10 Essential New Mom Items You Probably Didn’t Think Of

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When I was pregnant I searched for “must-have baby registry items” on Pinterest, Google, and anywhere else I could think of. I looked through list after list after list and came up with one conclusion – everyone’s must-have lists are a little different. Some people think that a baby wrap/carrier is a must-have, for me I use one but only really for traveling. And some people think a high chair is a waste of space, and I absolutely love ours.

So I’m not going to write another list of the “must-haves” for your baby registry. I’m going to write a post about ten things that I personally found necessary that you probably won’t find on a typical baby registry list. These are my top 10 essential new mom items. 

• A water bottle that you can drink out of with one hand – If you are nursing, you will want to be drinking water all day long and more likely than not you’ll only have one hand to drink from the water bottle. I have this one and love it. 

• Pacifier Wipes – If your baby uses a pacifier, he is likely going to drop it. In the first few months you’ll probably be extremely paranoid about germs, for good reason, and pacifier wipes are a great solution when there isn’t a sink nearby to actually wash the pacifier. I like these ones.

• Video Monitor – I know, I know, a monitor is on all must-have registry lists but I had to include it here because I honestly don’t know what we would do without it. People warned me, but I still wasn’t prepared for how many sounds babies make when they sleep including screaming randomly. I love being able to see if he’s still sleeping rather than running it to check on him at every sound. This also has helped me help him learn how to fall back to sleep on his own because I’m not in there every time he cries.We love our Motorola MPB36.

• Q-Tips – Lots of them. These are NOT for baby’s ears (even though I love a good q-tip ear cleaning myself), I use them all the time to clean the lint out of K’s hands, fingers, and toes. This is especially helpful in the first few months when your baby doesn’t really open his fingers. It’s amazing how much stuff collects in their little hands. 

• Car Seat Music Toy – I don’t know what it is but almost all babies I’ve been around are fascinated by music. Most large toys (swings, play mats, bouncers, etc.) come with toys but I highly recommend buying some sort of handheld music toy that can go in the car with you. K doesn’t like getting in his car seat but will happily when we pull out the secret weapon. We like this Baby Einstein Take Along toy.

• Glow in the Dark Binky – We have two binkies that have glow-in-the-dark handles, and they are the only ones we use. I actually bought them without knowing they were glow-in-the-dark but now I wouldn’t buy anything else. Sometimes all your baby needs when they wake up in the middle of the night is their binky and the last thing you want to do is turn on the light to find it. Enter the glow-in-the-dark handle that makes it easy to find in the middle of the night. We use these ones. 

• Mommy Hook – Or another diaper bag hook. This is one of the few baby shower items that I use on a daily basis, and it’s something I never even knew existed. I know most strollers and have a storage area underneath the cart but it’s so much nicer to have your bag hanging where you can get it rather than having to dig into the storage area to find your wallet, cell phone, etc.

• Quick Snacks – Stock up on quick snacks that you can just grab and eat. Some of my favorites were string cheese, cut up fruit, and granola bars. Keep them in your diaper bag (I love this Lily Jade diaper bag), in the nursery for when you’re nursing in the middle of the night, and anywhere else. The hardest thing for me after having a baby was remembering to eat and having a granola bar in a basket next to my glider made it easier to remember.

• Getting Out Guide – I wish this was an actual thing that was put together for new moms. As a new mom, I need to get out of the house at least once a day or I go crazy. There are so many fun things out there for moms with kids and most of the time people don’t care if you come even if you’re baby isn’t old enough to participate. Search Google for library/bookstore story times, Mom groups, and other local events to see what’s going on. I try to look through things each week and plan our “outing” for each day at the beginning of the week. 

• Entertainment – The first few months you are going to have a lot of down time while your baby is eating or just being held (because they love being held those first few months). This is a great time to watch a TV series on Netflix (I watched five), build up your Pinterest boards with ideas you won’t do for another six months, or catch up on your favorite blogs on your iPhone. I still do most of my pinning while I’m feeding K, or at least until he realizes I have my phone and tries to grab it.

And that’s it. Those are my ten essential items that got me through the first six months of K’s life, in addition to all the typical baby registry must-haves. 

What’s the one thing you found essential that you didn’t include on your baby registry?