We tried to be pretty minimalist with our first, but due to some overenthusiastic grandparents, aunts, and friends, it didn't quite end up that way. We got EVERYONE'S hand-me-downs. I felt (and still feel sometimes) like their own personal Goodwill. Of course, that came a bit after the newborn stage...
Also, we did do a dedicated nursery, for naps, since DH works nights and I didn't want to disturb him every 2 hours when the newborn woke or went to sleep. I bought secondhand Pottery Barn curtains and a bumper on ebay, and used hand-me-down sheets from my cousin, so it was still really inexpensive. I also liked having the rocker in there to nurse. When we had guests over (DH's step-dad is super-weird about watching women BF, so I went there to keep him from feeling odd), it was my little sanctuary. And because our house has little bedrooms and small closets, it's nice to have a room where I can stash all the baby clothes, diapers, breastpump, etc without it cluttering up other areas.
That said... My essentials for our new LO on-the-way are:
- a few different baby carriers/wraps. We have a sling, wrap, and SSC to accomodate different positions.
- diapers. We used 24 prefolds and 8 covers, then laundered every other day.
- burp cloths/towels. Great for leaky boobs during latching or for spit-up. Ours were homemade from flannel.
- Boppy pillow
- sleepers. I did not like the gowns and preferred one-piece outfits or sleepers for DS. He wore them exclusively til he was 3 months old. Then we branched out into 2-piece outfits.
- onesies. For wearing under other clothes for extra warmth.
- receiving blankets to swaddle
- 1 or 2 heavier blankets for extra warmth.
- maybe pacifiers. DS had a crazy-intense need to suck, and my boobs were so terribly sore. I also got thrush... So after I found he was as happy with my finger as a boob, we picked up a few pacis to give my boobs a break. Oddly enough, he self-weaned from them at about 4 months.
- a good breastpump, storage bags, and bottles. I returned to work FT at 12 weeks, so the pump was my best friend. I anticipate the same this time around.
- food. I was STARVING after having DS. I was so glad that we had cooked numerous meals ahead and stocked the freezer.
- water bottles. I was insanely thirsty as well. We had several water bottles stashed at my usual nursing spots.
- lots of good books. Breastfeeding takes up a lot of your time, and I read a TON while nursing.
- nursing tanks.
- breastpads
- lanolin
- bottom balm (I used Earth Mama Angel Baby). I tore and had some other issues "down there". This was a godsend.
- jogging stroller
- bouncer. Ours wasn't really bouncy, but it served as a safe place to park a sleeping baby in the bathroom so I could take a shower.
We definitely aren't as minimalist as some, but our needs are slightly different...
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