Baby Gear Must-Haves for Your Nursery

This past weekend, I shared 4 of my nursery must-haves to make the newborn and infant phase SO much easier on Instagram with the promise of the FULL round-up on the blog! AND HERE IT IS. These items are perfect for your registry or your nesting shopping list! I promise that this list is packed with the ESSENTIALS – only things you TRULY need and NOTHING that you don’t. Plus, absolutely none of this is sponsored. This is just straight from my nursery to yours.

If you missed my Instagram post, no worries…I’ll go over those 4 first with some added information that was NOT featured in the caption: 

1. Rocking chair or glider:If you are breastfeeding, make sure you have a comfy place to sit! You will be breastfeeding more hours of the day than you can imagine. This is also great for soothing fussy little. Mason loved (and still loves) to be rocked and a tired mama can only stand rocking her little babe for so long! At Mason’s size now (he’s 18 months and 28 pounds!), the chair is NECESSARY. My back thanks me. I also highly suggest a chair that reclines. A slightly reclined angle was Mason’s favorite nursing position. It also was more comfortable for us when Mason napped on me or my husband. PLUS…if you had any tearing during delivery, you are going to want a legit CHAIR to sit in – TRUST me. I had a 2^nddegree tear and getting up after sitting on soft surfaces, like my bed or the couch, was NOT fun. I strongly believe that continuing to do that despite the pain and discomfort caused my healing process to be much longer than necessary. Sorry if that was TMI, but we’re all friends here, right?!
   
   LINK TO MY NURSERY GLIDER FROM BUYBUYBABY
   
   
2. Crib mattress with waterproof surface:Babies have pee leaks, poop blowouts, and spit ups in their cribs. It happens. For some babies, more frequently than others. But either way, you want to be prepared for middle of the night accidents and be equipped for a quick, easy clean up. A mattress with a waterproof surface also eliminates the need for an extra waterproof mattress pad – why would you want to buy extra stuff? I recommend the Pottery Barn Lullaby Crib Mattress, which has an infant side and a toddler side. It is completely waterproof so it’s easy to keep CLEAN. This is KEY for middle of the night…situations. Quickly wipe it down, change the sheet, and baby can go right back to sleep, which means mama can go back to sleep. Make sure you have 2-3 extra sets of crib sheets for times like these! Plus, this particular mattress is GREENGUARD Gold Certified, CertiPUR-US Certified, has a 35-year warranty (I would hope baby is out of the crib by then…), and has natural cotton fire protection!
   
   LINK TO MY NURSERY MATTRESS FROM POTTERY BARN KIDS
   
   
3. A solid surface diaper changing pad:You KNOW I’m all about making things easy, right? Just like the wipeable crib mattress, you’re going to want a wipeable diaper changing pad for your changing station. Diaper changing is not glamorous and lots of STUFF can get on and in your diaper changing pad if it is NOT a solid surface changing pad. I love the Keekaroo Peanut Changer. No covers + no pads = EASY cleaning! I can wipe it down with a sanitizing wipe and not have to worry about washing covers or any fluids getting into the pad itself – GROSS.
   
   LINK TO MY NURSERY DIAPER CHANGING PAD FROM KEEKAROO
   
   
4. A fully stocked diaper caddy:Make diaper changes QUICK + EASY with all your essentials at your fingertips. When you have a squirmy baby with a messy bum, you’re going to want ANYTHING you may need in arm’s reach. One unexpected thing I ALWAYS have in there is Mustela No-Rinse Cleansing Water! It is KEY for in-between bath times when baby needed a little freshening up from a blowout or spit up situation. Plus, it smells SO good. I also have my favorite diaper cream stocked at all times. I’ve tried so many different creams, but my absolute FAVORITE is Chelsey Wang Baby Diaper Crème. A little goes a long way – I only just bought a second jar of it and Mason is already 18 months old. This also smells amazing and can be used for other things like eczema!
   
   LINK TO MUSTELA NO-RINSE CLEANSING WATER
   LINK TO CHELSEY WANG BABY DIAPER CRÈME

Okay…now let’s get to the rest of the round up that has never before been shared!

5. A sound machine:Your uterus is LOUD, mama. Baby is used to a swooshing sound as he or she was cozying up in your womb. It’s comforting and soothing to them. When they enter the real world, make their environment as womb-like as possible by utilizing a sound machine! This will help them sleep better and longer. I love the Hatch Baby Rest Sound, Night Light, & Time to Rise Machine. You can preset a bunch of your favorite settings and change between your favorites on the device with a simple tap. You can also control it from the Hatch app on your phone, which has come in handy COUNTLESS times.
   
