NEWBORN MUST HAVES - NEW BABY ESSENTIALS

hi everyone and welcome back to my channel and if you're new welcome and I'm really glad you're here so today's video is my most highly requested video ever I've had so many of you emailing me and commenting under videos asking for this so I'm really excited to finally bring it to you and it is a newborn must-haves list so it took me a while to put this together because I really really wanted to put some good thought into it when it comes down to it I'm really a minimalist when it comes to baby stuff we don't have a lot of extra baby stuff around I don't believe in buying a ton of stuff that you're not necessarily gonna use or get a ton of benefit out of so I hope that you'll find this list to be really helpful so I'm not gonna ramble on about it anymore we're just gonna jump right into it without further ado this is my minimalist newbornmust-have list so the first thing on my list of newborn must-haves is the love to dream swaddle up I know you guys have seen this in a lot of my videos because my baby is pretty much since he's been born he's been wearing this if he's eating or sleeping he's in one of these and so what this is it's just a zip-up swaddle that you can open from the top or you can open it up from the bottom for diaper changes and what makes it so unique is that you can swallow your child's arms in an up position so they can keep their hands close to their face which is how they have their hands when they're in the womb and so it encourages self-soothing because they can rub their cheeks or put their hands in their mouths just like they used to do when they are in the womb but they can't they don't have the startle reflex so it should help ticks in their sleep and we found these to be so great and I do also have the halo sleep sack and I use that for naps and I think that it works really well but one thing that freaks me out about it is that when my guy Wiggles his arms loose or when he wears it for awhile at the top of the halo sleep sack tends to move up over his face which sort of defeats the purpose of having like a safe sleep solution so I usually only used that for naps and yes it does work to extend his sleep he loves it but I don't feel comfortable using at night yet because it's just I don't know why but no matter how I put it on it still gets loose and so I love this because with the zipper situation how it is like only my baby's head sticks out and no matter how much he moves around he can't get this loose and pull it up over his face it just doesn't work so I feel totally confident and safe with these and they work really really well the second item on my newborn must-have list is the natter Sutton I think that's how you say it italian-made pacifier these are 100% natural rubber pacifiers they have nothing else in them and the latex has been removed from this rubber so it is hypoallergenic these are a little bit more expensive than a traditional pacifier but I'm comfortable spending extra money on this because it's something that goes in my child's mouth and is there for a long time and this this type of pacifier is completely inert if you're buying like a plastic pacifier obviously you know that's plastic that's in your child's mouth and while it may be bpa-free you can still have other chemicals or toxins that are slowly leeching into their mouths and a lot of people reach for silicone pacifiers and those are basically inertbut they're also processed with petrochemicals they're called silicon because silicon is a major ingredient in making a silicone pacifier they get the silicone out of sand which you would think oh it's just from sand it's normal but they have to process it with other petrochemicals in order to make it into that you know squishy kind of rubbery plasticky type of material that we know as silicone so and that is while it'spretty inert you know it's not toxic there are so residues from that process of making it and I'm not comfortable with having that in my child's mouth for a long time so um nope rambling about that but I do love these pacifiers because they are completely inert and completely natural the next thing on my newborn must-haves list is a backpack style diaper bag so with my first child and in the beginning time with arrowshere I just used a regular backpack and it worked great for me it's hands-free it's easy to carry if you're lugging you know a stroller or a car seat and you have your baby maybe you're trying to feed them it's so much more convenient to have a backpack style diaper bag and that will carry through with you even when your child's older say they're a year old and you're chasing them at the park you're notgoing to want to lug a heavy-duty diaper bag on your arm with your valuables in it it's just so much more convenient to have a backpack then you can go hiking you can climb on a play structure you can chase your kid all around and your hands are completely free I just used a normal backpack for years with my kids in it looks fine for me but if you plan on carrying around a lot of bottles or more baby specific things besides just diapers and wipes like I do it might be beneficial for you to get an actualbackpack diaper bag next item on my newborn must-haves list is the baby Katan baby carrier now I mentioned this in my what I eat in a day video but this is something that I used with my daughter and then I'm now using with my son and I believe that this is the most awesome carrier for little tiny babies when my children get older and they're heavier I use this like woven wrap that I have back here it's more structured so for like long time carries I think a woven wrap or a more structured carrier is great but this baby Katan is so easy to use and it's so soft basically it's like a wrap style carrier it's the same type of Jersey material it's really soft it's highly adjustable to your child's hips and the width of their knees but it's easier to put on than a wrap you basically just put it on like a scarf like this and then you put your arms through this lower one side and then when your child is a newborn you stick them into this pocket and pull this side up over it when they're a little olderyou stick one leg through here one leg through here and you expand so it's so easy to put on you can put it on in like five seconds and both of my kids have absolutely love this usually if they're fussy and I put them in it they'll fall asleep within just a couple of minutes and if I need it to use my hands they're always happy to just ride around it this I think this is super convenient also I find that it's great if you're goinggrocery shopping you're going out with your kids it's awesome to use a carrier like this because you don't have to worry about tying it in a parking lot no pieces of it are going to on the ground where you're trying to adjust it to your child size and thenusually I'm like I said my kids are both really happy in this so I could shop for a long time before they get uncomfortable I can breastfeed in this so if I want to go out for the day I always bring this thing the next thing on my newborn must-haves list is a play gym so you'll come to find that once your child goes through their firstdevelopmental leap at about 5 weeks that they start saying awake for longerstretches of time these are becoming interested in you know toys or patterns or things around them so it's a good time to introduce a play Jen and I found this to be invaluable because it gives my child a place a safe place to go where they can be entertained for a little while so I can take a shower or do the dishes you know it just buys you 10 to 15 minutes of free time where