Essential item- newborn

Does anyone know if there is a list for essential items which you will require for a new born. I?m in the process of buying a thermometer (for checking temperature); medicine dispenser, grooming kit etc & I just dont want to miss anything.....

excuse my ignorance, but whats a grooming kit?

Skybie- its a little kit which has a brush/nail clippers/little sissors etc.... LOL :p

ooooh ok lol, never had one of those, had a baby brush, never hardly used it, had baby nail clippers, never used them lol. DD's nails used to just peel off

wondersuits are good. lots of baby clothes have wide neck holes, even some of the ones that snap down the front, but wondersits dont they fit a lot better around the neck. They run small though, even the target brand ones, I always have to get one size larger in those than everything else.

Personally as long as you have the basics... nappies, wipes, thermometer, clothes, blankets, dummies, bottles ect. anything else of the 'extras' can be bought later as needed.

medicines all come with a syringe (panadol ect) I found we didn't need panadol or anything until Brendan was 3 months+
I found it easier to bite Brendan's nails than use the baby clippers and now we just use the adult ones with no trouble. He didn't have enough hair to brush and even now it doesn't get brushed.

There is one thing i do suggest, Spew rags! I used flannelette nappy squares and they were a life saver (or clothes saver LOL)

Our local Target has a great little free A4 list in their nursery section which we found really useful. We didn't get everything on the list but it gaves us a good list to work from. I also got a few really good lists from my pregnancy mags.

I have an Excel spreadsheet of my list of necessities. PM me if you want me to send it to you.

In all honesty, alot of things these days are really good marketing gimmicks.

Long sleeve bodysuits for winter are definite for under wondersuits/onesies.

As long as you have the basics like nappies, wipes, spew rags (flannel nappies I used too - and still am for my third!!) - everything else can be bought as needed - because sometimes you just dont need it! A brush and comb - meh - not necessary - I do have safety nail clippers which are good now that my 4yo and 6yo want to cut their own(!) - but newborn you chew with your teeth, you dont cut them anyway.

Medicine dispenser(?) - do you mean that hollow spoon shaped thing? dont need it hun - all medications comes with droppers that are much easier to use with the little ones.

Pawpaw ointment is a must in my opinion :)

Nappy rash cream
something to wrap your baby in
spew rags (get twice as many as you think you will need)
a bouncer / rocker / swing to put the baby in when you need to get stuff done
a baby wrap / carrier (like a hug-a-bub)

Something I found invaluable was buying three poppers of ready-to-drink formula. I desperately wanted to bf but having an emergency supply turned out to be essential when I suddenly developed problems.

A dummy (even if you hate them, you might change your mind at 3 am one morning)

Newborns don't need much at all. Just lots of time and hugs.

I have a question..... Spew rags are they like chux?

lol no u wouldnt want to use them!!
flanalette or terry towling flat cloth nappies are the best to use as spew rags

our items that we used all the time, everyday for the newborn period were:

swaddling wraps (combination of light cotton ones and the thicker, more stretchier versions...the latter are good for ensuring that they dont wriggle out so fast!). like i seriously didnt realise how much i would use these. they come in handy for all sorts of things!

lots of washers (we used this as our spit-up cleaners. had them packed in our nappy bag).

bodysuits and nighties (can be wondersuits if winter or the legless/sleeveless for summer - and nighties are good for night time nappy changes so that you dont have to deal with button holes in the dark)

singlets (use these both summer and winter).

and of course the nappies, wipes etc...

we used a baby brush as DD had loads of hair and we found that it was soothing for her too! (but this was just a little quirk really...didnt really start using it until she was closer to 6 months)

other things that came in handy but were not mega-essential were:

mittens (DD was a scrath-a-holic and had massive wounds on her tender newborn face) BUT, be warned, if bubs is tiny they just dont fit, so we used her socks for mittens instead...

and the MOST important newborn essential... A CAMERA lol!

I find flanelette nappies the best for spew rags, they are softer than terry towelling.

