Baby Must Haves to Make Life With a Newborn Easier

What do babies need? I had to ask myself this over and over when getting ready for my newborn. I couldn’t remember, as it was 6 years since I last did this. At the time of writing this, my daughter is 7 weeks old. So I put together a list of baby must haves that have made these past few weeks easier. There are so many baby things out there, I wanted to share what has worked for me.

Must Have Baby Items

Disclosure: All of these baby things are my favorite and I’m writing about them from my experience. I purchased most, but am linking to affiliates (this means I make a commission at no added cost to you) and I teamed up with Baby Brezza to test out their baby gadgets.

I didn’t have a typical baby registry. I didn’t want to have something and point people towards it, I felt awkward about asking for what I wanted (now that I read that back, I know it sounds so silly).

What I did do though was create an Amazon Baby Registry (I’m an Amazon junkie) because anything that wasn’t bought off the registry by the completion date, I got an extra 15% off of (this is 10% for non-prime members)! This made some bigger ticket items much more affordable.

I also suggest signing up for Amazon family, it’s so handy to have diapers delivered monthly (and with 20% off).

I wrote a similar post to this after I had my son, and quite a few of these items made it to this list too. However, I know as a new mom you’re probably reading multiple opinions, so check out these:

• Newborn Must Haves
• Baby Items to Skip I’m taking back #5, I love mine for my daughter.

Baby Registry Must Haves

Are all of these baby necessities? No. Many of these “baby needs” simple made my life easier. I listed quite a few of them below, but I have a full list (that I will keep adding too) here on my Amazon Baby Registry Guide.

Baby Must Haves

Medela Sonata

I only gave myself 4 options to splurge on and a quality breast pump was at the top of the list. I had the Medela Pump in Style Advanced with my son and although it worked, I didn’t find I pumped as much milk as I did with the hospital grade pump. So this time around, I knew I had to look for a pump with a little extra effort. I read a lot of reviews on the Medela Sonata and pulled the trigger when I saw it go on sale on Amazon. It’s not cheap, it’s actually crazy expensive. That being said, I tested the Medela Sonata and compared it to the Ameda Pump that I used in the NICU and I was able to pull an extra 10mls of breast milk in the first week with the Sonata. So in my opinion, it’s worth it (especially since every drop counts). Purchase the Medela Sonata here.

TBK’s Pro Tip: Make sure you download the Medela app! I love that the Bluetooth option with the Sonata automatically ads my pump times! Simply add in your output and you have an easy to read log of your pumping, breastfeeding, and changes.

I also recommend that you buy the Sonata Pumping Kit. I couldn’t have imagined doing this with just one set of pump parts.

Silicone Breast Pump

After seeing people freak out about these on Facebook, I bought one. The idea is if you nurse or pump on one side, you use this to catch the drips.

It is freaking amazing! It catches up to 2 oz for me, personally, that would have been otherwise wasted.

Get this. Seriously, add it to your baby must haves. I bought mine on Amazon.

Baby Brezza One Step Sterilizer Dryer

I love this sterilizer! My Baby Brezza Sterilizer is running multiple times a day! Baby Brezza sent me the sterilizer to get my thoughts on it and I was so excited because it was on my wish list. With the push of a button not only are my pump parts and bottles sterilized but dried too. It saves me a little extra effort and time, which I’m appreciative of since every minute counts when you’re sleep deprived with a newborn. The system uses natural steam, which kills 99.9% of germs in only 8 minutes (dry times vary but I opt for the 30 minute cycle since it always seems like I have bottles to wash). Add the Baby Brezza Sterilizer to your registry!.

I’m calling this corner my morning saver for when the baby comes. I can make myself a smoothie while a “brew” a bottle for baby. Thanks in advance to @babybrezza! #ad #technologyisawesome . . #babybrezza #formulapro #formulamaker #momtobe #29weekspregnant #nesting #happythings #babybrezzaformulapro #babybrezzasterilizer #babythings #vitamix #morningsavers #healthymom

A post shared by Randa @ The Bewitchin✨ Kitchen (@randaderkson) on Mar 22, 2018 at 12:31pm PDT

Baby Brezza Formula Pro

As of right now, I am still feeding exclusively breastmilk, so I haven’t tested this out too much. I got this because I know eventually I will go to formula and after hearing rav reviews from friends, I knew I had to have it. I played around with it to see how it works and it’s so simple!

Something important to note is that every formula has different concentrations and Baby Brezza understands that. In the manual, it tells you how much water to set for each brand. It’s fantastic!

Here’s where you can find the best price on the Baby Brezza Formula Pro.

Nursing Pads

Here are the ones I used. I preferred these over the Medela ones because they didn’t show through my nursing bras and tank tops (the Medela brand did). A sustainable option would be to purchase reusable ones, I had some with my first but they always showed through. If you have a reusable brand you recommend, drop them in the comments.

