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With all the suggestions and product options, it can become overwhelming to sort through what baby essentials you actually need to buy. The first most important thing is to take a deep breath! It doesn’t have to be stressful.

I have learned that you will know what works or can work best for you after your first baby. It is a bit of trial-and-error. After baby #1 you will have a foundation of experience to build on. Babies that come after this will more than likely require you to tweak your systems a little.

I tried my best to keep the baby essentials at a minimum because having too many things can also be very mentally overbearing (not to mention financially draining too!).

You want to plan according to the time of year your baby is born – that may change what is needed due to your baby’s age (e.g., clothes sizes, car seats, walkers).

Here are the baby essentials I found very useful and would buy again. They are good gifts for a baby shower or items to request on your baby registry:

Table of Contents

1. Onesies

Onesies are my favorite clothing articles for babies, especially for the first 3 months. It makes things so much easier to manage without having to worry about all the outfit options.

There are a variety of onesies you can choose from depending on what you need.

Consider the Coverage and Closure Types:

Short Sleeve & Long Sleeve Onesies
Footie Onesie/Pajamas
Footless Onesie/Pajamas/Rompers
1-way Zipper
2-way Zipper
Snap Button
Flat Button
Magnetic Closures

Many parents online prefer the 2-way zipper or magnetic closures, especially for nighttime diaper changes.

I, personally, did not have any trouble using the 1-way zipper and snap/flat button onesies. However, I will say that a 2-way zipper is better for the winter months because it keeps baby warmer.

2. Silicone Baby Bottles

I tried plastic baby bottles, like Dr. Brown, and I did not like them for my babies. Dr. Brown bottles leaked and didn’t help to reduce gas intake – in my experience.

My two favorite bottle brands were:

We now only use Tommee Tippee because they seem to last longer. I use the same bottles for all my babies and just replace the nipples. They also don’t roll as much as the Comotomo bottles, haha.

Note: You may have to try out nipples with different flow levels. It may depend on your breastfeeding flow so baby won’t have trouble alternating if needed. I prefer to stick to the extra slow flow or slow flow nipples to prevent overfeeding with formula.

3. Diaper Cart

I purchased a cart from Michael’s for my breastfeeding equipment – great idea from Karrie Locher!

Consider the cart and accessories below:

When I was unable to continue breastfeeding, I used it as a diaper cart. This is very helpful to keep some diaper ointment, toilet paper, wipes, etc. on the top tier of the cart. Then I organize the 2 different size diapers on the bottom 2 tiers.

It makes it easier to transport, if needed, to change a diaper on the bed or couch, etc.

You can get pretty creative with this rolling cart. Some moms use a couple for different functions, such as one for postpartum recovery supplies and another for baby diapering etc.

4. Bath Tub/Mat/Seat/Support

Bath equipment will probably be a bit of a trial-and-error for you.

It depends on where you will bathe your baby – the sink or bath tub. I don’t use the kitchen sink because I find that the kitchen is too cool and the bathroom sink is too small.

I prefer to bathe my babies in the bathroom since I can close the door to trap the heat for a warm bath experience.

So, I have tried most of the following bath items:

Sink Flower Bath Mat

I loved using the bath mat in the bathroom tub. It was very helpful with my firstborn and used it for 2 years. My mom helped me bathe my first as a newborn since I had lower back pain (hello, weak core), so I wasn’t sure how it would go using it for my second baby.

You can use this mat in the sink if that is where you want to bathe baby.

Baby Bath Tub

My sister uses the Baby Patent Forever Warm Warming Baby Bathtub. She used this tub with her firstborn and now with her second, bathing them in her bedroom where she can keep her baby the warmest. This can also be used in the sink.

Baby Bath Seat

When my second-born, first baby boy turned 5 months old (July 2023), I needed something more stable. So, I purchased a baby seat that was suctioned to the bathtub. The seat suction pads seemed to come undone at times, but overall, I loved it for my 2 older kids (in their infant and toddler stages).

Note: I retired this seat about a year later because the suction pads failed more frequently. I would still recommend a bath seat, if you can find one that suctions better and lasts longer.

My sister recommended the seat since her firstborn son moved a lot during baths.

Baby Bath Support

I purchased this Angelcare Baby Bath Support in December 2023 for my third baby. I LOVE this baby item and am very happy that I have it. It worked very well with my son as a newborn. Even though the product was designed for babies 6 months and younger, I use this for my oldest kids (2 years old and 3 years old). I will use it for baby #4 (due to be born May 2025).

