What do you need for a baby?
Can you still see the forest for the trees? Then you are probably one of the few 🙂 We often hear from mothers that they only realize afterwards how many different (unnecessary) things you buy when you are pregnant for the first time! So here is a minimalist baby list of indispensable baby products. And also some tips on which products you can skip to avoid unnecessary bad purchases.
Transport
- Car seat to transport your newborn home from the hospital
- Baby carrier to carry your little one with you. Good for bonding with your little one, plus you have your hands free to do something else!
- Stroller with bassinet: a cloth/parasol against sun for the summer, a rain cover for the autumn, a footmuff for the winter and an adapter so that you can easily transfer your car seat to the stroller.
- Diaper bag (we find a diaper backpack useful at BabyLoop)
- If you bottle feed: a milkpowder tower (check Hema)
Sleep
- Co sleeper including bed linen (for the first period it is nice to have your little one close to you) – 1 molton, 2 fitted sheets, 1 warm blanket and 1 thin blanket
- Hot water bottle for the first days to keep your baby warm at its own temperature
At home
- Baby nest so you can take the little one with you everywhere in the first few months and he/she has a feeling of security
- Playpen with a nice playpen mat (useful as a safe place, especially for a second child)
- Bottles for milk (make sure these are BPA free!) and possibly bottle food
- High chair, for example the Tripp Trapp from Stokke with Newborn set.
- Pump, if you are breastfeeding
- Nursing pillow – also nice to sleep with during your pregnancy – make sure you can remove the cover to wash
- Bouncer, possibly with play arch
Care
- Baby bath with stand so you don’t have to bend down as much and baby oil for the bath
- Changing table plus a changing mat with 2 covers
- 16 Hydrophilic diapers are really indispensable. You use them for everything!
- 6 clothing sets to shine in; rompers, box suits, socks and of course a jacket, 2 hats and 1 pair of slippers
- Nail file – you should not cut your child’s nails for the first four months
- Natural rubber teat; make sure you choose a pacifier without BPA! and a pacifier cord so you don’t lose the pacifier 😉
- Vitamin K from day 8 up to 3 months and Vitamin D up to 4 years
From 6 months onwards
- Non-slippery and flexible socks/hoes
- Baby gym to stimulate motor development and curiosity
- Baby set from Stokke (the newborn set can leave the house)
- Cot with molton and 2 fitted sheets and a sleeping bag (the co-sleeper can leave the house)
- Cot with bedding (this can also be bought at a later stage if you have a co-sleeper / crib)
- Follow-up seat for the stroller, so that your little one can enjoy looking out into the world! (the bassinet can go out)
Please note, babies should not sit in a Newborn set, Maxi Cosi or bouncer for too long.
Rent your baby gear and save up to 70% (and it’s sustainable too)!
In general, leasing evokes the association that it is super expensive and that it is better to buy all the baby equipment if you want more than 1 child. However, I invite you to take a good look at this small calculation example to illustrate our affordability:
A new BabyBjorn bouncer costs €199,-. With an average use of 5 months, the rent will cost you: €14.90 x 5 = €74.50. That is 30% of the original purchase amount. So, in fact it is even cheaper to rent than to buy a new one, also with 3 kids!
Quality guaranteed and minimize property!
You do not need additional storage space until the products are back in use. In addition, you have the advantage that when you choose Refurbished you do not have the hassle of Marktplaats; you are taken care of with BabyLoop’s delivery service instead of having to pick up the items yourself. And perhaps the biggest advantage is that the quality of the stuff is guaranteed, while you always have to wait through a marketplace whether the stuff is really ‘as good as new’ or whether this is a subjective concept 😊.
What do you really need from the baby checklist | Avoid bullshit purchases
Here is a good example how you can recognize a nonsense purchase. This is what a mother said about buying hydrophilic washcloths: ‘I have never actually used them. I only bought them because they were cheap anyway. ‘ Not sustainable at all of course – if you think I’ll buy it because it’s cheap, don’t! You can always order missing baby gear online and this is often delivered within 24 hours. Or you ask your partner to go to the store (e.g. HEMA) to buy something.
Hope these tips help you and what you really need from the baby checklist! Last tip, trust yourself and don’t be fooled 🙂
