My favorite newborn products

I hope you were ready for a lot of mom content because I haven’t been doing much other than taking care of a newborn these past three months.

I know when I was making my baby registry, I really didn’t know what we would need or use. It can be difficult because sometimes you won’t know what works best until you meet baby and find out what they prefer.

There are some things I recommend passing on until you know if baby needs/wants them; I’ll start with those.

Skip the wipes warmer and the bottle warmer. This doesn’t mean you can’t ever buy them, but don’t make them the default. We lucked out and Eliza prefers her bottles ice cold. Sometimes she doesn’t want to nurse because she just wants a nice cold bottle.

While the wipes warmer is probably more comfortable for the baby, it also creates a situation where they maybe aren’t used to a cold wipe. On the go, this could result in a meltdown. I also doubt a daycare is going to take the time to warm up wipes. Might as well get them used to it from the beginning.

Don’t go crazy on the bibs, especially ones for newborns. I used a bib like once to help prevent her from spitting up on herself, but we basically just use burp cloths. I know bibs will come in handy when she starts eating food, but we did not need to have 37 of them to start with.

The diaper caddy is a popular option, but I think it depends on the size of your house. Our nursery is basically in the middle of the house, and we don’t have an upstairs. It’s just easier to bring her into the nursery to change her than to get stuff out of the caddy to change her elsewhere. But I do like it at my parent’s house which is multiple floors.

Now this one might be controversial, but I would skip a hospital-grade breast pump. Typically your insurance will pay for one pump. I opted for the Momcozy M5, a portable hands-free pump. Often people will get two, (insurance paying for one) a hospital-grade pump and a portable.

The reason for the hospital-grade, like a Spectra, is that it has a higher suction power and helps establish a supply. Some people find they produce less with a portable option. I would say wait and see what your supply looks like. I opted for the Momcozy knowing I could always buy the other one later if necessary. For me, I didn’t have to. As an overproducer, I’m perfectly fine using my portable option.

OK, enough with the negatives. Here’s what I recommend!

The Owlet Dream Sock Smart Baby Monitor is a must have for me. This device is pricey but tracks oxygen, heart rate, movement and sleep patterns. Especially in the early days, I felt so much more comfortable knowing her oxygen and heart rate were good if the alarm wasn’t sounding. To this day, it makes sleep so much easier. I don’t worry I’m going to wake up to find something horrible has happened.

One thing we used a ton right away is the DockATot, a snug pillow of sorts that your baby can lay in. We used this to be able to set her down in the living room when we needed to do something. It’s worth noting this is not a safe sleep space and babies should not sleep in them unsupervised.

I had a hard time deciding which nursing pillow to buy, but the Boppy (the new style) has been perfect, and I still use it, even just to snuggle.

We purchased the Momcozy bottle sterilizer and used it for two weeks before realizing we really wanted the upgraded version — the bottle washer and sterilizer. It may have a big price tag, but it is so worth it. We use Doctor Brown’s bottles and with all the little pieces they have, it’s much easier to just put it all in the washer and run it. It cleans, sterilizes and dries. Definite lifesaver and worth the price tag.

As she grows, we are finally getting to play with toys. It’s fun to watch her learn to grasp and bring things to her mouth. Her current favorite is an orange Oball from Target.