Baby Must-Haves: The First Six Weeks

by - 12:35 PM

Since this isn't my first newborn rodeo, I did have somewhat of an idea of what to expect with the first few sleepless weeks of newborn life.  Here are my "must-haves" for the first six weeks of baby life (Note on "must-haves" - let's be real, a baby needs something appropriate to eat and somewhere safe to sleep, the rest are luxuries that we are lucky to have.  Moving on.):


This is where Audrey sleeps at night, every night.  I try very hard to abide by the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations for sleep which include the ABCs for baby: alone, on their back, in a crib (or other appropriate firm surface).  We have the same pack and play (or PNP, as we refer to them in mom groups and message boards on the interwebs) that we had with Emma, and it is in great condition.  It is a good investment for travel as well - our PNP has spent many a mile in our trunk for a weekend getaway.  We used the newborn lounger portion of our deluxe PNP very briefly with Emma, but have not used it or the "changing station" portion ever with Audrey.  A standard pack and play with the hanging bassinet portion would be more than sufficient to meet basic needs.

Just like her big sister Emma, Audrey is not a huge pacifier fan, though she does take to it a bit more than Emma did.  There are often times the pacifier does help to soothe Audrey, and these are our favorites.  I like to keep them scattered around the house so I don't lose my shit while I searching frantically for one (I save the losing my shit for other annoyances).

Audrey spends much of her time in a footed sleeper (ironically, she does not sleep in one at night).  They are a great way to make sure baby stays warm, since their feet are covered, and so easy to put on and for quick diaper changes.  I just packed up a box of newborn size clothes, 80% of Audrey never even wore, because she spends far more time in sleepers than her older sister ever did.  #secondchildproblems

Audrey likes to spends her days snuggled up close to a boob, but when the boob needs to wash dishes  or do a load of laundry (or the person attached to it), she has a variety of places to lounge.  The bouncer is one of her favorites.  The vibration really helps to soothe her, and I'd love to meet the jackass who thought it should go off automatically after 20 minutes, because no it shouldn't.

This is a new item for us with this baby, and it was a hand-me-down from a dear friend from work - thank you, Melissa!  This is lovingly used many times a day, and it was from this very lounger pillow where Audrey first found (love at first sight) the ceiling fan.  Audrey gets a lot of attention from her big sister when lounging in this pillow, and Emma has even taken to sitting in it when Audrey isn't using it.  It is a favorite in our house.

Like the PNP, if you're hip in the online mom circuits, you know we call these "RNP"s, and they are a cult favorite among young moms.  Many moms use the RNP for overnight sleep, and the newer ones automatically rock.  Ours vibrates, but we are stuck in the stone-ages of having to rock it ourselves - sigh.  Audrey takes at least one nap a day in here.  It is great because it is so light so it's easy to move all around the house, and the genius who invented the automatic vibration turn-off on the bouncer was clearly fired before the RNP was debuted, because the vibration is ongoing.

Audrey currently sleeps in a long-sleeve onesie, swaddled in a muslin swaddle blankets.  The aden + anais ones really are the best, as much as I hate to say that because they ain't cheap.  We were lucky to get many as gifts when I was pregnant with Emma, and just received another pack as a sweet gift after Audrey was born.  There are now quite a few different variants of the a+a swaddles, and my favorite for actual swaddling is the classic muslin.  There is an incredibly soft silky version, which are awesome for snuggling blankets, but after one cursing-filled incident at 3am, I've realized they are not my favorite for actual swaddling.  If you're interested in learning how to swaddle, please let me know, as my husband truly believes he is God's gift to the swaddle (he's not totally off base, my swaddling skills need some work).  I also use muslin blankets as nursing covers, and incredibly ineffective burping cloths in a pinch.

I did not include any feeding-related items in this post, as we all know there are different ways to feed a baby (#fedisbest).  I will follow up with a Breastfeeding Must-Haves post soon!

What are your Must-Haves for a little one?

This post includes affiliate links.  All opinions are mine alone.

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1 comments

  1. This post made me laugh out loud. Mostly because I am stuck in the stone age with you and when I found out that RNPs now auto rock? Frankly, I was quite pissed that I got robbed of such a feature!!! Now I have this perfectly good RNP to use with baby #2, but all I can think about is how I'll have to rock it myself!

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