When we registered for the baby, Buy Buy Baby handed me a sheet with a long list of must-haves. It took me about 30 seconds to be absolutely and completely overwhelmed by it all. To the point that I just kind of got stuck staring at a wall of crib sheets, trying to determine which ones were the right ones for my baby. My mom had to gently lead me away and get me to focus. 3 hours later, we were done. Then I went home and changed it all online 
After bringing Caroline home, it was easy to see that at first, she didn’t need the majority of the must-haves. She really just needed her mama and daddy to love her and hold her and feed her.
Here are a few of our favorite things for the first few weeks of life with a newborn.
Baby ESP
This app for my DROID is awesome! Callie recommended it and it was absolutely worth the $4.99—I still use it! Basically it tracks and times feedings, diapers, naps as well as other activities that the pediatrician may want to know about. For me, it has been a huge help to keep track of Caroline’s feedings. During the first few weeks we were so tired that we lived by the feeding schedule on Baby ESP. I highly recommend this for any new parents.
Swaddle Blankets
There are two that we’ve been using from the very beginning of Caroline’s life and continue to use to this day—the SwaddleMe by Summer Infant and the muslin blankets from Aden + Anais.
Above are the SwaddleMe blankets and they are fantastic for middle of the night—the Velcro is self-explanatory, there’s no need to turn on a light to swaddle a baby in the middle of the night. Caroline has always loved to be swaddled so we get a lot of use out of these. When she gets fussy, I put her in one of the swaddles and she calms down right away.
Sometimes we swaddle Caroline in these light weight blankets or use them to cover her bare legs in the stroller or car seat. I’ve also used them as a swaddle over the SwaddleMe blanket on particularly cold nights. A versatile item that any new mom will love.
Wubbanub
We were very hesitant to give Caroline a pacifier, but we discovered that she really wanted to suck and would soothe herself with a pacifier. Let me tell you, our lives got exponentially easier when we finally tried the paci. She had trouble keeping it in her mouth and we were tired of always running into the room to put it back in or dropping it on the floor so I bought these on a recommendation from a friend. 1) They’re so cute. 2) The weight of the stuffed animal helps the paci stay in Caroline’s mouth. 3) As she starts to develop her motor skills, it will be easier for her to grab the stuffed animal and get the paci to her mouth than to grab a plain paci. I loved this so much that I bought two!
My Brest Friend
For nursing mamas, this pillow is essential. It’s made of foam and has much more support than the Boppy {though I love the Boppy for other reasons}. After nursing a baby for 15 minutes on each side, your arms and back can be really sore! This pillow helps to alleviate that by providing back support as well as supporting the majority of the baby’s weight so mama’s arm doesn’t fall off. I don’t have one of these at my parents’ house so I think next time we come up I am going to need to squeeze it into my suitcase!
Baby Carriers
Caroline loves when I wear her in a sling or in a wrap. The fact that she can be so close to me while I have my hands free is pretty incredible. In fact, wearing Caroline in the sling is how I was able to keep her calm and sleeping on the plane for the flight to Boston.
Often I’ll wear Caroline in the wrap if we’re going to be walking a lot since the fabric goes around my back and creates more even support than the sling.
Baby Bathtub
Caroline is a huge fan of bath time. So much so that it has become a part of her nightly bedtime routine. This bathtub is fantastic because of the sling that she sits in now as a newborn. It supports her body and head before she has enough head control to do it herself. Plus, as she gets older, the sling can be removed to accommodate her growth. It’s perfect!
So there you have it—a few of our favorite things for a newborn. It’s hard to believe that Caroline will be 10 weeks tomorrow and all of these items have remained essential. Oh! And lastly, a camera. It doesn’t matter what kind, just make sure it can capture faces like this:
