7 must-have products for newborn

Nowadays women are starting to buy clothes for the baby while they are pregnant. Families start to decorate nursery long time before baby is born. Couples organize baby shower and receive tons and tons of products and clothes for the future baby. Very often more than half of the things future parent received end up never used. And then in a few months mother realizes that she has on the shelves of baby’s wardrobe plenty of outfits with tags which baby already overgrew. In order to save your time and money and prepare properly for the new family member we are here giving you 7 must-have newborn products. This list of products will make your life easier and joyful.

The first product: Stroller
The second product: Changing table
The third product: Diapers
The fourth product: Onesies
The fifth product: Sling
The sixth product: Crib
The seventh product: Receiving blankets
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The first product: Stroller

The duration of your first walks with newborn will definitely depends on the weather. If you gave a birth in summer or end of spring you should start going out almost from first day. Note that doctors do not recommend to go out when the outdoor temperature is below minus 10 degrees Celsius. The best way to walk with a newborn is to use stroller. It is important to choose proper stroller as your mood will depend on this during your everyday walks.

How to choose stroller

Notice how quickly and easily the stroller can be assembled and disassembled. Pay attention if stroller is made from parts and you need to take it out from the house in parts. It can be an issue especially if you do not have elevator in your building and you live higher than first floor.
The fabric covering the stroller inside should be cotton.
Wheels should be thick. It is even better if they have amortization. This is very important if your city has horrible walking areas.
For the newborn very important that they lay on hard and flat surface. Make sure that the inside of the stroller there is no extra pillows. Stroller should be designed for newborns. That means that the stroller is set in laying position.
When you are choosing color you can always take red or blue. You can also take grey or green color which is universal and neutral. In such case your next child will be able to use the same stroller even if he will be of a different gender.
Make sure that you can see baby when you are walking with the stroller. It is very annoying if you cannot see your baby.

Some families prefer stroller-transformer. After buying such stroller you stop buying strollers. Such transformer can transform from laying into sitting position in few seconds. This stroller is usually used for the whole first year of life. In such transformers child can face you or the street. The only minus of this stroller is that they are usually quite heavy and you need to take them outside in two pieces.

Buying a stroller is serious investment. Some strollers cost hundreds and others thousand. You can always take stroller from some relative or friend who had kid years ago. But will you enjoy your everyday walk with such one?

Advice: Definitely buy mosquito net and invest into cover against rain. With these useful things you will be able to go for a walk at any weather.

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The second product: Changing table

When future parents are starting to search for nursery furniture they often are trying to find the most functional options. When they are facing the huge diversity of each item sometimes they end up buying everything in a hurry without researching and investigation. Unfortunately very often they never use those pieces of furniture just because it happened to be uncomfortable. How to choose changing table and what is important when you are choosing it?

How to choose changing table

First of all have a look at your room and decide where you want to put changing table. This place should be warm, light and easy to approach. Measure how much space you have in order to be ready to choose the proper changing table.
Make sure that changing table is made from safe and non-toxic materials. Even if your baby will not contact the surface with skin and will always be on blanket the changing table material should be safe as child will spend a lot of time on it.
You can buy just changing surface and put it on the table which you have in your room. In such case make sure that it is not too low. You will spend a lot of time near this table during first months so make sure your back will not hurt.
The changing table should be stable. Better avoid those tables with wheels.
The surface of the changing table should be flat.

Some parents ask themselves if they need the changing table at all. Organizing changing spot in your room will save you tons of time. You should understand that newborn is changed 12-15 times a day. Every change is taking 3-8 minutes. If you do not have comfortable and organized place for changing you will be struggling every time. Often near changing table mothers have some shelves or boxes full of diapers, diaper creams, clothes, wipes etc. Having everything in one spot will make your life easier. Never leave you child on the surface unattended.

Advice: Never hang shelves or pictures directly above the changing table. It can be dangerous for your child.

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The third product: Diapers

Nowadays parents have usually two possible choices: disposable diapers or reusable cloth diapers. There are benefits and minuses is each choice. The easiest option is to buy every week new pack of disposable diapers or invest at once in hundreds of them and just open one by one packages. Today there is a diversity of different brands and designs of diapers.

Minuses of disposable diapers

They cause diaper rash as they are full of chemicals.
Your child is not feeling wet and potty trains longer.
Huge expenses. Count how many packages you will need to use during 2-3 years.
Artificial materials are constantly in contact with your baby skin.
Environmental issue. You create huge amount of garbage during 2-3 years of use.

As you can see there are a lot of minuses of disposable diapers. In order to escape these expenses and problems you can try reusable diapers. As soon as you will start using cloth diapers for your newborn you will feel how much money you save. Cloth diapers are also made from natural materials and they never cause diaper rash if used properly.

In order to create stash of cloth diapers and wash them every second day you need to buy 20-24 cloth diapers. This is an investment of 150-700 USD depending on brand and your choice of cloth diapers design. 1 month of disposable diapers usage will cost around 50-70 USD. You can see how much you will save. Using these savings you can afford not only toy for your baby but even vacation for all your family.

Minuses of reusable cloth diapers

Reusable diapers should be regularly washed and dried. This means you will receive slightly higher water and electricity bills.
Sometimes you can have problem with ammonia if you do not wash diapers properly or regularly enough.

