Checklist for New Baby!
Since we make baby and kid clothes, all ADS on all screens are collages of a ton of stuff that is unnecessary for taking care of a human.
If I even think about the incredulous reality of $300 designer baby carriers, suddenly I’m being pitched one like ten times a day.
I did a reflection of stuff to get for a kid (before and after having our first kid), but here I’m skipping all of the reflection part and just posting the list of important things to have. We are parents who exclusively breastfeed, cosleep, and babywear, and we are more into baby fitting into our lives than us developing a baby lifestyle. We ogle our babies, but we aren’t into others ogling our babies so looking at matching bedroom decor for great Instagram composition+color isn’t a consideration. We also found that we raised baby Iris like she was a full human, so we were into whatever she was into. If she wanted to sit around and crinkle balls of paper, that was her toy. No special playmats or containers to put her in, just a blanket and a couple pillows on the ground.
We love traveling, and when we travel, we like spending our money on getting clothes for ourselves and Iris that are designed by local artists.
We are designers who create what we like to splurge on. Clothing in our country is heavily gendered and we hate all those rules, so when we find something we dig we go all-in. So, consider this a list that will allow you to splurge on whatever thing it is you can’t control yourself over. If you have friends or family that would like to pitch in, we recommend making a wishlist and asking them to PLEEEEEASE split costs of a couple big items instead of piling up tons of clothes and toys and things they “think” you need. If they’d like to buy clothes, request bigger sizes!** 3-6MOS, 6-9MOS, 9-12MOS. You know, all those sizes you don’t think about when you think about an 8-lb baby loaf. (Or request they buy newborn clothes from us, they’ll be extra special and you can hand them down to the next baby you know if you aren’t too attached)
**OR REQUEST. . . A VELOCITODDLER GIFT CARD. Because we have them and you can pick out all the things you like and then send pictures of your kiddo to your friends/fam who gifted said gift cards and say thank youuuu look at this weird stuff we loveeeee.
List of Shit to Aquire for Your Kid When You've Never Had a Kid
GLASS BABY BOTTLES (We <3 Lifefactory)
(1) 4-OZ bottle with silicone cover
(1) 8-OZ bottle with silicone cover
Set of flat caps
Set of sippy caps
BOTTLE+SIPPY CUP CLEANING BRUSH/SET
SINK BATH CUSHION (WE LOVE THE BLOOMING BABY BATH)
STORAGE FOR CLOTHES (A CARDBOARD BOX WORKS JUST FINE TO START OUT)
CAR SEAT (WE LOVE THE EVANFLO SYMPHONY CONVERTIBLE FOR ITS MEGA EASE TO INSTALL+ADJUST+ITS LONG LIFESPAN FROM NB-120LBS)
LANSINOH MANUAL BREAST PUMP
NAIL SCISSORS
BABY SOAP/SHAMPOO (BAR OATMEAL SOAP FROM A LOCAL SOAPMAKER IS OUR TOP CHOICE ALWAYS)
NOSEFRIDA
THERMOMETER (WE GOT A NO-TOUCH TEMPLE THERMOMETER)
HUMIDIFIER (SICK BABIES MAKE YOU FEEL SAD)
WIPES (CUT UP OLD T-SHIRTS IF YOU WANT A REUSABLE OPTION)
BABY CAGE (WE LOVE THE LOTUS TRAVEL CRIB BECAUSE IT IS SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT AND FOLDS DOWN INTO A BACKPACK-SIZE AND HAS A FRONT ZIPPER SO OUR KID LEARNED HOW TO UNZIP INSTEAD OF CLIMBING HEADFIRST UP AND OVER THE WALLS)
CHANGING PAD (MORE IMPORTANT TO HAVE IN THE CAR THAN ANYWHERE ELSE)
A WET BAG (A BAG LINED WITH A WATERPROOF MATERIAL FOR DISGUSTING PEE PEE CLOTHES OR CLOTH DIAPERS)
A BABY WRAP (WE LOVE THE MEI-TAI BECAUSE IT WEIGHS NOTHING, HAS NO ADJUSTABLE CLIP THINGS, LASTED FROM 1 WEEK OLD-3.5YEARS AND I SEWED IT MYSELF FROM AN INTERNET TUTORIAL. LOOK AROUND, SEE WHAT YOU THINK YOU WOULD LIKE, AND GET WHATEVER THAT IS.)
PLASTIC BUCKET FOR DIAPERS AND PEEPEEPOOPS CLOTHING
PREFOLD DIAPERS, TWO PACKS OF SMALL, TWO PACKS OF MED, ONE OF LARGE
(5) DIAPER COVERS
STROLLER (WE DIDN’T WANT ONE BECAUSE OF ALL THE BABYWEARING AND TRAVELING TO CITIES, BUT OUR FAMILY INSISTED SO WE FOUND ONE THAT WAS APPROPRIATE FOR OUR HEIGHTS AND IT CAME IN HANDY DURING THIS ONE DEPRESSIVE YEAR WHERE I WAS BEING DEPRIVED OF NUTRIENTS AND NOT EATING ENOUGH BUT NEEDED TO GO TAKE WALKS TO GET SUNLIGHT)
BABY BASSINET THING (WE GOT A THING THAT WAS PORTABLE AND HAD OPTIONS TO RAISE INTO A LITTLE SEAT FOR TO SWADDLE THE BABE AND STICK HER IN IT WHEREVER WE WERE IN THE HOUSE. DIDN’T USE AT NIGHTTIME.)
(2) SMALL BLANKETS WITH WATERPROOF BACKING SO SLEEPING PEEPEE BABY KEEPS THE BED CLEAN IF A PREFOLD OVERFLOWETH BEFORE WE SAVE THE BUTT VIA A DIAPER CHANGE
(3-5) BURP CLOTHS
(3) VERY NICE RECEIVING BLANKETS, FOREGO ALL MEDIOCRE ONES
(2) PACIFIER CLIPS, IF YOUR KID DOESN'T USE A PACIFIER USE IT TO CLIP TOYS TO THEM SO THEY CAN'T FLING THEM ON THE FLOOR REPEATEDLY MUAHAHA!
(1)BATH TOWEL
(1)BABY SLEEPING BAG (LIKE A SWADDLE THAT YOUR KID WEARS THAT THEY CAN KICK OUT OF SHOULD THEY WANT)
SET OF REALLY SOFT WASHCLOTHS
(5) SETS OF BOOBIE PADS
OH and clothing? Request no one get you NB size clothing because they'll grow out of it within one month**. For that one, sweet month, treat your little one to (in NB size):
SIX ONESIES THAT YOU LOVE
TWO TWO-PIECE SETS
TWO NIGHTY GOWNS
**obviously you can’t stop grandparents so don’t try