When you are expecting Baby, especially for the first time ever, I think it’s easy to fall trap to feeling like you need ‘all the things’. Right? Have you or are you feeling it? There are so many things on the market and if you do any bit of web surfing, you can quickly grow a shopping list that is both unnecessary as well as expensive. A Diaper Genie? To be honest, it’s one more thing to remember to empty. Walking Baby’s diaper to the garbage can takes mere seconds. The Doc-A-Tot? A glorified pillow for $200? There are other options just as good on the market.

You want to remember two things as you prepare for Baby. Number one, babies grow fast and all of the things you buy will probably not have time to be used. Number two, babies are messy. Kids are messy. And spending large amounts on baby gear, while they may be beautiful, aren’t always that practical because guess what? Every baby drops food, every toddler crushes snacks and every kid leaves sticky finger prints no matter how cheap or expensive the product.

Last year we were surprised with our soon-to-be arriving Brooks and as we sat and thought through what we really needed, the list was much smaller than our first round at the rodeo years ago. And with having no baby things left, we were going to be starting at square one and didn’t want to bite off more than we knew we wanted to chew. And I’m a minimalist and added tons of baby gear to an already full house is not something that I found thrilling.

So I wanted to share with you our basic must haves for Baby that truly get the most use, but that also fit within a realistic budget for things that Baby won’t be using that long anyway.

Clothing. I always like to keep this area incredibly simple for the first 3 months. Basic is best I believe and I don’t like fussy clothes for a newborn because all they do is sleep. And who wants to have on uncomfortable clothes when trying to sleep? I love all of the Gerber newborn clothing options out there. I load up on the Gerber onesies with attached mitten cuffs(babies scratch themselves all the time) as well as the Gerber side snap shirts(we knew the kids would be wanting to help with things and these shirts are so easy for little ones to handle). I bulk up on Gerber baby socks as well as baby leggings and sweatpants in all colors and patterns (Burt’s Bees and Carters are two of my favorite brands for these). This is basically the wardrobe my newborns sport for the first three months. Easy breezy.

Blankets and burp rags. My absolute go-to baby blankets are from Aden and Anais. These blankets are the best for swaddling as well as light and large to handle so many different things. You can also view more of my thoughts on them here from this past Mom Tip Monday as well as how I swaddle Baby. And I have talked about burp rags before over on my Instagram stories, but I love using the Gerber cloth diapers to get the job done. By far the best tip I received as a new mother back in the day and I have never looked back.

Mom’s gear. So I’m not huge on diaper bags and if I have to use one, I want it to look like a handbag. This diaper bag by far is the best one I have ever had for Baby. And I am a big one for wearing Baby. Especially because I have four other kids to be helping and being hands free is extremely helpful. There are so many slings and carriers on the market and while we have tried your classics like the Bjorn, I have been blown away by the Wildbird sling. I only wish I knew about this sling from the very beginning.

Baby gear. Again, this is an area where you can be made to feel like you need to overspend or there are some really beautiful pieces of gear, but keep always keep in mind how quickly Baby grows as well as the messes you will encounter – spit up, spills, food, etc. We absolutely love our double jogging stroller so for Baby’s carseat this time around we stuck with this Baby Trend one so everything would function together.

Sleeping. Life will be much easier with a baby monitor and this one has been great for us. We are also co-sleepers. Normally I wouldn’t have been looking into anything for this department because I never have before, but because I was on pain medication following the c-section with Brooks, I wanted something available to keep him in bed with me, but to be as cautious as possible. This infant sleeper was wonderful to have on hand.

So there you have it! My list of must-haves for baby and my ride-or-dies when it comes to handling Baby for the first few months. Always remember that as a mother and parent, you do what is best for you. If you want to keep things simple and minimal, that is perfectly fine. And if you prefer the $200 pillow for Baby, that’s OK too. All of us mamas are in this together, remember?

I hope you found all of this helpful and thank you so much for being here!