New Born Essentials inspired by a tiny Tokyo Apartment

What do you need for when baby arrives? The industry will surely tell you about a gazillion things and gadgets that you will need for these first weeks after baby arrives to properly take care of them, for your and baby’s well-being, etc. But to be honest, after 3 babies, I can tell you it’s a lot less than what you might think – or what the industry is trying to sell you.

When I was getting ready for my first baby’s arrival my new born essentials list was driven by a major factor: our tiny Tokyo Apartment. Think 44m2 tiny. That is the size of other people’s living rooms. It’s already small for 2 adults and we were having a baby. We actually made it work in this apartment with 2 babies until they were 2.5 years and 6 months old. But that’s a story for another day. Back to new born essentials: we basically had zero space for anything.

Besides the space issue I believe in being a pragmatic momma. I did not want to let myself be brain washed by the industry and their clever marketing trying to convince you of all the things you need to have a happy baby. Lastly, we wanted to keep the expenses in check.

So, in this post you can find my tried and tested list of things you need for a new born baby for the first 2-3 months.

Clothing

A new born baby doesn’t need a lot of clothes. And as they quickly grow out of the first teeny tiny clothes they have, borrowing and second hand really is the best way to go. Sustainably and financially. How many clothes you will end up having for your new born will likely depend on four things : A) what kind of baby you have, B) how often you want to wash and C) your vanity and D) how many clothes you receive as gifts after baby is born.

If your baby spits and poops a lot in a way that it gets on the clothes you might want to have another set. My baby’s were fairly civilized and didn’t ruin their clothes on an hourly basis. Depending on your washing ability you also might want to have more clothes than less. If you have a washer and dryer combination you can have clothes ready to wear again within few hours. If they have to air dry in a cold Japanese house, it would take a little longer and another set of clothes would be handy.

New Borns are so darn cute and your camera roll will explode in the first few weeks. Now whether you care whether that is always with the same outfits or not will also affect how many clothes you will want to get.

2 months in with third baby, below is the list that I would recommend to have ready when you’re expecting your first baby. It really doesn’t need more. When getting clothes always remember that you might get a lot of clothes as presents, too.

With regards to the actual clothing, make sure that all tops do not have to be pulled over baby’s head. Their head is still so fragile as is their neck. All tops should have buttons, bows or zippers to close. For pants make sure that they are not too tight around the belly.

• One piece sleepers (6-8)
• Onesies short and long sleeve (6-8)
• Underwear shirts (3-4)
• Stretchy pants (2-3)
• Pullover jackets/hoodies (2-3)
• Socks (3-4)
• Scratch mittens (1-2)
• New born hats (2)

Nursery

I am calling this section nursery for a better lack of word. In the beginning, our baby was sleeping in our room and we didn’t have an actual nursery. One corner of another room was turned into the nursery with a few pictures above the dresser.

• Dresser Proper nursery baby changing furniture is very cute and functional, no question. But even when you use it for several babies, its use quickly comes to an end. Therefore, we decided to go with a simple dresser, chest of drawers that you can easily repurpose later. We just put a changing pad on top of it and organized the drawers accordingly.
• Changing Pad with Cover
• Baby Bouncer
• Blankey
• Muslin Swaddle Blankets Gauze (3-5) This is another must have for me as they are so versatile in their use. Protect from and wipe baby spit, breastfeeding cover when you’re outside, changing mat, swaddle blanket, towel, etc.

