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I can’t believe that my baby will be a year old next month! With that said, we are starting to box up the items that he has grown out of, or give away things that we don’t need anymore. If you are a first time parent, or getting ready to have another baby, here are my favorite baby items for the first year of life.

Clothing

Let’s start with baby clothes: your newborn baby will only need a few simple onesies. You will be so busy feeding them and changing them all of the time, they really don’t need anything fancy. Plus, they are sleeping most of the day and should just be snuggled up in functional clothing.

I can’t say enough about having enough burp clothes or bibs. We still go through so many of them  on a daily basis. I look for absorbance and softness so that my baby’s skin doesn’t get chafed or itchy from them.

Diapering

Diapers and wipes are never ending, that’s why I like to stock up on them. One thing I never want to run low on are these 2 things. You can save even more by using the Amazon Subscribe and Save! It usually gives you an additional discount to have a reoccurring order.

If you are getting low, you can change your delivery days to adjust to your needs. You can always change the order, or cancel it all together.  Delivery service rocks for new parents, because we wants to be lugging around diapers and wipes at the store?

We have been using the Diaper Genie diaper pail for over 5 years now and it’s totally a  must-have in our home. Don’t skimp on the imitation bags- use their brand and your pail will stay odor free and last for years!

Bedding

It is always nice to have a couple sets of sheets, in case one gets stained or ripped. Make sure the sheets fit the mattress- I’ve had a couple sheets that were just a little snug on the mattress ends. I also can’t say enough about the Newton Baby Mattress. You can read more about it HERE.

Feeding

Whether you are a breastfeeding or formula feeding, you are probably going to need bottles. We have been a fan of the Playtex bottle brand for many years. There are so many different bottle brands, styles, and materials to choose from. Really the only way to see if your baby will take one or the other is to try.

Luckily, we had no trouble with introducing bottles to our babies, and they took anyone that we offered. I know that some babies can really have an affinity to one particular kind that they like. Try what works best for you.

We also loved bottle sanitizing bags. You can take these bags with you anywhere, especially when you need to clean bottles on the go. We also have a bottle sanitizer for home, which thoroughly sanitizes our bottles at the end of the day. These are great for sanitizing teething toys or breast pump parts as well!

When it comes time to start feeding your baby, you should have a few different spoon options, as well as bowls and cups. Again, try what works best for your little one. It can take a few tries for your baby to get used to these tools.

Travel

I will leave the car seat buying up to you, because you obviously should go to the store to research the one for you. Other things to buy for taking your little one out are diaper bags, strollers and baby carriers.

We have gone through many styles and models of these items. Depending on your preferences, I have listed my favorites below. I truly believe in the ease of baby carrying. It promotes bonding and keeps your baby snug and close to you. Plus, it lets you have your hands free from pushing him/her in the stroller.

Diaper bags are so versatile these days. You can choose stylish ones, functional ones, backpacks, messenger bags….the possibilities are endless. I usually have 2 stocked ones at all times- one in bag form and one in a backpack, depending on where I’m going!

Strollers are a must! If you plan to put your baby seat into one, make sure your stroller is compatible, or has appropriate adapters to click it in. We love our BOB stroller and Ergobaby Stroller the most, but they both require special adapters to make our carseat fit into them.

Safety

Baby-proofing your home is a must when you have a little one. A baby monitor or camera is a great way to see how your baby is doing in their room. We love our lollipop baby camera, which fits on the crib and lets us have real-time access from our phones to see if he is awake or asleep.

Once your baby starts crawling, you better look into locks or latches for doors, gates for doorways or staircases, and outlet covers! Now that we are on our third kid, we didn’t expect to have to put all of those things back up, and now we are all over it!

A couple of bath time items that we liked are the water spout cover, to protect their head, and the non-stick mat to prevent them from slipping, once they can sit in the bath on their own. It’s not such a bad idea to have a bath thermometer as well!

Entertainment

There are so many great toys and products to keep your little one entertained. Some of our favorites are chew toys for teething, educational or sensory toys and musical ones for their room.

For toys, I like to keep it to a minimal for the first year. I like toys that are BPA free, colorful, and soft. Toys that play soothing music were often helpful in getting them to nap, so we made sure to always have a couple around in the bedroom or when traveling.

Books that are appropriate for the first year help eye development and color and shape recognition. We especially love soft flash cards and books that the baby can feel objects on!

I hope that you have found a lot of things here that will be useful for your first baby, or newest arrival! Let me know what your favorite baby items are for the first year of life!

You can always visit my Amazon shop to see what my favorite things are for beauty, family, cooking and the home. I update it frequently and love to share my love of products with my readers!

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