I recently came across a picture of my first child’s nursery.
It was a small room, and one she never, ever slept in. I had gone in the room just to take pictures for a blog post, and other than that, I don’t think we ever used that “nursery”. I had to chuckle at that picture.
First, I laughed because motherhood was not at all what I was expecting. This was a room I had spent hours preparing for, knowing that I would gently rock my baby at night and lay her down to sleep her sweet slumbers. I would change her diapers and put her in cute clothes and take pictures, then we would sit on the floor and play with all the toys on the shelves. Ha. My dreams of motherhood were not exactly what the reality was like. As I mentioned above, Tera never even slept in that room, and we moved away from that house when she was only four months old. Also, I hardly ever did any sweet rocking at night. I would drag myself into a sitting position in my bed, reach for the screaming baby next to me, and try to feed her as quickly as she would allow so I could slide myself back down under the covers and fall asleep again.
I also chuckled because something on the shelves in the corner caught my eye. Actually, everything on the shelves caught my eye. What in the world was all that stuff and why did I have it for a brand new baby? How many blankets does one child need? Why did I have an entire dresser full of clothes for one child? And remember those grand ol days when expecting my first child meant that everyone who saw my pregnant belly bought me a pack of diapers?
This is not to pass judgement on anyone else’s parenting or preparations for their own sweet children, but instead to just remind myself how much I have changed in my mothering over the years. Now, my two older kids share one room and the baby sleeps in the room with us. Poor Ezra didn’t even get a nursery. I don’t think we even have any baby toys left in our house…but who needs baby toys when they have two older siblings to watch and listen to? Now, I have one even smaller dresser for all three of my children’s clothes and they all share a closet! And I think we had one pack of newborn diapers on hand when Ezra was born…and he didn’t even fit in them! Theo had to make a run to the store to grab a pack of diapers.
See? That is a lot of reasons to chuckle at a picture of my firstborn’s nursery. For Ezra, I kept things much simpler. But there are still some items that are absolute MUST-HAVES for each new baby that comes along.
- Bassinet. One of the items that I have used for all of our children is this little bassinet. I love to sleep with the baby right next to me and this is the perfect one! It came with a base, but since our bed is already on the floor, I don’t even use the base. Obviously, I eventually put the baby into a crib or pack-n-play, but for the initial time period when we are just brining the baby into the world, I find a bassinet very handy and well-used!
- Clothes. Obviously, a child needs clothes! However, the amount of clothes we need has completely changed with each addition. I’ve found that it is just less stressful and more functional to have less clothes. This past summer, we pared down a lot and each child has one drawer for their clothes (plus the stuff hanging in the closet). It is funny to point out that this drawer is full of newborn clothes that Ezra was not even able to wear. All my hard work washing, folding and putting these clothes in the drawer, and then Ezra was too big to wear any of them! We had to wash, fold and put away the next size up on day two after the birth. Lol!
- Diapers and Wipes. Not pictured, but totally necessary! One thing we kind of forgot about was to stock up on diapers and wipes. Kiah is still in diapers, but he can go several hours without being changed. I completely forgot that newborn babies go through 10-15 diapers a day. I heard someone recommend that we buy a pack of diapers every time we go to the store from 20 weeks on. Don’t buy too many newborn diapers, but stock up on all the rest of the sizes!
- Blankets. Even if the baby is born in the summer, blankets are necessary! We loved those sweet lightweight swaddle blankets for our summer babies, and I also love having a warm and snuggly fuzzy blanket on hand for cuddling the baby (never for sleeping, I know!!). For the last three newborns we have had, I have gotten those swaddle blankets with the velcro on. Somehow Theo can swaddle a baby up tight with just regular swaddling blankets, but I could not get the hang of it, so I loved having these velcro ones to help me out.
- Burp Clothes. This is my absolute go-to to stock up on when I’m expecting. Especially in the first month or two there are so many bodily fluids everywhere and burp clothes come in SO handy. I have a huge collection of them and don’t regret buying a single one!
- Pacifier. Ok, I know this is a debated topic because we don’t want to have any nipple confusion…but having a paci on hand has always been a lifesaver in those first days! Babies are born with a reflex to suck, and sometimes Mama just needs a break from being a human pacifier. So far none of my children have had nipple confusion and they have all enjoyed their pacifiers. Our favorite brand is the wubbanub!
- Baby Carrier. I found have found baby carriers to be helpful for all my children, but especially all children after #1! It’s so handy to be able to hold the baby and still have both my hands free. I’ve tried out several baby carriers and while I’m not an expert, my favorite are the Ergo and the Baby K’tan.
- Carseat and Stroller. Of course, this is a must have if we ever want to leave the house! We usually find our strollers second hand and buy our carseats from an online retailer. For this pregnancy I was gifted an Evenflo Pivot Modular System, and we have loved it!
In case you are curious, here are most of my must-have items from Amazon! I ordered my absolute favorite burp clothes from my friend Amy at church…you can find her Facebook page here and order some of your own!
What are your must-haves for baby?