your child can entertain themselves or they can stimulate their brain and you know they're safe so you can get a few thingsdone for a while with arrows I just used a blanket on the floor and I put sort of like books around him so if you're more on a budget you can make your own like play gym area and it's totally cool but this time I kind of splurged which is something that I don't usually do and I bought this Montessori inspired play gym from love free love for free not really sure exactly how you're supposed to say that but I really really love it because one it doesn't look as tacky out in my living room which I know is a dumbreason to like it but I do like it for that but also everything on it is so high-quality and like I said I splurged on this particular play gym but I'm I'm really happy with my purchase with that I feel like it's got so many different simulating and sensory activities with it there's a lot of it grows with your child you can turn it into a tent and ithas these great pictures to teach them vocabulary and patterns to simulate their brain so I really like this particular play gym I thought it was a great great investment but before with Evelyn you know I just used a cheapy fisher-price one and it got the job done as well so I'm just a play gym I even make your own setup with a blanket and I think that's indispensable to have with a newborn so that you can get a fewthings done the next thing on my newborn mess has look so the next thing on my newborn must-haves list is more something for mom but that is the hakka silicone breast pump I can't say enough good things about this not only is it a great way to build up a nice supply of extra breast milk when you're nursing it's also I found it super convenient because I actually had an oversupply and it was bothering my son stomach and so I could easily keep this on my bedside and night table or in my diaper bag and I can pump off you know like an ounce or two before I go to feed him and it really stopped that fast letdown that I was experiencing and took off some ofthe foreign milk so it helped with my guy stomach problem so this was so much more convenient to use and have around than lugging around a big electric pump also if you're suffering from engorgement in the early days or you're just having a lot of discomfort I really think that this thing is so handy because it can pump off like I said an ounce or two or helps us to emulate your letdown so that you can let your breastsdrain a little bit and it just helps with that pain so this is not something for baby but it's something for momma that makes life a little bit easier so another thing that I think is invaluable to have when you have a newborn around is a newborn first aid kit so you can pick these up at pretty much any store but they'll come with a newborn baby brush the little nail clippers the files a thermometer but also I like to supplement that newborn first-aid kit with a few items I do add this probe onyx daily probiotic supplement to mine and I give this to my son every day I've noticed that it's made a big improvement in his digestive issues and in his gas enos and I think it's just a great idea to give your kids probiotics we all need them they're beneficial for immunehealth and so many other things besides just digestion so yeah definitelyrecommend adding in a probiotic and then I also use this homeopathic product called colic comb it's a little crazy because it is black it has charcoal in it that makes it black as well as a bunch of homeopathic medications but if my son is ever crazy fussy or I can tell he is in discomfort just one dose of this really does the job to help with colicso I think having something like this like a colic calm I'm or even like just a gripe water on hand is really really valuable and with a new baby and so when you're in those moments where they're going crazier they're super fussy you have something that can help remedy it without having to run out to the store next thing on my list are muslin swaddle blankets these are great because they have a multitude of uses and you can vary their like warmth when you open them up all the way they're really thinso if it's hot out you can still you know swaddle your baby or cover them slightly but it's not going to be too hot and you can fold them up and double them up and and they become a lot warmer but I also like them because they have a multitude of uses they're usually so big they make for a great nursing they make very great like a nursing cover on the go if you want to do that they cover a car seat really well and work like a car seat canopy and they're also just easy to throw in the wash and they get softer and softer every time you wash them so I love that about these but yeah I love muslin swaddle blankets for more than just swaddling I think they're a greatinvestment for your baby the last thing on my list is a rock and play try get in there and this is not the fancy one with Auto Rock and all the accessories this is the most basic like $35 rock and plate that I ordered off of the Amazon and my son loves this I would definitely use this again with future children and like I said it's it's lightweight it was cheap it folds up and goes out of the way if you're not using it but he will sleep such long stretches in this and when he kicks his feet like he starts to wake itself up it starts to rock and so sometimes he rocks himself back to sleep which is super handy as well but yeah rock and play is great it's a great sleep space for your child it's not very expensive it doesn't take up a lot of room so I love all those things about it and it works really well also my son like I said he was having some stomachproblems for a little while and the rocking play has a slight incline to it and so I felt like it allowed him to sleep for a longer stretches because he wasn't having as many gas pains or like spitting up as much when he was laying in it so I felt like it was really beneficial for that and I think it's a great great thing to invest in when you have a newborn finally I have won honorable mention for my newborn must-haves this does not a must must have but I did love having it notice the doctor taught deluxe and I've been using this since my son was born and I just loved it he sleeps right by me in the bed and my husband feels a lot more confident and safe having him in the dog guitar as opposed to just having him in bed with us like we did with our daughter she just straight up co slept with me and right next to me so but this is cool because I can move it around my house if I'm doing different things in different rooms he can sleep on the couch or he can sleep on the table and I just know that he's safe and comfortable in there he's not gonna roll out and he loves it because it sort of has thisshape that hugs hugs around his head and his arms and so if he I'm sorry myLighting's messing up sorry if he so if he startles his self or whatever it sort of hugs him a little bit and helps him to settle back down I don't think this is necessarily a necessity but it has been really really nice to have so that about wraps it up for my newborn must-haves as I said this wasn't gonna be a very long list but these are some things that I have found pretty helpful or even invaluable and I hope thatyou've got some good things that you've taken out of this video as always I will link everything down below so it's easy for you to find if you want to do some more research or look into one of these products and if you have some newborn must-haves that you found indispensable be sure to leave those in the comments below as well and we'll see you guys in the next one adios