The biggest benefit of cloth diapers is that you can use them for your next child and save even more money. When you are using cloth diapers skin of your child is only touching natural materials and your child will not have problems with diaper rash. Some people think that disposable diapers can be changed less frequently. It is not true. If you change diapers not frequently skin will immediately react.

Advice: No need to buy plenty of newborn size diapers. Such size is only used 2-4 weeks. Best option is to buy one-size cloth diapers which grow together with your baby.

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The fourth product: Onesies

When it comes to baby clothes future parents are trying often to buy plenty of different products for newborns. Often half of those products end up staying never used with tags. Why it is happening and how to prevent it? When you are getting ready for the baby you should only think about baby and his comfort. We recommend using onesie: one piece outfit which covers your baby from head to toe.

Benefits of onesie

It is convenient for both mom and child.
No need to search for bottom or upper part of the outfit.
As newborns are changed 10-12 times a day use onesie and you will save plenty of time.
Newborns grow extremely quickly. Buying few onesies saves a lot of money.
Your baby will always be warm as his back will never be exposed if you dressed him in onesie.

There are plenty of different models of onesies on the market. Most convenient for the newborn are those which can be completely unsnapped. Better buy models with snaps. Such models are quicker to take off and on. If you are doing laundry often enough you can buy 5-7 onesies and it will be enough for the whole newborn period. Onesies are also very convenient for your baby during first 1-2 years of life.

When it comes to dressing newborn you will not enjoy clothes which take long time to dress even if they are very beautiful. Your child doesn’t care about color or style of the clothes at this stage. Your child wants to feel warm and dry.

Advice: Do not buy onesies on buttons or zippers. Buttons are taking too long to dress and zippers can harm delicate baby skin.

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The fifth product: Sling

There is a wide range of different ways to wear baby. In the shop you can find different baby carriers. Each is suitable from 0, 3 or 6 month of age and for particular weight. From all the diversity only sling provide comfort and safety for your child at any age. You can start wearing your newborn from first days. When you are using this product for your newborn you feel lightness and convenience. You and your baby feel comfortable.

Sling is created in such a way that child’s weight is evenly distributed between your shoulders, back and hips. As the result your back will not hurt even after long wearing of sling. Position of your child is perfect for his needs. As you can see your child will be in the sling with his legs hugging your stomach. Such position is preventing hip dysplasia. This disease may occur during first year of life. Newborn is sleeping perfectly in horizontal position. This style of wearing your child is very popular among people supporting philosophy of contact parenting.

Advice: For your newborn buy sling with rings. Thanks to simple design sling with rings even unexperienced mother can put on in few seconds.

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The sixth product: Crib

When you are expecting the baby you are usually having no experience and believe each and every story you hear from your friends or relatives. You shouldn’t believe to those who convince you that newborns cry 24 hours a day. That is not true. If your baby is born on term and healthy your newborn during first month of life sleeps around 17-18 hours a day. This means that you should take care of the place where your baby will spend all this time.

Along with the crib you should buy

Oilcloth (because when you have an explosion you will not need to change the matrass).
Matrass (check that is made from natural materials. Never buy used matrass).
Few blankets (better buy 2 thin and 2 warmer blankets).
Bed linen (you will need at least 2 sets).
Pillow (even though newborns are advised to sleep without a pillow pediatricians advise to buy one flat pillow. Such pillow should be not higher than 1 cm).
Pacifier (some babies never take pacifiers so buy 1 just to give it a try. If your baby is formula fed you definitely will need it as baby has strong sucking reflex).

Some people prefer co-sleeping. But you will not co-sleep with your child forever. Pediatricians and child psychologists recommend to have a crib for the newborn. Newborns are calmer if they sleep and wake up in the same place.

Choosing a crib might be a challenge. When you are choosing crib for newborn check if it is made from natural material. Usually cribs are made from wood (birch, pine, oak, maple or cherry). It should be painted with water-based and non-toxic paint. If you notice any chemical smell from the crib you should buy it weeks before baby is born and put it in the well-ventilated premises.

Advice: During first months of life set the cribs bottom on the highest possible position in order to give mother’s back time to recover after birth.

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The seventh product: Receiving blankets

It is not popular nowadays to swaddle newborns. Unfortunately parents do not swaddle newborns and dress them as adults (buying pants and blouses). However children need time to adjust to this huge space around them. Try swaddling your baby and you will notice that sleep of your baby is becoming longer and calmer. Such adaptation can take from 1 to 3 months.

Even if you will not swaddle your newborn you will need plenty of receiving blankets. Receiving blankets you can use for your newborn in multiple ways.

When to use receiving blankets

Split ups.
Use them as bed linens for your baby.
Wipe milk or saliva from your baby mouth.
Cover your baby during warm seasons.
Cloth diaper inserts.
Cover the changing table.
Put it on the sofa or bed when you are doing tummy time with your newborn.

As you can see there are plenty of ways to use receiving blankets. Now we should count how many receiving blankets you may need during first few month. Usually it is enough to have 30. Some families manage with 20 receiving blankets if they do laundry every day. The most convenient size of receiving blankets for swaddling is 120×120 cm. For all the other purposes you can buy 80×80 cm size.

Advise: Never refuse to get used receiving blankets form your friends or relatives. After multiple washings these blankets become soft and well absorbing.
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