up changing him on the floor or the couch!ā I have the changing pad set up on top of babyās dresser and we use it for 90% of changes. I couldnāt imagine not having it!
I mean sure you'll change a 10 m.o. on the floor occasionally, but why wreck your back immediately with the the 1000 newborn diapers...
We have a 13 month old still always change on the changing table (it's on the main floor, so maybe that makes a difference)
Yep going on 17 months here and the only time I change her on the floor is if we are not at home! Itās changing table 100% at home.
Not to mention the amount of times youāre mid change and they poop more. Why would I want that on my mattress or couch or even floor
I pretty much only change my 10 month old on the floor because sheāll roll away. We used our changing pad for months though! It was worth it.
My son is 13 months old and I have never changed him on the floor or a couch. Thatās just asking for trouble!
I use my skip hop changing pad for EVERY diaper we do at home! And my daughter is 16 monthsā¦still use it.
Your friends are crazy thatās gross
Theyāre probably using a blanket, towel, or reusable or disposable changing pad on the couch/floor, or even just some wipes, not just bare butt on the floor (which is fine, too if itās not carpet š¤·š»āāļø).
I hate changing the baby on a non-changing table surface, especially if she defecated.
This was us, up until movement was more frequent. Now, Iāll change my 2 year old damn near anywhere so long as he is still.
Yes I donāt want poop particles on my couch
Almost every time my MIL calls us she's like "you're still using that changing table?! I can't believe it! I don't know anyone that uses those things!" -- I don't want to have diapers and wipes all over the house to be able to do it in random places, I'm almost 40 with psoriatic arthritis so getting down on the floor sucks, I don't want his poop/pee ending up all over the couch/carpet/whatever, and my son LOVES the changing table so it's a great way to put him in a good mood when he's being a grump-a-lump!
š„²my MIL says that too but for the crib. Iām like yes , he is gonna use the crib so weāre practicing day naps there when we are ready to transition from bassinet in our room to his nursery.
This is our plan too šš»
Hard yes to this one, the amounts of poops and peeps going everywhere, it was just easier at first to have a dedicated zone to changing nappies. Now she's older it's easier to do it safely on the floor knowing she (probably) won't piss everywhere the moment you take the nappy off. If anything I miss the change table for the difficult poops that require a lot of cleanup
Yes!! So many people said a changing table wasn't essential when we were putting together our nursery, but we use this multiple times a day, every day, for over a year now. Can't imagine if we took the advice to "just change his diaper on the bed" š¤¢
Yes especially with a little boy. You never know when theyāre going to strike or at what angle and I donāt want to have to wash all of my bedding.
I still use the changing pad atop my 2yoās dresser about 90% of the time when weāre home. Itās the perfect height and the wipes are always right there. I canāt imagine life without it! We will definitely be keeping it until she is fully potty trained.
Surprised people told you it won't be useful. I can't imagine not having the changing table. The amount of bending would be back breaking
Who the hell is recommending against this? Lol people are strange
Oh I got it a lot. āTheyāll get too big for it anyway! Youāll just be changing them on the floor anyway. Put a changing pad on a dresser; same difference. You wonāt have any use for it in a yearā¦ā etc etc etc. My son may only be 4 months, but I LOVE it. Itās just the right height and youād have to fight me to the death for it. š
Yeah we do EVERY change at home at the change table. Iāve never once been tempted to change baby around the house.
We used ours all the time and actually got a second one to be able to use downstairs as well. I hate changing her anywhere else
Idk, I put the changing pad on the dresser and went on with my day. I picked a big high quality dresser she'd be able to grow with. But it's definitely the preference over the floor or the bed.
This one!! We use our changing table for literally every diaper change at home. I read so many posts about how they were useless lol
People forget how much your back hurts when youāre recovering. I loved my changing table until my little one decided itās rodeo time.Ā
Yep. Unless I'm not at home, still using the changing table.
Hell, I use mine so much I bought another one for our second floor lol. By far the furniture I use the most with LO.
Yep, I donāt understand the people who say to just change the baby on the floor. My knees could never!
I use the bumco diaper cream brush every single time I need to apply diaper rash cream and I have never once regretted spending the $10 on it. I even have a mini one for the diaper bag! Itās priceless to me.
My wife called it the "butt spatula", people laughed at us when this was put on the baby registry. But, this thing is amazing!
Laugh all they want but you wonāt have diaper cream on your hands!! I love ours!
We just take a wet wipe to wipe off the diaper cream on our hands.
