What Do I Need At Home For A Newborn

When Can You Fly With A Newborn

Pediatrician Explains Newborn Baby Basics: Feeding, Safe Sleep, Pooping, Car Seats, and more.

Airplane travel with a newborn isnt recommended because they have underdeveloped immune systems.

Of course, sometimes its necessary to travel with a newborn. For example, if youre adopting or theres a family emergency, air travel may be unavoidable.

If youre going to fly with a newborn, use hand sanitizer on your babys hands. Avoid sitting near anyone who appears or sounds ill.

Some airlines require a doctors note for babies 1 month and under to travel. Check the requirements before you fly. Talk to your pediatrician about keeping your newborn healthy in flight.

Best Muslin: Aden + Anais Cotton Muslin Wearable Blanket

Like other options on our list, this sleep sack is suitable for warmer months. It has two layers of cotton muslin that helps create nice airflow and eliminate overheating. It has a zipper for easy pre-bedtime diaper changes and a sleeveless silhouette for optional layering. You can shop sizes 0-36 months and colors and prints, including animals, stars, and flowers.

To buy: $20

Best Organic: Osocozy Fitted Organic Diaper

Amazon

  • No decorative styles or colors

Some parents prefer organic cloth diapers over standard cloth diapers. It can be an extra precaution thatll prevent exposing delicate baby skin to the chemicals and potential pesticides used in growing and processing cotton or limit exposure to other textiles like latex. These diapers are made in the U.S.A. from 100 percent unbleached GOTS certified organic cotton. Hourglass-shaped, they close with durable snap fasteners, are available in two sizes, and have gentle elastic bands on the legs and waist.

Price at time of publication: $16

Sizes: 7 to 18 pounds, 18 to 30 pounds | Features: Snap fasteners

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Remember About The Safety Of Your Child

If you have never heard about the SIDS, check the info on the web and avoid the risks that are depicted. Among the others, there are certain restrictions on the choice of clothing. In particular, be sure not to cover your child with a blanket while it sleeps at home. Thus, to ensure comfort during sleeping, outfits have to be selected accordingly.

Best For Newborns: Love To Dream Swaddle Up

My Favorite Newborn Essentials

If your little one sleeps comfortably with their arms up by their face, check out this version thousands of shoppers rave about. The Love to Dream sleep sack is basically a hybrid of a sleep sack and a swaddle, covering their arms minus the restriction to their sides. The unique design ultimately helps light sleepers stay asleep because it allows them to self-soothe, whether they like to touch their face or bring their hands to their mouth. It’s so safe and effective that one NICU nurse says she wraps her own children in them. Each style is made out of cotton, comes in a handful of color options, and is available in three different sizes.

To buy: $30

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New Parents Health & Safety Checklist For Baby

  • Infant First Aid-Kit: If this is your first baby, youll want to stock up on a basic infant first aid kit.
  • Thermometer: Your first aid kit may come with a basic rectal thermometer but a forehead thermometer is much easier to quickly use.
  • Infant Grooming Kit: Look for one with nail clippers and a hair comb at a minimum.
  • Bulb Syringe/Saline Spray: If baby is congested, youll want quick access to a bulb syringe and saline spray to unclog mucous. Another option is the FridaBaby Nose Frida where you can quite literally suck the snot out!
  • Gas Drops: Gas drops are a great way to ease fussiness during the typical gassy phase for infants which is when they are 4-12 weeks old.
  • Fever Medication: It doesnt hurt to have Infants Tylenol or Motrin on hand in case of fever, but always call your pediatrician before administering anything when they are that young.

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How Often Do You Need To Change Babys Diaper

Your newborn will pass meconium for their first few days of life. This is a black, sticky, tarlike substance.

How often youll need to change their diaper varies depending on whether or not youre breastfeeding or formula-feeding them.

Breastfed babies will typically have several bowel movements per day. Formula-fed babies will have fewer.

Either way, youll want to change your babys diaper every two to three hours.

If the diaper is just wet with urine, you dont need to change it right away and wake up your sleeping baby. However, change baby immediately following any bowel movements to avoid irritation.

You can tell its time to change your babys diaper as soon as you can smell or feel that theyve had a bowel movement.

To determine if the diaper is wet, put one hand on the diaper to feel if its damp. Alternatively, some diapers change color when theyre wet.

  • emergency information, including your babys doctor, nearest emergency room, and poison control number

You can also find a premade kit online that contains most of these items.

