Top 10 Newborn Must Haves | 2016

Top 10 Newborn Must Haves | 2016

• October 10, 2016

I remember going to the baby show at around 5 months pregnant and being absolutely overwhelmed by what to buy for a newborn. There were stalls upon stalls, all selling 'must-have innovative products' and it was difficult to work out what any new parent really needed. 

I stuck to my list of basics of what I wanted to pick up and once Isaac arrived, I bought various bits as and when I needed. I'd read reviews online and luckily for me, my good friend Mandy was a total rock for giving me tips and sharing what worked for her and her baby. 

Now that Isaac is 3 months old and we have established quite a nice routine, I wanted to share the products that worked for us. Every baby is so different and whilst some products work for one, the same won't work for another.

1. Muslins Cloths

You can never have too many muslin cloths. From feeding, to burping to cleaning spill ups or even using as a swaddle cloth, they are essentials. Isaac had possetting after almost every feed, and we easily went through 5-6 a day. I love the muslins we got from Mama Designs, Molly & Moo and Lulujo. All of them are really soft, wash well and the prints on them are just so cute. I also love them for being non gender specific. 

2. Innoo Sling + I-Angel Carrier

In the early weeks, Isaac wanted to be held ALL the time. If he wasn't held, he would just cry and cry but I couldn't spend every waking moment just holding him, otherwise I'd never be able to get anything done or even do simple things like go to the toilet or brush my teeth. The Innoo sling saved my life. It's a soft fabric sling that is comfy for me and him, and he can sleep for hours when he is in it. However, whilst it was great for using around the house, I found that the support wasn't enough for me to go out for a full day in it due to my very weak back.

So I bought the the I-Angel carrier which has a box seat for baby's bum to sit on and it not only provides amazing support on my back, it also takes so much of baby's weight that I feel as if I'm not really carrying him. It also has handy built in pockets on the front and side for storing my phone, keys and travelcard. Isaac loves being in it as he can see lots around him but when he is tired, he can just be close to me and nod right off.

3. Ewan The Dream Sheep

Designed to emulate the inside the uterus with a heart beat sound and red light, Ewan The Dream Sheep an award winning device to help sooth baby to aid restful sleep. I struggled on deciding if I really needed to buy this for him but at 7 weeks, I caved in. Turns out, it was a brilliant purchase and he has deeper and longer sleeps when it is on. It also soothes him too, so when he is not asleep it, I can see him just chilling to it.

4. Aveeno Baby

Isaac suffered from baby dermatitis, which is severe dry skin with cradle cap from around 2 weeks old. His skin was red with little spots and he had extreme flaky skin. Our GP gave him an emollient cream which only eased the symptoms but the dryness would come back by the next day and this continued for another 5-6 weeks until my sister bought Aveeno Baby cream and Aveeno Baby wash for us to try. In just 3 days, his skin was back to newborn softness and it was so smooth! He still gets a minor dry patch on his cheeks now and then, and has a tiny bit of cradle cap but the redness and dryness from his chest, neck and forehead has completely gone. Aveeno baby is amazing.

5. Water Wipes

Water Wipes are by far the best baby wipes I've tried (pampers is not bad either) and that's because they are super wet. The wetness is so efficient at cleaning up a poo nappy than a drier wipe like Huggies, and they literally only contain water and fruit extract. No perfume nor chemicals. We also discovered that the Water Wipes were seriously great at waking us up in the early weeks of very little sleep. Because they are so wet and cold, one wipe over our eyes and face would shock us into waking up! A seriously handy tip for all new parents.

6. Avent Pacifier

I know there are a lot of people against using pacifiers but we used it on Isaac when he was just under a week old and we love it. When your baby just cries and cries and cannot be calmed down even though they've been fed, changed and cuddled, it's enough to drive you a little loopy. The Avent dummy worked for us almost right away as a comforter. He usually only wants the dummy when he is tired and needs sleep. As soon as he is asleep, the dummy falls out anyway. For trips out, a dummy clip is a must. Before I thought to buy a dummy clip, I would watch with an eagle eye that he didn't just suddenly spit it out and for it to land on the dirty pavement.

7. Swaddle Cloth

Not all babies like to be swaddled, but Isaac needed it in order to help him sleep. Even in the very early days, he would rub his eyes and face with his hands constantly and then start crying because he couldn't get himself to sleep, or he'd wake himself up from the arm movements. Swaddling him kept him still and therefore helped him sleep. We didn't buy any fancy swaddle cloths, just a thin square blanket or large muslin cloth folded into a triangle with is wrapped and tucked under both arms.  

8. Dr Brown Bottles + Dentinox Colic Drops

Isaac was a difficult baby for the first 7 weeks of his life. He would cry a lot, and it was hard to get him to sleep. We realised that he had colic, possibly from all the crying and being bottled fed (expressed breast milk as well as formula). We switched from a standard Tommee Tippee bottle to Dr Brown Bottles when he was 3-4 weeks old, and felt that it helped reduce the amount of gas and air he had inside. We also used Dentinox colic drops in his feeds which definitely work, because when I tried to reduce the amount, he became very gassy within 2 days.

9. Shnuggle Baby Bath Tub

The Shnuggle bath tub is a cute tiny tub that has a little bum bump so that baby can sit comfortably in it without slipping. The semi recline back also has a nice foam back rest and it can be used from birth. It's tiny compact size also means it doesn't take up much space either.

10. Feeding Cushion

I really didn't think I would need a feeding cushion and that using the regular cushions and pillows would be fine until my friend lent me hers. The cushion is so much firmer and compacted compared to cushions and really does give a much better support when feeding baby. My shoulders also don't roll forward as much and I can see it being even more useful as baby gets heavier.

These are all my favourite things for Isaac and some have been godsends. I do hope my Top 10 Newborn Must Haves end up working for all you new mums and dad out there and if you'd like to read more of these kind of baby blog posts, please do let me know since this is my first one. Thanks for reading!