Baby essentials | Imamother

Seraph

Thu, Aug 30 2007, 12:33 pm

I need your help, ladies.
I am making a list of things that are necessary to have when you have a baby.

I'll make a list, and I need your help filling in what is missing.
(Also, you can add things that aren't necessary right away but will become necessary later on.)

And then "nice to haves" at the bottom.

Diapers
Wipes
Stroller
Car seat
Baby bath
Onesies (how many?)
Socks (how many?)
Outfits (how many?)
Hats (?)
Coat
Baby bath
Baby towel
Bassinet/Crib
Sheets
Blankets (how many? what type?)
Baby shampoo (?)
Pacifiers
Bottles

High chair (at a later age)
Bib (later age)
Shoes (later age)
Sippy cup (?)

What else?

Marion

Thu, Aug 30 2007, 2:31 pm

You don't have to have a baby tub...you can just get a reclining seat that goes in the big tub. You also don't have to have a car seat, unless you own a car. (I spoke with B'Terem the other day...apparently the law in Israel considers taxis "public transportation" and as such car seats are not legally required. I would recommend borrowing a carseat from someone to get the baby home from the hospital, unless you're planning on getting a sal kal/travel system anyway.)

Pacifiers and bottles are also not automatically necessities immediately. And many outfits come with a cute little hat attached. Although I found that they didn't stay on and were useless. DS didn't wear hats much, unless we were going out, but he was a February baby, not August/September!

newmom

Thu, Aug 30 2007, 4:26 pm

a "gymini"- a soft mat to put the baby on the floor so that he can play. They sell ones with hanging toys for the baby to look at.

a swing or "bouncy seat"- something to put the baby into when you aren't holding it. either of these are usually very good at calming down cranky babies.

changing pad

diaper bag- in america the hospital gives you one for free- not sure about israel.

ok, that's what I can think of off hand.

PinkandYellow

Thu, Aug 30 2007, 4:43 pm

any towel should be fine, I don't think you davka need a baby towel. also, baby should not be sleeping with a blanket, its dangerous. baby should be dressed warmly enough when sleeping to not need one. as a side point- don't forget: back to sleep, tummy to play.
pacifier you mite or mite not need. you probably will want to get baby used to a bottle by 4-6 weeks and have back up milk in your freezer, so maybe a pump from a gemach\or buy one (even a hand) and a few milk storage bags/containers and a bottle.

shalhevet

Fri, Aug 31 2007, 4:51 am

I found a 'shida' = chest of drawers where you change the baby on top, really useful. You store the clothes in it and it is just the right height to change/ dress the baby. You also need a 'mizron' for it. The cloth ones are prettier, but the plastic covered sponge ones are more practical - wiping them down is a lot quicker than laundry.

yOungM0mmy

Fri, Aug 31 2007, 5:32 am

definitely not a necessity, but a lifesaver for me was a baby carrier. We flew quite a few times in the first few months of DS's life, but even going on the bus in Israel, and just calming him, doing supermarket shopping when he was a few months old (the seats there are too big for newborns), etc. For the first 7 months of DS's life, he slept a grand total of about 40 minutes from 10 am to 9pm, usually in my hands, so no naps, and didnt like to go down on the hard israeli floor much, so the baby carrier was my lifesaver. I know in Israel you can get pretty cheap ones - those big wraparound things of a jersey-type material.

I never used a baby bath - first it was in the sink - saved my back, and then a quick one in the bath tub while I held him. I didnt have a baby changer either, just did it on my bed, but a changing mat is a must if you have a boy - the amount of times it saved my linen from a shower... I got a thin fold up one from shilav.
and I didnt have a diaper bag, either. I was breastfeeding, so didnt need bottles and formula, so I just used a big handbag - fit all my stuff and his.
But definitely get those muslin cloths to wipe up all his spits, protect your clothes for those few extra hours, etc.

BeershevaBubby

Fri, Aug 31 2007, 6:10 am

I love the wrap I made.

Your timing is tricky. We could have another 3 months of warm weather where short sleeve onsies are fantastic, but then it could start getting cold and rainy right after Sukkot.

I would get about a dozen onsies and an equal amount of t-shirt weight stretchies. But don't go overboard getting newborn sizes... they grow out of that SO fast, baruch Hashem. Most of Nati's 0-3 month wardrobe was from our Yishuv Gemach. By 2 months, he was in 3 month old clothing so I have a bag or so of clothing sitting in his room.

If you can get to Jerusalem on Sunday I'll be more than happy to give you what I have. I was planning on taking it back to the Gemach, but you're welcome to it.

PinkandYellow

Fri, Aug 31 2007, 6:21 am

suomynona wrote:

yOungM0mmy wrote:

I know in Israel you can get pretty cheap ones - those big wraparound things of a jersey-type material.

where?

shilav or chasdei shmuel. I got one in chasdei shmuel for 170 shek.

Marion

Fri, Aug 31 2007, 7:40 am

suomynona wrote:

Marion wrote:

Diaper bag...check with your kupah. I know Meuchedet gives out a not-bad one when you register the baby.

hey, we never got one...

I didn't know either until I saw one a friend had. Beige for boys, pink for girls. When we switched from Jerusalem to Ma'ale Adumim, the first time I went in I mentioned I hadn't received one...and once we moved the file over they were happy to give me one. It's a pretty well thought out piece, with plastic liners for dirty stuff. The only thing I didn't like much was that it doesn't have straps that go over a handlebar, so you have to carry it over your shoulder. But it is nice and big.

(As an aside, I also mostly used an oversized bag, but sometimes the diaper bag was handy.)

BeershevaBubby

Fri, Aug 31 2007, 8:18 am

I received a diaper bag from the place I bought the baby furniture/layette package.

What I ended up doing was taking the 'wet bag' and the changing mat and putting it into one section of my backpack along with whatever other baby essentials I need - diapers, wipes, change of clothes, spitrag...

shalhevet

Fri, Aug 31 2007, 9:18 am

btMOMtoFFBs wrote:

a wipes warmer - especially when the weather cools down - don't want to rub cold wipes on the baby's little body.

I guess, as they say, rak b'amerika!

(My kids get washed under the tap, and I only use wipes when I go out, anyway, for financial reasons)

How does it work? By electricity?

BeershevaBubby

Fri, Aug 31 2007, 9:52 am

btMOMtoFFBs wrote:

a wipes warmer - especially when the weather cools down - don't want to rub cold wipes on the baby's little body.

No offense (to either breslov or to btMOMtoFFBs), but that's the type of thing one gets the baby who already has everything s/he could possibly need. There are more important things on breslov's list than a wipe warmer.

Marion

Sat, Sep 01 2007, 3:08 pm

Kmelion wrote:

btMOMtoFFBs wrote:

a wipes warmer - especially when the weather cools down - don't want to rub cold wipes on the baby's little body.

Also, one shouldn't be using wipes anywhere besides the diaper area...they are skin-drying.