Hi there-
Just wanted to see if you had any tips, tricks or suggestions for items a new mom would need... This could be anything that has made life a little easier for you... things you are so glad that you had on hand or things you had to go out and get...

Anything at all would be very helpful...

Thanks :)
Kate

Buy a good stroller. I purchased an inexpensive one that isn't bad at all but now I wish the I would have purchased one nice one instead of all of the ones that I have now. Look at the stroller thread for some great suggestions.

If you are planning on getting a glider get one that reclines so that way during the late night outtings you can relax. I will not tell you how many times I woke up with a stiff neck because I feel asleep holding my daughter (not suggested but it may happen).

Are you planning on BF'ing ?? I only ask because I have suggestions for that as well.

:wavey: Thanks very much- I am slowly becoming a stroller addict... and thank you for the tip about the reclining glider, I had not thought of that...

I am planning on bfing :)

plenty of cloth diapers--they're great for burp cloths
Baby Bjorn--great for walks and for getting stuff done around the house
bouncy seat--this is how I get to shower
breastpads--you'll leak once your milk comes in
Lansinoh--smear it on your nipples after nursing and it will help protect them

Okay, these are little things that I learned :)

Since you're planning on breastfeeding, I would suggest what Sarah did, and add:
~ a big water bottle that you can take everywhere (it's important to drink a lot of water, and I got really thirsty each time Anna nursed)
~ food that's easy to eat with one hand (granola bars, muffins, fruit, cheese)

A cordless phone is *really* nice to have so you can keep it near you.

What I found myself doing is setting up everything by my big comfy chair where I nursed Anna. I had snacks, my water bottle, the phone, thank you cards, pen, address book, magazines, lotion, tylenol/motrin, breastpads, lanolin, kleenex, etc. all right there and handy. It worked out really well for me :nod:

One thing that Anna loved was these black and white cards. One had a checker board pattern, and the other was a bulls eye. She loved lying on the floor and looking at those things! We got ours as a freebie, but you can easily make some.

Oh, really nice smelling bath stuff for you!! Pamper yourself, and be sure to take it to the hospital for your first shower after your bundle arrives because a shower will never feel so good!

Hmmm.... easy to prepare meals. You can make some meals ahead and freeze them. I know some people just double recipies for a month or two before, and freeze half. We bought some frozen lasagna and that kind of thing. It's also good to have menus from your favourite pizza places and take out restaurants.

If you have a film camera, make sure you've got lots of film!!

Oh, and take lots of change to the hospital (if you're having a hospital birth) for vending machines, payphones, parking, etc.

That's all I'm coming up with right now.

Congratulations, and good luck!!
Sarah

If you are planning on getting a glider get one that reclines so that way during the late night outtings you can relax. I will not tell you how many times I woke up with a stiff neck because I feel asleep holding my daughter (not suggested but it may happen).



Also, make sure that the arms of the glider are padded. My glider's arms are just wood and it can get uncomfortable. I'll probably be getting a new glider for this baby.

LOTS of sleepers! Maya has lived in sleepers since she was born! The outfits are cute, but the sleepers are so easy!!

Universal Infant Car Seat Carrier
http://www.onestepahead.com/jump.jsp?itemID=123759&itemType=PRODUCT&lGen=detail&iMainCat=117&iSubCat=27209&iProductID=123759&change=117

I loved this!! I went out alot with Emily and this was so convenient! Much better than having to open/close or lug around a big stroller!


Bundle me by JJ Cole.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000A340G/002-5125515-2297649?v=glance

Much better than having to fight to get her into one of those snowsuits.

Thank you guys very much for the info! I have printed this thread up and will keep it on hand!!

Thanks again!

Universal Infant Car Seat Carrier
http://www.onestepahead.com/jump.jsp?itemID=123759&itemType=PRODUCT&lGen=detail&iMainCat=117&iSubCat=27209&iProductID=123759&change=117
I have to be the voice of dissent... Anna HATED being in her car seat, so we put her in the bjorn for shopping and walks. This would have been a total waste of $$ for us. That's just Anna though... who knows what your baby will like? :dunno:

Sarah

My favorites:

~ Baby Bjorn (or Snuggli, I have both and the Snugli worked just fine, especially for a third of the price of a BB!)
~ A good stroller. Not necessarily an expensive one, but one you'll want to use with and without the infant seat. A lot of people buy travel systems which are great at the beginnning and then they don't want to use the stroller itself once baby has grown out of the carseat!
~ Bouncy seat. Lifesaver.
~ Bibs. If you have a big spitter, you can't have enough bibs (Emily went through at least 3 every single day for her first 4-5 months of life) - and even if you don't have a spitter, they're wonderful when the pre-teething drool phase kicks in.
~ Onesies. Great as clothing in the summer, great under clothes in the winter.
~ Two words: Miracle Blanket. The greatest invention ever... www.miracleblanket.com (http://www.miracleblanket.com)
~ A mobile they can actually *see*! The cute pastel mobile I bought to go with my bedding set just did not get the job done. I bought Emily a battery-powered (love that, who wants to wind a mobile up every 2 minutes?) brightly-colored mobile and she would just lie there gazing up at it for a good 10 minutes. Enough time for me to fold a load of laundry!

this is great advice! I only have 6 weeks to go and i still don't know have this stuff!!!

I also have the Universal Carseat carrier! It has been great but Genavieve doesnt mind the carseat!

I would also reccommend a Boppy Pillow. It has made nursing so much easier for me!

A piece of advice since you are planning on bf'ing, during the first week or so make sure that you change your pad before you nurse, you will bleed a lot while nursing!! I'll second the good stroller, baby bjorn, boppy, bouncy seat, and keeping lots of water and everything you need nearby when you nurse.

ok another question... wats a boppy pillow? is that like a boomerang pillow or something?

this is a boppy.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000069RAO.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg

DD goes through a bunch of bibs. Probably around 7+ per day. We have about 30 now because we never had enough bibs. Once I started putting bibs on her, all of those burp clothes I had so many of were used even less.

DD pretty much lives in sleepers.

Here is a suggestion:
Be open to anything. Many times, parents-to-be have certain things set in their minds and once the baby gets here, it stresses them out b/c its not what they thought it would be. So they throw it all out the window and then life becomes so much more pleasant :lol:
Oh....and don't have a goal of getting anything done those first few months. Then, when you do get something done (like dinner made, laundry done, house cleaned), you feel proud :lol: and its just a bonus and if you don't get anything done b/c you have a baby who wont let you put it down, then you arent stressed b/c of it.

Boppy pillow and lots of bibs to match diferent outfits. I love places like carters because you can buy bibs to match the outfits. We must have about 50 bibs! We took the advice to take lots of change to the hospital and as it turned out the machine DH wanted something out of was broken and would only acept dollar bills! So take some ones too! Also a few NEWBORN and Premie outfits, 0-3 and NEWBORN are not the same, none of the 0-3 clothes fit Isaiah and we had to go shopping for smaller clothes. Target has great newborn clothes and for a summer baby a few carters onsies in newborn or premie are great.

Here is a suggestion:
Be open to anything. Many times, parents-to-be have certain things set in their minds and once the baby gets here, it stresses them out b/c its not what they thought it would be. So they throw it all out the window and then life becomes so much more pleasant :lol:
Oh....and don't have a goal of getting anything done those first few months. Then, when you do get something done (like dinner made, laundry done, house cleaned), you feel proud :lol: and its just a bonus and if you don't get anything done b/c you have a baby who wont let you put it down, then you arent stressed b/c of it.
I absolutely agree with this!!

I also second the suggestion for a miracle blanket. I got mine when he was 4 weeks old and it wasn't soon enough!! It's been the best thing yet for my baby.

I was just thinking. I could definitely live without our pack n play. Madison NEVER uses it. Im glad it was a gift, we didnt pay for it. I kind of wish my SIL wouldnt have bought that but spent the money on diapers instead. :lol: We hardly ever use it so its just taking up space. Our home is small to begin with.

Newborn:
1. Receiving blankets. We didn't use the burp clothes so much as receiving blankets. One for swaddling, one on drool patrol.
2. Our swing, the aquarium wonders one. We could not have lived w/out this b/c it was the only place she would (and pretty much still) nap.
3. A nightlight for our room. She slept w/ us for the first 3 months and w/out it I couldn't see well enough to get her latched on. I also don't think she liked the pitch dark.
4. I totally agree w/ the easy food. Stuff that is already ready already, or easy to make.
5. Rayna wouldn't let me put her down at all, so I agree w/ the Baby Bjorn.
6. We have a Tiny Love mobile that she loves. This really is a must have and I got it as a gift - didn't even really think a mobile was necessary. As already stated I would highly recommend a battery operated, colorful mobile.
7.Definately sleepers. I just went and bought a bunch more for Rayna.
8. Must have a carseat.

Thats all I can think of right now.

Sandy

:nod: to the lamp/night light. We bought a nightlight for Madison's room even though she has a lamp in there. We bought a touch lamp for our room. It worked great for us.

