Newborn Essentials for First Time Moms
Becoming a Mom for the first time can be overwhelming! I became pregnant with Georgia in the summer of 2020 during what felt like an endless lockdown due to COVID-19. When it came time to start shopping for baby items, Alex and I weren’t able to go into any stores. I became acutely aware of how much I relied on in-store shopping. This is where my newborn essentials research journey began.
I scoured different websites noting the general items I believed we would need for when baby arrived. At this point in my research I knew very little, and so I jotted down general terms such as ‘car seat’, ‘breast pump’ and ‘sterilizer’. Then came the deep dive into researching different brands, safety, customer reviews and satisfaction. Alex and I spent countless hours watching YouTube videos and reading product details and reviews.
Here you’ll find the complete guide to newborn essentials for first time moms. We have personally purchased and tried each of these products. This post is in no way sponsored or endorsed by any of these brands, but may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Click through the tabs below to see the complete list of newborn essentials for first time moms. Read on below for my top 3 tips for finding luxury items at the best prices.
Silver Cross Wave Stroller
I absolutely love our Silver Cross Wave Stroller. Not only is it beautiful, it’s functional, and rides like a dream over a variety of different terrains. It came with both the bassinet and reversible stroller seat, both of which are ventilated and are UPF50+. Our purchase also included multiple accessories such as mosquito nets, rain covers, and these beautiful winter covers for both the bassinet and the stroller seat. The Wave Stroller is also compatible with a variety of different infant car seats by simply attaching these Car Seat Tandem Adapters. I found that the bassinet was multifunctional for us! Since we live in a condo I used the bassinet as a lounger for Georgia during the day when I needed to put her down. The bassinet is also safe for overnight sleep and Silver Cross offers yet another accessory, the Wave Bassinet Stand, which is perfect for travelling.
Silver Cross Jet Special Edition Travel Stroller
We purchased the Jet Special Edition Travel Stroller in addition to our regular stroller for a variety of reasons, (1) it is much smaller and lighter, (2) it takes up much less room in our cars, (3) in the hopes that we’ll soon begin travelling again, and the list goes on. The Jet Travel Stroller is also compatible with some infant car seats by attaching these Car Seat Tandem Adapters (different from the ones mentioned above). My only critique about this travel stroller is the lack of space underneath the seat for a diaper bag. My work around for this is my stroller caddy (next item).
Stroller Caddy & Organizer
Register for or treat yourself to a Stroller Caddy. These nifty organizers are adjustable, hang off the handles of any stroller and enable you to have all the necessary items within arms reach. Bending, reaching and searching for items in your diaper bag that might be hidden underneath your stroller is never fun, especially if you have a crying baby on your hands. Itzy Ritzy makes fashionable and affordable stroller organizers!
Nuna Pipa Car Seat
The Nuna Pipa Car Seat impressed us with its long list of safety features, a UPF50+ protective shade and its relatively light weight. In addition to the shade, there is also a dream drape that provides coverage over baby to protect from the elements when taking them to and from the car. The drape attaches to the sides with magnets and stows away in a hidden zippered compartment. It also comes in 5 beautiful colours, we chose Birch.
Diaper Bag
When Alex purchased our Wave Stroller online, he surprised me with a matching Silver Cross Coast Diaper Bag (Colour: Tundra). I love that this diaper bag matches our stroller, it’s so stylish! It generous in size with enough room for an extra change of clothes for Georgia. It also includes large pockets for holding diapers and wipes, and it comes with a change pad. This was definitely a good surprise!
Baby Carrier
I purchased two baby carriers, the BabyBjorn Baby Carrier One Air and the Boba Wrap Baby Carrier. While they’re both beautiful wraps, the BabyBjorn has definitely been used more often. It’s comfortable for both Georgia and myself and continues to grow with us. There are also a ton of available resources and YouTube videos on how to use the carrier and even how to roll it up for storage!
You’ll notice that baby bottles are an essential item missing from this list! Georgia didn’t take to the bottle and has been exclusively breastfed. Here are my newborn essentials for feeding. If you do plan to bottle feed, I found both the Philips Avent and Coco Tomo were popular choices amongst other breastfeeding moms.
