What you Really need as a new mum – Guest Post Lacey Frazier
Hi! My name is Lacey! Stay at home mama to a little girl and a boy on the way. Future wife to a musician. Professional binge watcher of shows. Desert rat born and raised. I was inspired to blog to have a place to share rants with other moms who feel like they only talk to their kid all day. I enjoy writing mostly about parenting, life events, and anything that makes me happy or that I relate to. I don’t have much of a style for myself so if you enjoy reading people’s random thoughts on life, please check out my blog!
Social media links:
Blog: https://laceyfrazier86.wixsite.com/mama2oz
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mama2oz
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mama2oz/
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Baby have nots
When becoming pregnant, everyone’s first response you would commonly think be joy and excitement. The response I got? “Well, you better think about moving out of your tiny apartment you’re going to have SO much baby stuff.” “Do you even know how much stuff a baby requires?!” “Where are you gonna fit a baby in there?!” Well needless to say, we made a little room for Ocean in our walk-in closet and everything ended up working out perfectly. The baby stuff that everyone spoke of was A LOT but to be honest most of it is sitting in a storage unit untouched with a new tag hanging off of it.
Photo by Daria Shevtsova from Pexels
A lot of baby stuff is overrated and I’m here to give you a bit of insight on what’s not very necessary before you blow your bucks. As a first time mom, you wanna be the most prepared you can be which is totally understandable. You spend hours researching the best of the best products for your little one and even end up buying multiples in case you forgot something. Keep in mind that every baby is different and tends to different needs so this is the stuff I personally found more of a waste of space than a must have for my baby.
1. Changing Table
My mom and I found a super cute brand new changing table at a thrift store, it was painted pink and it was only $35! Score! I’m super lucky to have only paid $35 for it because brand new, they can be pretty pricey. Cute and affordable, yes. But man did it take up a HUGE amount of space in our little one bedroom. Plus I’ve changed my baby everywhere but that table. Floor, bed, couch, lap, but not the table. It ended up holding most of the laundry I needed to fold, so to storage it went!
2. Burp cloths
More like washcloths/rags. I ended up with so many burp cloths and my daughter didn’t spit up much when she was an infant. But when she did, it was minutes after burping her and needless to say anything I could find around me turned into my burp cloth (usually the bottom of my shirts) and when all the dish towels were dirty, they made a great dish dryer.
3. Different Bottles
Like I said, yes it’s great to be prepared for anything when you’re a new mama especially to prevent any trips to the store. BUT buying 20 different types of bottles is very unnecessary. Do your research, get 2 or 3 of the same type and if the baby doesn’t take to it, try a different one and one at a time. It takes new babies time to adjust to different nipples and style of bottles. I ended up with literally 30 bottles plus different nipples and I breastfed for 15 months never using a single one!
https://www.pexels.com/photo/bottle-container-high-chair-macro-374756/
4. Bottle Sanitizer
While it seems luxurious and easy, it’s big and bulky and for someone who doesn’t use any bottles, extremely unnecessary. Not to mention, you need distilled water for sanitization and that’s a whole lot of jugs to A. spend money on B. not have room for C. time to run back and forth to the store for. Get yourself some dawn dish soap, some hot water and a bottle brush. Soak those bitches and voila!
5. Pacifiers
Along the same lines of buying different bottles, why buy 20 different pacifiers not even knowing if your little one needs it?! Pacifiers were always kind of a no-no in my eyes considering I had one until I was 5 but my daughter wanted nothing to do with one anyways and there sat 20 untouched pacifiers. BUT if your baby seems to need a way to self sooth and you consider a pacifier, try one and see how they adjust to it. If the nipple doesn’t seem to be satisfactory then you can try a different brand. There’s no point in buying a bunch at once, yes they’re small but that’s just a big waste of money right there.
https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-photo-of-boy-with-pacifier-in-his-mouth-2602089/
6. Wipe Warmer
Another thing that’s ended up in my storage. Yes, that warm wipe feels great on a baby’s bum but for someone with limited space, it’s a waste. And more of a pain in the ass than expected! If you don’t clean it at least once a week, because of the moisture and heat, mold CAN produce. (That’s never happened to me BUT it is possible) and who wants to add more cleaning to their lives? Plus the pad dries very quickly and then in result, dries your wipes quicker than if they were in a regular snap and close package.
7. Sleep sacks
Even though they’re extremely cute making our babies look like their little potato sacks, I HATE these things. They are supposed to act as a swaddle when baby sleeps and keep them warm but as my baby started to learn how to roll over, the sack would get caught in between her feet and she couldn’t roll over which is terrifying all on its own! I didn’t keep the ones I had long enough to find out why else I didn’t like them.
8. Mittens
Just keep your baby’s nails cut and you won’t have to worry about them scratching themselves. I spent a majority of the time picking them off the ground and putting them back on my baby and repeating. Or you could buy the onsies that have the fold over sleeves that protects their hands, those are a lot more beneficial in my opinion.
9. Toys
All in all, you don’t need to buy your baby a whole bunch of toys especially as newborns. They don’t do much at that age and my daughter wasn’t really interested in toys until she was 10 months. Overtime, she’s accumulated so many toys she actually gets overwhelmed and doesn’t like to play with any of them. I would suggest, a rattle, a stuffed animal, and a play mat for infants and as they get older and more into toys, see what THEY like first and you can always switch out toys as they get tired of them. That way you can save money and space.
https://unsplash.com/photos/p0hDztR46cw
10. Postpartum/Hospital supply
Being prepared for everything when you’re a first time mom is a MUST. Before going into labor I made sure I had everything for my postpartum recovery. You never know how in depth your labor could go so it’s best to have everything you need.
The witch hazel, pads, peri bottle, and cooling liners but honestly the hospital gives you a majority of what you need and I still have unopened supplies waiting to be used for a rainy day.
The hospital also gives you these adorable mesh panties (more like an adult diaper but hey–whatever works to save your cute Victoria secrets from the bleeding!) If you wanted to buy more supplies just to be prepared, that’s always a good option but if it’s something you forgot to do or just dont have the time for, don’t sweat it.
The hospital has got you and you can always ask for more supplies from them to stock up when you head home! Just bring an extra bag so when you go home you can take some supplies home! (and baby supplies too!)