My son was a weirdo - he didn't care for the swing or the bouncy seat until he was too big to use either one. He also hated being carried around in the Baby Bjorn. God only knows how I managed to get anything done the first few months of his life! :lol:

One thing I'd suggest that hasn't been mentioned is the Ultimate Crib Sheet:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00003XAKP.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00003XAKP/103-1147419-0383026?v=glance&s=baby&me=A1F83G8C2ARO7P&vi=pictures&img=14#more-pictures)

http://http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00003XAKP/qid%3D1079711354/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/103-1147419-0383026

It snaps on top of your regular crib sheet, and has vinyl backing so that when your little one leaks out of his diaper (and he will!!!), it doesn't soak through to the regular crib sheet. Much easier to snap one of these off and put a new one on when the bed and the baby are wet at 3 in the morning than wrestling with a regular crib sheet while trying not to wake the baby too much! :nod: I had four of these, and they got lots of use.

Another thing I'd suggest is gowns for sleeping. Sleepers are good, but gowns make diaper changes really easy - no snaps or zippers to fumble with in the middle of the night. :)

I loved my boppy for breastfeeding and even laying my little guy in.
And I had lots of washable breast pads. I leaked like crazy!
I used a bassinette in our room that had a night light that went out after a couple minutes and it also played music for about 15 minutes and could vibrate. My son and I both thought everything was convenient about that for the first 3 months!
Yes, lots of cloths for spit up -- use whatever you like best, burp cloths, receiving blankets, bibs, cloth diapers.. . I liked burp cloths best.
And lots of sleepers. Something cozy with feet and snaps for easy diaper changes. I had no idea how many outfits we'd go through from messy diapers or spitup.
And, yes, you'll need everything close by when you breastfeed. Like Sarah, I had easy to eat food. I would get really hungry and thirsty when I fed my son.
And enjoy!!!!

This is such a great list!! Thanks to everyone who responded!!

First... What Karri said!!!!!!

Lots & lots of... Burb clothes and bibs. Big bibs not those silly little ones that are supposed to be newborn.

Bouncy chair... lifesaver!

FP Ocean wonders aquarium... has been putting Abby to sleep at night for months!

A night light

And a darn good lightweight stroller!!!

I have something else to add here: a sleep positioner!

Alex co-slept with us for the first 2.5 months and it was a lifesaver! We never planned on co-sleeping, but the minute I'd lay him in his own bed (PnP), he'd start screaming....so for our own sanity we brought him into our bed.
The sleep positioner created his own area in the bed and kept us from getting too close to him (we were always scared of draping an arm or something over his head while we were sleeping). Plus, it created some structure for him to sleep since he was so tiny. :)

The other things I can't live without:
- Boppy
- receiving blankets
- cloth diapers
- bouncy chair
- onesies
- Bjorn
- stroller (I have the PP Pliko, which I love)

Boppy pillow - I loved mine and would definitely get one, but I still had to put pillows under it too. I am tall and I don't have big boobs so I kept leaning forward to nurse. My back was killing me! So be careful.

Glider/rocker - I think it's important to get a foot stool too. I didn't have one and I always had my legs up on my tip toes. It got to be a pain. Also, I've heard that you want one that doesn't move with the glider. I don't know if that's true or not, but I've read that many times.

Ultimate crib sheet is awesome although it covers up your cute fitted sheet - still, you don't have to take off that fitted sheet which is REALLY HARD to get on and off. THey are so danged tight!

Frozen Meals - lots of them. VERY EASY!

Diapers - Obvious, but be careful. We didn't realize that you could (and sometimes should) move up to the next size before they hit the top weight on the package. I didn't know that the weights overlapped on the sizes. I don't remember the exact pounds, but newborn size goes up to something like 12 pounds, but size 1's start at 8 pounds. Like I said, I'm not sure about the exact pounds on those, but you get the idea. Carter was almost 9 pounds when he was born and we were using the newborn diapers which were too small for him. He leaked out of every single one. Also, we pointed his penis down in the diaper so he wouldn't pee up and out. But, we didn't do this right away either, so it took us a while before he leaked every single time he peed. - That said - we did a LOT of laundry because he peed through every single diaper, even if we changed them constantly.

TOYS - You really don't need much at all. Carter's favorite (something he still actually likes) are rattles! He just loved them. Things don't have to be very fancy!

If I think of more, I'll post later!

FP Cradle Swing
Bouncer
Colorful battery mobile (not wind up!)
Over the Shoulder Baby Holder sling
Snugride Infant Carseat
Baby Go To Sleep (Heartbeat) Lullaby Tape
Sleepers (not nylon or polyester) *without* collars
receiving blankets
burp cloths or diapers

Good Luck!