I’ll probably do one of these later on too, but after gathering everyone’s opinions during my pregnancy I wanted to share my thoughts now that we’re using some things. Here is the list of things I thought we needed and my thoughts now:
Car Seat – LOVE LOVE LOVE our Graco Snugridge. So glad I asked opinions about this, because I hadn’t paid attention to the weight. Katherine pointed out not to get anything too heavy, and I’m glad we listened. The Snugride is light, super easy to get in and out of the car, and the Broadstreet color pattern is really cute.
Stroller – we haven’t used it yet, but have played around with the Graco Snugride Car Seat Stroller Frame and love it too. It is also very easy to use. Folding and unfolding is very easy. We’ve wheeled it around the house and it is easy to maneuver, turns easily, etc. I’m excited to pick out a bigger, jogging stroller when Sawyer outgrows this one.
Crib – we didn’t have good luck with the Graco Lauren crib, which splintered in a few places when we were installing screws. We ended up with the Emi Natural 4-in-1 Convertible Crib and we really love it.
Changing table/pad – those who said you never used your changing table, well I think you’re just crazy. LOL. Seriously though, I haven’t changed a single diaper anywhere else in the house. Why would I want to go gather up wipes, butt cream, trash bag, fresh diaper, etc to carry to where ever Sawyer is. I prefer to carry him there and have a quick routine of getting a new diaper on him. We do need more changing pad covers. I would recommend 3, but for now we’re using hospital receiving blankets when our 1 cover gets soaked in pee (which happens way too often).
Crib Mattress – Sawyer doesn’t sleep in the crib yet, so not much to say. We have a mattress & it looks lovely 
Crib Sheets – we have several, but again haven’t changed the sheets yet. Dan’s mom got us some soft knit sheets, so we ended up returning most of the cute Circa sheets because they weren’t as soft
Receiving Blankets – I returned several, but we still have about 15. Still thought that was too many, but I was wrong. I like to have a variety to match with his outfits, plus when diapers leak the blanket tends to get wet too.
Clothing including socks/booties, cap, mittens – socks don’t stay on, so I doubt mittens would either. I love sleepers that have mittens built in. I also LOVE the sleep sacks, but most we have our too big. I love them because it makes diaper changes during the night quick & easy… which means he doesn’t fully wake up and gets back to sleep quicker. That is good for a sleepy Mommy. Clothing was a battle because we had nothing to fit him, since he turned out to be so tiny. My Mom, actually Stephanie, found some cheap Premie sized stuff on sale at Walmart. Then he grew so much that he only wore that stuff for a little over a week. The next challenge is fitting stuff over the cloth diapers, which definitely are “fluffier” than a disposable.
Diapers (cloth) & Inserts – I could write and write and write about how much I love the cloth diapers. I’m super impressed with the bumGenius 3.0, both the all-in-ones and the pocket diapers. They fit great and we’ve had no leaks with the pocket diapers using hemp inserts with a small cotton doubler on top. The Fuzzi Bunz one-size pocket diapers are also great. Their lining is the softest of all the diapers. Again, I use the hemp inserts and this diaper doesn’t leak. I guess it is really the BabyKicks Joey-Bunz hemp inserts that I love so much. I don’t like the Fuzzi Bunz “Perfect Size” diaper as well as the one-size, because the small size seems huge and doesn’t fit around Sawyer’s legs well. Maybe as he gets chunkier thighs they will. I also don’t like fitted diapers that well because it seems that the whole diaper absorbs pee, so Sawyer has wetness against all skin covered by the diaper. Dan really likes the Thirsties All-In-Ones because they are super easy to use and the leg gussets are nice. As for disposables, we started off with Pampers from the hospital but had lots & lots of leaks. Huggies have seemed to work best for us, but I honestly hate them all. I hate seeing a Walmart bag (our diaper “pail” for disposables) fill up in a matter of hours. I can’t believe how many disposables we’ve used already.
Trash can/Diaper pail – I bought a plain trash can at Target which works great and 2 pail liners, both work great. I got a Planet Wise and a Swaddlebees/Blueberry pail liner. I probably prefer the Swaddlesbees because it seems a little better made and really holds a lot of wetness inside.
Wipes (disposable and some cloth) – I tried to be cool and we bought the chlorine free Seventh Generation wipes, only to discover that they suck. They are little dry smelly cloths. Not moist at all. We’ve been using Huggies Natural and of course, we LOVE them. Haha. We LOVE everything. The Huggies are really thick & moist, so it makes clean up great. Starting 2 days ago I have been using the cloth wipes and guess what? LOVE them too. I dumped the remaining Seventh Generation wipes out and using that container, I mixed up my own wipe solution (squirt of his California Baby body wash with water). Add the flannel wipes and there ya go. I feel like I’m giving his bum a mini-bath every time I use them. His bottom was really red from multiple explosive poos, and when I used the Huggies he screamed like it hurt. He doesn’t mind the cloth wipes on the irritated butt as much.
Wipe warmer (supposedly work great with cloth wipes) – we had one but didn’t open it and ended up returning it.
Ointment (has to be cloth diaper friendly) – we use the California Baby diaper rash cream. Works well and isn’t causing problems with the cloth diapers.
Wet Bag for diaper bag – I have a gorgeous Planet Wise bag that is doing great during our few trips out of the house
Diaper Sprayer – haven’t needed it so far so I’m glad we held off. I rinse the poop diapers in the bathroom sink. Eww
Bibs – the more the merrier, soured milk is gross so I found you can’t really use the same bib multiple times
Breastpump – I bought a used Medella Pump in Style with Backpack. It works great using one pump, but I think it goes too slow when I try to double pump. Probably because it was used.