Nipple Sheild

I wasn’t prepared that my daughter wouldn’t latch properly, thankfully the NICU had me covered and gave me this nipple shield. It made all the difference in the world. Not only did it make latching easier, but it reduced the amount of pain significantly. Here is the nipple shield I used.

TBK’s Pro Tip: Buy two, these shields are transparent and get lost easily!

Breastmilk Bags

I have bags on subscribe and save. I found these make storing milk in the freezer so easy, just lay flat and freeze then transfer to whatever way you organize it. I organize mine by labeling an extra large bag with the month and add the little bags inside. I have tried Medela, Ameda, and Lansinoh. I prefer these.

Mamaroo

I had a Mamaroo with my son and I loved it, it was the only thing I saved for the next baby (but sadly it broke in one of our moves). I knew it was a baby must have, so it was added to my splurge list. The swinging movements paired with white noise truly help soothe my daughter when she’s fussy and I’m so thankful for this baby tool. Her favorite settings: the wave movement paired with the ocean noise, I guess she’s like her mama and prefers the beach! Grab the Mamaroo here.

Aden + Anais Muslin Swaddlers

It took a little over a week but Carl 🐱 is slowly warming up to Vivienne.

A post shared by Randa @ The Bewitchin✨ Kitchen (@randaderkson) on May 18, 2018 at 11:49am PDT

Muslin is my favorite material. I love how soft it is and how it gets better with each wash. Not only is it breathable but it feels like a little luxury. You can grab Aden + Anais on Amazon but I found the best deals on Muslin Swaddlers and sheet sets on Zulily.

Honest Company Diaper Cream

Holy Hannah this stuff is amazing. My daughter had a diaper rash that wouldn’t go away. I used Pentaten, coconut oil, but neither worked. A friend recommended The Honest Company’s and it cleared up in 24 hours! She went from skin breaking, to healed. You can this diaper cream on Amazon but I recommend buying directly from Honest.com. I bundled it with a few other options and received 35% off.

TBK’s Pro Tip: Google promo codes because I found one that got me 40% on top of the 35% off the bundle.

Nuna Pipa Carseat

A quality car seat has to be on your baby must haves (you can’t go home without one). Finding a car seat is freaking tough! I was constantly researching safety and it became really overwhelming. Did you know that not all car seats fit your vehicle properly? That’s what Lindsay from Mama Loup’s Den told me. She’s a car seat tech here in Canada and helped me pick out the perfect car seat for our vehicle (and future vehicle). She pointed out that the original car seat I wanted to purchase was not my best option and helped me decide on the Nuna Pipa.

It also passed the test from the NICU, thankfully it fit our little girl so we could go home right away.

The Nuna Pipa car seat is so easy to install that it left my husband scratching his head wondering if that was it. I love that its super light and the fact that it has a built-in sunshade that is easily pulled down to protect your baby on walks or while hanging out outside. Find the Nuna Pipa here.

Bumbleride Speed Stroller

Originally I was adamant I was going to splurge on the Uppa Baby Vista, but it cost more than my first car (seriously). After further review, I learned that the tires were not meant for off-roading on trails, the snow, or basically anything other than pavement. Not the best choice for Northern Canada. So after asking for advice on Facebook, I had an overwhelming response to check out Bumbleride.

I LOVE my Bumbleride Speed. It has an attachment for the Nuna Pipa car seat, rides incredibly smooth, and has inflatable tires (plus it comes with a portable pump). There are many other benefits such as it being eco-friendly and all-terrain but if I got into it it would take up the whole blog post. I was sad to sell my BOB stroller (it didn’t work with my Nuna Pipa and I didn’t like the storage basket) but I truly believe the Bumbleride Speed is better! Purchase the Bumbleride Speed Stroller here(I have it in Dawn Grey).

Baby Box

I didn’t buy a bassinet. I found them really expensive for how long you actually use them for, so I opted for a baby box from Baby Box Co. I signed up for the Baby Box University and received a free baby box, however, there are options that you can purchase (they come loaded with products). It worked just as well as a bassinet and the public health nurses highly recommended them. I won’t lie, I felt a little odd placing her in a cardboard box but it was only temporary. Grab your free Baby Box here.

Munchkin High Speed Warmer

At first a bottle warmer wasn’t on my baby must haves list. After a few long minutes waiting for chilled breastmilk to warm up, I bought this fast bottle warmer a week ago. This one caught my eye because it said it was fast (every minute count when you’re baby is hangry). I found out a friend has it and she told me it was awesome.

It’s so awesome, a 4oz bottle is ready in 90 seconds! It fits most bottles too (including a MAM one I have). The best part, it’s under $20!

A few more items I love:

• Cloud B Sleep Sheep (what I buy all my friends when they have a baby).
• Lillebaby Complete (The one I ordered just arrived and I love it! I have a grey rose print that’s beautiful.)

Phew, we made it through the list! If you want to see what else I recommend from Amazon, check out this baby registry gift guide.

So what do you think I missed? What were your favorite baby items?