Boppy Nursing Pillow
The Boppy Nursing Pillow is a U shaped pillow that you can put around your waist for a more ergonomic position while sitting and holding baby. I had my pillow by my side at all times and even brought it to the hospital with me. This wonderful pillow saves your arms, shoulders and neck so you can enjoy your time holding that precious little one and not have any neck pain from sitting in uncomfortable positions. This pillow was designed by a mom and works for all positions, cradle, cross cradle, football, and bottle feeding!
Baby Brezza Sterilizer
When my mom tells me stories about how she used to sterilizer bottles on the stovetop it makes me cringe thinking about the time and effort. The Baby Brezza Sterilizer is a Sterilizer and Dryer with 3 different cycles (30, 45 and 60 minutes). Sterilize your bottles, pumps, pacifiers, etc. by just adding a bit of water and pressing two buttons, like magic it’s done! The parts even stay sterilized for up to 24 hours if you leave the top on the machine.
Elvie Pumps & Curve
Elvie is an investment! These pumps are completely hands free, silent, and comfortable. Elvie advertises the pumps as being discreet. Do I agree with this? I guess that depends on if we’re talking about sound or appearance. I do agree that they are silent, but when I put these on I suddenly feel like Pamela Anderson.
Each pump is able to hold 5oz of milk, but my machine typically indicates that the bottle is full once it reaches 4oz. Users are able to keep track of expressed milk in real time by using an app that connects to the pumps via bluetooth. I personally find that the tracking is not entirely accurate and can be off by over an ounce, but I’m convinced this is because I walk around (and multi-task) while I wear my breast pumps and it’s not able to get an accurate reading.
Elvie Curve is a game changer for breastfeeding mothers. This natural suction based pump collects your letdown while breastfeeding or pumping on the opposite side. Just collecting this letdown gave me a surplus of breastmilk in the first few months of breastfeeding. I used the Curve multiple times a day while breastfeeding Georgia and found it so comfortable. I would highly recommend the Curve to new moms that are planning on breastfeeding!
Both the Elvie Breast Pumps and Elvie Curve are not sold in Canada. There are always workarounds of course. If you are a reader from Canada there are companies such as Cross Boarder Pickup that are available.
Below you’ll find the bare minimum newborn essentials for bathing and diapering. These newborn bath essentials have served me well, and have been used on a daily basis with Georgia. Read on for my honest review.
Bath Flower
The Blooming Bath Flower is a great alternative to infant tubs. To use, simply place the flower in your sink and fill it up with warm water. It’s recommended age is from 0-6 months, but I can honestly say that Georgia is still using hers at 11+ months and we are not intending to retire this product anytime soon.
Hooded Towel
Any fluffy bath towel will work for your baby post bath, but they just look so darn cute in a hooded towel! There are so many options available from stores like Amazon, Pottery Barn and most department stores. Our hooded towel was one that we had registered for on Amazon; it’s soft, dries Georgia nicely, and does the trick!
Electric Nail Trimmer
Take the fear out of trimming your newborns nails by investing in an electric nail trimmer. It’s silent, has a light for nighttime use, and is so soft your baby will sleep through their nails being trimmed.
Diaper Caddy
Our diaper caddy keeps all of Georgia’s bath time essentials perfectly organized. There are so many cute and affordable options on Amazon. I love that we are able to house her bathing essentials in here such as her shampoo, lotions, baby oil, wipes, diapers and even bath toys!
Wipe Warmer
A wipe warmer is such an underrated product, in fact when I was researching if we should purchase a wipe warmer I came across more reviews saying not to bother with one! Here are my thoughts on this: do you like cold baths or showers? Now I know a diaper change is not a bath or shower, but it’s still a shock to a baby when you use a cold wipe on their delicate little bottom! I purchased the Munchkin Warm Glow Wipe Warmer from Amazon and have never looked back. I simply remove wipes from a wipe pack and insert it into the wipe warmer. If you find that your wipes are drying out, you can add up to half a cup of water.
Hair Brush & Comb Set
The Chibello Hair Brush Set is perfect for newborns and beyond as it comes with a comb, brush with natural goat bristles (so soft), wooden bristle massage brush for babies and toddlers and the best item – the soft silicone massager for baths!
Ubbi Diaper Pail
I saved the best for last in this category. The Ubbi Diaper Pail is by far the most important item you will have at your change table station. This diaper pail is the holy grail of diaper pails because you do not need any special bags. Yes, you read that right, there are no special bags required! This means that it is a cost effective diaper pail! It’s made of steal, looks adorable (variety of colours to choose from), eco friendly, and keeps odours in!