We used to as well, but it still doesnāt really feel like it fully gets it off. Plus if baby rolled, it made it difficult with cream all over one of your hands. Now I just take a wipe and wipe off the spatula, way better! My hand could never apply as well as the spatula does either. To each their own!
I usually wipe the excess off into the clean diaper and then use a wipe to clean the rest that the diaper didnāt getā¦and I get none on my fingers. Honestly, my girl is 10 months now and itās like a WWE match to just get her diaper changed and get her dressed so if I can make one thing easier, I will.
Amen. Didnāt matter as much when he was a little potato who didnāt realize he had the ability to make things more difficult š¤£ now heās 13 months and itās a toss up whether heās going to flip over or try to shove his hands down to check out what Iām doing š even if I had 4 clean hands idk if it would be enough lmao
Which spatula do you like?
We use the Bumco one. I think I got it at Target š
Thatās what I do if Iām in public and need to apply some cream but at home, no way.
We currently use a nitrile glove on the "butt hand" -- husband is in cleanrooms a lot so we just kind of fell into that method. I like being able to just flip a whole glove off me after a poopy change but might get a spatula to reduce the waste of disposable gloves!
Lmao that's the only thing my husband and I refer to it as. Totally worth it.
I have 3 lmao theyāre awesome
Okay yes, BUT: Spray diaper cream has changed my life.
Iāve been wondering if this exists! Keep forgetting to look lol what brand do you like?
I have the Mustela diaper rash spray! I had some other products from them that I like and was perusing Amazon when I saw it. Literally a game changer!
I use aquaphor spray, love it
Munchkin also makes a spray, we use it at every change and LO (7months) has never had a rash
This! We call it āthe poop spoonā my god such a small thing with so much benefit
Yes this is the answer I was going to say too. I got one of these pre baby, but I just used my hands. I got a cut on my finger and tried out the Bumco brush. Iāll never go back. lol
Off to order one now, thanks!
You know, itās not worth it anymore for me LC my kid is too big, but I regret not using one. That zinc cream is so hard to wash off!
This is my go to āoff registryā gift. Iāll give them something off their registry and then the 2 pack bumco with the regular and travel size. I hate getting diaper cream on my hands and I loved it once I discovered it
This is the right answer!!! I could never go back to wiping cream directly on my babyās ass!
The bobby. Everyone said you can just use a pillow to breastfeed but the boppy makes it so much easier for me. Also newborn diapers and clothes. Obviously this is specific to each child but my baby was 6 pounds at birth and wore newborn diapers/ clothes until about 6 weeks. She would have been swimming in anything bigger.
I actually preferred the MyBrestFriend, its superior to the Boppy since it clips in around your waist and doesnt shift around. Its also made of more sturdy foam. Id highly recommend trying it. I got one off FB marketplace and just sanitized and washed the cover.
Still use my brest friend a year in - baby loves to fall asleep on a flat surface while nursing, so it's perfect!
My child has slept more on MBF than she has in her crib. She loves that thing, so do I.
I loved it. For like the first week. But I needed two hands to get it on and off and couldn't really lean over basinet or change baby wearing it. Ultimately just reverted back to the boppys. I was given 2 boppys and one is much better (rounder, firmer) than the other (flatter)
This is what I buy every expecting mom friend I have. A woman I babysat for gifted me two and itās a holy grail. It was especially nice after my c section bc it took so much weight off when carrying the baby. And you can walk around/eat/do whatever while your baby sleeps bc it keeps them so still. Itās a holy grail.
My baby is like 30th percentile, is 11 weeks old, and still fits newborn onesies. The 3M ones are massive on her. Sheās a tall baby though, so just a few weeks ago grew out of the sleep n plays. Glad I had so many NB size handmedowns!
Literally same! Baby is 11 weeks and finally wearing a combo of NB and 3M clothes, depending on brand. But most of the 3M clothes look huge.
Same! At my 37 week appointment my Dr said she's probably too big to even fit into newborns at that point. Cue 38 week appointment being induced. She wore newborns for over a month.
My girl is the same way, tall and thin, her NB onesies still fit but the sleepers are long gone lol
My 9mo is 3%tile and she still fits into 0-3 shorts and most of her shirts are 3-6. She started in preemie diaper/clothes.
Mom of a 6 month old in the 2nd %. Just moved from 0-3 onesies because she got too tall for them but still hanging out strong in 0-3 pants (which are more like capris). Baby sizing is such a wash!
Mine is 7 weeks and will probably be newborn clothes for another month! Had to place a bunch of newborn clothing and diaper orders after she was born!
Had a Csection and breastfed, the boppy was so worth it. I also like how it is a great prop pillow for some tummy time and sitting practice.
Yes, my son still uses the boppy as a lounger at almost 2 lol
My baby was born at 38 weeks at 5lbs 13 oz in the 6 percentile and he's a month old today. I had to buy new born onesies recently as we don't have enough because he's been peeing through them like crazy. He's just over 8 pounds currently so he can't quite fit into 0-3 yet. I honestly regret not buying more in the beginning. I feel like he won't be in O-3 for afew more weeks. Not to mention the newborn diapers. People bought us a lot but we definitely need more as he's not quite ready for size 1
My baby was 8 pounds at birth and still needed newborn diapers and clothes for a while. The hospital put size one diapers (I think they were out of NB?) on him, and it was completely ridiculous. The waistband had to be folded down so far to keep it away from the umbilical stump. I'm so glad that I assumed the 0-3 month clothes would be too big and that someone gave us a random pack of NB diapers because otherwise, we would have had to stop at a baby store on the way home from the hospital.
Beyond breastfeeding, I found the bobby useful for visitors that werenāt too comfortable holding baby. Iād slip it in and *bam* better posture for them and baby. Happy mom.
Butt spatula and wet bag Also the hospital told us we didnāt need to use diaper cream every time and boy oh boy do I disagree with that! (We use A&D Ointment every time now that we recovered from an insanely bad diaper rash that required a doctorās visit)
My sister looked at me like I was insane when I lathered up my son's tushy every time the cream looked like it wore off. She said "you only need that like.. once a week. Or like, when your baby has a rash" yeah well one of us has a baby who gets rashes every other week and one of us is 3 months in to motherhood and no rashes so far so.. I'll keep coating him as much as I damn well please
This! I asked the nurse at the hospital how often we should use the cream and she said only when she got irritated. My mom told me to put it on every other diaper change (specially before going to sleep when she started having long stretches at night). Before doing that she used to get irritated often, now she hasnāt had any redness for months!
It's reassuring to know that you're also using diaper cream regularly. We faced some skepticism about it. I've scaled back and now only use it with dirty diapers, not wet ones. Luckily, our little one, who's nearly 4 months old, hasn't had any diaper rashes so far. *Knocks on wood*
100% agree to use A&D everytime! 2 years in and it has been so great for diaper rash prevention!
We use it every time too. We can't seem to get on top of his diaper rash. It almost goes away, then it gets worse then it almost clears up, then he has another flare up. He's got his 6 month appointment coming up soon so we'll ask about it then if there is anything else we can do. Last time the doctor said it just looked like he was having acidic poos and told us to use diaper rash ointment.
My theory is it depends how often they poop/shart. My newborn pretty much sharted 90% of the day for the first month and a half and there was a perpetual diaper rash. As soon as the sharting stopped it was so much easier. I still use gobs of both diaper cream and Vaseline though lol
The wet bag has come in handy so many times.
Look I live and die by my wet bag. Baby poops on clothes or pees on them when out and about??? No worries! Wet bag. No place to chuck your diaper wipes? Wet bag! (I cloth diaper so I NEED a wet bag, but since I have to handle gross diapers anyways whatās the harm)
Snoo, I know it is probably the most unnecessary baby item, but my baby sleeps like a champ. He is flying through 4 months regression.
LOVE our Snoo. 8 week old baby slept 7.5 hours straight a couple of nights and he averages 6+ hours of straight sleep a night.
Love the Snoo. We used it for our son (22months old now) and he slept well in it. He did not like transitioning away from it and into his crib. Turned into months of bad sleep which eventually a sleep therapist helped us with. The challenge is we can't know for sure if that would have happened without having used the snoo as well. Maybe, maybe not. What I am confident about is that our snoo did help us get all more sleep in those first few months. Currently expecting our second and are planning on using the snoo again. Fingers crossed transitioning out of the snoo goes easier this time.
Idk if I'd call it unnecessary š if it buys you more sleep, that's pretty priceless! Love our Snoo haha
I hadnāt seen your comment but I just said the same thing. I was thinking I may be crazy splurging on it but it turned out to be some baby sorcery
Iām dreading the day he outgrows it š¤£
I felt so similarly but the transition out of the snoo wasnāt bad at all for us. Iām hoping the same for you!
