Baby Talk Part 1: 11 Nice to Have Things for a New Baby

I almost called this post "Necessities for a New Baby", but let's be honest. If you have diapers & wipes, clothes, and some form of food (breast or formula), then you could survive! However, this is my list of "Nice to Have Things". They are great to have and make life so much easier!

1. Boon Bottle Grass

If you are bottle feeding or pumping, I would almost say this is a necessity. I did not think that it would be when I put it on my registry and honestly it is not something I would have bought for myself. I got it as a gift. Can I just say that it is a LIFE SAVER! You could use some other drying rack, but I love this grass. It is easy to put different sized bottles, nipples, pumping parts, etc. all in one place. I don't have to worry about other food germs getting onto the bottles. We also have the "twig" attachment" and it is super nice to hang different small parts on to dry faster (especially when I was pumping).


2. Play Mat

Oh my goodness! How many times have I been saved by a play mat! How many times I have been able to shower because of the play mat! Definitely an amazing thing to have. I will honestly say that I think you need one that has toys hanging over it because the baby will be more entertained throughout different ages with these toys. M LOVES his play mat (see the link above). Before he could grab things, he would just stare at the toys. Then once he could grab toys on purpose, it became even more fun!



3. Diaper Genie

We got a diaper genie for free from someone in our ward, but they are pretty easy to find used online or at thrift stores. The reason we got one was because we live in a basement apartment. We did not want to walk upstairs for every dirty diaper. We wanted to be able to contain the smell somehow. Right after we got ours, Costco had a sale on refills, which helped us stock up. I will say that Costco is the best place I have found for refills. It is $20 normal price for 4 refills. If you find a better price somewhere else, please let me know!

Diaper Genies are one thing that either people love or hate. I absolutely love ours. However, I will say if we were super tight on money, the diaper genie would be one of the first things to go.

4. Baby Bath Tub

This is another thing we got used from an Facebook yard sale ad. With a good clean and sanitize, it has been a miracle to us. We use the bath tub A LOT because M loves taking baths. It makes it easy to contain. I would highly suggest getting one that will grow with baby. Ours had a sling for newborns, a step to help hold them when they can't sit by themselves, and the little step comes out for when he can sit up by himself (we aren't to that point yet). It has been super nice to be able to set M in the bath and just watch him splash around. That is something that you just can't do in a big bath or the sink.

5. Nose Frida

This is something that sounds REALLY GROSS! But it has been worth every penny. I still remember the second night with M in the hospital. He started breathing funny and I noticed a big booger in his nose. The nose sucker from the hospital did nothing and I almost had a mental break down! M has always been a booger-y kid and the nose frida saved us. It was the best thing when M got sick to be able to help him breath fast and easy. He doesn't like it at all, but it is amazing to see the junk that comes out of his nose.

The Nose Frida is worth the money. In fact, we have 2! Totally worth getting, especially if your baby gets sick anytime before the age of 4 when they can blow their own nose (I can't wait for that day...)

6. Multiple Wipe Containers

This one is pretty easy to do without spending any extra money. We have multiple wipe containers in different rooms. It makes it super easy to be able to change baby in a different room without having to lug the wipe container around. We got all our wipe containers "free" with things. We have 2 of the hard cases (Nemo and Frozen) that we got with the big pack of wipes from Costco.

 Then we have 2 soft containers. One I got as a gift, and the other I got for free using a coupon at Babies R Us. We keep both of the soft containers in the diaper bag. One of them is with the changing mat so it is with everything to change a diaper. But the other one is just tucked in the diaper bag, making it easy to grab for quick clean ups.

7. Changing Mat

A changing mat is absolutely necessary if you are going anywhere with baby. Our changing mat has a place for wipes and diapers. It covers the sometimes nasty changing station in public bathrooms and then gives you a place to put baby when you have to change on the floor because of lack of changing station. Who would want to put their baby on the floor??? That is just gross. It also makes it really easy to just give to dad to take to the church bathroom, versus having to cart around the entire diaper bag.

8. Nail Clippers

Oh my goodness! M's nails grows like no other! For a while, we were cutting them every other day. Nail clippers are completely necessary! I personally am not brave enough to cut M's nails, but daddy is an absolute PRO! :)

Our nail clippers came in a little set with lots of health things.




9. Formula Dispenser & Ready Made Formula

These 2 things are for formula fed babies. Even when we were just supplementing or going places, Ready Made Formula was AMAZING! It is more expensive, but you don't have to worry about finding water or anything. In my opinion, this is the only way to fly with a formula fed baby. When we flew to Arizona, we brought a whole pack with us on the plane. It made so that as soon as M was hungry, we could feed him without having to hunt down clean water. *Note when traveling though* They will have to scan EVERY SINGLE ONE. Some airports make you take off the label because their machine doesn't agree with it. Just a heads up.

Also, a formula dispenser is amazing when you are straight up formula feeding. (We have 2 of these as well) Ready Made Formula is expensive, but having a formula dispenser makes so that you can just have the right amount of formula right away. We use this while going out for the day and we keep one in the bedroom for night time feedings.




10.  Toys & Links

M has always been a toy baby. He has always had toys on his carseat and he was able to hold toys from a very young age. We LOVE the Oballs. (We have 2 different colors) They are easy to hold and fun for baby and parents. :) They also are easy to attach to rings, so they don't fall out of the car seat when M decides to throw it. Rings are great to make sure you are not cleaning toys constantly from landing on the ground it public places.

11. Children's Tylenol
Did you know that Children's Tylenol and Infant Tylenol are the exact same thing? Seriously...I even asked the doctor. The 2 differences are 1.) The Infant Tylenol comes with a thing to squirt medicine into baby's mouth and 2.) They have less in the Infant Tylenol, but charge you more for the term "infant". CRAZY, Right?? Tylenol is one of those things that you would rather have on hand before you need it. With that, if you get Children's Tylenol, make sure you have some way to administer it to baby. The same kit that we got the nail clippers in had a squirter medicine administrator.




So those are my 11 things that I think are AMAZING to have when you have a new baby. Again, they aren't necessary. Your baby will survive without them, but if you can afford them...then that is fantastic! I find them helpful on a daily basis.