Must have baby items for 1st time parent

[figaromeetsmarie]

Must haves?

 

[Cakegirl]

Sleep gowns that are open at the bottom (great for late night diaper changing!), a swaddle blanket, a special lovey, and a baby monitor come to mind.

 

[kiddisney]

ear thermometer -

depending on your home - if you have two floors - a portacrib w/bassinet for the 1st floor so you don't have to walk up and down the stairs everytime you lay the baby down

 

[Ephany]

Angel care monitor (tells parents if baby stops breathing), warm sleep sacks that zip if it's winter time, and the book 'Baby Bargains' to help the parents decide what they really need vs. what marketing tells them they need.

 

[MrsPete]

When it comes to the big-ticket items, buy the best quality you can afford. You'll be using them daily for quite a while -- possibly with multiple children:

Crib
Car seat
Stroller
High chair -- not needed 'til six months or so

Aside from those items, the things you really NEED are few in number. These things are rather temporary, so skimp on them:

Onesies
Sleepers -- lightweight and/or blanket type, depending upon the season
Socks -- shoes aren't necessary 'til the baby begins to walk
Diapers and wipes
Soft towels for bathtime & gentle bath products
Bedding and blankets -- lightweight for swaddling, but they won't stay under blankets, so blanket sleepers are better for night time
Books

You will WANT a good bit more than that, but if you keep in mind that pretty much everything else is just extra, it'll help you keep your budget in check.

 

[jedijill]

My SIL said she needed the plain white baby tshirts that snap on the side...went through tons of them....and said she appreciated them more than all the "cute" outfits.

Jill in CO

 

[Elleshoodat]

When it comes to the big-ticket items, buy the best quality you can afford. You'll be using them daily for quite a while -- possibly with multiple children:

Crib
Car seat
Stroller
High chair -- not needed 'til six months or so

Aside from those items, the things you really NEED are few in number. These things are rather temporary, so skimp on them:

Onesies
Sleepers -- lightweight and/or blanket type, depending upon the season
Socks -- shoes aren't necessary 'til the baby begins to walk
Diapers and wipes
Soft towels for bathtime & gentle bath products
Bedding and blankets -- lightweight for swaddling, but they won't stay under blankets, so blanket sleepers are better for night time
Books

You will WANT a good bit more than that, but if you keep in mind that pretty much everything else is just extra, it'll help you keep your budget in check.

The best answer so far. There are a ton of nice-to-have items out there and a lot of unnecessary ones, but only a short list of *must-haves.*

Look on Craigslist and consignment shops if you are looking to save money. The gear marketed to first-time parents is outrageously priced, especially for the short amount of time you'll actually use it.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

There's soooo much and I won't even bother trying to list it, but I do have a onesie tip! I found the cheapest onesies at Joann Fabrics! They have 5 packs for like $10.99 but then you can use the 40 or 50% coupons on them when they're not on sale! Not cheap brand either, Gerber! Granted they're plain white but honestly they're going to get stained so who cares.

 

[njmom47]

Love the drawstring bottom sleepers, and since dd and dgd lived with us for the first year of dgds life, we loved the bouncy seat (we just happened to get the vibrating one) and a swing (that was a hand-me-down). Also agree about the monitors.

 

[wgwtgb]

I agree with the open bottomed or draw string sleepers. The best gift I got at my shower was a Johnson and Johnson first aid kit. It was 6 years ago, but I remember (b/c I still use it) it was a hard cased container. Inside came lots of baby medicine, and first aid supplies for a baby (the best of which I thought was the safety fingernail clippers... I think most first time moms are so scared to clip their nails).

 

[wdwmom0f3]

I had a baby swing with all three of mine and I don't think I could have made it without one.

I loved having a diaper changing table. It was great for keeping all of those items organized and made changing the baby easy. I know some people never use them but I loved mine.

Get a good portable crib with bassinet / changing area insert that converts into a play pin for latter. I enjoyed this with my youngest because of having a two story house and it was great when we traveled.

I used the baby gowns for them to sleep in. I couldn't keep socks on their feet and the pj kind was a pian in the bootie at 2:00am. I hated all of those little snaps!

Gets lots of onesies.

One thing I did that I enjoyed was to get a pack of cloth diapers and have them monogrammed real cute to use as burp rags. They worked great for that and they covered well.

I think a good baby monitor is a must have. Mine were before the video kind so I would get that kind now.

I liked to use the hooded bath towels, but you only need about three of them. We wash clothes a lot so I didn't waste money on to many of those.

I also loved having a mesh bag to put those tiny socks and things in so that they wouldnt get lost in the washing machine. They work great for that.

Also, on the baby stroller. I normally kept two at a time. I always had a nice big one then a nice umbrella one too for quick trips. It turns out that I enjoyed my nice umbrella stroller way more than the expensive big ones.

It's been so long that I can hardly remember, but those things still stand out in my mind.

Good luck!!

 

[tinkx3]

Just a tip...the newest craze on FB are local "mom swap" groups and you can get sooo much for so little. I just had a baby and I am finding nice, brand name stuff for a fraction of the tag price. Check out your area and see what you can find. I am a member of 6, and the majority of the other group members live or work within a 15 minute drive of me. And there are TONS more that I just haven't joined yet!

