You need these 9 items to make life with a newborn easier

Recently it seems like all my friends are having babies. It's so wonderful to see all those squishy little faces presented to the world for the first time, but chatting with them about how difficult it is to transition to life with a newborn has been giving me flashbacks to thecold hard reality behind that lurks behind those cute photos. It has also got me thinking about all the things that made our lives easier almost a year ago.

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Nappy Caddy

You need a nappy caddy. It's a single place to store all your nappies, wipes, creams, spare clothes etc. I can't recommend a nappy caddy enough. We kept ours in the bed between our pillows for easy access to everything we needed during the night. Check out my post on how much I loved our nappy caddy and what we stashed in ours.

Changing Station

We spent most of the day in our living room, so we set up a changing station in the corner. Ours was a console table with a changing pad and storage box with hand sanitiser, nappies, wipes, nappy bags and creams. It was great to have everything we needed easily accessible in the living room, and it meant that grandmas and others helping out didn't need to go into the mess that was our bedroom. We thought we would just use it in those first few weeks, but we only packed it up when his wriggling became a liability and we moved all nappy changes to the floor.

Muslin Swaddles

Swaddles are probably the single most versatile item in a mum's arsenal. Basically just a big square piece of cotton, I love both the patterns and quality of the Aden and Anais ones. We used ours as swaddles, cot sheets, blankets, changing mats, buggy/carseat liners, burp cloths, sun shades, playmats, even as a toy (tug of war and peekaboo!)

Baby Swing

Go out and buy a swing right now. It is not too big an exaggeration to say our swing changed our lives. Unusually for us, we put zero research into this purchase, I just walked into the shop (whilst my husband did laps of the carpark to keep him asleep) and selected this one because it was on offer and available to take home that day. We went home, inserted batteries, and cried with relief as O slept and slept. We used it every day until he grew out of it. It's now doing its merry work for our friends' new baby.

Bedside Crib

I had the Snuzpod crib beside my bed from the moment O came home from the hospital. I never attached it to our bed, preferring to zip up the side each time so that he was safe from my bedclothes We never co-slept (mostly because of my anxiety around it), so having somewhere safe for him to sleep within arm's reach post c-section was invaluable.

Rockit

The Rockit is a portable baby rocker, it attaches to your buggy/carseat and gently rocks it. We bought ours at around 6 weeks, but in hindsight I wish we had got it a bit earlier. It can be a bit fiddly to use (that might be because I dropped ours taking it out of the box), but it was totally worth it to get us through the sleep regressions. We paired this with white noise for some mega daytime naps. Beware of the 30 minute time out function though!

Bath lotus

This sounds much fancier than it is. A bath lotus is a giant plush flower shaped sponge that cushions and supports your baby in the bath. Like many new parents, we bathed O in the sink for the first few weeks and learned quickly that newborn babies are slippery. It was great be able to rest him comfortably on this whilst protecting him from all the hard surfaces.

Blunt Nail Scissors

If you have ever accidentally caught the tip of a teeny tiny finger whilst cutting nails, you'll know that it is the worst feeling in the whole world. So much so that when people ask me what the hardest part of being a parent is, I frequently answer "cutting nails". I tried baby nail clippers, baby nail files and baby nail scissors, but it wasn't until I found these short blade, blunt ended scissors that I felt confident cutting his nails. Try these, you won't regret it.

White Noise Machine

We spent years living in city centre apartments with noisy neighbours and busy streets outside. To say I love to sleep with white noise is an understatement. We have used the same Lectrofan white noise machine every night for 3 years; it has moved house and continent and come on holidays with us. It's been really helpful for keeping O's nighttime routine consistent and insulating him from doorbells and the general clatter of day to day life.

A few other things made our lives a lot easier in those first few weeks. In the weeks before O arrived, we had stocked our freezer and pantry and generally made our house into a baby bunker. Also, our families rallied around to give advice, bring food, do our laundry, make tea and watch him whilst we slept.

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