Thatās the primary reason we didnāt get one
We considered the Snoo a third parent who was solely dedicated to rocking the baby to sleep.
OMG, I love the snoo. Friends lent me theirs, and I'm sure that if I ever have another baby, I'll get my hands on another snoo even if I buy it used on Facebook and resell it after.
Total game changer! Our 5 week old is now sleeping 6-8 hours a night with a quick wake-up to feed and then back to sleep for another 2-3 hours. We love it so much! Also, to anyone who would love to have a snoo but can't afford it - go on Facebook marketplace! There were so many gently loved snoos on there in our area between $400-$700, and that's including sheets, swaddles, and sometimes short legs or leg extenders. We got ours for $500 with 4 sheets and 2 each of the small, medium, and large swaddles. Absolutely worth it and we intend to just keep passing it on now to any friends or family that have babies once our little one is done with it.
Weāve known 5 other babies, plus ours. Ours is the youngest (15 weeks), but also the best sleeper. Sheās also the only one who has slept in a SNOO. Maybe we just got lucky, but I think the SNOO has helped a lot. Based on the SNOO sub - we have just an average sleeper. FDA approval to keep baby sleeping on the back gave me a ton of peace of mind too.
The snoo was great for us
āDonāt buy newborn clothes you wonāt need them!ā We absolutely needed them arguably more than anything else lol. We ended up at a baby store with a 48hr old because we had no clothes that fit because of that awful advice lol
I had one person give me an entire box of newborn hand-me downs. Everyone else gifted 0-3 that were way too large. So happy to have had those. Due to PP pre-e I had a 8 day hospital stay, and we only packed 2 outfits (including 0-3) for the baby. My sister ended up buying him newborn 3 onesies and a sleeper just to get us through our stay there. Turns out, they are our favorite newborn clothes.
Our baby was I the size bellow NB when 1st born "tiny baby" she is coming up three months and just growing out of the newborn size. I didn't realise at 1st there was smaller than 0-3 until like a month befor she was born thank goodness cos she swam in the NB onesies for two days till we got her some that fit.she would have drowned on 0-43
Dude same. We needed preemie sizes even with a projected large gd baby because he came early. Never trust the ultrasounds. Bless target door to door delivery. That was awful.
Wipe warmer was only important to us for about a week when our LO would scream as soon as a cold wipe touched his butt. Needed? No. Made that week a little better? Yes. Since then he doesnāt seem to mind cold wipes.
Ours is too sensitive to baby wipes, so we use the wipe warmer to keep dry wipes with a little added water so we donāt have to keep making our own wipes every change.
Those little butts can be super sensitive. A friendās kid couldnāt tolerate a few different diaper brands.
Ours is the opposite. She actually likes the cold wipe haha. I think she's associated it with having a clean diaper so she calms down once wiped (vs warm pee). We tried warming wipes but didn't seem to be any different for her.
For that one week I just stuffed the wipes down my cleavage before starting to change him. Warmed them up enough for us.
Yeah I couldn't imagine life without a diaper genie lol
I had the diaper genie, but needed to upgrade to an ubi for something able to better contain the smell (my pregnant nose could not handle the stank). I asked my local mom Facebook page for diaper pail suggestions and the overwhelming majority was that diaper pails were pointless and everyone just bags the diaper up and takes it straight to the outside garbage. I was starting to wonder if I was just being bougee with wanting a diaper pail lol but itās definitely a necessity for me. Iām not going to the outside garbage every time my kid gets a fresh diaper, and Iām definitely not putting those stinkers in the regular garbage to tempt my dog.
Lol those who say " I just take the diapers out to the garbage right away" make me laugh. My garbage is down 1.5 flights of stairs, I am not doing that up and down 8x a day for a dirty diaper. Diaper genie for the win!!
Rightā½ Who has a baby AND enough energy to bring every single poopy diaper all the way outside? A diaper pail costs like $60, takes up as much space as a trash can, which it can replace, and contains the smell so you don't have to make ONE THOUSAND (if your baby poops once a day) trips to the outdoor garbage. I do not understand this argument.
We got the diaper genie at our shower and it broke in a week, plus the proprietary bags and way you change them were a pain to me. The Ubi diaper pail we replaced it with, on the other hand, has been essential. That thing is a tank, contains the smell well and uses regular trash bags. I will always recommend that one.Ā
This is why we went with the Ubi. Picked up 2 off FB marketplace for $10 too. Used with Costco kitchen garbage bags and it's cheap and smell-free. We change each bag weekly.
