If you Google the term ‘newborn’, people are mixed on what age this extends to. Some say three months, while others say one month. Either way my little dude is no longer being considered a newborn (how scary!) so I’ve now had three months to get into the swing of things and find out what works and what doesn’t.
While there are a million products marketed to newborns, I thought I’d share 5 of the products which I found the most useful for the first couple of months. All of these I’d highly recommend to other new mums and most of them are fairly affordable too!
TINY LOVE ROCKER/NAPPER
This was our most pricey purchase, but this has easily been our most used. This 3 in 1 napper is designed for newborns through to about a year old. It can be used as either a napper/bassinet, a rocker, or a chair. It has various incline positions that can be adjusted to suit your child, and two cute hanging toys to keep baby occupied.
Since our nursery wasn’t quite ready when baby arrived, we’ve actually been using this as a bassinet. Jack slept so well in this both for daytime naps and his nighttime sleep, that we actually still put him to sleep in it (although now we are trying to transition him to the cot as he is a tall boy!) When he was a bit restless we converted it to the rocker function to settle him. Once he is no longer sleeping in it, I plan to change it into a chair and he can play with the little hanging toys.
One thing that I love about this rocker is that it can be rocked manually. Many rockers now are battery powered and don’t rock manually, and I can only imagine how many batteries you would go through! This one does take batteries to power the light and sound and vibration functions, but I’m still yet to use these.
This has honestly been a lifesaver and I love how easy it is to move around from room to room so I can keep an eye on Jack and still get stuff done. It’s also great if we are travelling as it’s fairly compact and light and easy to pop in the car. You can get this with or without a canopy and I have the canopy version which is great for blocking out the light or sun off baby’s face. I have this one here.
BREASTFEEDING PILLOW
If you are planning to breastfeed I highly recommend getting one of these U shaped pillows. I got mine from The Warehouse for $39.99, however there are many other brands out there too. These pillows are super versatile and can be used for breastfeeding, sleeping while pregnant, and also work for sitting up and tummy time for bubs too.
I originally bought mine to sleep with while pregnant, but I couldn’t get comfy using it and it took up so much space in the bed. I did love it for breastfeeding though, and it made it so much easier to hold Jack comfortably while I fed him. If you are a c-section mama, one of these pillows is a must have as it takes the pressure off your scar and also stops baby from lying on it or kicking it while you are snuggling or feeding. I’ve also used this for tummy time for Jack and it just helps to prop him up a bit so he can gain strength in his neck, head, and body.
BABY BOUNCER
After a couple of weeks, I felt bad putting Jack down in his rocker all the time as he was always lying on his back and I got the impression he would rather be upright and looking around. A baby bouncer is seriously amazing for when you need to put baby down and have some hands free time, but he’s still awake and active. At first I wasn’t sure how much he would use it, so I opted for this one from Kmart that only cost $22.
Seriously it’s the best $22 we’ve spent as he absolutely loves it. The fun animal print seems to really grab his attention and he can spend ages in this quite happily! I find it’s a complete lifesaver when it comes to having meals or a sneaky cup of tea! From about 6 weeks onwards we used this so much and at three months I now can’t imagine life without it! I even take it when we go to my parents house as it takes up barely any space in the car.
CHANGE MAT
This changing mat from Kmart rivals the Rocker/Napper as a most-used purchase. It’s a padded change mat, that super easy to wipe down and keep clean (and believe me you will be wiping it down A LOT!). It’s portable, lightweight and easily fits under the cot or bed, making it super easy to store. Instead of buying a changing table (which babies can easily roll off as they get bigger), a mat like this can be used on top of a table or bed or even on the floor. I found this really useful after having a C-section as I would change Jack on the mat on our bed or on the table. As he got closer to rolling (and I could bend down better), we moved to changing him on the mat on the floor. Jack now loves lying on the mat, and will do so happily for ages, so I’m guessing it must be pretty comfy! At only $10, these are a total bargain and we keep a second one at my parents house for when Jack is staying up there.
BABY NURSING APP
This is a FREE app, that seriously made looking after Jack a million times easier. This app allows me to record all of his feeds (either nursing or bottle), as well as tracking his naps. There are also options for tracking medicine, nappies, pumping etc but I don’t bother with these. The bottle feeding and nursing record is the part I’ve used the most and it makes it easy for me to see how long he fed for, what time he started/finished, and which side he fed on. I could never remember all this myself, so it’s great to have it tracked for me. It’s a simple timer function that you can press play on when he starts, and stop when he’s done. You can also pause the timer if he stops feeding at any stage. There’s also a great area for tracking baby’s growth and measurements. You can download this app here.
What are your baby must haves? Let me know below!
