Newborn must haves (0-3 months)

Hey lovelies, I hope you’re all warm and well.
Throughout my pregnancy, hours and hours were spent looking watching videos and reading articles on baby essentials and newborn must haves. It can be so overwhelming figuring out exactly what you need for your new arrival. I found this type of content really useful when compiling my list of things to buy. So I thought I’d share with you some of the items we couldn’t live without during the first 3 months of Oliver’s life.

Feeding:

Tommee Tippee perfect prep machine – A product I didn’t intend to buy. My plan was to breastfeed Oliver for as long as I could. Both directly from me and in expressed bottles. He decided otherwise and we made the decision to formula feed him after two agonising days of attempted breast feeding. This machine makes a bottle to the perfect temperature in less than 2 minutes and honestly made life so much easier. Oliver wasn’t left screaming while his milk cooled down and the convenience was worth the £115 price tag.

MAM Anti-Colic Self Sterilising Bottles-  Another product I didn’t plan on purchasing. Prior to Oliver’s birth I bought a big set of Dr Brown Anti colic bottles because absolutely everyone said they’re the best ones. Oliver thought differently. He didn’t get on with the teat, at all. Milk dribbled out the side of his mouth, he couldn’t suck on them properly and it was all round a bit stressful. I had been given a 4oz MAM bottle at a private scan. We tried that one and he took it really well! We ended up buying a whole new set of these bottles and they’ve worked great. They’re so easy to sterilise too!

Lansinoh Therapearl 3-in-1 Breast Therapy pads-  Not so much in the  newborn essentials, but during that time, mumma’s you’re gonna need these. When your milk comes in properly it’ll feel like you have two giant bowling balls hanging on your chest. It’s quite uncomfortable and at times, painful. A friend recommended using these frozen to help with engorgement and swelling. They worked a treat for me!

Clothing-

Sleep suits with built in mittens- Baby nails are sharp as hell! Not to mention they grow ridiculously fast. Clipping or filing them isn’t the easiest job in the world, especially if you have a wriggly baby like me. We found that the all in one sleep suits with built in mittens really useful! The cuff of the sleeves just fold over babies hands and they can’t scratch their precious little faces. The ones I like are from Next, super soft and cute, not overly expensive either if you get a multi pack.

Vests- Having a summer baby meant that because the weather was so hot, he wasn’t wearing much. Most days he’d just have a short sleeve vest on over his nappy. In the early days we got through about 3 vests a day from either sick, poo or sweat. They’re cheap enough to stock up on and are great under an outfit when it cools down.

Sleep:

Chicco next2me- If your financially able to get one, do it. I love being able to have Oliver at my bed height, seeing him clearly and be safe in the knowledge he isn’t in our bed. It’s like he’s in the bed, but isn’t. Ours has a rocking feature that we’ve not used, thought that was worth mentioning because they sell more affordable models too.

Moses basket- Kindly gifted to us from my mother-in-law. Oliver uses his to have his day time naps downstairs. I don’t think he’ll be in it much longer because he is such a big boy but if you have a smaller baby you’ll probably get more use out of it than I will. Wasn’t sure how much we’d use it to begin with but couldn’t imagine the days without it.

Jojo maman bebe blanket- Okay, so maybe not “essential” but I love ours. Any blanket will do if it keeps your baby warm and cosy but the one we have from Jojo is my favourite. It’s breathable, soft and the perfect thickness for most weathers. It’s pricey though so if someone wants to get you a gift, ask for one of these ;D

Ollie the owl- In the first few weeks, we tried pushing the lullaby, but in reality, the kid loves white noise. It’s a sound you get used to (eventually) but works wonders for calming baby and helping him sleep. We love our Ollie owl

Health and hygiene

Shnuggle bath- I was torn between this, and the angel care bath support (I got both). Oliver prefers his shnuggle bath 100%. It’s got a bump on it to support him which means he’s less likely to slip around. The shnuggle bath featured heavily when I was looking for Newborn must haves. Now I know why.

Nail files- Baby nails are like fresh razor blades and they grow at a ridiculous speed. We bought baby nail clippers and scissors but the easiest and safest way is just filing them down when he’s sleeping. We get ours from boots (10 for a quid)

Cetraben cream-  Oliver has quite dry skin, and in the first few weeks it was flaky. Our health visitor recommended this cream and we use it all over after a bath. It’s really helped clear up his skin and it lasts ages!

Bath thermometer – A baby bath should be filled with body temperature water (37°-38°). Our Tommee Tippee one has a digital display and has a red flashing light if the water is too hot. Very handy to have.

Toys

Play mat-  We have two. One on each level of the house. Oliver loves them both but showed more interest from about 7 weeks. Both are bright coloured with dangling toys and they’re great for visual stimulation.

Swing – Omg, why didn’t I get one sooner. The kid loves it and it helps him sleep too, yaay!

Bouncer chair- Again, we have two. Oliver wasn’t keen on his bouncer to begin with. Wasn’t until we visited a friend and he used their that he decided he liked it. I got a high contrast one that’s mainly black and white with spinning cubes on a toy bar. The other is animal themed and brightly coloured. Both vibrate and that tends to send him off to sleep.

Rattles- He showed zero interest in his toys until about 6 weeks old. Now, he loves the rattles. He stops what he’s doing and stares at them if he hears them. He’s learning to grip them and reach for them too which is lovely to see.

Books- Not only great for bonding but they help with developing eyesight and language. High contrast, soft books are great for newborns. Lots of patterns, shapes and simple pictures. Oliver loves the “faces” book which has soft crinkle pages, a mirror and bold high contrast images (Charity shop bargain)

Miscellaneous

Gro egg- Oliver is a summer baby and we’ve had a fair few unbearable days. Having a gro egg in our bedroom helps us keep a close eye on the room temperature when he’s sleeping.

Netted laundry bags– Before these, we lost lots of tiny baby socks in the wash and tumble drier. So handy to keep all the small bits together

Isofix base- Makes going out a little bit easier. The car seat clips on and off so easy and they’re secure if (God forbid) you crash.

Backpack style change bag- I splashed out on the Black Babymel Robyn because I liked how it looked, it’s really practical, fits everything we need and Shane is comfortable using it too.

 

 

So this concludes my little round up of Newborn must haves. I have a few items that didn’t work for us, so if you’d like a post on that let me know.
Tell me what your Newborn must haves are in the comments below. I’d love to know!

Related posts you might like:
Preparing for a newborn || pressure around breastfeeding

Kisses and Love
Jazziepickles
xoxo

Disclaimer

These are a list of products that have worked well for us. Since every baby is different, not everything listed here will work for every baby. Also, I know these products aren’t absolutely essential, but they’ve made life easier for us and we’ve enjoyed them.