Which items were most useful to have on hand before bringing home your first baby?

[Anonymous]

Re-energizing this thread from a couple of months ago: I am due in early May and am totally confused about what baby clothes we should have on hand. We received a lot of cute stuff as gifts but I'm concerned we don't have enough footed sleepers (necessary for spring/summer?), sleepwear (some stuff says "not intended as sleepwear"), etc, etc. I think I am just starting to freak out. Can someone please post a list for May babies?

Thanks so much!

[Anonymous]

11:12, this is OP -- I still haven't had my baby (was just trying to plan ahead) and am actually due after you, in July. I still haven't bought any clothing or a "coming home" outfit since I haven't been able to figure out if I need footed sleepers and feel like most of the outfits out there have either long sleeves, long pants, or both. Not too many "bodysuit / shortsleeved" sort of onesies. I also have not found much for the teeshirts that people have said are better for umbillical care. Where are you all buying this stuff? Can someone send me (and maybe will be helpful for 11:12) a good picture of a cute outfit for a July baby? (assuming this could also work for a may baby -- we'd both want a receiving blanket or somethign as well to throw over baby if in air conditioning). We won't know the gender ahead of time.

[Anonymous]

I bought these plain white softsilk t-shirts from Babies R Us for lounging around at home this summer (baby due in mid-June). For "coming home" outfits, I've seen a bunch of kimono style tops with separate bottoms, like this: http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2993307/0~2379292~2379293~6008492~6008511?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=category&searchtype=&pbo=6008511&P=2

Land of Nod also has them, but we did find out gender so I'll probably get something more boy-oriented.

For receiving blankets, I stocked up on those Aiden + Anais muslin ones!

[Anonymous]

Our baby is 4.5 weeks old and the best "clothing" option we've found so far has been the SwaddleMe by Kiddopotamus. We put him in a footed sleeper under the SwaddleMe, but for a warmer weather baby you could go with just the diaper. It's loose around the belly button, so it was fine in the early weeks as well. It makes swaddling incredibly easy and the velcro helps hold it in place when he's fussy so he doesn't make himself more upset by getting his arms loose.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

My baby was born the end of May (almost 2 yrs. ago already). We never used footed sleepers and rarely even used socks (to this day the kid would rather be barefoot if possible). It really is so warm in May that you don't need much more than that. We used cotton onsies and if it was cool, layered on the blankets. That was more than enough and got us through to the fall.

All the fussy little outfits people bought never got worn.

I would also have some good and good-sized swaddling blankets. THese were necessary for us as our DD had a very, very strong startle reflex.

[Anonymous]

We always used footed sleepers since baby did not sleep with a blanket.

[Anonymous]

Obviously it depends on how cold you keep your home in the summer, but I think babies are fine in onesies and socks, or swaddle-me's. I wouldnt worry too much about separates for the umbilical cord, bc that only is an issue for about a week and our DD wore onesies over her umbilical cord. We took the shirt from the hospital and DD wore that for a few days.

[Anonymous]

My pick:

Tucks Medicated Pads - they were a godsend!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

One thing that I didn't have but that turned out useful is Happi Tummi - i got it at buy buy baby:
http://www.happitummi.com/HTummiTestimonials.html

[Anonymous]

I also have not found much for the teeshirts that people have said are better for umbillical care. Where are you all buying this stuff?

I found these at Target. Search their website for "infant" and "kimono" and you'll find them. Good luck!

http://www.target.com/Infant-Boys-Circo-Kimono-2-pk/dp/B0018C5OQE/sr=1-4/qid=1238722310/ref=sr_1_4/185-8878993-4066418?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=0&index=target&field-browse=1038590&rh=k%3Akimono&page=1 -- these worked great for me the first few weeks.

http://www.target.com/Studio-Target-Sleeve-Kimono-Bodysuit/dp/B001Q9J8IO/sr=1-8/qid=1238722310/ref=sr_1_8/185-8878993-4066418?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=0&index=target&field-browse=1038590&rh=k%3Akimono&page=1 -- a onesie option

[Anonymous]

My baby is due any day now. We were also advised to get little t-shirts for the first couple of weeks for umbilical chord care. I finally found some side-snap little tshirts at Target on Rt. 1 - they were from Gerber and were like 5 in a pack for $6.00 or something super cheap.

I have actually found a LOT of super cute clothes on Amazon.com - it's like shopping a dozen retailers at once. That's also where I registered...

[Anonymous]

You can get the side-snap T-shirts at the Carter's store in Bailey's Crossroads in VA. They come 4 or 5 to a pack -- very inexpensive. DD lived in them the first 6 months or so -- by themselves during the summer months and under footed pjs during the colder months.

We also swear by the Miracle Blanket for swaddling. For whatever reason, DD liked it much better than the SwaddleMe brand. We borrowed 2 from a friend and bought a third because one (or two) always seemed to be in the laundry.

I'm not sure how you feel about pacifiers, but it might be good to have a few on hand for the early weeks. DD took to them right away (as we were leaving the hospital) and it did not get in the way of BF-ing at all. She continued to be EBF until 7 months. (I mention this only because I was really worried that the pacifier might interfere, but it didn't.)

Good luck!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

For changing pads, I bought a couple mattress protectors (the cloth ones that absorb water) and cut them in half. Easy to wash.

[Anonymous]

In addition to the T-shirts, I also found the gowns very helpful: These are long-sleeved and open on the bottom. There's a bit of elastic on the bottom hem to close it somewhat. It made for easy access for diaper changes when my baby was new and I was afraid I would break her. You just pull up the gown.
Here's what I mean:
http://www.target.com/Gerber-Long-Sleeve-Layette-Gowns-2-pk/dp/B0018282ZY/sr=1-1/qid=1238892025/ref=sr_1_1/185-9501569-0909231?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=0&index=target&field-browse=1038590&rh=k%3Agown&page=1

If the link doesn't work, just stick in "gerber long sleeve layette gowns" at the Target site.
We had a bunch of them, and stopped using them once we got the hang of putting clothes on.

[Anonymous]

My DD was born in March. The Swaddle blankets are a godsend. We have a ton of footed sleepers but didn't end up using them. Since she is typically swaddled we just put her in a onesie and when she's awake and out of the blanket we use little pants to keep her legs warm. Swaddling in the sleeper would cause her to overheat. We really didn't find that we needed anything aside from onesies. The Boppy is great too. We were naive and thought the baby would simply sleep in the bassinet on the first night. She ended up only being able to sleep in my arms with the Boppy cradled around her. I finally propped her up on the Boppy and stuck it in bed with us to get some rest from holding her. One thing that you should do is not forget about yourself and what you'll need when bringing baby home. Tucks pads are great and those cotton mesh panties from the hospital are HEAVENLY! I took everything I could from the hospital. I also bought some cheap high waisted panties since I had a c-section and bought a ton of nursing nightgowns. The cloth diapers are great for burp cloths and to tuck into your top (under the breast) when you're nursing. If you are supplementing, the ready to feed two ounce bottles of formula are great to keep by the bed in the first few weeks. Pampers Swaddlers are also the way to go.