5. Large Towels

For towels, I did not like the baby towels because many of them attract lint very easily.

Not to mention they are often very small, and the baby outgrows them quickly. I purchased a couple of bigger regular towels.

Consider the following instead:

These will cover your baby more than enough and keep them warm – especially the bath sheet towel. If you want the towel to have the hood, you can probably have someone add it for you. I, personally, did not need it. (Tip: I’ve used a microfiber hair towel wrap on my kids after their bath. It keeps their head warm as I transport them to a different room. This helps to absorb the extra moisture.)

You can use these towels as the child grows and not worry about having to buy more later.

6. Bassinet

We purchased the Halo Bassinet the day we were discharged from the hospital. We were indecisive about whether we wanted to buy it before giving birth. There are so many options and every expensive baby item gets hyped up way too much.

I am so glad we purchased it. It was helpful to me while I had little space in my room. I used it for naps with our first born and she mostly co-slept with me every night.

We used the bassinet in the living room with our second and third babies. Our room was too small to have it by the bed. My second also co-slept with me most of the time after a few weeks post birth – he was okay sleeping by himself for the first few weeks.

Our third slept in the bassinet most of the time or next/on top of the parent sleeping on the couch.

The Halo Bassinet was also very useful as a diaper changing station since it is high enough. I, definitely, do not regret this buy. I also love the fact that it spins around.

The newest version is available online:

Halo Bassinet

I will be using it for baby #4 as needed – I find that every baby is different so you can plan but also must be flexible to adapt with your baby’s needs.

7. Sound Machine

I purchased this one with our first born. It is helpful because noise is less likely (or not as easily) to wake up sleeping babies. Although each baby’s noise tolerance is also a factor (our third is less likely to wake up with noise probably because he has 2 siblings that make so much noise).

The sound machine noise helped level out any sudden creeks and sounds from the house. Not to mention newborn babies are used to noisy environments (aka inside your body – where so much is going on.)

Consider one like this:

Portable White Noise Sound Machine

8. Thermal Bottle

I did not have a chance to travel with breastmilk because none of my kids latched. (Hopefully, baby #4 will latch!)

I tried exclusively pumping but it did not work for me.

I would recommend having a thermal bottle to keep warm water for the formula – if you go this route. You can buy a formula container for the go, like this one.

If not, that is totally fine. There are many ways to warm your breastmilk on the go. Consider the following:

Baby’s Brew – portable electric bottle warmer
Ceres Chill – breastmilk storage/cooler

9. Infant Rocking Chair

This one was a gift to me. I really appreciated this one because I did not know I needed it.

We have the Fischer Price Infant-to-Toddler Rocker; however, it seems they were recalled. (This reminds us never to leave our babies unsupervised and that certain positions are not safe/optimal for baby to sleep in).

However, personally, this rocker has been very helpful to us with each of our babies. I used this rocker when I needed to work out or cook and couldn’t carry the baby. If baby got tired of sitting in this rocker, I’d transfer them to a mat/blanket on the floor, etc.

Consider the following option if you want to try it:

Ingenuity Keep Cozy 3-in-1 Grow with Me

I have not tried the Ingenuity brand, but it seems like a good option – it can be a bouncer or rocker! I was also gifted the Fischer Price bouncer and my firstborn loved both. I did not try the bouncer with my secondborn. But I do use the rocker all the time – it is so convenient.

Note: From what I have seen with other moms, not all babies like bouncers, rockers, swings, etc., which means this may be a trial-and-error item as well.

10. Travel System or Stroller & Car Seats

A stroller and car seat travel system are convenient; however, you will have to consider your needs.

It is convenient to have a travel system because all you have to do is transfer your baby with the car seat onto the stroller.

However, if you won’t need the stroller as often, you may be better off choosing both separately.

I used the stroller more often with my firstborn, so it was helpful to have the travel system. However, she outgrew the car seat fairly quickly. I really love the jogger stroller from Baby Trend.

With my second born, I did not use the stroller as much. We mostly need adjustable car seats that grow with the child and a multiple-sibling stroller. We purchased the Baby Trend Double Stroller which is hard to maneuver, honestly. We plan to buy 2 Baby Trend double jogger strollers to travel with all 4 kids.

We like our Graco car seat for the toddler even though it is a bit bulky. If you have multiple children needing a car seat, I would recommend Safety 1st TriFit Convertible Car Seat because you can fit more in your back seat. We recently purchased the latter seat to fit our 3 children in our Nissan Sentra.

Of course, this is a temporary fix for us. Come May we will have 4 children needing car seats.

Consider the following: