Newborn essentials

Now that Squidge isn't a newborn any more, and after several trips to the shops to fill the gaps of bits I didn't buy the right quantities of, I thought I'd put together a guide on what I would consider your newborn essentials.

Clothes

I made the mistake of buying loads of vests and only 3 babygrows/sleepsuits, so after Squidge was born I had to pop out and buy all the stuff I was missing, i.e. a gazillion sleepsuits.

You may not feel you need these quantities, but this is the amount I keep as we've had nights before where we've had 5 changes of clothes... and trust me, when you've had a night like that, the last thing you want to be doing the next day is loads of washing.

Newborn or First size should be fine, Squidge is only just moving up to 0-3 month size, he was 6lb 9oz when born and he started making the move when he was about 6 weeks old and they're still a bit big now at 9 weeks and over 10lb 7oz.

10 x vests (maybe up to 15)

10 x sleepsuits/babygrows with built in scratch mitts (maybe up to 15)

2-3 hats in different sizes

1-2 outdoor suits (like snow suits they can wear over their sleepsuits)

If you're having a winter baby, I'd pick up a couple of cardigans too, better yet, get someone to knit some for you :)

Built in scratch mitts

I wouldn't worry about booties, socks, trousers etc until they're a little older, like 6ish weeks, babygrows are so much easier and in the early days, you'll be grateful for anything that makes your life easier.

If you're based in the UK, I really can't recommend Asda baby clothes enough, they're cheap and great quality, very soft and with a great range of designs, for boys, girls and neutrals. Personally, I'd stay away from Primark, the baby clothes I bought from there were very rough and weren't very good quality (the print etc would come off when washed).  Next & Debenhams have great baby clothes too, but can be a little pricey, I tend to stick to the sales for these.  H&M have a lovely range of baby clothes too, middling quality and middling price.

Sleeping, Eating & bathing

Whether you're breastfeeding or bottle feeding I'd still recommend having plenty of muslin cloths, they're a god send, you can't have enough of them.

3-5 cellular blankets (loose knit with holes, like hospital blankets*, here's an example)

10 x muslin cloths (if not more)

1-2 waterproof mattress covers for your Moses basket (this is the one I bought)

4 x sheets for your Moses basket (nappies will leak onto these and they'll be sick on them)

5+ bibs with velcro fastening (trust me, poppers are hell when you're trying to support their head and do the bib up while they're crying)

3-5 hooded towels (I thought these were a novelty but they're actually awesome)

1 x baby bath (we've been using this one)

1 x bath thermometer

1 x baby sponge (we've been using a natural sea sponge)

Skincare

Its quite common for newborns to get very dry skin, so its good to have some bits on standby. Squidge had very dry and peeling skin and everyone including the midwife and health visitor recommended olive oil. While I'm sure this works for a lot of people it just didn't work for us, we found Johnsons baby oil worked the best, just warm a little of it in your hands before rubbing it over them.

1 x tub of Sudocrem (for red bottoms)

1 x Sudocrem care & protect (he's prevent redness)

1 x Johnsons baby oil (if you're bathing your baby at night, consider trying the night time version)

1 x Johnsons body wash (same with this one)

Have on standby

Theres a couple of products I bought on a whim, not sure if I'd ever use them and products I wish I'd had from day 1.

Infacol - if your baby develops colic, you're going to want to start this asap as it takes a week to get into their system

Junior Calpol - for babies that are 2 months old, have this to hand ready for their jabs at 8 weeks

Digital thermometer - I had been planning on using the forehead strip my mum used on me when I was a kid, but its not very accurate and ours was in farenheit, so we've invested in a proper one (this is the one I've bought)

Anti-colic bottles - for baby number 2 I'll probably only use anti-colic bottles 'just in case' as a preventative step

Other useful things

Tommee Tippee Sangenic nappy bin - this has been fan, helps keep the smell of those dirty nappies at bay, keeps them neat in a long sausage and stores them sealed in a bin

Tommee Tippee bottle warmer - this has been a god send, it heats up bottles really quickly, good if you're bottle feeding or expressing (reviewed here)

Medela swing electric breast pump - this has made expressing so much easier than a manual pump, worth the money (I reviewed it here)

Hanging mini clothes airer - this has been amazing, its a nightmare drying baby socks (and clothes) if you don't have a tumble drier, this comes with the clothes pegs attached and doesn't take up much space, I'm actually thinking of buying a second one (here's a link to the one I bought - £15.99)

I hope you've found that useful, I know I'd have loved a guide like this when I was pregnant with Squidge as I had no idea what quantities to buy and ended up with quite a few gaps in what we had and needed.

*this is in case your baby pulls the blanket over their face, it'll give them space to breathe and hopefully not overheat as easily. I'd avoid fleece type blankets as babies can easily overheat with these and overheating is more dangerous than them being cold.

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