The Ultimate Go-To List for New Parents – Part 5 of 5 (Finally!)

This is the final part of the 5-Part series “The Ultimate Go-To List for New Parents.”

If you’d like an easy to reference list, click The Ultimate Go-To Baby Registry Checklist for New Parents. I made it available as a pdf!

Part 1 covers nursery basics, Part 2 covers all the basics of baby gear, Part 3 goes over everything feeding related, and Part 4, lists out and explains the essentials for Bath & Body, and Health & Safety. Last, but not least, in Part 5, we’ll go over Clothing and Toys & Books for a newborn.

I wrote a separate post on items that turned out to be a waste of time and/or money for me. I’ll tell you exactly what products I used and what worked and what didn’t.

 Clothing

• bodysuits (at least 5)

  Bodysuits, aka onesies, are invaluable during the newborn phase. Their shirt doesn’t ride up thanks to it being snapped down below. My infant slept, played, and ate in these. They’re basically in their pajamas all day. (Sounds lovely, doesn’t it?) So here’s how it generally works; the newborn wears a diaper, a bodysuit over that, and then a swaddle over that. I also put on an undershirt under the bodysuit because I had him in the winter. You adjust as you see fit. Note: Ever wonder why the neck line on bodysuits/onesies overlap in a v-shape? It’s so that you can pull it down below their shoulders instead of pulling their clothing up over head. This is critical for those blow out diaper days.

• wearable blankets (at least 3)

  What’s a wearable blanket? I didn’t know what that was until I had a baby too. It’s basically a pocket made out of a blanket that you can zip your baby into to keep them warm while they sleep. Because it’s advised not to have any loose bedding around babies (SIDS and suffocation risks), the wearable blanket is a safe alternative to a blanket.

• arm swaddle

  The arm swaddle is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a swaddle but only for the arms. It doesn’t have the sort-of pocket for the baby’s body that traditional swaddles do. The arm swaddle will last a lot longer than a regular swaddle. Your baby will likely grow out of the regular swaddle way before the arm swaddle.

  I had swaddles of all kinds which he quickly outgrew. Plus, it became obvious that he didn’t like his legs to be restricted. But we couldn’t let him be completely unswaddled because he’d punch himself with involuntary movements and wake himself up (yup, babies do weird things).

• footie pajamas (at least 3)

  My baby lived in footie pajamas from around four months old (when he started crawling) to almost a year. Then I started putting real clothes on him. Infants sleep all the time, or at least are supposed to (mine didn’t!). So they might as well be in their jammies.

• hats (1-2)

  They should give you at least a couple of hats at the hospital. These will do, but if you have a winter baby, you might want to get a warmer hat. My baby hated hats even when he was an infant (it was a sensory thing) and he would rip them off and fling them. So I had a lot of clothes with hoods to them.

• socks (at least 5 pairs)

  I never put socks on my newborn because he would overheat if I put socks on him AND swaddled. Socks didn’t come into play until he started crawling. Oh, but get this! Some say that it is better to go sockless and shoeless inside the home for the first couple of years so that their little foot muscles can develop better. I don’t know how true that is but I can tell you that I’ve put socks on my little guy almost every day of his life and he runs like the wind. Note: Socks are also really useful as anti-scratch mittens. I talk about this and other such things here.

• seasonal clothing

  • bunting or snowsuit

    These are convenient if you have a winter baby, and want to tote them around in a baby carrier during those cold months because it allows their legs to straddle. (If you have an Ergobaby carrier, you could use an infant insert instead. But my baby was too big for that.)

  • swimsuit

    If you have a summer baby, you’ll want a swim suit so that you can have some outdoor fun with them. But keep in mind that baby skin is super sensitive so don’t forget to keep them slathered with sunscreen, covered up in sun protective clothing, and cool in the shade.

  • dressy outfit

    There will be probably be some holiday or other party during your newborn’s first three months, so you might as well prepare for it (even if it’s just a pretty hair bow or bow tie).

Toys & Books

• play mat

  Originally, I didn’t see the need for a play mat. But we have tile and wood floors, which aren’t very forgiving on baby knees (not to mention adult knees when we’re crawling around playing with babies!).

  It’s still useful if you have carpeted floors. It’s much easier to clean messes on a foam play mat than it is out of carpet.

  I tried a foldable play mat but it wouldn’t lay flat (although it was highly portable). I tried a plush play mat that rolled up, but it had the same problem if it had been rolled up for a while.

  Then I saw that one of my friends was using this foam mat which was larger than either of the ones I was using and easier to clean. I was sold! My son is over two and we still use them. Note: I used a large play yard to corral my kid while I did chores and used this play mat as the flooring. He can safely trip and fall on the play mat!

• teething toys

  I tried every teething toy I could find, but he never really warmed up to any of them. He liked gnawing on my fingers the most. All I can say here is to try a wide array of teething toys. Make sure they’re easily washable and to have lots of them. I eventually gave up on teething toys and gave him cold washcloths to chew on and regular toys to play with. Here is a popular teething toy that almost every mother I know has had.

• sensory books

  I believe in getting kids into reading as early as possible. No, of course, they won’t be anywhere near reading at this point but it’ll get them used to sitting down with you and being read to. Sensory books are great for engaging their thirsty little minds. They’re colorful and make noise. Plus, any book you let your infant touch should be washable and near indestructible. (Save the nice books for later when they can respect them a little.) Lamaze has some really great soft books which is what I used. Taggies also has some cute soft books.

• rattles

  My baby liked this one by Bright Starts the best and I think it’s because one end was red. It turns out that red is one of the colors infants see the best when their color vision develops around three months. He didn’t get into shaking it until later though.

• dangling toys

  These toys are handy because they have a hook you can use to latch them to a diaper bag when on the go or to just dangle it in front of their face for entertainment. They’re great for distraction in a pinch so that you can quiet them down like dangling keys in a baby’s face. Don’t tell me you haven’t tried it! 😉

• activity gym

  I received the Fisher-Price Kick and Play Piano Gym from an experienced mom who said that it would buy me time to myself. I don’t usually like it when people don’t go by the registry but I’m so glad she did! I quickly learned what she meant. My baby loved looking up at the dangling toys and kicking the piano keys for at least ten minutes. That’s huge! He did his first roll overs on this to get a better look at the colorful things on the mat.

• car seat toy

  If you intend on taking your baby in their car carrier anywhere, a carrier toy is a must! I got one for a friend who hadn’t thought of putting it on her registry and it’s like a whole new world of possibilities opened up once her daughter was happily playing with this toy. There’s plenty for baby to play with while you enjoy your coffee or even dinner!

That’s All Folks!

Are you feeling overwhelmed (especially if you’ve been reading since Part 1)? Fear not! We’ve all been there and got through it. And so will you!

If you’d like an easy to reference checklist, click The Ultimate Go-To Baby Registry Checklist for New Parents. I made it available as a pdf!

Now, go make that baby registry and let me know how it goes! And if this was helpful, please share it. Thanks for reading!