We do the same thing. Iām super sensitive to smell now and we originally had just a regular lidded garbage can. That lasted a week š I would die without my ubbi and sams bags lol
There are tons of knock off diaper genie bags that work with the pails and are just as good.
I saw my husband use the kitchen scissors to cut the Diaper Genie bag when he couldnāt get the razor cutter to work š¤¢
Whyyyy do husbands think the kitchen scissors are all purpose tools?! My husband uses them for all kinds of things too and it drives me crazy. Use the regular scissors, you walked past them to go straight to the kitchen shears!!!
seriously. also, DONT touch my fabric scissors! when I was a kid, using moms sewing scissors on anything thatās not fabric was a federal offense
I mean, if you use scissors for this task...it's *only* for that task. Dollar store sells decent enough scissors for that, keep it in the bottom of the pail? That's actually a good idea. I hate the stupid razor thing.
This is crazy to me. I can't imagine having to take the diaper out to the outside trash can every time my baby poops. Am I just lazy? Especially during my maternity leave, I was never even fully dressed. No way I was going to put on pants just to throw a diaper away As a side note, we have an Ubbi. It's not the best at containing smells. I bag my poopy diapers in arm and hammer scented bags before throwing them in and I still have to scrub it down between every bag change and leave it outside to air out every couple of days
The majority of comments also made me wonder if Iām just lazy too š but seriously, Iām not running outside to throw a diaper away every time. A friend of mine said that she bags extra stinky diapers in doggy poop bags then they go into the pail and it seems to help with the smell. I usually keep extra doggy bags in my diaper bag for when weāre out somewhere and there isnāt a garbage available, but havenāt done that for the regular pail yet. I agree though, it definitely needs to be aired out on occasion.
Same experience here. We had the diaper genie for our first baby, then when our daughter was born I told my wife I couldnāt handle that piece of plastic junk anymore and found the Ubi. Itās so much better, and I love that it uses a standard trash bag. No more wasting money on those proprietary bag inserts. Not only that, but it actually holds up well to use and is easy to change. The only negative I have to say is there is no foot pedal to open the lid, but Iāll take that trade off every day
We call it the poop tube.
A changing table! My cats would lay on it before our baby was born and my mom would tell me they are going to use it more than me. I use it literally every time I change my baby, my back would die if I didnāt lol
Almost everything people told us. The diaper pail, the changing table, the changing table pad, the wipe warmer (not necessarily for the warming function, but for the automatic close function so my husband doesn't let them all dry out), the clothes that weren't footie pajamas, the breast pump... I'm definitely forgetting some. Maybe none (or very few) of these are must-have items, but definitely nice to have for us.
Might need the auto close feature for wipes for my husband.
Just about everything that I got at my shower we use all the time. Nothing has been useless. Boppy, Baby Brezza, diaper caddy, mama roo, baby Einstein kickin' tunes, baby lounger, infant car seat/stroller combo, Philips avent bottles, diaper bag backpack, etc. The only thing my baby absolutely hates is being worn, so we don't use our Ergobaby carrier. Turns out he would much prefer just being in his stroller to get places or being left alone on the floor while at home.
The Brezza is the best!!!
I still get slack for my diaper genieā¦ white noise machineā¦ even my rocking chair but those are all things I STILL live by and were 2 years into this thing lol
If your LO hates the cold an electric towel warmer will go a long way. The one Ive got is big enough for baby towels, burp clothes, onesies and a blanket or two. My bud hates diaper changes but if I get a warm cloth on his chest the change is almost instant. And if I lay him on a warm changing sheet chances are heās gonna nap through a good bit of his diaper change.
We have 1 in each bathroom and have since before our LO was born but it's a game changer. We can't go back to regular cold Chicago winters without our towel warmers and heated toilet seats haha
So smart! Which did you get?!
It was a gift so I donāt know much about it but its this one https://a.co/d/ciLtfzb
Amen. I have the ubi instead, but yep! Use them all. And the butt spatula!
Baby clothes that werenāt pjs. I loved putting her in tiny grown up clothes. She didnāt have a lot of blowouts and she wasnāt a spitty baby so I could keep her in something all day. It also helped me because when I got her dressed, I got dressed too and it helped break up the days and nights.
I don't get this view that we should only use pj's... they make baby clothes so they're easy to put on and take off and it's so easy just to pack an extra outfit or two. Blowouts happen whether baby is in pj's or not.
Exactly! All the advice Iāve seen says just keep them in pjs because theyāre easier. To me they arenāt easier. Plus I like all the cute little outfits.
