This newborn baby checklist printable was designed to make your life easier, mama!
Because there are just so many baby things to buy before birth available – but do you REALLY need them all?
Spoiler alert: Nope! Especially NOT for the first 12 weeks.
If you don’t want to waste time or money, then you’ll love this minimalist baby shopping list for first-time moms!
Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links and I could earn a commission at no cost to you if you make a purchase using them.
I remember the feeling I got when we went to Buy Buy Baby to wrap up our baby registry list.
It was overwhelming!
I felt like we weren’t prepared enough despite all of the gifts we received from family and friends amidst the shopping we’d done in our own time.
But as I learned from my first child, you actually don’t need most of the things they try to sell you for the first 3 months of your child’s life – if at all!
I was SURE that I’d be pumping milk so my husband could share in feeding our baby but I ended up exclusively breastfeeding – no bottles, pumping, etc.
Since he normally works 12 to 15 hour days and I work from home, it just didn’t make sense for our lifestyle.
I am SO glad we never spent the $500 on a pump that the baby registry list insisted we needed!
A few other things we never ended up using include:
The newborn baby checklist I’ve outlined below features things you do ACTUALLY need for your baby’s first 12 weeks of life however you choose to feed them.
There are actually two options for diapering your baby – disposable diapers or cloth diapers.
I’ll cover disposable diapering basics before giving you a brief introduction to cloth diapering 🙂
1. Diapers
If you’re wondering how many newborn diapers to buy, take it from me – buy one box (104 per package) at a time.
My second baby was 8 pounds at birth and wore size 1 diapers immediately – at 6 weeks old, she’s now wearing size 2!
My firstborn was 7 pounds at birth and wore newborn-sized diapers for over 2 months.
Every child is a bit different but on average, new parents will often require the following quantities:
If you want to stock up on diapers in advance, I recommend buying the lower volume – you’re going to be way too busy with a new baby to do returns!
Plus, Amazon Prime makes it super easy for busy moms to have things delivered when we’re running low, haha.
I went these diapers for my second baby – they’re nice and soft compared to other similar diapers at the same price point.
My first baby had extremely sensitive skin so, she wore Bambo Nature diapers before we switched to cloth.
2. Baby Wipes
I am a HUGE fan of Water Wipes and used these for both of my babies!
They’re made of 99.9% water and a drop of fruit extract because yucky things like:
don’t belong in any products we use nevermind wipes that’ll touch baby’s skin 10 or more times a day!
You will use A LOT of baby wipes in your first three months with a newborn – they’re known as the Swiss Army knife of parenting for a reason.
I stocked up and bought three boxes of twelve 60-packs to start.
3. Changing Pad
We made a mistake and bought a crib with a built-in changing pad to start.
So, every time baby had a messy diaper, I’d have to leave our room and go to the nursery to give her nappy a change – not fun when you’re completely exhausted and sleep-deprived.
I wish we would have had this changing pad to start.
It’s a portable heavy-duty changing pad that wipes clean and works on any surface!
Since our second baby sleeps in the world’s greatest bassinet beside our bed, I keep the Leander changing pad on top of my bed for convenience.
At 6 weeks old, she wakes up two times a night to feed and normally requires one change.
So, when she wakes up, I pick her up, feed her, give her a change, and pop her back into the bassinet – all within about half to one hour.
Less work for you means more sleep!
4. Diaper Caddy
Having your diapers, wipes, and rash cream conveniently organized makes a world of a difference!
Diaper changes are a breeze and done in moments when everything is neatly organized and available to you.
I used this JJ Cole diaper caddy with my first but since I overloaded the small drawer at the front, it would get stuck often and broke recently.
I got this cute rope caddy as a replacement and like the three storage slots and how much bigger it is.
I keep Probiotic drops, Vitamin D, colic relief medication, nipple balm, nasal drops, a nasal aspirator, and baby nail files in there too – all of these tools are super handy to have readily available while you’re nursing!
5. Diaper Balm
I swear by Earth Mama’s organic bottom balm and used it for both of my babies!
This stuff is natural, organic, and doesn’t contain any yucky ingredients or preservatives you wouldn’t want to come into contact with your baby.
6. Diaper Bag
Choose a diaper bag that will help you stay organized.
I bought a Fawn Design diaper bag and love the shape and size of it – 10 diapers, a bag of wipes, two spare outfits, a nursing cover, diaper balm, and my wallet all fit comfortably inside with room to spare.
7. Diaper Pail
Keep stinky diapers contained with a diaper pail – we have a Dekor diaper pail and are really happy with it.
Compared to the pails our friends and family members use, the Dekor pail and its corresponding liners do a much better job of containing odors.
These scented nursey fresheners are also amazing until you’re ready to take out the trash.
8. Diaper Pain Liners
Liners are specially designed garbage bags made to fit your diaper pail of choice.
Simply pop one in, pull it through, and cut to size.
And when you’re ready to empty out the pail, you just need to pull down again to create another bag.
As a mom who cloth diapered her first baby from 3 months onward, I’m excited to share both methods of diapering your babies!
Cloth diapering is a bit more involved than disposable diapers are but it can save you a ton of money in the long run – there is also a bit of a learning curve.
1. Cloth Diapers
If you plan on cloth diapering your baby full-time, you’ll want to pick up AT LEAST 30 cloth diapers to avoid doing cloth diaper laundry every single day!
You might also consider cloth diapering part-time – using cloth diapers at home and relying on disposable diapers when you’re on the go.
I found cloth diapering easiest with diapers that had:
While traditional cloth diapering means using a square sheet and pinning it closed, snaps are as easy as putting a button-up onesie on your baby – it’s done in seconds.
I prefer pocket style cloth diapers with removable inserts because, at night time, this lets you use any cloth diaper cover you want (the cute colorful part that resembles a disposable diaper) with an overnight liner of your choice!
Pro Mom Tip: Start small! Invest in 12 cloth diapers and a few overnight inserts to give cloth diapering a try for a couple of days.
Then, if you feel this is managable for your lifestyle, purchase more.
2. Liners
Cloth diaper liners look like pads and get inserted into cloth diaper covers to absorb your baby’s business!
You’ll need both regular liners, which usually come with cloth diaper covers, and overnight liners to ensure your baby is covered 24/7.
As babies sleep for longer periods of time, overnight liners ensure that your child won’t leak through their diaper in the evening – they’re thicker and absorb more liquid than regular liners alone.
Note: since cloth diapers don’t have a wetness indicator like some disposable brands offer, you’ll want to change your baby’s diaper once an hour unless he or she is having a nap.
This will prevent your baby from leaking through or developing a rash from sitting in a wet nappy for too long.
3. Baby Wipes or Cloth Wipes
I used a combination of disposable and cloth wipes.
4. Cloth Diaper Safe Balm
You CANNOT use petroleum based creams with pocket cloth diapers – it will NOT wash out and your diapers will no longer be able to hold moisture.
5. Wet Bag
If you plan on cloth diapering your child on the go, you’ll need a wet bag to store your little one’s used nappy’s until you can return home to wash them.
6. Cloth Diaper Pail Liner
I loved these cloth pail liners for our Dekor diapear pail.
They come as a set of two so you can flip the bag of dirty diapers inside out and throw it in the wash with everything else and sthen imply put on the clean cloth diaper pail liner after!
7. Cloth Diaper Safe Laundry Detergent
You CANNOT use liquid detergent on cloth diapers as it will damage them just like petroleum based creams.
Cloth diapers MUST be wash with a powder laundry detergent so, choose one that has minimal ingredients and is baby safe.
I swear by Nellie’s laundry soda and use it to wash all of our new baby’s clothes as well my nursing clothes (anything that comes into contact with her).
The following items are repeated from Disposable Diapering.
8. Changing Pad
9. Diaper Caddy
10. Diaper Bag
11. Diaper Pail
More must-haves for new and expecting moms:
Expect to wash 2 to 8 outfits a day for your new baby!