 

[AZMermaid]

This is such a tough question because what works for one baby, another hates! For example, my first son hated hated hated everything (had colic- really it is a miracle he has a sister). By 6 months, we had worked him up to 15 minutes a day in the swing. We had many friends who swore by their swing and could dump their kids in there for 3-4 hours at a time. My daughter is a super happy baby, but I still don't get more than 30 minutes a day out of the swing, on a good day. Usually it is more of 15-20 minutes. So for us, it has been sort of a waste! We also have never ever used those sleep gowns everyone swears by. We have them, never used them. Both kids slept in a onsie and socks until about 4 months and then a light cotton footed sleeper.

But, we use every day (my kids are almost 2 and 6 months):

Bumbo (yes, these were just recalled, don't care. We have maybe 1 more month of Bumboing).
Activity mat/gym (son liked this actually and would lay there for like 10 minutes without crying a few times a day, daughter is more eh about it, but she likes it too decent enough).
Onsies
cloth diapers (LOVE Flip system for the under 6 month crowd, Bum Genius after)

There is SO much baby stuff on Craigslist. I would spend money on quality crib, carseat, high chair and stroller (like a pp said) and get all that other stuff used until you see what the baby likes.

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

Totally depends on the person. My kids didn't like the footless PJ's and also didn't wear onesies usually.

My must haves:
Lightweight PJ's (I preferred zip)
hooded towels
forehead thermometer
cloth diaper burp rags, I like the customized ones on etsy, but plain ones work great
baby tylenol and gas drops, easier not to have to run out and get it when the baby is fussy

 

[littlebit0863]

I would get everything except carseat used. And honestly I got both of my infant carseats used, but only because they were from my sister and I knew had not been in an accident or passed their expiration date. You can pay $100 for a swing and are lucky if you can sell it for $10.

Must haves:
-simple cotton onesies
-swing
-feet pajamas with zippers (easiest for nighttime changes)
-boppy (If you have a c-section, the boppy is your new best friend)
-baby wearing apparatus (I used Moby until dd was 6 mos)
-socks
-baby medicine (ibuprofin, tylenol, milecon, saline spray, bulb)
-diapers
-wipies
-Nuk pacis
-bottles of various kinds (if not exclusively bf). You may have 10 Dr. Brown bottles and one cheapo playtex and end up washing that one over and over bc your kid only likes that kind. Better to buy one or two of a few kinds to see what works best for feeding. Also, if formula feeding, I would NOT advise stocking up before, because you may be stuck with 15 cans of regular and your kid needs gentle.

 

[amberlynnhawkins]

Most of the bigger and more common must haves were already mentioned, so I'll add the ones I never thought of but that were life-savers:

Gas drops

Disposable changing pads (the Toys R Us brand are called "disposable multi-use pads") - these saved MANY loads of laundry when we were trying to decide what brands of diapers worked and didn't and when we changed diaper sizes)

Pacifier wipes

Portable high chair/booster seat - ESPECIALLY if you're limited in space!! We had one of these AND a regular stand-up high chair. We used the portable one more often, even at home. Fisher Price has one for about $30 or less. The tray is dishwasher safe, and it attaches to a regular dining room table chair. WONDERFUL when you take your baby out to eat with you (you have NO idea what's on those restaurant high chairs).

Teething gel

Infant Tylenol

Membership to a discount club - we were Sam's Club members and a year's membership paid for itself in less than a month just in savings on diapers and formula. Our son had to use the "gentle" formula. The Sam's brand (which has identical ingredients as Enfamil) was in a container DOUBLE the size for HALF the price. Same thing with diapers (our son did best in Pampers when it came to brand names, but the Sam's brand did just as well - and you got at least 20 MORE diapers for $20 LESS). Nothing against brand names, and if you can afford them, then go for it. But if you have to pinch pennies like we did, it'll add up in a HURRY. WELL worth the $40/year membership.

 

[bumbershoot]

MUST haves? For me?

Baby sling. Support for breastfeeding (or having one's own memories of nursing, thereby being your own support group when LLL wasn't serious enough for you). Diapers and wipes (both preferably cloth). Friends who will make you food for a few weeks (I managed to get by without this, but it sucked at the time and sucks when I think about it even 8 years later). Big huge water-cup to support the nursing.

The nightgowns with the opening at the bottom were lovely.

And that's pretty much it for our must-haves. We got almost nothing ahead of time, and we still had too much. We're minimalist for babies. Makes up for how many Lego sets the kid has now at 8!

 

[millerette]

I had many things I really liked but here is a short list of my must haves. Itzbeen timer, Madela pump in style, hooter hider, wipes warmer, and boppy. :0) Congratulations! Have fun!

 

[2goofycampers]

Infant bath tub with non slip mat. Nothing slipperier then a wet soapy baby.

 

[deegack]

Diaper caddy. Box that had a days worth of diapers, room for wipes, diaper cream and a changing mat. I got it for like $20 and it was the easiest way to stay organized. I used it until dd #2 was potty trained and kept it in case.