Newborn Essentials Checklist: A Parent's Guide to Nesting

Nesting is a whole emotion, not just a word. Making the home ready for your baby is an experience that I honestly can't find words to describe. But I do remember that during my third trimester, there was this huge urge to nest in the best possible way. Now, many people say mommies are a lot more driven to nest, but I don’t know how much of it is true and how much is our conditioning. Irrespective, I enjoyed the nesting phase a lot.

Hence, I am just putting down the essential list of things I can remember, hoping that it's useful to you. PS: I was nesting for at least 2 months, but that could just be me.  I plan early and believe in making some progress daily.

So if you’re approaching that nesting phase, or are deep into it already, this one’s for you. Let's get started:

Baby Wardrobe Essentials

The first thing that will come to your mind will be clothes for the baby, and a lot of them are really important.

Onesies, Rompers & Baby Basics

Most important would be rompers, onesies, swaddles, caps and mittens, wash clothes (small handkerchiefs), nappies (depending on how you are planning to do bumcare). We used a lot of onesies that had the feet covered and found them very helpful.

My go to place for these became H&M (they have amazing baby basics), I was also able surprised to find a very nice offline store in a sector market nearby (offline stores have Indian brands which tend to have smaller sizes that fit our Indian babies) and I did send my sister to shop from Mothercare preemie section too. International brand sizes are generally large, for better fit in the super early days, either small sizes or identifying good Indian brands is the key.

If your baby is arriving during the winters, I might know less, but when I had to buy winter selection for my daughter, I found Mi Arcus quite nice.

Oh and before I forget, for amazing ethnic wear specifically for babies – Tiber Taber – they have really thought through how a tiny baby will wear these clothes.

Diapers & Swaddles

There are too many brands out there. We have been religiously using this brand, Nappico-Natural Bamboo Diapers, from somewhere in the south and love it. For other things, Superbottoms have been good too. While I am writing this, I love the fact that Indian brands have been doing so well across.

Swaddles – I don’t remember the names specifically, we actually did Blinkit quite a few but I think Haus and Kinder were nice.

That’s it, the baby wardrobe can feel like it should have so many things, but it doesn't need to have it all. Keep it simple and organised.

Baby Feeding & Nursing Essentials

Breastpump

Investing in a very good breast pump made a lot of sense, as it gets used quite a bit. Early on, when we were establishing breastfeeding, pumping once during the night really helped me get some sleep. I used the Spectra Pro; the fact that it was portable was a game-changer. I even took it with me on international work trips.

Feeding Bottles

Babies can be very picky here, sometimes they don’t attach to any feeding bottle at all. For us Dr Brown's worked and we kept using their products or quite long.

Bottle Sterilizer

Extremely important again, makes life so much easier specially if the baby is using a lot of bottles. We used Philips Avent, it was gifted and quite happy with it.

The Good Old Chandi Katori Chammach

This was a beautiful surprise, a small Katori-Chammach was gifted to us by a close friend, and I think we used it on day 1 of bringing the baby to home. Babies just take to it; secretly, it gave us satisfaction when we could be sure how much milk the baby had.

This is turning out to be a great exercise for me. I did not realise, but I have immense brand loyalty, and that has played out so well. Such a good time to have access to amazing new brands and old wisdom together. 

Baby Bathing Essentials

Baby Shampoo and Body Wash

We primarily used Cetaphil, but we also got this very beautiful Baby Forest Skincare kit, which we kept using in parts but Cetaphil has been a constant.

Bath Sling

Can't stress it enough, amazing product which helps bathe the baby very easily. They are safe and secure too. We would keep the bath sling inside the bathtub, I don’t know why. Also don’t remember the brand, bought it off Amazon. We could use the bath sling till she started sitting up, then moved to the bathtub.

Bath Tub

We used this bathtub tub, which has a silicone base and hence compresses. Honestly, we don’t compress the silicone base daily, but when storage is needed,  it helps. This one was from Safe -o-Kid. No complaints. We combined some bath toys once she was sitting on her own.

Towels

I recommend super-soft cotton ones as they are good for baby's sensitive skin. There are many options to choose from, just make sure they are breathable and free from any harsh dyes.

Baby Furniture

Baby Crib

Very important, it keeps the baby safe and gives them a chance to interact on their own. A lot of people say a crib is not used, but for breaks in between it was very helpful. We used it till 1 year, it also helped to become her place to sleep when both of us were in the office. A hand-me-down from family.

Bookshelf

We have had these front-facing Montessori bookshelves since day 1. We are big into reading, it was important that she had access to interact with books whenever needed. Bought from Amazon, the quality honestly wasn’t great and we will transition to a better one soon.

Toy Shelf

An open Montessori-like toy shelf with limited toys in one go to not overwhelm her. Very accessible, but this got used more when she started moving. It did help in giving structure to the baby room, which she understood was hers over time.

Play Gym

Loved this product, we were gifted a Hauz and Kinder one (Actually, I only selected the product and gave the link :D). It was very nice for small movements and baby interactions. Used it almost daily for 6 months.

Clothes Wardrobe

We decided to go with her individual wardrobe again to solve for accessibility and keep her things organised.

Baby Gear: Mobility, Safety & Exploration

Baby Strollers

We have two strollers. One that had a bassinet and carry cot attachment, we used this one till she started sitting up. It was quite bulky and was used for daily morning and evening strolls. We also used the carry cot from Day 1, every time she was in the car. This was a Kindercraft travel system.

The other one is the Loopie Hop, super compact – great for both movement and her napping sessions. We used this for all outdoors within and outside the city. Now that she is older, this is the only stroller we use.

Baby Car Seat

A must-have, we moved to the Loopie Lap baby car seat as soon as it was launched. It has both rear and front facing, 360-degree rotation, a neck pillow and other things. It was definitely a lot more comfortable than the carry cot.

Diaper Bag

I had to use the diaper bags available in the market then, and honestly hated them. There is another blog on it, which you can read here. But I would recommend the Loopie Robin, of course, we designed it ourselves, but I am a regular user of this bag now and it's much better.

Last Things for Your Baby’s Nest

Flooring

We covered the entire nursery with large square rubber tiles, easily available on Amazon and that was a game changer. She could move around safely, she could spill or do whatever. We added this flooring at many places around the house afterwards.

Wallpapers

They are pretty and add a very nice vibe to the room. Again, a lot of them are available on Amazon as per your choice.

Low Bed

Basically, a mattress on the floor. We always had this, even though there was a crib earlier. It just helped her be comfortable and, over time, independent.

Hospital Bag

Last but not least, it’s time to start packing your hospital bag. For the baby, it will be a subset of things from above, mainly from the wardrobe and feeding section.

For the mommy Juno Mom Postpartum Kit, highly recommend to take care of yourself/ your wife first after delivery.

I hope that you found this baby essentials checklist helpful. I certainly enjoyed going down the memory lane a lot. You should definitely explore all the products on this list, but ultimately it boils down to what fits the best in your lifestyle.

Happy Nesting!

Happy Parenting!

Keep moving in this Loopie World!