(1) An infant car seat.  I liked the Chicco Key Fit 30 (in Sedona – also available in Graphica Gray). it had great safety ratings and is easy to install.  It carries infants up to 30 lbs (although my son who was somewhat freakishly tall at 98th percentile in height outgrew it quicker than its weight limit — but he’s in the minority).  Don’t be fooled by people telling you that you can get away with a convertible car seat for a newborn. The convenience factor alone is worth the price!   You will not want to have to wake your infant from sleeping just to get them out of a car seat (especially if you’ve been up with them all night the prior evening)!  With an infant car seat, you just take the entire car seat with you, and if you’re really smart, you snap it into a Snap and Go stroller.

Other options that my mommy friends liked were: 

Graco Snugride Click Connect 30 Infant Car Seat

(2) A Snap and Go Stroller.  Sure, we will get to investing in a great stroller later in this list, but if you don’t have a lot of money (or even if you do, the sheer convenience of this thing is so worth it).  It’s not sturdy by any means, but you just take your sleeping infant right in its car seat and snap the car seat into this frame and voila you go!  For the Chicco Key Fit 30, there is the Chicco Keyfit Caddy Stroller Frame and for the Graco there is the Graco Snugride Elite Stroller. 

If you have a little more money, you could get a more sturdy snap and go stroller like the Chicco Bravo Trio Travel System and forego a luxury stroller altogether (at least until they outgrow their car seat).

(3) A Changing Pad.  I got this cheap Summer Infant Contoured Changing Pad for less than $20 and it’s still serving me well.  

(4) A Real Stroller.  If you’re going to have a nanny or yourself drag the baby all over a concrete jungle like New York or expect to be strolling a lot, then I’d definitely invest in a high grade stroller.  The two strollers that I or other moms have loved are: The UppaBaby Vista (it is so sturdy, relatively easy to fold and if it breaks, they will replace the parts or stroller no questions asked) and the Bugaboo Bee3 Stroller.

If you’re like me and don’t expect to be taking your stroller everywhere, but just to and from your car to short distances or for leisurely walks, the BabyJogger City Mini GT did just fine for us (and was half the price of the luxury strollers).  It has the most convenient easy fold that is hard to beat and it’s pretty light.

(5) A Swing that Swings from Side to Side.  In those early months, there will be a million times the baby cries for no reason at all and you can’t get them to stop (even after checking his diaper and feeding him) or you can’t get the baby to sleep at 4 am!   That is why it is absolutely essential to get the right kind of swing.  Forget those wimpy swings that are portable and swing front to back (they don’t calm crazy upset babies well, if at all).  Yes, I know they look ginormous and you’re going to be wondering “Where in God’s great created earth will I have space to put that thing?!?”  But believe me, you will not regret it.  Get the kind that plugs into the wall also because they will drain your batteries like nobody’s business.  We liked the My Little Snugapuppy Cradle N Swing from Fisher Price.  Any other Fisher Price cradle n swing will do just fine too like the Deluxe Cradle N Swing with Rainforest Friends.

(6) A Bunch of Cotton Side Snapping Shirts.  A nurse told me this in a baby class and she was right.  You don’t want to be putting things over a baby’s head the first few weeks.  You want changing to be easy.  As much as you think you will put the baby in cute Tutus and overalls the first few weeks, it ain’t going to happen.  So get these side snappers and make your life easier!   Try the Gerber Unisex Sidesnap Tees or the Carters Unisex Baby 5 pack Sidesnap Tee.

(7) If it’s Fall/Winter, a bunch of footies (preferably gloved).  We liked the Gerber Footies because they were cheap (they’ll be outgrowing them quick) and comfortable.  We also liked the Carters Fleece Footies.  Ralph Lauren Polo also makes some great gloved cotton footies!

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Everybody knows breast is best.  If you can’t breastfeed because you are going back to work, fine — then please, for the love of your baby, please at the very least give your child colostrum while in the hospital.  Colostrum is that liquid gold that comes out of your body between birth and when your milk comes in (some women get it before birth during pregnancy).  Among other things, it contains a concentrated amount of carbs, proteins, and antibodies to help keep your newborn healthy while his or her immature immune system is playing catch up.  It is also a natural laxative and helps the baby pass its stools and excrete bilirubin, which helps prevent jaundice.  Most importantly, it contains IgA and leukocytes, which will help protect your infant from illness.   Moreover, colostrum coats your baby’s digestive tract which helps prevent foreign substances from invading your baby’s tummy.  

Moreover, there are great health benefits to YOU as well from breastfeeding — please read this NIH articles here regarding benefits to both infant and mother.

Assuming you are lucky enough to produce it (because some women cannot), your breasts can’t be THAT great of an asset that you must withhold this great benefit from your child in the first few days of life.

There’s a reason the doctors and hospitals push it so much.  

(And if you can’t be inconvenienced even for a few days, query why you brought a child into the world in the first place — there I said it)

As someone who was formula fed (my mom had an infection and medications that dried up her supply) and suffers from autoimmune disorder and a host of health problems — please, give your child the best start in life.  It is so worth it.

So assuming you have breastfed for as long as your possibly can — and you get to a point where you need formula, where do you go?

Well please don’t be fooled.  Organic formula will not save you (buts it’s still better than non-organic).  At least not in the USA.  Read this informative article by the Cornucopia Institute, which reviews all of the dangerous or potentially controversial ingredients in organic infant formula and tells you what to look out for.  From what I can tell, the only semi-safe formula in the USA  is by Baby’s Only (and it’s technically a toddlers formula and gives some babies constipation based on reviews).  However, even that brand once had trouble based on levels of arsenic (which they have since claimed to correct).  Earths Best tasted horrible – or at least my baby didn’t care for it.

After much heart wrenching research,  I have discovered that the best formulas on the market are either HiPP from the UK (manufactured in Germany) or Holle from Germany.  HiPP powders, however, were once cited for high levels of aluminum so I’d stick to HiPP ready made formula or Holle. They are expensive and hard to find, but so worth it.  Among other things, both companies have been around for over 50 years and their products are from grass-fed, organic cows of much higher quality than the USA. EU organic standards are much more stringent than in the USA.  Holle goes a step further and is made from biodynamically grown food (Holle is Demeter certified, which means it is one of a number of strictly regulated organizations complying with regulations set by the Demeter Society whose criteria exceeds standard organic farming and all stages of production are checked).  No pesticides or chemical fertilizers are used in Holle’s raw ingredients and free of GMOs.  More than that, Holle tastes great!  So the overall winner for me has been Holle.

The only downside is that they are expensive and hard to come by in the USA.  You have to make sure you are getting it from a legit importer/dealer.
 

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