"What Do I Need to Get for My Newborn Baby?"

When you realize that your baby is coming soon, you would start wondering what you really need to get for your baby or if you have missed anything that you haven't bought or prepared. Of course you would be attracted by all sorts of cute clothes, tiny shoes and accessories, and probably have a mountain of those. But what does a newborn really need - apart from your tender loving care?

Here are our recommendations on the items to prepare:

1. Simple Newborn Clothes

I bought a set of cute clothes and insisted that we used it as the "coming home clothes". It was total mistake. The set consists of a long sleeve top with 2 buttons on the should and a pair of overall pants that is without any buttons of zips. Needless to say it was a scary experience to put it on and take it off when the baby is soft, and also super inconvenient for diaper change.

We quickly learned that rompers are the best, especially those that have buttons in the body and at the bottom. That way when you dress the baby, you can just "open" the romper and put it down on the changing table, and then put your baby on top of the romper. After that, put on one arm then another. Lastly, button up on both sides and at the bottom.

My first time changing her diaper and clothes on day 6

Done! No need to pass through the head. When you change diapers you just need to unbutton those at the bottom without taking off any clothes.

Short sleeve romper good for hot weather

Long sleeve ones good for indoor with aircon

2. Sleeping Bag

One of the complaints that new parents have is that they need to check on their baby many times at night to make sure their boby is covered with blanket, and yet it's below their neck so that their face won't be covered.

Taking after nap...Didn't like the blanket so much 😂

Sleeping bag allows you to put the baby in the bag and zip it up. That way you can be sure that your baby won't get cold, and also won't get suffocated.

Changed from size 60 to 70 as she grew longer

No matter where we go, we bring the sleeping bag with us

By the way, newborn doesn't need a pillow.

3. Baby Cot/Crib

Honestly a newborn does not need much. They basically just need milk, clean diaper and somewhere flat to sleep. Any baby cot or crib will do. No need to spend a fortune on fancy brand or any special function. If you want to promote shared responsibility between you and your partner, then don't buy those cots that has one side connected to your bed. Also, you may want to consider how long you intend to use that crib for. If you buy those that's like a basket, you'll need to get a new crib when the baby is around 5-8 months - because by then they can crawl and pull themselves up. We didn't want to transition our daughter multiple times (and deal with the problem of handling the unused cot), so we bought an adjustable crib for our daughter.

Before she turned one she attempted to climb out. That's when we adjusted the bed to the bottom. We also plan to remove one side of the crib to train her sleeping on a bed soon. We'll let you know how it goes!

4. Swaddle Blankets

I knew babies are usually wrapped in blankets. I thought it's only because they don't know how to regulate their body temperature yet. But apparently it serves the purpose of calming a baby too. When our baby daughter suddenly cried and we couldn't figure out what's wrong, we tried to swaddle her up. It worked like magic!!

Baby loves anything that reminds them of being in the womb. And swaddling can give them a similar feeling. You can watch some videos on "how to swaddle a baby". It looks easy but in practice it's a bit challenging for the first few times.

5. Baby Shampoo and Body Wash

Obviously you'll need to clean the baby periodically - well it really depends on where you're coming from. My seniors in Hong Kong seem to think bathing a baby twice a day is common sense. But Nils thinks bathing a newborn every other day is too frequent...Regardless of the frequency, you need something mild and suitable for the baby.

6. Baby Bathtub

When we went to the baby store for the first time, it was indeed an eye-opening experience. There are so many products in the store that we didn't know existed. And many we didn't know what they're for! Baby bathtub was one of those. Afterwards we did some research and bought one that has a "slide" on one side which allows the baby to lie on it. We find it really helpful as we don't need to spare one arm to hold the baby during the bathing process.

7. Baby Pram

We bought a stroller at a baby fair when I was 8 weeks pregnant 😂 I know it's too early but it was an impulse purchase. Until now we're still using that stroller. However, when Olivia was a newborn, we found that the stroller didn't really work for her...something's not right...

Upon posting some photos on Facebook, some of our friends commented that baby should lie flat. We did some research and bought a pram. The situation had quickly improved. The down side is that...the pram is really huge compared to a stroller. We changed back to the stroller when she's 4 months old.

8. Car Seat

If you drive or take car/taxi often, then go get a car seat. Most of the baby car seats in the market is good for newborn to 18 months old. The car seat should be facing backward.

9. Changing Table/Station

This is more for the parents than for the baby. Nappy changing is just part of your life. Olivia's record is 10 times of poo a day...plus 2 wet diapers made it 12 times in one day. In the first 3-4 months she pooped an average of 5-8 times per day, and we had to change her 7-10 times a day...So, having a fixed location where you have all the items handy makes your life easier. It's also good to be able to change her while standing. That way you don't need to bend down (see photos in #1 above).

"Accident" does happen so having somewhere waterproof and which you can clean up easily is helpful...There were a few times that Nils was shot by poo...The princess "passed gas" big time during nappy changing and the 💩 came out at high speed during the process 😅

Lastly, if you plan to bottle feed the baby, then you'll also need milk bottles, slow flowing teats (probably from different brands as baby can be fussy about that), a sterilizer, dish washing detergent for baby and a brush for cleaning the bottles...

That's about it. After all, all these products are to help you as new parents. For the baby, he/she mostly just needs your love (on top of milk, clean diapers and sleep).

If you think of anything else, please leave a comment here to share with other new parents. For the items that a new mama may need, I will share in the next post!