Must have newborn baby items

I remember when I was pregnant. It was around my 20 week scan that the niggling worries that we weren’t prepared snuck in and then by my 3rd trimester they were raging hormone induced panics.

“would the nursery be ready”, “will I remember what they told us in the NCT classes”, “is my hospital bag packed with everything I could ever need”, “do we have 10 million newborn clothes”.

What I didn’t realise at the time was…

• That the baby wouldn’t actually be in the nursery until he was over 6 months old, so that sat almost unused.
• Both Oliver and George had at least 20 newborn baby outfits and items of clothes that they never actually wore.
• The only things I ended up using in my gigantuan hospital bag were the sanitary pads and fruit gums.
• And everything I learnt in the NCT classes pretty much just comes naturally as soon as you actually have to do it.

But there are some things that, having been through the newborn and baby stage twice, are very useful to have ready for when your new baby arrives.

So here’s my list of must have newborn baby items…

1. Baby shusher – this is worth it’s weight in gold. I use mine in every single newborn session and absolutely swear by it. Newborns are used to constant noise from being in the womb, so when they come out and all these noises change, or god forbid it’s actually quiet, it spooks them. White noise helps to calm them and gives them a noise to focus on. Now you can simply get an app on your phone…but then you’re stuck leaving your phone by baby and what if someone calls just as baby is drifting off to sleep. I therefore recommend the pNeo Baby Shusher, it retails for around £29 and is fab.
2. A heated snuggly – you may think this sounds bizarre, but those little snugglies that you can quickly heat in the microwave are amazing for newborns. The trick is to heat one up and lay it where you’re planning on putting baby down to sleep. Let the snuggly warm the spot, then move it just before putting baby down. Going from the warmth of your arms to a cool Moses basket, crib or cot will most likely wake baby up. But this little trick helps avoid startling them when you put them down. Any would do, but this little monkey one on Amazon looks cute.
3. Huge muslins – these have a million and one uses, from mopping up spills, to a cover when breastfeeding and a swaddle blanket. Mose muslins are small, but Aden + Anais have an incredible range of beautiful large muslins.
4. Soother savers – this one’s only useful if you baby will/does have a dummy, but if they do then this is an absolute must have. My 2nd born has a dummy and for months would wake in the night, then began the torturous search all over his cot to find the blasted dummy in the dark. We then discovered the soother saver and it was an absolute game changer. At first it simply meant we could easily locate the dummy in the cot, but then George started being able to find it himself and started sleeping much, much better. The one we have is super adorable and George loves it, it’s from Jojo Maman Bebe and is called the Elephant Comforter and Soother Saver.
5. A tiny screw driver – again you’ll think I’m mad, but honestly this is has been the most useful items we’ve had since having children. Baby and children’s toys from the night lights they have as newborns, to the things that roll and make noises when their babies and almost every toy they have for the rest of their childhood, needs batteries. So that means at least one a fortnight you will be unscrewing something to put in or change the batteries and trust me you don’t want to have to heave out your full DIY or screwdriver set every time. Having a tiny little screwdriver set in an easy to access drawer is absolutely my top tip. Ours came from a cracker one Christmas, but I’ve recently spotted some great little sets on Amazon for only £2.99 .

If you’re anything like I was and are panicking that you’re not prepared, stop, take a deep breath and remember that you can do this.

Things at the end of the day are just things. All your newborn baby will really need is lots of love and cuddles.

But if you did want to stock up on a few bits before baby arrives then the 5 things I mention above are a good place to start.

Plus if you’re thinking of having some photos taken of baby when she or he arrives please do take a look at my newborn photography work. Although not a must have, it’s incredibly amazing to be able to capture every detail when they’re so tiny and new.