Similar to my essentials for new moms list, this is the top five items I could never live without in those first few weeks after bringing baby home. You might find your top five will vary slightly depending on your baby’s wants and needs. If you have no clue what items to have at your beck and call when you get home from the hospital, feel free to start with these.

1. Nose Frida

When my son was about 5 weeks old my husband decided it would be fun to bring home some type of head cold from work. Sadly, I feel like my son got the worst of it. Coughing, sneezing, stuffy nose, the whole works. Unlike you and I, a newborn babies can’t exactly blow their nose. Those little nose bulbs they give you in the hospital are great and all but my son was still struggling to eat and breathe. After hearing tons of advice from other moms, I invested in the handy-dandy Nose Frida. Once you get over the fact that you are literally sucking the snot out of your child’s nose this product will rock your world. Just squirt a little saline solution into each nostril, let it soak for a few seconds then go to town. You’ll notice such a difference in your baby’s breathing you might even contemplate using it on yourself.

(FYI there is a filter so don't worry, eating your child's snot is not possible.)

2. Sound Machine

I feel like my child is the lightest sleeper in the entire world. When he is sleeping I cannot make a single noise or he’s wide-awake again. If your like us and spend hours upon hours trying to get your baby to sleep you will want a good sound machine. Not only does it block out any outside noise but it also seems to put our little guy to sleep a bit faster. I like any sound machine that has various noise options, that way, if one doesn’t work you’ve got a few more options to try. Skip Hop has a great one but our all time favorite is the Hatch. There are also a few free apps we use when in a pinch or on the go. My favorite app for my iPhone is called Deep Sleep, which is currently playing in the background as I type this.

3. Dock A Tot

During the day wherever I went, my baby went too. It was nice to have a lightweight and comfortable place to put him when I was folding laundry, preparing dinner or just going to the bathroom quickly. He loves his Dock A Tot so much! Sometimes I wish they made an adult sized one because he looks that darn comfy while sleeping in it. I do admit, this was my ONE baby item we splurged on. Although my husband still might not agree with how much money I spent on it, I do not regret purchasing it one bit!

4. A Comfortable Baby Wrap or Sling

5. Probiotic And Gripe Water

We don’t have one of those elusive always happy babies it seems like older generations love to tell you about. I love my son to death but he can be GRUMPY sometimes. Colicky baby symptoms for the win! When the bicycle kicks and belly massages just don’t cut it you will want to have some type of gas relief drops on hand. I turn togripe watermore often than simethicone because gripe water is an all-natural product mainly containing sodium bicarbonate and a variation of herbs such as ginger, fennel and peppermint. We also use adaily probioticto help his digestive tract keep the good bacteria alive and thriving. This in turn can help decrease the body’s production of gas. Probiotics do take a week or so to work so don’t get discouraged when the results are not immediate. If those just don’t seem to be cutting it go ahead and try some infant gas drops. They do work pretty well for us. I plan on writing a separate blog post regarding colicky babies here soon with more tips and trick to try when you are at your wit's end.

I’d love to hear what your top five baby essentials would be! Please send me an email via my contact page or drop a comment below.