Nine weeks into life with baby. We are packing to head home to Toronto from Los Angeles, and packing has made me realize how much crap we’ve accumulated in the two short months we’ve been here — despite our best efforts not to overbuy.
Part of the crap-accumulation is due to the anxiety of novice parents where you simply don’t know what to buy or what you will like in advance so you purchase an assortment of things you think you will need or like based on best guess. Well meaning but ultimately hefty gifts of physical items such as clothes or large toys have also weighed us down.
As I pack, and attempt to pare down what we bring back with us, I frequently find myself thinking, “If I were to do it over, what would I buy, or equally as importantly, not buy.” Here is my refined, condensed, list of essential items to get baby through to month two and beyond:
- Kyte bamboo footies, Newborn size (4)
- Kyte bamboo footies, 0-3 mos size (4)
- Nest Designs organic cotton kimono bodysuits, Newborn size (1 pack of 3)
- Nest Designs organic cotton kimono bodysuits, 0-3 mos size (1 pack of 3)
- Baby Gap zippered hooded sweater in thin fleece or in light weight wool (1)
- Aden & Anais Burpy Burp Cloths in muslin (4)
- Plain white velcro bibs (10)
- Bamboo wash cloths (10)
- Soft towels, any (2)
- Pehr muslin swaddle (1)
- Woolino merino swaddle (1)
- Blanket for stroller, cotton or merino wool (1)
- Dr Brown’s Anti-Colic glass bottles 4oz (7), fitted with level 1 nipples
- Dr Brown’s Anti-Colic glass bottles 9oz (7), fitted with level 1 nipples
- +/- Dr Brown’s supplementary level 0 (Preemie) or level 2 nipples, if your baby eats too fast, too slow, or is on an anti-reflux formula
- Bibs pacifiers (2 packs of 2)
- Dr Brown’s formula dispenser
- Baby Brezza Sterilizer
- Boppy Nursing/Feeding Pillow
- Hatch Baby Grow Smart Changing Pad and Scale
- Baby Bumco Diaper Cream Brush
- Diaper cream (Sudocrem, Earth Mama, La Roche-Posay Cicaplast or others)
- Water Wipes or other gentle wipe
- Pampers Swaddlers or Pampers Pure diapers
- Lovevery Play Gym
- Stroller (have Uppababy, really like Bugaboo)
- Car seat (have Uppababy, consider Nuna)
- Car seat cover
- Back pack diaper bag that clips onto stroller
- Ergo Baby Omni 360 Baby Carrier
- Weleda 2-in-1 Gentle Shampoo and Body Wash
- Weleda Comforting Baby Oil
- La Roche-Posay Lipikar lotion
- DermaFrida
- Stokke Flexi Foldable Bath Tub with infant insert
- Infant Tylenol
- Little Remedies or other infant gas drops
- Baby D Drops or other infant vitamin D drops
- Culturelle or other infant probiotic drops
- Little Remedies or other saline drops
- Digital thermometer (a simple underarm thermometer is fine)
- Frida Windi
- Frida Snot Sucker or other (the one from the hospital is great)
- Babyganics or other non-toxic hand sanitizer
- Baby Bjorn Bouncer
- Nanit or other baby monitor
It looks like a lot but keep in mind that items 31 through 44, with the exception of the infant bath tub, fall in the category of medical supplies to have on hand, and are largely consumables.
The biggest “waste” category in my opinion is clothes for newborns, or in the 0-3 month age range. I’m guilty of buying a handful of items including Christmas and New Year’s items which I purchased because I thought they would look cute on occasion. In truth, we have yet to wear any of these nicer outfits, simply because it’s not really practical for baby to be in anything but a footie or a kimono-style onesie, and I’m not willing to change her in and out of a cumbersome outfit for a photo-op alone. Keep in mind that my definition of cumbersome is now, with a newborn, anything that isn’t completely zip on and zip off. I had heard great things about Baby Gap, and certainly their styling is adorable, so in addition to her basic Kyte footies, I purchased a number of onesies and pants from Baby Gap. Our baby wore these once in a while, for outings, but mostly lived in her zip up footies simply because it was hard to put the onesie on over her head, and the band on the pants seemed to put pressure on her tummy and worsen her reflux.
Gifts are a tricky category as well. Obviously, they’re well meant and we are very appreciative of any gifts we have received. However, as a mom who had her baby abroad and has to travel home with said baby, and a ton of baby’s bits and bobs, as it is, let me implore you to avoid giving physical gifts in this situation. It’s extra work and hassle for the family. We will obviously bring all gifts back with us, for their sentimental value, but I’ll be honest and admit that it’s annoying to cram a party dress or an 18-month coat that we were gifted into a luggage already full with essentials.
The other tricky thing about gifts, especially clothes, textiles, or skin products, is that moms can be very picky about what fabrics their babies wear or what products they use. I’ve received a lot of cute Carter’s outfits that look great in photos but are of little practical value for us day to day. I’m obsessed with soft, preferably non-toxic, fabrics so our daily workhorses are our bamboo or organic cotton footies or onesies.
I don’t think there’s much waste on this list, and with the exception of gifts, what you see here is all that will be crossing the border with us when we return home this week. If you’re into quality over quantity, and don’t mind doing laundry every couple of days, then you will be happy with this tight list of baby-related must-haves. Happy shopping!
Milk & Money 