Also Check: How To Wake A Newborn And Keep Them Awake

Best Fleece: Simple Joys By Carter’s Microfleece Two

Two sleep sacks for less than $20? We’re not complaining! This cozy set includes two microfleece wearable blankets with long sleeves. The material provides warmth without heaviness, which makes it suitable for any time of the year. There are size options for newborns up to 9-month-olds and most reviewers say they fit true to size.

To buy: $19

What Are Some Essentials I Might Need

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Ask your friends and family what they found really useful. Aim to recycle what youve already got.

  • Comfortable clothing with easy opening fronts to access your breasts if youre planning to breastfeed. Have a supply of breast pads which will help to absorb breast milk if youre leaking.
  • A breastfeeding pillow will help with positioning your baby for feeds.
  • A breast pump can be useful for expression. Do some research whilst youre pregnant and see whats available in terms of manual and electric pumps.
  • Stock up on maternity sanitary pads in the first week or so after having your baby youre going to need a few dozen.
  • Comfortable underpants. Dont expect to return to your pre pregnancy weight or size for at least 12 months after birth.
  • Nipple cream, available from the pharmacy can be very soothing for tender nipples.
  • Get a water bottle which holds at least one litre so you can monitor your fluid intake. This is especially important if youre planning to breastfeed.

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Important Essentials For An Infant

A minimalist type of parent like to live their day to day life with only the necessities that they genuinely need. So the object would be to not over spend or over shop. So to answer how many clothes do a newborn need, well lets see. For one day with a new baby, you would need the following items:

    • 2 burp cloths/ bibs per day

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Tools To Help Feed The Baby

If you choose to breastfeed, you wonât need much in the way of supplies. Nursing bras and a nursing pillow are nice conveniences. If youâre bottle-feeding, youâll need bottles, nipples and formula. Make sure to check the expiration dates on formula. Regardless of how you choose to feed your baby, youâll also want to have burp cloths on hand!

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What Does A Night Nurse Do

You may have heard about night nurses. A night nurse gives your baby bottles and changes their diapers overnight.

If youre breastfeeding, a night nurse may bring baby to you to feed, then change them and put them back to sleep. Or you can choose to pump and have your night nurse give your baby bottles overnight if you choose.

The cost for a night nurse may range from $25 an hour to several hundred dollars per hour, depending on your location and the experience of the night nurse.

Feeding Essentials Checklist For Your Newborn Baby

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  • Baby bottle set: Dr Browns bottles is the brand recommended by lactation consultants. Theyve got a great starter pack of 4 oz bottles & 8 oz bottles.
  • Bottle brush: Youll want two of these so you can replace the first one as the end starts to fall apart.
  • Bottle drying rack: Youll use this drying rack every day for cleaning and drying bottles, pacifiers, teething toys, and sippy cups.
  • Bottle warmer: You can use a mug of hot water to heat babys bottle, but many moms prefer the quicker convenience of a bottle warmer.
  • Burp cloths: If your baby is a spitter you may use up to 6-8 of these a day.
  • Bibs: If your baby is a spitter and/or messy eater you may use up to 6-8 of these a day.
  • Nursing pillow or feeding pillow: Whether youre breastfeeding or bottle feeding, its much easier to have baby propped up closer to you instead of you having to hunch down to feed them.
  • Container of formula: Even if youre breastfeeding, its always a good idea to have a backup container of formula available in case you are struggling with breastfeeding during those first days home. If youre formula feeding, you should still only buy one can at a time in case the type you bought doesnt sit well with babys tummy. A lot of times you may have to trial many different brands of formula.

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Essentials For The Hospital

The hospital may provide some items like:

  • a few newborn diapers
  • swaddle blanket
  • samples of formula if youre bottle-feeding

Youll want to have an installed rear-facing car seat. In the United States, hospitals wont let you leave with your baby without a rear-facing car seat, even if you arent driving home from the hospital.

Youll also want to have the following:

  • formula, bottles, and sterilizing equipment, if you plan to bottle-feed

You dont need to bring a breast pump to the hospital. If the hospital wants you to pump breast milk, theyll give you access to a hospital-grade pump during your stay.

If you want help learning to use your own pump, you can bring it along.

What Size Diaper Do You Need For A Newborn

Newborn babies use the smallest diaper sizes, of course. Itâs important to know that these sizes are organized by weight and can vary from brand to brand.

Pampers offers three size categories for new arrivals, all based on weight. These include three different sizes for preterm babies and very small infants as well as size N and size 1.

  • Preemie diapers . Working with NICU nurses, Pampers created a line of preemie diapers that fit preterm babies of any size. Youâll see three options in this size range, though the smallest are reserved for hospitals. If your little one is a preemie at home, you can get P1 diapers for babies weighing less than six pounds. Some hospitals use P2 for those weighing less than four pounds and P3 as the tiniest size, for those weighing less than one pound and eight ounces.

  • Newborn diapers . The Pampers newborn size offers a fit for infants who weigh less than 10 pounds at birth but donât require premature sizing.

  • Size 1 diapers. These diapers are designed for babies weighing between 8 and 14 pounds.

How much babies weigh at birth varies a lot. For babies born between 37 and 40 weeks, birth weight typically ranges from 5 pounds and 8 ounces to 8 pounds and 13 ounces. Therefore, it helps to have both size N and size 1 diapers on hand before your babyâs birth. Then, once you know the size youâll need, you can stock up at home and add them to your diaper bag checklist.

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Pairs Of Socks And Booties

You have to keep those little baby toes warm somehow! These are especially important if you are having a baby in the winter time. If your baby is expected in the summer, you probably do not need to go out and buy a lot until it starts to get colder, or you might, depending on how cool you keep your house during the summer with the AC!

Health & Hygiene

Use outlet covers in your home to prevent your baby from getting shocked.

Best Swaddle: Halo Sleep Sack Swaddle

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Another popular style from the brand Halo, this sleep sack is a great way to prevent startle reflex thanks to its swaddling wings. When your baby is ready to transition to an arms-out sleep sack, simply tuck the wings under their arms and around their waist. It’s made entirely of cotton, has an inverted zipper, and comes in a variety of colors. Many shoppers say it has helped their baby sleep better, and one mom claims, ” hands down the best purchase that I made for my baby.”

To buy: $28

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How To Feed A Newborn

For the first two to four days of life, newborns who are breastfeeding will need to be fed every two to three hours, or on demand.

It might not seem like your baby is eating much as your milk supply comes in, but the colostrum you produce immediately following delivery is all they need at this stage.

Transitional milk will replace your milk for the next two weeks, then your mature milk supply will come in.

After the first few days, formula-fed newborns need 2 to 3 ounces of formula per feeding. Theyll need to be fed every three or four hours for the first few weeks.

During the first two weeks of life, if your newborn sleeps longer than four or five hours at a time, you may need to wake them up to eat.

At about 1 month old, both formula- and breastfed babies will need up to 4 ounces per feeding. At this point, formula-fed babies will be on a more predictable schedule, eating about every four hours. Some breastfed babies will eat every four hours, too, but some will still feed more often than this.

Milk Bottles And Nipples

Whether pumping or formula-feeding, youll need milk bottles to feed your baby. Stick to smaller 4-ounce bottles for now, as well as low-flow nipples.

Tip: Experiment with both bottle and nipple brands and varieties. Some babies take to certain sizes, materials, and brands. Like diapers and wipes, dont stock up just yet on bottles and nipples until you can see whether your baby takes to them.

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General Sizing Chart For Baby Clothes

Looking at a rack of baby clothes may leave you scratching your head on what size to get. Its always best to consider the weight of your child when buying clothes. Heres a quick rundown of sizes with their appropriate weight. Since sizes can vary by brand, think of this as a loose guideline.

  • Preemie up to 6 lbs
  • Newborn 5-8 lbs
  • 6-9 months 16-20 lbs
  • 9-12 months 20-24 lbs

If your baby is on the edge of a size range, I recommend always sizing up. Babies grow quickly and will fit it perfectly in no time. Make sure there is no loose fabric that may bunch up on their face.

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Is Stockpiling Diapers A Good Idea

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There are some things to consider if stockpiling is right for your family.

-Do you have the space to store diapers? Diapers take up room, and if youre buying in advance, you could need to store them for a year or more! Diapers also need to be stored in a DRY location. Tossing them in a corner of the damp basement might not be the safest choice.

-Can you afford to buy in advance and let that money sit in the corner for a year or more? Knowing the financial and space constraints, is it worth it for you to buy diapers ahead? Also, consider the ramifications if the diaper brand you buy ahead doesnt work for your baby. You might be able to exchange at the store, but otherwise you might have to sell at a loss.

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Man Welcomes Girlfriend Home After Nysc Camp

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a young lady has shared the video of the romantic moment her man welcomed her home after she completed her mandatory National Youth Service Corps, NYSC camp.

The man stormed the airport in style to wait for his woman and gave her a passionate hug the moment he sighted her. At home, the lady was ushered into a room lit with blue, eye-catching lights that put people in a romantic mood. The room was heavily decorated with balloons and sweet love flowers that put shivers down people’s spines.

The sweet video has attracted the attention of social media users who are currently analysing it from the angle they see it. Some are left asking God when.

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