Mom and Dad’s Must-Have Baby Items

By Carrie Groves
Must-Have Baby Items

Hello, new parents and parents-to-be! Wondering what you need for your new baby? Are the aisles upon aisles of baby items at Target stressing you out? It can be so overwhelming to make sure you have not only everything you need, but products that will last. To help you out, I have listed some of my own personal must-have baby items that I used for my babies, some of which I still use now!

Bath and body

I love SheaMoisture Baby Extra Mild Wash & Shampoo. They also have a lotion that is another favorite of mine. When the kiddos are a little older and start asking for bubble baths (my girls love bubble baths) try Alaffia Everyday Shea Bubble Bath Lemon Lavender.

Swim diapers

My favorite brands are i play. and Charlie Banana. i play. is a bit thicker, but both of them are great at keeping those messes out of the pool. They both have tons of cute prints and are reusable! 

Diapers

Target or Aldi brands! They are affordable and they hold. I have used brand names and found the store brands were definitely better. If you use Target’s Cartwheel app, you can usually find their diapers on there at a discount.

Diaper cream

Boudreaux’s Butt Paste is amazing! I usually use the maximum strength because of the high zinc oxide percentage. I also use coconut oil, and I’ll go back and forth between the two. They are both great for diaper rashes.

Bottles

There are so many different options here! Each of my girls used a different bottle — from the Playtex VentAire and Dr. Brown’s (the number of pieces to clean drove my husband and I crazy) to the Playtex Nurser with Drop-Ins Liners and the basic Medela bottles that came with my breast pump! They were all great bottles, but I’d say the Nurser or Medela were my favorites.

Breast pump

One of the double electric pumps from Medela, hands down. Check if your insurance will pay for it. Mine did!

Swaddle

I loved the SwaddleMe Pod from Summer Infant. I was bummed I didn’t discover it until my third daughter — it was so easy and quiet! You can zip from top to bottom and vice versa, which made diaper changing so easy.

Diaper bag

I went through a few diaper bags, but my favorite brand is Vera Bradley. They offer diaper bags and backpacks, but I ended up with just a tote bag. With so many interior pockets, it is great for organizing bottles, wipes and diapers, and it also has enough room to stash my wallet, cellphone and keys. Plus, they always have super cute prints!

Monitor

We love our Motorola MBP33. We have three cameras hooked up to it (you can have up to four) and it has a scan option for multiple cameras. We replaced the monitor once in our four years of owing it, but only because our adorable toddlers threw it around so much.

Stroller

When we had just one little girl, we used the Graco Snap N Go, which has since been replace with the SnugRider. Once we had multiple children, we got the Contours Options Tandem Stroller and loved it! It has a universal infant car seat adapter, two seats that can be adjusted in numerous different positions, an enormous basket underneath, and a reasonable price tag!

 

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