Jenny from Buby + Bleu's Profile

My babies (now ages 1, 3, 6) were very different, but a few things were the same for all three.

We could not have survived without: infant car seat, baby monitor, noise machine (our kids are super light sleepers the first two yrs), ERGObaby carrier, infant-to-toddler feeding seat (safe place to set them down right from birth--especially with other children and pets in the house), and Baby Jogger City Mini stroller. Of all the models we tested that was my fave.

We did NOT need/want: changing table, diaper pal (waste of space, messy, stinky), bottles, binkies (baby 1 liked, but babies 2 and 3 NEVER took), wipes warmer, an electric pump (I nursed exclusively and used the free hospital-issued hand pump for emergencies), the newborn co-sleeper (my daughter wiggled her way down it at just a few days old... so it became unsafe), Bumbo, Boppy (though I did use at nighttime it wasn't at all necc), and all the toys. None of my children liked swings or bouncy chairs or exersaucers for more than a sec. Total waste of space for me, but I know a lot of moms who use the swing to sooth fussy baby to sleep.

I don't need but really love my small inflatable tub that sits inside the regular bathtub... It provides added comfort and peace of mind once baby is old enough to sit. Got it from One Step Ahead, and my two littlest still love bathing in it together.

For clothing the only thing I like aside from plain white onsies (short and long sleeve) and soft pants are those SwaddleMe Velcro swaddlers.. I bought a few more (from Babies R Us) each time we had a baby and used them constantly in the beginning. I found they did work better/faster than traditional receiving blankets for swaddling, and my babies slept way better the first few months when swaddled tightly.

Other than that we tried to keep all baby stuff/products to a bare minimum. You don't need much.