What Do You Actually Need for a Newborn? A Practical Baby Essentials Checklist
Buy less. Prepare better!
If you have started looking at newborn checklists, you may already have discovered something slightly terrifying.. Apparently a very tiny person needs approximately 1247 things!
One list says you need six bottles. Another says twelve. Someone swears by a wipe warmer. Someone else says theirs was used twice. Your social feed starts showing you products you hadn’t even known even existed.
And suddenly “preparing for my baby” starts feeling a lot like “buy everything before I’m allowed to feel ready”. But it doesn’t have to feel like that.
Your baby needs some important basics - yes. But many other things depend on your home, your feeding plans, how you travel, what support you have and - very importantly - the baby you actually meet.
And this is why I prefer dividing baby purchases into three categories:
BUY NOW. WAIT. SKIP.
BUY NOW: the things that genuinely need to be ready
A safe place to sleep
This is one area where the basics matter more than the aesthetics.
You need a suitable cot, crib or Moses basket and a firm, flat mattress that fits properly. Current NHS safer-sleep guidance recommends that babies sleep on their back in their own clear sleep space always in the same room as their carer for the first six months. Pillows, cot bumpers, sleeping nests/pods and loose soft items should not be added to the sleep space. And just to say - you do not need a fully decorated nursery before your baby comes home. :-)
Somewhere to change them
Nappies (reusable or disposable - unless you are planning to pracice elimination communication).
Wipes or reusable cloths.
Barrier cream if you choose to have it.
Somewhere safe to lay the baby and that somewhere can be a changing mat on the floor. A dedicated changing table may be useful for some homes and completely unnecessary in others.
A small amount of clothing
Babies grow quickly (trust me!). You also don't know if your baby will me on the smaller or bigger side when they are born. So start with enough bodysuits and sleepsuits to comfortably get through washing but you will not need an entire wardrobe in newborn size. You can always buy more later.
Safe transport
If you will travel by car, you will need an appropriate rear-facing infant car seat.
If you will mostly walk, use public transport or live in a small flat with no lift, your pushchair priorities may look very different from someone regularly loading theirs into a car.
This is exactly why “best pushchair” lists frustrate me.. Best for whom?
Feeding basics - based on how you actually plan to feed
This is where generic checklists often can become ridiculous. If you intend to breastfeed, you may not need to buy a pump, ten bottles, a steriliser and a bottle warmer before the baby arrives.
If you know you will bottle-feed, appropriate bottles and sterilising equipment become genuinely important; NHS guidance recommends sterilising feeding equipment during the first year. What about if you are unsure about what you would like your feeding journey to look like?
That’s allowed.
You can still prepare without buying for every possible feeding scenario.
Something for YOU
Postpartum preparation shouldn’t consist exclusively of things for the baby. Think about comfortable clothes, easy food, basic recovery items relevant to the kind of birth you may have, feeding support if you need it, and - perhaps most importantly - actual help.
WAIT: things you might love… but don’t necessarily need before birth
This category is underrated.
Here are some things you can wait on:
A large toy collection.
Lots of newborn clothes.
A high chair.
Complicated baby-food equipment.
Multiple carriers before you know what fits you.
A huge bottle collection before you know what your baby accepts.
A dedicated baby bath if another safe setup works for you.
A monitor if your home layout means you won’t use one yet.
Waiting doesn’t mean you are underprepared.
It means you are leaving yourself room to learn what your baby and family actually need.
SKIP: things you are buying because the internet told you to
This category is very personal.
But before purchasing anything, I would ask:
What problem am I expecting this product to solve?
If you can’t answer that, pause.
Some items are also best avoided for safety reasons - particularly sleep products that conflict with current safer-sleep guidance so always make sure you read the small letters.
The list nobody gives you
There is another category of preparation that doesn’t arrive in a cardboard box.
Who will feed you?
Who can you call when feeding hurts?
Who will protect your rest when visitors arrive?
Who will walk the dog, take the older child out, bring groceries or listen when you say, “I don’t know if this is normal”?
Sometimes the most useful preparation for a baby isn’t another product.
It’s support.
If you’re staring at five different baby essentials lists…
You don’t need another generic checklist.
You may need help working out what makes sense for your particular life.
This is why I have created the Baby Essentials Clarity Call - a 75-minute online session where we work through what you are likely to need, what can wait and what you can probably skip, based on your home, lifestyle and priorities.
You will leave his conversation with more clarity, more confidence, feeling more prepared plus your own simple:
BUY NOW / WAIT / SKIP plan.
The session is normally €89, and the first five bookings are €69 while I launch this new Parent Path service.
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