To avoid panic runs to the supermarket my pregnant friend asked me to give her a list of the most useful baby items for the first week at home with a new baby. Looking back at my late pregnancy I found it difficult to see past the upcoming birth. My attention was geared towards my; labour; hospital bag, relaxation music, positive affirmations and birth preferences. Consumed with the birth and the thought of holding my baby for the first time, it was difficult to focus on the every day tasks and what I would need once I had brought my baby home from hospital. Hopefully this list will help you prepare for the first week so you can avoid mad dashes to the local shop.
This list assumes you already have basic nursery equipment outlined in most baby books and the NHS book. Never fear if you haven’t, as I have included a second list on basic nursery equipment in the Baby Equipment for the Nursery post.
Top 10 Baby Essentials for Day One
| New Born Nappies(2 packs of new born) | It sounds obvious, but it is really important to have a few bags of nappies in the house as new baby’s can get through up to 12 or more a day. Even if you are using cloth reusable nappies it helps to have a few biodegradable nappies at hand just in case. |
| Cotton Wool(2 big bags) | Handy for cleaning baby’s; face, umbilical cord, sticky eye and creases when topping and tailing. It’s also a good fall back if you run out of wipes. |
| Wipes | Reusable wipes, such as cheeky wipes, are great as you can throw them in the wash with the baby’s blankets and sheets and use them wet. |
| Muslin Cloths (12) | Great for protecting clothes when burping baby and easy to throw in the wash. Useful as a ‘draw’ sheet to protect your top sheets from posseting (baby sick) and also reduces washing frequency of crib/cot sheets. |
| Swaddling Blankets (5) | I only had one blanket and was delighted when my sister passed on some of hers as I needed a fresh one nearly every day in the first two weeks. When you are in hospital the nurses show you how to swaddle your baby and it is important to have these to make your baby feel secure. I found Miracle Blankets (available from Mothercare in the UK) to be excellent and ended up buying three. JP is still using them at 11 weeks. |
| Disposable Nappy Bags | A friend bought me these and I used them every day to contain each nappy, they are also very useful for putting in your bag when out and about. |
| Bath Thermometer | You may decide to top & tail your baby in the first few weeks, but I found that a bath helped to calm JP down in the early evening before bed. |
| Bath Easy / Seat | Excellent for supporting baby in the bath as it gives you a free hand to wash baby and reduces the anxiety of the first few baths. You can pick up a baby bath seat from most supermarkets or Mothercare in the UK. We are using a terry towelling bath easy from the NCT shop. |
| Tissues / Kitchen Roll | Baby boys sometimes wee when you are changing their nappies so placing a tissue or kitchen roll over him prevents you getting wee in the eye or all over his fresh nappy. |
| Breastfeeding & Bottles | I found breast pads, a breast pump and Lanolin cream absolutely essential. For bottle feeding I am using 4 BPA free glass bottles, a microwave steriliser, a bottle brush and organic formula. |
| Painkillers | Useful if you have stitches. They give you paracetamol and ibuprofen in hospital and I ran out for some on the first day home. It’s handy to have it at home, not to mention helping you through breast feeding if your baby doesn’t take to it immediately. |
If you can, get equipment passed on from friends and relatives as your baby will grow out of these things very quickly, and before you know it you will be running out of storage space. I also bought second hand reusable nappies via Gumtree, because I wasn’t sure which brand would suit JP and I wanted to try before I bought a new pack. Other sources for second hand items: Netmums , NCT nearly new sales and Freecycle.
JP is now 11 weeks old and I am past the very exciting (but overwhelming) first four weeks. If you can think of any lifesavers during the first days at home with your new baby please leave a comment below.
For more information on basic baby equipment read the post Baby Equipment List for the Nursery
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