Right before my sister-in-law had her baby last week, I wrote her an email of things I wish I’d had with me at the hospital.  Namely, an outfit for me to come home in.  Whoops.  I had a friend do this for me too, and it was super helpful.  Still forgot that outfit, though.

Anyhow.

I also let her know what has been most useful for us these past several weeks as we’ve transitioned from newborn to infant so she could go out and use her baby store gift certificates to stock up before baby came.

Here’s a list of our faves!

1. Muslin or Bamboo Swaddles – These things are great.  A wonderful invention (ahem, they are swaths of cloth).  They cost anywhere between $35 for four or $45 for three, making the person who thought of whipping up these little blankets and packaging them, a genius.  We used at least two a day in the first few weeks.  We full-swaddled [for the first day or so until little Houdini told us to cut it out] and then swaddled our boy under his arms in the blankets at night.  We use them over the car seat and stroller on warmer days when we need the sun off baby.  We now use them to wipe the drool that has started these past few days (early teething?)  The more you wash them, the softer they get!  We have ten of these blankets.  Can’t picture spending that much on these lightweight swaddles?  You can easily make your own (especially if you are still pregnant with your first child and have time to yourself).  Check out these instructions!

2. Baby washcloths and hooded towels - My girlfriend gave me a pack of six washcloths and a hooded towel when I was about 23 weeks pregnant.  I thought they were adorable.  Then we got another set for a gift.  Then we had the baby.  Now I get that they’re not just adorable.  I use the baby washcloths like they’re going out of style and have purchased more.  Every morning I use one cloth to wash and one to dry his face. Throughout the day I use them to wipe drool, dried skin and sleep from his eyes.  They are super useful and just the right size.  The towels are great because babies get cold and cranky when you take them out of the tub.  We snuggle our boy with a hooded towel right after he comes out of the bath and then bring him to our dining room table to dress and lotion him on another fluffy towel.

3. Baby tub that fits in the kitchen sink - We have two small bathrooms in our home and one doesn’t have a tub.  The sink is the best place for us to wash our babe because we don’t have to bend over and can easily stand next to each other and play while we wash.  We have this one.  We never used the sling attachment because B hated sponge baths with a passion (too cold!) so we skipped straight to the “newborn” side of this tub.  When baby can sit up on his own you may seat him on the other side of the tub, for infants and toddlers.

4. Sleepers – C and I had enough trouble changing a diaper that first week at home together (tag-teaming), so pulling a onesie over our baby’s head was just not going to happen.  B lived in sleepers for the first few weeks before I was brave enough to put him in actual clothes.  Once I started pulling clothes over his head I realized it was no big deal, but it was still much easier just to unzip the sleeper while I was getting used to changing diapers.  We had great luck with Carter’s Cotton Snap-Up Sleep & Play sleepers.