As you learn how to correctly secure a diaper on your little one and use the right size plus accidents that happen from blowouts or during changes, you can expect A LOT of laundry in your first days as a new parent.
1. Sleepers
How many sleepers do you need for a newborn?
Having 10 newborn sleepers available makes life a lot easier in the beginning.
You’ll want to pick up the following number of sleepers in these sizes for your first 12 weeks with baby:
Baby outfits are cute but they aren’t practical or comfortable for your little one.
Dressing your baby in a sleeper and hat for doctor’s appointments will make life far less stressful for you – you’ll have 4 appointments for baby and one for yourself in your first 3 months together.
2. Onesies
We personally didn’t use onesies until our babies got older!
Both girls ran hot, so putting a onesie under a sleeper was just too much for them. I have plenty of friends and family members who did use these with sleepers though.
Purchase them in the same quantity as you do sleepers:
3. Hats
Babies get cold easily, especially their heads and ears. So, be sure to get a few hats for your little one’s outings.
I recommend getting at least 2 in each of these sizes:
Hat sizing is a little funny and usually goes from 0 to 3 and 6 for some reason! This just means they should last your baby until that age.
4. No-Scratch Mittens
These are a MUST for the first few weeks with your baby!
Those little fingernails can be sharp and babies can easily scratch themselves when they’re touching their faces often.
Get at least two pairs of mittens.
5. Baby Hangers
You’ll want at least 30 hangers to store your baby’s clothes – these velvet ones are my favorite because they keep things in place and don’t take up an unnecessary amount of space.
Mom hack: I bought these hat organizers for my husband but ended up using one to hang our baby’s sleepers in our room – genius!
It takes up hardly any space and makes it way easier to change her outfits overnight instead of going to the nursery.
6. Baby Laundry Basket
Keeping baby’s laundry separate from yours is a good idea, especially if you use different laundry detergents.
It makes laundry more manageable and prevents sorting later on.
7. Baby Safe Detergent
The last thing any new parent needs is for their baby to have an allergic reaction!
Choose a baby-safe laundry detergent free of chemicals and made with minimal ingredients.
1. Baby Outfits
Two and three-piece outfits for your baby are cute for photos and special events but impractical for day-to-day life.
Imagine being naked for 9 months and then wearing form-fitting pants over a tight diaper while you sit upright in your car seat – baby’s tummy is not going to be happy!
Your infant and YOU will sleep better when they’re comfortable.
Getting plenty of rest is so important for you and your baby!
My first daughter was a TERRIBLE sleeper – she didn’t sleep through the night until she was 9 months old! And since I breastfed exclusively, I was running on empty for a very long time.
This baby is a completely different story – sleeping through the night at 6 weeks old!
Through experience, building confidence, and investing in the right equipment, your infant can sleep through the night this early as well.
Trust me, a good or a bad sleep has the power to impact your entire life!
1. Bassinet
It’s safest for your baby to spend their first 6 months sleeping in your room and a bassinet is the ideal space-saving solution.
I credit the SNOO smart bassinet for my second baby sleeping through the night so early!
This electronic bassinet is like having a second set of hands to help you out – it gently rocks your baby while she sleeps and plays womb-like sounds to keep her calm.
If she stirs while napping, the SNOO will also automatically adjust to the second setting to rock her a bit more quickly and try to settle her.
Once your baby is calm, it’ll automatically adjust back down to the lowest setting.
There are four different modes to calm your baby based on their distress level.
Watching the SNOO work automatically completely blew my mind the first few times I saw it settle my newborn but the best part of all is knowing that she’s safe.
The SNOO has built-in clips to place special zip-up swaddles that attach next to the mattress pad to keep your baby on their back!
This was such a relief for me because, since the day she was born, my second daughter kept rolling over onto her tummy while she slept.
Do yourself a favor – skip the MamaRoo, fancy stroller, and other bougie baby products to get this instead.
It’s expensive but it was 1000% worth it for my sanity – especially with a busy toddler to look after at the same time!
