Creating a stockpile of household essentials is a must for expecting parents. Those first few weeks at home with a new baby will be enough of a culture shock, you’ll want to do everything you can to prep for this big life change in advance. To keep your sanity and just feel a little more prepared, make sure your whole house is ready with a stockpile of household essentials before baby’s arrival.
By watching sales and adding a few extra items to each week’s grocery haul, you can slowly build a collection of all the necessities you’d need to make the first few weeks with a new baby as easy as possible. Here’s the items you’ll want to stockpile before baby arrives:
Kitchen
The kitchen is one of the most important areas to have stockpiled before your baby arrives. You want to have lots of quick and easy meals ready to go that take zero thought and minimum effort. Don’t forget snacks for everyone in the family!
- Make-ahead freezer meals. Think foods like pasta, casseroles, burritos, chili, or anything else that easily freezes and can be heated up in the oven or instant pot.
- Quick meals. Things like boxed macaroni, canned soup, hot dogs, hamburger helper, or even frozen pizzas. If you’ve got other kids, stock up on their favorites.
- Easy sides. Canned or frozen vegetables, quick rice, instant mashed potatoes, and frozen rolls are all good.
- Snacks. Whatever it is your family likes to snack on. Granola bars, crackers, applesauce, fruit snacks, pop tarts, and string cheese are all items that can last a few months.
- Bottled water. If your family relies on bottled water, this isn’t something you’ll want to run out of. You can never have too much of this, as it has an infinite shelf-life and you’ll end up drinking it eventually.
- Most-used condiments. Ketchup, ranch, bbq sauce, whatever your family likes. These are all safe to buy in bulk.
- Spices & oils. You may not be doing lots of cooking that require these things after the baby arrives, but make sure you have at least one backup of common things like olive oil, canola oil, and your most-used spices.
- Paper plates & plastic utensils. Trust me, the last thing you’ll have time for is dishes. Especially if you plan on having lots of visitors. Make it easier on yourself and stick to disposable dinnerware for the first few months.
Household Supplies
You’ll probably be going through more household products than usual once your family grows by one. Make sure you have plenty of essentials like paper goods and cleaning supplies so you don’t have to make a trip with a newborn.
- Paper towels. There’s going to be even more messes than usual to clean up.
- Antibacterial wipes. Keep a container of these hidden away in all the areas of your home where baby is going to spend the most time. It may be a first-time-mom thing, but it’s comforting to know all surfaces are germ-free.
- Natural cleaners. If you aren’t already on the natural cleaning supplies bandwagon, having a baby is the perfect excuse to hop on. The only non-natural cleaners I still use are toilet bowl cleaner and bleach for laundry.
- Trash bags. The trash won’t stop just because you have a baby. You’ll probably have even more of it due to using paper plates, diapers, and visitors.
- Laundry detergent. You don’t need a special baby detergent, I promise. Any brand with a “free and clear” label on it should be safe for a newborn. I suggest All free and clear with oxi.
- Stain remover. Babies poop on everything. And from what I’ve heard, it’s a challenge to remove these stains unless you act fast. Keep a spray bottle of stain remover in a few different places around your house to be ready at all times.
- Dryer sheets. Or dryer balls. If you use dryer sheets, make sure they’re also labeled “free and clear” so they’re safe for baby.
- Dishwasher detergent. Just another common household thing you definitely don’t want to run out of.
- Batteries. Baby toys and gear like swings and rockers burn through batteries like you’d never believe. If your baby’s swing is the only thing to get him to sleep, you definitely won’t want to run out of batteries.
- Hand sanitizer & soap. Just as a cautionary measure for your family and visitors. Make sure you have plenty of hand sanitizer and soap so everyone’s hands are clean for baby.
- Pet food. Don’t forget to feed your fur babies just because a human baby is thrown into the mix!
- Kitty litter. If you’ve got a cat, you understand.
- Medicine cabinet. Make sure you have all the basics for yourself and the baby. Double check that nothing is about to expire, too!
Bathroom
Much like the rest of the items, bathroom essentials will make or break your stockpiling experience. Just think, some very important things will be needed for the bathroom… ahem, toilet paper!
- Toilet paper. You DEFINITELY don’t want to run out of this.
- Toothpaste & floss. No one likes stinky breath.
- Shower supplies. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, bars of soap, body scrub. Whatever you need to feel human after a shower.
- Other toiletries. Dry shampoo, lotion, face wash, and all your necessities.
- Razors. If you even feel like doing much shaving in those first few months.
- Makeup essentials. Basics like concealer, foundation, powder, mascara and whatever you use to do your eyebrows are nice to have a backup of.
Having 4-6 weeks of household essentials stockpiled before baby’s arrival may seem like a daunting task, but it’s totally manageable if you follow a list like the one above. Start as early as you can, and just throw a couple of extra items on your grocery list each week.
In addition to stockpiling, I totally suggest you figure out a grocery delivery service near you. Walmart and Dillon’s stores offer them free depending on your location, or you can look into Instacart or Shipt for a small delivery fee. