The baby necessities - What I wish I had known from the day she was born.

I want to share what my most leaned on baby items were and why now that my little one is nearly 4 months old. These are things I wish I had known back when I was pregnant how much I would lean on them.

The Baby Wrap - OR carrier or whatever works for you, seriously it is a life saver when your baby still has separation anxiety from being in your belly and just wants to be close to you. Gives you the freedom to do things you want to do while having a baby sleep on your chest. It also came in handy quite often in the early days when you're up for hours in the wee hours of the morning trying to sooth a grumpy baby back to sleep and are trying to stay standing (because she won't let you even sit in the rocking chair) none the less try and keep a baby in your arms.

Nursing poncho - obviously only relevant if you plan to nurse and aren't comfortable being open about it. And to be fair I never tried the apron style... I had tried using the infinity scarf style covers. I determined quite quickly - particularly when we had a bunch of visitors over Christmas- that it wasn't going to work. Between holding a baby in position, trying not to spray the let down of milk your baby just let go of all over her, your clothes, her clothes and the cover while you grab a receiving blanket to stop the spray and not flash anyone in the process because you cover fell down.... Yeah. And then balance your baby while you do your bra back up one handed. I realized quickly that would be even harder when she could start grabbing things and pulling them down. So I got a nursing poncho I LOVE and it covers your front and back so special nursing shirts arent even necessary and you are still fully covered. Best purchase ever.

Baby Monitor - didn't think I'd need this till she was in her own room at 6 months but I actually started a bed time routine with her at 2 months because I started needing some time to myself. So we'd start our routine at 7 and she'd be down by 7:30 or 8. At first I constantly felt like I was hearing cries. Which ended up being ghost cries when I'd check on her repeatedly not really being able to fully enjoy my "me time" the monitor helped with that. I could be sure if I was hearing her cry or not. Now maybe that's just a me thing... But I have a feeling the ghost cries is something every new mom goes through at some point in time. It was also nice if I'd get her down for a nap and finally get to take one of those mythical showers that everyone but new mothers seem to get 😂 but I'd always be worried she'd be screaming her pretty head off by the time I got out. A monitor let me enjoy my showers more by knowing whether I had to rush to put my baby at ease or if I could enjoy my hot water a bit longer. ☺

Baby Swing - I actually fought against this one till she was 3 months old because I though that as soon as she could sit on her own I'd be fine and wouldn't really need one as I had a wrap. Swings would just take up space we don't have. But there are things you can't do while wearing your baby. If your baby is anything like mine and always wants to be in the middle of what you are doing it is one of the few things that give you maybe a few minutes where she is happy and you can maybe get something quick done. Maybe that shower you haven't managed to take for 2 days or changing that laundry over or unloading the dishwasher -anything that requires bending over really - whatever it may be. It can buy you some time. And I really wish I had gotten one sooner.

White noise machine - this is my most recent purchase. I didn't discover white noise until she was about 1 month old and even then I only used it periodically but I discovered when we had those rough nights where she is fussy and doesn't want to sleep - forget music, forget humming or rocking or whatever - white noise was like magic. A swaddle and some loud white noise was almost like a magical off button. Now it could just be for my child. But I've heard from many parents since i started using it that this was magic for their kids too so I'm going to assume it a safe suggestion here. Now, first I just used YouTube because I was like I'm not buying a stupid cd with a bunch of static or iTunes or whatever. It's just STATIC basically, why waste the money? Well I got fed up with YouTube because the last thing you want is to be starting an 8 hour loop from the beginning again for your sleeping baby only for YouTube to decide it's time for another abnoxiously loud YouTube ad that wakes your baby... yeah. You could buy on iTunes or a cd or whatever but I did end up buying a machine with a built in night light that projects stars on the ceiling and let me tell you this was a surprising bonus. Light I wanted for just feeding her in the middle of the night also happened to help putting her to sleep. Every single night she stares at that projection on the ceiling while her eyes droop down to sleep while she listens to the white noise. It has given her something to focus on instead of tossing and turning her head fighting the sleep which equals a sleeping baby much faster.

I realize everyone situation is different. As I have the luxury of still being home with my baby at nearly 4 months old and that if you only get a few weeks most of these purchases may not be worth it for the big picture. But I just wanted to share some things that I know I would have found helpful earlier on in the game and hope this insight helps anyone else wondering what they NEED or teetering on whether it worth buying a certain item or not.