Nursing Pillow/Boppy – we didn’t get one, but then Katherine let us borrow hers and OMG. Due to my fear of him choking on sipt up and his tendency to get hiccups every time he lays flat, Sawyer lives in the thing. He hangs out it when we’re sitting on the couches, sleeps in it, I use it for breastfeeding. We’re wearing the thing out. I honestly can’t imagine what we would’ve done without it.
Burp clothes – we go through these like crazy. I really should buy more. We use them to cover things up so we don’t get peed on during diaper changes, so they frequently get pee & poo on them
Bottles (BPA free or glass) & Nipples – we have Dr. Brown’s 4oz glass bottles. No complaints.
Cleaner/Sterilizer – don’t have, don’t need, not even sure what this is. What we do have is The First Years Spin Store Dry Rack Organizer. Another great item, which lets all the bottle parts air dry and stores them neatly.
Pacifiers – we got Avent ones, but haven’t used them. We don’t like how high they come up above his mouth (touching his nose), plus he doesn’t like them as well as the plain old Nuk from the hospital.
Washclothes & towels – we only do baths twice a week at this point, so we didn’t need very many
Soap – using California Baby Sensitive Skin Body Wash
Lotions – using both Aveno Baby and Cetaphil but nothing stops the peeling & flaking of his head
Baby monitor -we have the Sony 900MHz BabyCall Nursery Monitor and think they are awesome. I can hear Sawyer clearly when I’m in the back yard with the dogs
Thermometer – we have both the kind that can do oral, underarm, rectal and also a pacifier one. I like having the pacifier one to get an idea of what his temperature is without annoying him.
Nail Cliippers – haven’t touched his nails yet, even though they are like mini daggers. We have a vibrating nail file so I’ll have to see how it works
Nasal aspirator – as everyone recommended to us, we didn’t buy one and use the thing from the hospital. Currently not for his nose of course, but to suck stuff out of his mouth when he chokes. So scary! To “aspirate” the nose, Mommy use Q-tips to get those boogies
Laundry Detergent – Dreft of course for his clothes, and Charlie’s Soap for his diapers. Love the smell of Dreft, love that Charlie’s Soap leaves behind no smells
Sling/Carrier & Infant insert – The Ergo Carrier and Infant Insert are great. I put Sawyer in sometimes when I’m going outside with the dogs and we took a nice long family walk one day. Can’t wait for warmer weather to do that more often.
Diaper Bag – I haven’t used the one I bought yet because I use the cute sock monkey bag Stephanie got us. As we leave the house more I’m sure I’ll have to use the other one sometimes because it is bigger. Cloth diapers take up more space, plus I find that when I leave the house Sawyer usually manages to pee on everything so I need several changes of clothes.
Swing – The Fisher Price Little Lamb Cradle N’ Swing is great. My only complaint is that its hard to get him in and out without the animals of the mobile tickling across his face. Also the swing is really loud, but thankfully he likes & needs sounds to sleep
Sleep positioner (inclined wedge) – didn’t get after I read new reports that the flame resistant materials they are made of are toxic
So here are some things I didn’t know we needed or didn’t realize we needed ASAP…
Bouncer Seat – we have a swing, I thought that was enough. I didn’t know we needed both. The bouncy seat hasn’t been life changing or anything, but has been helpful because it is smaller & more mobile than the swing. So when I shower, Sawyer bounces & vibrates in the bathroom floor until I’m done.
Mobile – I knew I wanted one, and was planning to get or make one eventually. I didn’t expect Sawyer to be sleeping downstairs in his crib, but since I couldn’t walk up the stairs for over a week… well we both slept in his room and it seems crazy to switch him upstairs now. Since he doesn’t like his crib, we need a mobile to make him LOVE the crib
Play Gym – Another thing I planned to borrow but didn’t think about him arriving early and not having one, etc etc. He seems to have fun trying to grab toys already when he is “in” the gym. He also gets mad but in a funny way
Mirror for car – we had one, but didn’t like it so we returned it. We hadn’t found a good one and then suddenly we had a baby. I found the Sunshine Kids Easy View Back Seat Mirror and I think it is awesome. We don’t have a head rest in the center of the back seat, so the others didn’t work well. I can see him perfectly with this mirror.
Head Support – the car seat came with an infant head support, but it is too big. After realizing that stuffing blankets around his head wasn’t working well enough (I drove home one day with one hand holding his head steady while I drove with the other), we bought another product that had been suggested to us. Summer Infant Cradler Head Support. Life changing. I can drive safely again and his head doesn’t move.
Diaper Caddy – The SaraBear Diaper Caddy was a gift we didn’t know we needed. Turns out the thing holds all Sawyer’s “hygiene” stuff and sits nicely on the changing table. Without it I’m sure his “stuff” would be falling off all the time and of course looking like an unorganized mess. PLUS if we ever did have him sleeping upstairs with us or want to change him someplace else in the house or when giving him baths, we just take the whole caddy with us.
I LOVE CLEANOZ NASAL ASPIRATOR. I bought this product for my daughter who has had horrible time breathing when she gets sick. This product worked perfectly and was able to alleviate my daughters struggling to breathe. All I did was drop a few drops of Cleanoz saline preservative free in her nose to loosen up the snot, and then I used the Cleanoz. It was great. I had to use it a couple more times that day to help her keep breathing well. And the best part was that at the end of the day, I threw away the nozzle. I didn’t have to clean anything! The next day she was still a little congested and so I used a new nozzle piece, and it worked great again. She actually likes it now when I use the Cleanoz. She HATED the bulb syringe and I don’t want to use a disgusting mouth suction device…..