Bassinet
There are many different options available when it comes to bassinets, fancy ones like the Snoo that gently rock baby to sleep and others that are just plain and simple. I truly believe that any bassinet will work just fine. Georgia slept in the gorgeous bassinet that my parents used for me when I was born. A beautiful, now vintage, wooden bassinet painted in a soft white. It has a pin to keep it in place, or can be removed to rock the bassinet. I cried when Georgia outgrew it and moved into her crib!
Sleep Sacks
I’d like to preface this by saying that there is absolutely nothing wrong with just swaddling your newborn in a receiving blanket. We had beautiful receiving blankets to swaddle Georgia in and they were used often, but when my husband came to me and said “I really like the one with the zipper” I knew I had to buy more sleep sacks if only for him. They were just so much easier! We were gifted with an ergoPouch from a family member, and I thought it was just perfect. This sleep sack grows with your baby and has a feature where the arms can be contained or can come out. ErgoPouch also has tog ratings for different seasons and temperatures.
Baby Monitor
A baby monitor is a definite must to put your mind at ease while baby is sleeping. If you do plan on using a bassinet and keep your newborn by your bedside, a baby monitor isn’t necessary for night sleep, but I did find it useful once we started putting her down for naps alone in our master bedroom. This purchase also definitely grows with your baby. We purchased the Summer Infant Baby Pixel Zoom Baby Monitor that has two cameras. The best part about this is that you can set up the two cameras in different rooms or locations. We like this baby monitor because the quality is crystal clear with its HD picture and 6-level digital zoom. It also has a voice activation where the screen automatically turns on when it senses noise. The baby monitor has white noise and lullabies, a clock, offers the room temperature, and even HD moonlite to allow you to clearly see your baby in the dark.
White Noise Machine
Depending on who you ask, some will tell you that a white noise machine is useless and others will swear by it. We have used a white noise machine for Georgia to drown out background noises once she goes to sleep. When Georgia was a newborn there were definitely circumstances where I found a white noise machine to be extremely useful, but at the same time she also slept really well while listening to anything by Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack croonies. Most often I used them together! We purchased two, one for travel and one to keep in her nursery.
Taking Cara Babies
If searching for the best course to take, look no further than Taking Cara Babies. Cara’s courses came recommended to me by a friend who has 2 littles. Cara is the baby sleep whisperer, a mother of four, neonatal nurse, married to a paediatrician and she’s adorably funny! Not only does she easily outline different ways to help your baby sleep at different ages, but she reassures her audience by reminding that we are the best parents for our littles. Believe me, you will question every decision you make as a parent. Cara puts your mind at ease and every video you watch of her feels like she’s specifically speaking to you. Her courses come with video tutorials and PDFs, and her blog is full of amazing resources that cover more than just baby sleep.
As a side note, I did take a breastfeeding class but I actually felt that I learnt more from Cara in a short video on Instagram where she uses a subway sandwich to teach mothers to breastfeed, than I did from a 3 hour hospital recommended course. I told you she’s funny, and I promise she’s really that good!
If you’ve just finished flipping through the tabs above, you’ll notice that newborn essentials can start to add up quickly. Don’t panic, there are always ways to save! Here are 3 quick tips that will help you get those luxury items you want for your baby while watching the bank. Before you get started, remember to get organized and decide on what you want/need. Do research, make an excel chart and clearly outline each item you need before baby arrives. Staying organized is vital, as this will help with the next steps:
- Register for the items on your list. This will help friends and family know what you need for baby. Most registries have a completion discount. Once your baby shower is over you can purchase the remaining items on your list at a discounted price.
- Watch out for sales, and check multiple stores to compare prices. Sign up for blast emails from baby stores to be notified of the sales each week and remember you can always unsubscribe later. Did you know that most sales take place over weekends? If there’s a big ticket item you need to purchase try to time it for a time of the year when a lot of sales take place such as Black Friday, or Boxing Day.
- Look for open box discounts and upscale resale stores such as Rebelstork.
I hope this post on newborn essentials for first time moms helps in your search for the perfect baby gear and items. I’d love to hear from you in the comments if there are other items that were on your must have list and what has worked for you!
