This list includes the baby basic essentials. It can be quite overwhelming to know what to buy for baby. From instagram ads, to friends’ recommendations, to registry checklists, it seems like there is SO MUCH to purchase! And for me, no one wanted to buy me something practical (i.e. baby nasal aspirator) for a baby shower gift- so we ended up with lots of baby girl outfits and TONS of blankets, but very few health and hygiene items.
I hope that this list helps you ensure you’ve got all of your health and hygiene essentials purchased before baby arrives! This is also a good list if you’re planning on being a minimalist mommy. These are the absolute BASICS that you will need and actually use on a daily basis.
As far as medicine goes, we buy it on a case-by-case basis. She has only needed medicine once and it was a prescription. Some people purchase some Pedialyte or baby Tylenol, but we haven’t had to use that during her first seven months.
Because our baby girl is in daycare, she pretty much always has a little runny nose or cough so I use the nasal aspirator every morning to clear out her little nose. The humidifier in her room also helps! I also use the electric nail trimmer every other day because her nails grow so fast!
Baby Health and Hygiene Essentials
- Ear Thermometer
- Electric Nail Trimmer
- Baby Lotion– Eucerin, Tubby Tod Baby Lotion, baby Aquaphor, or baby Vaseline is good for eczema or simply moisturizing their skin after a bath
- Nasal Aspirator or Fridababy Snotsucker Nasal Aspirator
- Baby Shampoo
- Baby scrubbers
- Baby washcloth
- Hydrocortisone Cream (helpful with eczema, doctor will tell you when to use)
- Humidifier (SO helpful when they have congestion)
- Maybe some Pedialyte or baby Tylenol
- We had some cradle cap and this shampoo fixed it
- Diapers- At least a 50 pack of Diapers size 1. We got (and needed) a small pack of newborn size diapers too. Our baby was 8 pounds, 10 ounces when she was born (pretty large) and fit into newborn diapers for a bout 3 weeks. You can always send your partner to the store to get more during those first few weeks!
- Wipes
- Diaper cream
- Diaper trash bags– I like the little travel trash bags from arm and hammer from buy buy baby. I keep them in the diaper bag to throw away smelly diapers
- Formula– I love these little pre-mixed infant formula bottles. Even though I planned to breastfeed, you never know when you might not be able to make enough milk for them and you don’t want to have to drive to the store in the middle of the night to sort through 100 brands of formula. It’s so nice to have these little bottles on hand and they come with a nipple too that screws onto the bottles. It’s a great way to introduce formula. We ended up loving these for travel- they are ready on the go!
- Burp cloths or bibs
Other baby basics:
- Carseat
- Baby clothes- some footies and onesies
- 5 baby blankets of varying thickness
- Baby bathtub- but you can also use the sink!
- Diaper Bag
- Stroller
- Breast pump
- Bottles and formula
Tine Murray 