Getting Ready To Bring Your New Baby Home

There are a lot of things you need to do to get ready for your new baby. You will want to have the nursery set up well in advance of your due date in case the baby comes early so you don’t end up running to Walmart to buy a new crib on the way home from the hospital.

Obviously you will some sort of baby bed. You may or may not want to put your baby in a crib right away. Many new parents prefer to let the new baby sleep in their room. You can get a cradle or bassinet that will sit right next to your bed so you don’t have to go far to get the baby when he or she wakes up in the middle of the night.

Besides a bed for your new baby, you will need many other things. The hospital will provide enough diapers for you to use while you are there, but once you’re home you’re on your own. You should have at least one or two packages of diapers purchased ahead of time. Newborn babies go through around 12-15 daily diapers, so you should make sure you have enough on hand to last at least a couple of weeks. You may not feel like going out shopping right away after the baby is born.

If you’re like most new moms, you starting buying cute clothes for your little one as soon as you knew whether you were having a boy or a girl. But don’t forget the more mundane day-to-day supplies, such as diaper rash ointment and bath supplies. You’ll need baby bath, baby shampoo, washcloths, towels and bedding. You might want to pick up some baby Tylenol too, just in case.

If you are breastfeeding, make sure you have a good breast pump, such as an Avent breast pump, to help establish and keep up your milk supply as well as to pump milk when it is inconvenient to breastfeed. Don’t just buy the cheapest breast pump out there. Some of them do not have enough suction to empty your breasts in a reasonable amount of time. You don’t want to spend all of your time pumping your breasts. You have better things to do, like play with your baby.

Before the baby comes, you’ll need to buy a car seat. It’s not a good idea to get a used one because you don’t know if it has been involved in an accident. The car seat need to be rear-facing and it’s a good idea to go ahead and install it in the vehicle you will be driving to the hospital so you don’t have to mess with it when it’s time to go home.

Although ideally you will have everything ready before the baby comes, don’t stress if you forget something. As long as you have a car seat, diapers and a place for the baby to sleep, almost everything else can wait a few days until you and the baby are settled.