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Products Every New Mom Needs Before Baby Is Born

Make sure you've got your bases covered before the big day by checking off the products every new mom needs.

By Nicola P. YoungPublished 6 years ago 6 min read
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Whether you're feeling ready, excited, terrified, just plain tired, or a combination of these and more, you're going to be meeting your baby in the real world soon. You want to be as prepared as possible, so you're going to need to be reading baby books, seeking advice from friends and family who have gone through it already, baby-proofing the house, and, of course, making sure you have all of the products every new mom needs. You're not going to want to be scrambling all over town with a newborn, trying to find all the products you didn't know you'd need, or worse—having to navigate new parenthood without them. It's going to be hard either way, but the more prepared you are for babies and their baby things, the smoother those first few weeks and months will go.

The first product every new mom needs is a baby carrier. The ability to carry your new baby around hands-free will be absolutely necessary when you're trying to navigate the new world of parenthood. Even with all the help in the world, from your partner, family, friends, anyone, and everyone else, you're going to need the freedom of your hands sometimes. Many baby carriers are easily adjustable and designed to keep your baby safe in all kinds of weather, year-round, from infancy through toddlerhood. Investing in a high quality baby carrier will save you huge headaches, both immediately and months from now, when your baby grows.

A good bouncy seat might be the difference between sanity and... well, the alternative, for many new moms and dads. It's an easy way to give your new baby the relaxing motion he or she needs to sleep, with a vibration setting that will keep it that way, maybe even long enough to get a little sleep for yourself. For the first month or two especially, your baby bouncer may provide you some of the only opportunities you'll get to lay him or her down for more than a few moments. Plus, many baby bouncers like this Fisher-Price option have attached toys and items of interest, so your baby can stay distracted and begin learning the kinds of visual and motor functions they should begin adopting at this early stage.

A portable changing pad is one of the products every new mom needs, no matter what your circumstances are. Even if you plan to stay home with the baby for a long while at first, there will be times you'll appreciate the portability and ease of this kind of changing pad, and it will be a lifesaver when you travel or even just venture out to run some errands. Your baby isn't going to be able to time their diaper messes to your convenience, so before the baby comes, you should be sure you're ready to bring that convenience with you.

One of the most obvious products every new mom needs is a car seat. Long before the chaos of labor, whether the delivery is at home or at a hospital, you need to be prepared to transport your new baby. A convertible, all-in-one seat like this one (and many others) will also mean that you can figure out how to save money as new parents other ways, having the only car seat you'll need as your newborn grows from little potato to terrible toddler. A good quality car seat is one of the most important investments you can make, especially if it is widely adjustable and won't need to be replaced every month or two.

You may also want to consider a dual stroller/car seat travel system, which kills two birds with one stone and makes baby transport infinitely easier.

All new parents need a good diaper bag. Rummaging around for diapers and wipes, risking forgetting something—there are many headaches that can be easily avoided with a diaper bag. They're easy to carry, and designed to house all your baby travel essentials, so you never have to worry about getting caught unprepared. It will always be a little bit stressful to travel or go out with your newborn, but being properly prepared with these products every new mom needs can give you much-needed peace of mind, improving your quality of life immensely by making it easier to get out in the world and enjoy life again.

Unless you're adopting or going the surrogacy route, you're going to need a reliable breast pump. Investing in a portable, high-quality manual breast pump will make your life infinitely easier once the baby arrives. This is especially true if you plan to go back to work or are likely to be out and about for long periods of time during that sensitive breast-feeding period. While a sturdier, heavier model might work well for just occasional use at home, you should certainly go for a more lightweight version if you think you might need to do much traveling or use it while you're away from home.

Good swaddle blankets are the peanut butter to a good baby bouncer's jelly. Even if you don't have a baby bouncer (even though it is a product every new mom needs), you absolutely, undeniably need swaddling blankets. A close, snug swaddle reminds your newborn of the comfort of the womb, and helps them to self-soothe, getting to sleep much more easily. Many new moms like to get blankets with velcro as well, to help keep your baby swaddled when they get fussy. It's exhausting to have to wrap and re-wrap your squirmy, screaming bundle of joy as they wriggle and flail their way out of the one thing that would calm them down. At least be sure to invest in large, lightweight blankets that are easier to wrap securely, and provide more comfort for your newborn.

A noise machine is another product every new mom needs. While you can certainly get a cheap version for $15-$20 that will help soothe your baby, the convenience and added features of investing in a more complex system make it very much worth the money for new moms and dads. With a system like this one, you get both a night light and sound machine to help your baby sleep peacefully that can be controlled from your smartphone. This capability makes it much easier to adjust settings as needed, and customize and program your own settings to your baby's particular needs and your own preferences. This is also a good way to begin training your baby to sleep regular hours—if not through the night, at least in predictable patterns, which makes it much easier for you to get your own sleep as well.

One of the lesser known products every new mom needs is a nasal aspirator. Perhaps people don't really like to talk about this particular necessity because it's not quite as cute as precious little pastel swaddling blankets or a fun, brightly colored baby bouncers. After all, the nasal aspirator is also known as a snotsucker—not exactly something you're excited to put on your baby registry. If we're being realistic though, congestion in babies is going to happen, and so you need to know how to handle it. The nasal aspirator is a very necessary product for new parents and new babies, as they can't exactly blow their own noses for a long while yet, and so a little congestion can be especially unbearable. The nasal aspirator helps clear out all that gunky mucus that can cause them discomfort and breathing problems, saving you from a crying baby, and saving your baby from potentially dangerous backups.

The final thing every new mom should have ready when baby arrives is a play mat or play gym. A fun play mat serves a few purposes: First, it allows you to lay your baby down for a little while, because even when they're too little to really play with anything, they'll be captivated by dangling, brightly-colored objects. Perhaps more importantly though, play mats can provide your baby with important opportunities to learn basic skills, even from day one. With various dangling objects for them to investigate, they'll learn about texture, noises, cause and effect, motion, even faces. Access to this kind of varied stimulation is very important for babies, even newborns.

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About the Creator

Nicola P. Young

Lover of Books, Saxophone, Blogs, and Dogs. Not necessarily in that order. Book blogger at heartofinkandpaper.com.

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