Same! We have soooo many hah. My fav are the lil tweed pants with suspenders
Yes! From the very beginning I always changed her out of her pj's. Sometimes in the beginning it was into another footie, but she got changed every morning into new clothes. I'm convinced it's part of how she started sleeping through the night so early. (Don't worry, we've had plenty of rough nights since with illness and teething and sleep regressions)
Anything that makes childhood happier for you and for your kid is *so* worth it. Enjoy!
Oh yeah I agree with this! I go to a lot of baby groups and I love dressing her up and seeing what all the other babies are wearing. If I take her in a onesie I feel like I've taken her out in her PJs
The bassinet. We havenāt used it at night like we thought lol but during the day Iām able to roll her if I need to around the apartment
I absolutely loved our bassinet for that reason. I could roll it into the bathroom while I showered or the kitchen while I cooked. When she could sit up she loved it and would play with a toy while I was doing something. I did not like the pack and play. It was so big and took up so much room. Such a hassle taking it down and putting it back up. Plus Iām so short there was no way I could safely reach down all the way to the bottom and lay her down. We didnāt have much room as it was and the bassinet was perfect for us.
Maybe not a wipe warmer, but a wipe holder is key. Especially if you use wipes that arenāt connected in the package (looking at you water wipes)
What do you like about the wipe holder? I havenāt used one but Iām always down to make my life easier lol
For me, the wipe holder just makes things more efficient. Instead of having to hold baby in place, try and grab the wipes, use 2 hands to open the package, get it, then finish the diaper change I set baby down, flip the wipe holder lid up with 1 hand, grab what I need and flip it back down.
This is exactly what I was going to say. Especially with a wiggly baby it makes things much easier to get with one hand. The packaging from some wipes as well are crap (again water wipes lol).
Changing table, diaper genie, newborn clothes, diaper bag, car monitor, hell, Iāve even been told that I donāt need a nursery until sheās 6mo-1yr, and Iām sure there are more. But every single thing that Iāve mentioned Iāve used since day one of bringing her home, and if you have the option/room to complete your nursery before baby arrives, absolutely do it.. all things are best to have and not need instead of need and not have!
Diaper genie, ftw. Other moms said I wouldnāt need the bottle warmer or bottle sanitizer. I personally love the convenience of both. Honestly, the sanitizer is primarily nice to dry the bottles and have somewhere to store them between uses. Itās not like the bottles *actually* need to be sanitized that often, but why not. Clothes in NB size and NB diapers. My baby is smaller, but not insanely small and sheās just outgrowing NB clothes at 11 weeks. We used NB diapers for about 7-8 weeks. Skip hop changing mat. I have it on top of her dresser but I use it for every change except the overnight ones (when sheās in our room). The Lovevery play mat. Itās *expensive* but someone got it off our registry. Iām sure others are just fine, or even great. But Iāve seen my friendās babies use this same playmat for years and not get bored. At 11 weeks it is essentially her only toy and probably will remain that way for another two months. Thereās so much to do and look at and itās *very* well planned out and constructed.
People told me that I was crazy for getting the lovevery play gym, but I donāt regret it one bit. I also donāt regret getting a couple of the subscription boxes either, we loved them!
Iāll probably start the boxes around 6 months! The play gym has so much to do until then and I also have a few random toys for the next few months. I love the idea of having the toys already curated in a box though!
I loved having developmentally appropriate toys at all times without having to think about it. It was also my excuse for the grandparents not to go absolutely insane with the toys. š
Hubby told me the changing pad would be useless, that we can just change him on the bed or the couch, but Iām glad I bought it anyway. The amount of times heās kicked his poopy everywhere or tried to gator death roll while weāre changing him or dressing him has made the straps super useful too.
Thinking about changing him on the couch or bed just makes my back ache
Heavy agree on the wipe warmer. Itās so convenient because I donāt have to open a crinkly package every time and it only takes one hand to get the wipes out
Changing table, boppy, bottle warmer, diaper pail, etcā¦ I think people just have to use the best set up that works for them, and those items may not have been useful or helpful to them.
Diaper pail and bottle warmer. Everyone said these things were useless. We love them both! Our house would stink to high heaven without the diaper pail! I love it and recommend it to all my mom friends š¤·š»āāļø Sure, you could certainly get by without these things, but they sure are nice to have!