   LINK TO MY NURSERY SOUND MACHINE FROM HATCH
   
   
6. Velcro swaddles:Not only is your uterus loud, it is also SNUG. Swaddling helps baby feel snug and secure, just like in the womb. This helps promote sleep as well. But have you ever tried to swaddle a baby with a swaddle blanket in the middle of the night half asleep? Don’t bother. Just get Velcro swaddles and baby will be swaddled in a blink of an eye. Plus, loose blanket swaddles pose a suffocation risk – if the blanket becomes loose in baby’s sleep, it can creep up over their nose and mouth. I never wanted to take such a risk. Velcro swaddles are easier and safer to use, so it’s just a no-brainer. I loved SwaddleMe because of ease of use and tightness of Velcro. They also have SO many cute prints and colors on Amazon!
   
   LINK TO MY NURSERY SWADDLES FROM SWADDLEME
   LINK TO MY NURSERY SWADDLES FROM OLLIE
   
   
7. Sanitizing wipes:So if you couldn’t already tell by my waterproof mattress and diaper changing pad recommendations, I am a clean freak and slight germophobe. I always keep baby-friendly, non-toxic sanitizing wipes in Mason’s nursery for quick and easy clean ups. You really don’t realize how messy babies are until you have one! I love Babyganics and Honest for this…just depending on what’s available (hello, pandemic). The Babyganics are also great for on-the-go because they come in small packages and are safe for sanitizing little hands.
   
   LINK TO MY NURSERY SANITIZING WIPES BY BABYGANICS
   LINK TO MY NURSERY SANITIZING WIPES BY HONEST
   
   
8. Zipper footie jammies:Why do so many brands make baby jammies with a million snaps?! I’m all about ease, speed, and convenience, so snaps just don’t make sense to me for middle of the night diaper changes (or anytime honestly…). You want to keep the environment as dark as possible to help baby go back to sleep as quickly as possible, so you can get more sleep! How can you do that if you’re fumbling with 800 snaps?! Hard pass. Zippers, zippers, zippers.
   
   LINK TO MY NURSERY JAMMIES FROM PRIMARY
   
   
9. Docking station:Remember when I said babies like feeling snug? Docking stations are also comforting and soothing to a lot of babies because they feel so secure! These are not officially recommended for baby sleep, but we DID let Mason sleep in his Dock-a-Tot for supervised naps and he LOVED it. It also was very helpful when you just needed to put the baby down somewhere and ensure he was safe! We then re-purposed the Dock-a-Tot for when Mason started feeding himself and holding his own bottles! He could lay with his head propped up on the top of the Dock-a-Tot and drink his bottle by himself. And they come with the cutest covers! I suggest having an extra one on hand because they have to be hung to dry after washing, so it’s nice to be able to immediately switch the cover out with a new one instead of waiting for the one to dry.
   
   LINK TO MY NURSERY DOCKING STATION FROM DOCK-A-TOT
   
   
10. Play mat & activity gym:Did you know that babies can and SHOULD start doing tummy time as soon as they come home from the hospital?! As a newborn, just start with a few minutes at a time, several times a day, and then build up to longer sessions over time, continuing until they learn to crawl! Tummy time helps your baby develop the core muscles of the neck, back, and shoulders, as well as help prevent early motor delays and conditions, such as flat head syndrome. Having a good play mat and activity gym helps keep baby entertained during tummy time and helps them meet developmental milestones! We had one in Mason’s nursery and one in our living room because our house has stairs and we wanted to be able to do tummy time wherever we were.
    
    LINK TO MY NURSERY ACTIVITY GYM FROM SKIP HOP
    LINK TO MY LIVING ROOM PLAY GYM FROM LOVEVERY
    
    
11. Black out shades or curtains:I’ve talked about the womb a few times already being loud and snug. But it is also DARK in there! To help your baby get their best, uninterrupted sleep, make sure you have good black out shades or curtains in their nursery. Simulating the environment that they’re used helps them feel secure and supports better sleep. Not only do we use them in Mason’s nursery, we bring these everywhere! If we’re traveling and staying at someone’s house, these block out all the light and help Mason sleep better despite being in a new place.
    
    LINK TO MY NURSERY BLACK OUT SHADES FROM AMAZON
    
    
12. Video monitor:I don’t know how our parents survived without a baby monitor with VIDEO. My husband and I used to joke that watching the baby monitor was our favorite movie. We specifically were looking for a high quality option that did NOT use WiFi because we were worried about creepy hackers. The range was also important to us – we wanted to be able to be in the garage, front yard, or back yard during a nap or night sleep and still see and hear him perfectly.
    
    LINK TO MY NURSERY BABY MONITOR FROM INFANT OPTICS
    
    

Okay, mamas! Now your nursery is READY. Keep in mind that this list is nursery-specific! For my no-fluff breastfeeding gear guide, click here! If you all are interested in a full baby registry/baby gear round-up, say “YES!” in the comments below! Happy nesting!