#1 Wipe Warmer:
This is something we thought was just silly; a marketing ploy for parents. When we brought the baby home, the second a cold wipe touched his butt he LOST IT!!! It took us a whopping 6 hours to give up and make a run to the store. We have this one that has a built in light, but any kind would do the trick.
#2 Kimono Tops:
The hospital used this style of tops and we LOVED the fact that you don't have to pull it over the head (which is nerve-racking until they have good neck control). It also gives some room for the umbilical cord. We asked for some extras to take home and they happily obliged. You can also buy some here if your hospital isn't as awesome as ours was. Our love for the side-snap/kimono style continued as the babe grew and we were obsessed with the cute Zutano onesies that have the side snap.
#4 Mamaroo:
Although pricey, this gadget doubles as a bouncer, a swing, a bassinet, a sound machine and so much more! For the first few months, we would turn on the white noise, crank up the kangaroo setting, and enjoy the hour of peace it would give us! We got ours from here as a gift off of our registry. We liked the small footprint as well as the modern look. We were sad to pack it up and move it to storage when the babe got too big (around 7 month at about 22lbs).
#5 Aden & Anais:
I love this brand in general. They sell them EVERYWHERE including Target, buybuyBaby, specialty stores, and here. Their muslin is super soft and the designs are adorable. Their bamboo line is even softer and has different patterns. I love how many gender neutral options they have - these things will last multiple babies! We have 3 burpy bibs (they cover much more area on a baby, and wrap around when you put it on your shoulder), 8 swaddles (that double as stroller blankets and emergency burp clothes), 3 sleep bags, and a washcloth set. I remember seeing a recommendation of 8-10 blankets on one checklist and the hubs and I looked at each other and thought, 'why do you need so many blankets?'. I still to this day can't answer that, but you do go through more blankets than you would think!
#6 Angelcare monitor:
There are soooo many options of baby monitors. I did some research, and even from my own mother I heard stories of, "I got worried and had to go in and check on you because you were TOO quiet!" I decided against a video monitor because I would watch 'baby channel' all night long. The goal is to get the baby to sleep for a long time, but then you wake up worried that you haven't heard the baby! Enter the BEST PIECE OF MIND EVER!! It is a motion sensor that goes under your mattress pad and will trigger an alarm if no movement is detected in a 20 second period. We laughed at first that it would go off all the time - 20 seconds?! but babies are wiggle bugs. We've only had it go off once, and that was when he learned to move and crawled into the far corner of his crib and the sensor was not centered. It's fire-alarm loud, so we heard it (and immediately panicked)!! You can find the kind I use here. It's also nice to have the temperature in the nursery - so we can be sure he's comfortable.
#7 A NICE Chair:
This is one place you don't want to skimp. You're going to be in this chair lots - rocking the baby, feeding the baby, reading to the baby, etc., etc... We wanted something that could grow into a bigger kid room (or move into our main living areas) - nothing too 'baby'. Some chairs have ottomans, which take up space, but could be used as another seat. Little Castle has so many options - we went with the 360° swivel with full recline. We got ours from a local specialty store, but they sell them all over. Our nursery was grey/black/white because we wanted a neutral nursery. That's even a custom houndstooth Boppy cover (tutorial coming soon)!
#8 A good stroller:
Again, lots of options, but not something to go cheap on. The best thing to do post-baby is to get out and walk. It helps you recover, but also gets the baby exposed to the big new world! Ever since I lived in London I knew I wanted a Bugaboo. I was always keen on the Chameleon, but then they released the Donkey and I was in heaven!! When making a big purchase, it's important that the item is multi-purposed. This stroller can lock the front wheels and act as a jogger (the hubs has gone on 5+ mile runs with the babe), it has a built in 'shopping cart' bag, and it converts to a 2 or 3 child stroller!! My logic added up the cost of a middle-range stroller, a jogging stroller, and a dual stroller in the future and decided the cost of the Bugaboo was worth it. WE LOVE OUR STROLLER!!!! We got the Maxi Cosi car seat and adapter so we went in/out of the car with the infant seat without waking up the babe. We went with black to stay neutral, but they have super cute colors available (and even customized fabrics).
#9 A diaper bag:
This one has the most options. Some people go with backpacks, some go with cross-body options. The important thing is POCKETS!!! You want to be able to find things quickly, and pockets help prevent having to dig around in a large abyss! Outside pockets are great to have for those 'most needed' items. There are really popular cute ones, but we went with one that was *drumroll please* neutral! haha It also encourages the hubs to help out if they don't have to take a pink floral bag into the bathroom to change the babe in public. The hubs got me the black Burberry one I was lusting after for Christmas. I have yet to use the cross-body strap, but it'll probably come in hand when I have a little one running around in addition to a baby. I also like that I can take out the large baby 'stuff' and it looks like a big purse.
I know the Boppy is the 'popular kid' when it comes to pillows (we have one) but the favorite was the podster. We found it online after seeing it at daycare - and got ours here. Once the babe got a little bigger, he wasn't able to sleep comfortably with the Boppy assist. He kept slipping out the bottom and waking up. The Podster resizes slightly to be more tight around the baby - and is GREAT for side sleepers. We used it in combination with the Boppy when he was closer to being able to sit so he could see the world around him. I'm not bashing the Boppy by any means - I use it as a feeding pillow all the time (but it wasn't as multi-purpose as we expected).
That's the list of MUST HAVES for the 0-6month age. This certainly isn't a comprehensive list, but it is a list of what was used/enjoyed the most in our house. As he got older we had some new 'favorites' but that's for another post!
What were some of your unexpected 'go to' items when your little one was little?
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