Traveling

• Stroller/Pram with Carry Cot / Bassinet For the newborn phase I wanted to make sure that my baby was able to lie straight on their back so that their spine would grow well. (Wisdom passed down in my family). Therefore, I wanted to have a stroller with a proper bassinet. A bassinet is also cute and comes in handy when you need a place to put your newborn in the house, with older siblings around.
• Stroller Baby Cocoon (for Winter Babies) I was torn between using the Winter Onesie and Blanket we already had and getting a cocoon. In the end, I was really happy to have got the cocoon. It’s faster to put baby in there than in the warm suit. As Japanese houses can be quite cold despite heating, I’ve also kept baby in there inside the house.
• Carrier / Sling Another absolute must have for a new born baby. When baby is fussy and/or doesn’t want to sleep but you have things to do you can put them in the carrier and still have your hands free. Going outside with baby in the carrier makes you more mobile vs going out with the stroller. You can still use the stairs, both hands are free, etc.
• Carrier Cover (for Winter Babies)
• Car Seat

Sleeping

• CoSleeper My choice of co-sleeper was based on the following decision criteria: A) very little space in our tiny Tokyo apartment. When I say little, I mean “How do we fit something so that we can still walk in the room and open the wardrobe?” little. B) We were going to get married in Senegal when our first born was 2.5 months old. I was worried about how she would manage such a big trip and read that having their bed, with their smell makes them feel more comfortable. That’s why the possibility to travel with the co-sleeper was another decision criteria. During the research I learned about co-sleeper turning into playpads so that this functionality became decision criteria C). Traveling from Tokyo to Senegal with the bed was easy. We have been using it for 3 kids both as a co-sleeper as well as a play pad. It’s not the prettiest co-sleeper but the functionality and durability is great. It is
• Baby Nest For me, this is a must have for when you have a new born. The Co-Sleeper is a little bit too big for a newborn. Therefore, I placed the baby nest inside the co-sleeper so that baby feels less lost, especially in the beginning. Basically, it was all my baby’s bed in the first 2-3 months. The fact that you can just easily pick it up and take with you is amazing. You can place it anywhere inside your house or even take it outside with you. This way baby will always have a nice place to be or sleep.
• Sleeping bag For baby’s safety you want to make sure that they are covered by something they cannot accidentally pull over their face while they’re sleeping. A sleeping bag to zip up is perfect. Make sure to use one that you can easily move the baby in and out of e.g. if you want to change their diaper while they’re sleeping.

Diapering

• Diapers
• Wet Wipes
• Diaper/Rash Cream
• Changing Bag – Bless the engineers, product designers and user experience professionals for all these ‘diaper bags’ they’ve come up with. My diaper bag? My purse with 2-3 diapers, a bag of wet wipes and a swaddle blanket. Ok, to be honest, that is for shorter outings. When I leave the house for more than a few hours I do actually take a back pack, add a set of fresh clothes.

Bathing

To many people, bathing a new born seems to be nerve wracking adventure. It’s really not that complicated or dangerous, especially with the way I was taught in Japan. You can read about the Japanese way to bathe a baby here.

• Baby Bath Tub
• Hooded Towels (2-3) 
• Wash cloths (4-6)
• Baby Soap 
• Baby Body Lotion
• Baby Cotton Swabs
• Baby Hair Brush
• Baby Nail Clippers

Breast Feeding

• Nursing Bra
• Breast Pump (Milk Catcher) I was introduced to this breast pump almost 2 months into my first breast feeding journey. It was the best thing ever happened to my breast feeding journey! Read why and my full review here. I can’t recommend this product enough and have therefore gifted it to several other new mommas, too.
• Milk Storage Bags
• Nipple Cream The first 1-2 weeks of breast feeding your first child can be quite brutal on your nipples. This nipple cream felt like it was heaven sent when I started using it on day 5 with my first baby. Breast feeding gets easier really quick with regards to knowing your technique, baby becoming more active in the process and the nipples adjusting so that it’s no painful anymore. For those initial days, I recommend getting a nipple cream.
• Bottles
• Breast Pump (Manual) There are a lot of fancy, electrical, big and small breast pumps out there. Thanks to a flexible working environment, lots of home office during CoVid I was able to breast feed my babies and supply them with breast milk by only having the Haakaa (see above) and a manual breast pump. I was looking for an additional pump when my first baby started having teeth and biting me during feeding time before she was one year old. I didn’t want to spend too much money and we were coming to an end of our breast feeding journey. This is why I went for this breast pump and not any more advanced model.
• Breast Feeding Pillow