I found terry toweling the best for spew rags as they seemed more absorbant and washed better (eg kept shape etc) I also put one under DS head in bassinet and cot as he was a chucker and it saved me changing the sheet.

Swing/rocker or both are heaven sent!!!!!
wondersuits
bonds all in one singlet suits as they dont ride up and get lumpy.
I love the swaddle me wraps rather than blankets.
if you plan on BF buy lansinoh

As long as you have clothes and nappies you can get things as you need them

I wouldnt bother with a grooming kit or medical dispenser, for the reasons the others have said.

Definately invest in some flat nappies, i have the ordinary terry toweling ones, as bibs just dont even begin to catch the spews a newborn does! Seriously. At times you'll wonder how so much came from something so small!!!!

Definately go the Wondersuits, or at least some long-sleeve onesies, and some singlets and socks. That pretty much all Jazz wore for the first little while. Two pieces are just too hard to deal with a newborn, the tops ride up and you spend half your time pulling them back down!

Nappy rash cream!!! Some good quality fragrence-free nappy wipes (or cloth wipes if you're that way inclined, PM and I can recommend some). The cheaper wipes cause disgusting nappy rashes.

Honestly though, when I saw this title my first thought was "A SWING!". I couldn't have had a hot coffee (Jazz was... erm still is... very much an in-arms baby) without the swing.

Possibley look at a good carrier. Most people would recommend the Ergo, i haven't personally tried it. I can recommend a good ring sling, which was a LIFESAVER. Really, a lifesaver.

Lansinoh if you are going to breastfeed. It might seem expensive but once you've used it, you'll be prepared to pay triple for it!!!!

Oh, and two more essential items (sorry this is long!) are two books:
- The Wonder Weeks by Hetty Vanderijt and Frans Plooij
- What Every Parent Needs to Know by Margot Sunderland

Things we found essential were:
Long leg, long sleeve button up suits (not the bonds easysuits, they were so hard to put on and take off but look easy)
Socks
Spew rags
Dummies (If you plan on using one)
Baby Powder
Blankets
and i also had spare poppers of formula, and have used 2 of the 3.
Sterilizer

i used a nail clipper from the start. i couldnt bite his nails off and tried to use a file but it didnt work for us. i waited till his nails were a bit longer then clipped them..

we had stretchy type swaddling cloth and it ddint work cos ds would wriggle his arms out. the best ones were strong thick ones.

wondersuits are great.. and best and less have them as baby baby brand and they are great too. theya have fold over mitten ones till a yr i think while bonds/target ones dont do till after size 0 i think.
but ds has big feet and wasnt chubby so while the suits were good for a while, after a while it would be too small for his feet but ok for his body. the best i found wer ethe footless ones and i used socks. but footless ones are hard to find...

nappy rash cream.. yes.. you do get a freebie from the hospital in that Target bag..

i did get nasal saline drops as ds was mucousy and we had to put drops adn get an aspirator to suck his phelgm out.. you wouldnt need this staight away.

also something for wind in their tummy..

Swing!
Sling/carrier, hug-a-bub or similar
Wondersuits - these are ideal onesies as they have sewn on mittens. Don't bother getting many (if any) in 0000 as if they do fit, they won't for long - believe me. It doesn't matter if they are a little big either. You can now get them with fold over socks as well! So you can reveal bubba's feet if you wish.
Singletsuits - once you use them you will never use a normal singlet again!
Wipes
Nappies
I second the swaddleme wraps - stretchy fabric and super strength velcro
Couple of dummies with different shaped teats (my ds is very fussy, only takes one type)
Dummy chain
Lots of face washers for bath time and as spew/milk cloths
Terry toweling or flannel nappies. Come in very handy for spills/spews, to put underneath him on the change table, etc
Pram insert - depending on your pram, you might like to get an insert - nice and cushiony for bubs

That's all I can think of atm! There are a few other things that are invaluable to me, but might not be a necessity: capsule, mobile, snuggle bed...to name a few!