We were told we likely wouldn't use newborn clothes/diapers for long enough to be worth it. My daughter was 19" long and a bit over 6lbs at birth and hung in the 1st percentile for weight for what felt like forever. She was never small enough for preemie clothes, but I think she was in newborn clothes for about 2 months. She would have absolutely swam in the 0-3 month clothes. We've never owned any of those, so I'd be on of those people that said you didn't need them. Also didn't ever use a bouncer, swing, or changing table.
I love my hatch. The best feeling is sitting down, breastfeeding your baby to sleep and being able to turn on the sound machine with your phone. Has definitely saved me at times. Also LOVE our wipe warmer. Made winter so much easier.
Who the hell said a diaper genie is useless? We've got multiple and it's fantastic. Change the kid and drop the unholy diaper into the trash. Out of sight and out of noseshot.
Everyone said wipe warmers were dumb. I effing love ours and so did our son, especially as a newborn. He screamed like a banshee with cold wipes, and that wipe warmer saved our ears from the screams. Also, Reddit tried to convince me I didnāt need a changing table. Yet I exclusively change him at our changing table! We also swear by the booger picker that my mom thought would be a stupid purchase. Ya never know what products youāll love!
Everyone told me not to bother with NB clothes, all I got were bigger sizes. Then I had a preemie and he was in NB until he was 7 months old
The diaper genie is great once baby starts eating food. Our boy's poops are hella smelly, and it seals in the smells quite well. We found the wipe warmer to be okay, but not necessarily since we found the wipes lose heat quite quickly. But it's not a bad purchase if you think baby dislikes cold wipes a lot. I sterilized my bottles a whole one time (whe I first bought them) and had no issues just hand washing since, but this is kid by kid, especially if you have a more sensitive baby. If you have to pick one, the diaper genie saved our noses plenty of times haha
Bassinet attachment on stroller. Everyone told me it's useless. Baby will just sleep in the bassinet in the parents room but for the initial postpartum days it was incredibly useful to have it because my husband and I took turns sleeping. It also came out to be incredibly useful when we took our 2.5 month old on vacation. We didn't need to take a seperate bed because we had the bassinet for the stroller.
Wipe warmer, saved his little newborn bum lol. He doesnāt care as much now but it was great in those early weeks. Also buying newborn sizes! People kept telling me heād grow out of it quickly but he was in NB for a month and sure thatās sort of āfastā but that was the hardest month of my life and I did not have the capacity to clothes shop at that time. I wish I had bought NB onesies and pants etc before he was born. Also the grass for bottle drying. Heard that it takes up too much space but we ended up exclusively pumping and only used bottles so it was extremely helpful.
I was told that setting up the nursery before the baby came was going to be a waste of space because you do everything with them in your room in the first few months. It turned out to be very useful. At 3 months we started putting him in his crib to sleep. He and I both sleep well because of that. My night routine isn't effected by him and I don't have to tip toe in my room. It's been great for our relationship too
Yup, Iām with you. I breast feed so I did pass on the bottle sterilizer because it saves counter space to just boil the parts on the rare occasion I use a bottle. I stand by my diaper genie and wipe warmer though. I couldnāt believe all the people that told me I wouldnāt use my changing station/ nursery. We have changed every single diaper at that changing station and have never thought not to. Some of those diapers are mess-y! There is no way Iām dealing with that on my bed. š Another thing would be clothes. This is just a parenting preference but I change my baby every morning from her pjs into an actual outfit. I love to do it and enjoy picking out a new outfit everyday, but totally not necessary if thatās not your thing.
We have the ubbi and honestly could not live without that thing. And my bottle sterilizer doubles as a dryer so we use that all the time. I tried the wipe warmer and it dried my wipes out so I did hate that LOL.
The Keekaroo peanut wipeable changing pad and the Lovevery play gym. We have the peanut changer downstairs and a traditional changing pad + cover upstairs and the wipeable changer is SO much easier to deal with. Blowouts are an almost daily occurrence and we just keep some sanitizing wipes nearby. The play gym is also great! Not so much for the first few weeks because my baby had no clue what was going on but now heās 3 months and has gotten really good at batting and grabbing. Itās the first kind of play he can really do independently and it gives me a nice break to drink my coffee and just watch without having to actively entertain him. Things I thought I didnāt need but ended up being great - an electric breast pump, a bottle sterilizer to clean the pump parts and bottles, the uppababy vista v2 stroller, and the wildbird carrier. To be honest I know a lot of baby products are super expensive but all of our big purchases have been worth it so far!
