I am all for minimalism BUT I also support using some well selected items that can truly make your life easier. Here are my top 10 “extra items” that truly made my life easier. I’ll explain why and how they made things easier. You can use all the help you can get with a new baby no matter how well behaved they are trust me. Also I will show you which item in particular we chose after all our exhaustive research. Whether these items are for your family or a grateful momma friend trust me you will love these items.
VIDEO baby monitor: yes monitors are nice but you don’t know what you’r missing if you don’t have a screen. Imagine checking on your little one when they make a noise and you accidentally wake them up! In the middle of the night it is just nice to roll over and see that the weird little noise your kid made while they were sleeping was nothing to worry about. I like this Infant Optics one because the picture is so clear if you place it right you can literally watch you little one breathing. Great peace of mind for mommy! It is also on a closed system making it impossible to hack.
2. White noise machine: This saved us when we were living in an apartment, when someone is at the door and the dog barks, or basically any day that you want to do anything when your little one is sleeping. It allows you to live your life while they continue napping well. We love the hatch rest because it comes with a light and lots of options for sounds that you can control from an app on your phone. I can’t tell you how many times I have forgotten to turn it on and I am already in bed. I just do it from my phone.
3. Carseat travel system: What I mean by this is a carseat that can come out of the car (usually for those under one depending on height and weight) and can click into the stroller. With how often an infant is asleep it is so important to be able to remove them from the car without waking them up. Not going to lie I really miss that ability. Now that my daughter is to big for it if she falls asleep in the car I have the internal debate to keep driving/sit in the car while she finish her nap or wake her up.
Just to note that this system will last you until about 1 year old depending on how big the baby is. What we switched to after that is called the Britax Advocate click tight convertible car seat. This is a top of the line carseat. If you can afford it I would recommend it. There are two levels below this one which are also very, very, very safe but with all the rain that we get here in the pacific northwest and with the crazy divers that are also here I just couldn’t imagine doing any other level (we also had a year to save for it before we switched the baby over).
4. Baby bag: This is not exactly an extra because you will have a baby bag. They come with a lot of stuff BUT don’t be afraid to put money into a good one is what I am saying. There is nothing worse then not being able to find what you need because everything is crammed into a cheep little bag that has no organization.
5. Changing table topper: Again this is not exactly an extra but it is different. So instead of getting a changing table I got this lovely dresser that was handed down through 3 generations of my family. I instead wanted to use that as a dresser and a changing table so I added a changing table topper like this one here. Saved me money and saved me space. I got to use something that I actually like as well! (just make sure you don’t forget the changing pad insert)
6. Diaper Genie: Now I know you probably have a garbage can but you will thank me once your little one starts eating solids. That poop is on another level that no garbage can will contain EXCEPT the Playtex Diaper Genie. We love it. No if's ands or butts about it ;)
7. Baby carrier: Now this one is so personal I recommend going to a store and trying on some different types. For me I wasn’t comfortable with the wraps and I wanted something that I knew was sturdy and that my baby was locked in no matter how sleep deprived I was she would be safe so I went with the Baby bjorn baby carrier. I love it! Its easy to adjust
8. A place to set baby: The thing that we all know but really don’t want to admit is that babies want to be held all the time. But what do you do if you need to do something where you can’t hold the baby? You need to put them down someplace. That is why I got the Ingenuity ConvertMe Swing. It made my life so much easier while I was trying to make dinner or had to fold laundry. My sweet girl enjoyed it.
9. Highchair: I thought it would be a long time until I needed a highchair and boy was I wrong. My baby really wanted to start trying food around 6 months old and now its her favorite place to chill while I make dinner. She loves her highchair and I love this highchair. I know its a bit spendy but the quality of the Peg Perego is worth it! I only have one gripe and that is that I have not yet found a way to take off the straps and clean them so if I were you I would buy some strap covers to go with it to protect them form the grub. We knew we were going to keep this for many years which is why we picked this one. I thought it could definitely last at least ten years if I need it to.
10. Halo bassinet: I am so glad that I got a halo bassinet for about the first 6 months of her life. Being a new mom and not fully knowing how the healing process would go lets just say I was afraid to get up and walk to much but having her right next to me with a bar that would go down was amazing. I didn’t even need to get out of bed when she fused. You will need the sheets, mattress pad, and baby insert which I linked here for you. I wasn’t afraid to get this and a crib because I knew that at some point I would have kids overlapping where they would probably both need a crib but this gives me a 6 month grace period to slowly transition whoever is using the crib. I have also heard amazing things about the SNOO from friends but I wasn’t able to see it before we had my baby since it wasn’t in the store. So I went with the halo. Both will do the job well just make sure to do your research to see which one would fit your needs the best.
Honorable mention of things that really helped were a baby bathtub. As new parents this brought us a lot of peace during bath time however it is only useful for about 3-6 months at most. Once your baby learns to splash it is probably time to move up to the big tub. The teething necklace was also our girls favorite thing for the longest time and sleep sacks allow for safe sleeping with the swaddle feel.
I hope this helps you see what I considered worth the splurge. These items definitely made the cut for what I consider to be helpful in this crazy time of life.
So many people dread the stockings but stockings were my favorite part. I have a great formula for you that will take the guess work out of stockings and will keep things at a reasonable price and minimize the things coming into your home to stay.