To Buy or Not To Buy: Part 1

In honor of holiday shopping season, I decided to make my "must have" and "must not have" lists in attempt to help you spend or save your money wisely. I worked with my husband on this and we had a great time thinking back to the olden days of summer 2010 when Carter was an itty bitty thing. It is amazing how fast they grow and how quickly their favorite things become obsolete.

There are so many different aspects of a baby's life that require purchased items, so this "series" will have multiple parts separated into categories.

Now obviously all babies are different, so this comes directly from my personal experience and might be all wrong for you. I can only write what I know!

Today's list: Brand New Baby!!

MUST HAVE:

1.) Bassinet! That is if you plan on your little one sleeping in your room. We had a pack-n-play with the "bassinet" attachment (not the new fancy one with an infant sleeper, just the kind that raised the floor up to the top so baby wasn't on the ground)... Epic fail. He was not having that!! He needing something smaller and more cozy.

2.) Swaddle blankets... BIG ONES!! It's much easier to swaddle with the larger size. I read something that made me laugh which is very true, "When in the hospital, watch the nurses swaddle your baby very closely, and when you get home remember that you'll never be able to do it as well as they did." So true!! The bigger blankets help though, plus they grow with them so you aren't having to replace them a month later when they're too big for the little receiving blankets.

3.) Sleep positioning incline - Some people disagree with me on this which is totally fine, every baby is different. Carter had bad acid reflux so sleeping on an incline helped tremendously. This worked like magic for us.

4.) MAM pacifiers... AND CLIPS!! If you have an oral baby (which is a seriously stupid phrase if you ask me), pacifiers are a must and I'm personally in love with this brand.

5.) Boppy Pillow - This is more for the men strangely enough. My husband loved holding our baby man with Boppy assistance. I used it for nursing quite a bit as well.

6.) Vibrating Chair - The only place Carter would lay other than on someone. This device allowed me to shower, for which I (and everyone else) was very thankful.

7.) IPod/CD/Normal Person Stereo - All of the baby sound machines last about 20 minutes. We downloaded an ocean sounding track, burned it to a CD, put it on repeat, and used that. Constant calming noise = happy baby without a fancy gadget.

MUST NOT HAVES:

1.) Arm and Hammer Diaper Pail!!!!! You probably need a pail of some sort, but not this one. At 3 months I would have sworn by it, now it's worthless. It broke about a year ago and doesn't close easily, the door isn't tight so smells escape, and I can't find those special garbage bags anywhere.

2.) Swing - Now I'm not saying your baby won't like a swing, some adore it! For me, it was a decoration. My advice if possible is to borrow one or buy a cheap used one first to see if your baby takes to it. They aren't cheap, so why waste the money if you have a vibrating chair baby. If your little one likes it then it's certainly a worthy investment. My nephew lived in his!

3.) Bottle Warmer - Maybe others like these, mine was sold in a garage sale in its original packaging.

4.) Crib Entertainment Things (ie aquariums, music makers...) These did more harm than good. Since they only last 20 minutes or so, the lack of sound and light woke Carter back up. Sure some have remotes so you can restart them from outside the door, but doing that every 20 minutes all night makes for one grumpy mommy!!

5.) 74 Bibs - Do you need bibs? Absolutely! I received 74 at my showers... You don't need 74.

6.) Newborn clothes - Do you need these? Well, obviously, but if you have a baby shower, chances are you will get all you need. They grow out of these SOOOOOOO FAST!!! We had so many cute outfits that were passed down to my nephew with tags because there simply wasn't enough time to wear them all, so I'd say that you yourself shouldn't have to purchase many, if any at all.

This is a short list, I have much more to come!! I'd love to hear you itty bitty baby needs and not-so-needs as well.