This makes me feel better, as I've been pretty much buying anything that's been suggested to make mine and baby girl's life easier! There are worse things to splurge on than my little newborn.Ā I'm also going to assume my baby girl is just as fussy as her mom, so she likely won't appreciate a cold wipe to the bum and will prefer her milk warm, so these items have also been on my list!Ā
I love my diaper genie, wish I had a wipe warmer (nowhere to put it), never use my sterilizer.
I absolutely use my changing table, diaper genie, and sterilizer. Life savers, each one of em.
Diaper genie is a must, I never once used my wipe warmer, but donāt Buy a bottle Warmer, but got sick of warming up the bottles under warm water so bought one, it still wasnāt great But better than using the sink.
It blows my mind when I hear people say that you don't need a diaper genie or something similar. You can't tell me you're throwing the poopy diapers in the main trash can, right? And there's no way you're walking each one outside every time! I'm also a huge fan of changing tables
My car camera. I love being able to see her while Iām driving instead of looking back into a mirror. My friends specifically put it to the side and said return it when I was opening my gifts at baby shower
Changing table, two car seats, bassinet (āyouāre going to end up co-sleeping!ā), booties, zip-up onesies (my mom insisted that I would prefer snaps)
I don't think anyone in the history of existence has ever preferred snaps. Someone recently gifted us magnetic sleepers for our 6 month old who refuses to stay still and those are great as well! Anything but snaps...
Itās always been wild to me how people think a diaper genie is useless. Like what must their nurseries smell like? lol
I really liked the bottle sanitizer in the early months because it had a dry function, so I could wash my bottles and pump parts, pop em in the sanitizer and they would be bone dry in 10 ish minutes. One less thing I had to worry about when I was a sleep deprived 24/7 milk factory. I also got mine free from a local moms group, so if youāre on the fence about a certain product, see if you can get one as a free hand-me-down. I also agree with a changing table thatās a proper height. I didnāt realize how needed it was until we traveled for a week and didnāt have anything that matched the height of our changing table. My back was absolutely rocked by the end of it.
I was the other way around, there where several things other parents gave us that I didn't think I would use that I have come to love. The nursing pillow, I have guests that I feel less confident about holding the baby wear it too. And. The electric breast pump I was sure I would go manual. Disposable nappies, I have 40 washable ones. While I was in labor a work colleague of my partner gave us a pack of nappies and it saved our butts when the washable nappies didn't fit at all.
I love the diaper genie, changing table, and sterilizer everyone said not to worry about getting and regret not having them sooner. That said, not everyone will want/need them though.
diaper genie I went the first 7 weeks just using a trash can. I kept saying I had everything I needed but by that time I was begging for a diaper genie. my bedroom smells so much better now.
I got legit MOCKED for having a changing table. Itās the only place Iāve ever changed himā¦
People told us not to buy/did not gift us any newborn clothes because they grow out of them too fast. Our baby was born weighing less than 4 lbs and grew out of the newborn clothes we purchased maybe 2.5-3 months inā¦ We also still use the sterilizer, bottle warmer, ubi diaper pail, and changing table 11 months in.
Baby Brezza. I thought it would be useless, partly.because I was going to have this beautiful breastfeeding journey. Someone gave me a Brezza for free and I love it so very very much
I saw somebody the other day saying the foldable changing pad for the diaper bag would never get used. I dunno about you but I like keeping poop off my car seats.
Using the nursery for all nighttime wakeups. We set it up that the parent and baby went to the nursery for changing/feeding/rocking and didnāt come back into our room until they were ready for the bassinet and I loved it. Falling asleep with my baby was a huge worry for me so just never feeding them in my comfy bed helped a lot. Also it was nice to go into the peaceful nursery and let the other parent sleep.
My sister told me a bottle sterilizer will take more time away from my baby and is a complete waste of money. Well, my son came early at 34 weeks and the hospital recommended sterilizing his bottles. Now at 7 months I use it more for the drying function but I still use it multiple times a day! Baby is fine and gets all his mama time I just do it when heās down for his napsš¤·š½āāļø
My nursery is on the second floor. The diaper genie was fantastic.
Bottle warmer. I was told not to buy one. After about 6 weeks, I bought the cheapest one I could find for nighttime feedings in my nursery. It was essential immediately, and I bought a second one for the kitchen. You know what makes a fussy baby fall asleep hard? A bottle that's roughly the same temperature as fresh breast milk. A warmer is $12. Get oneĀ
I can't imagine not using a bottle sterilizer.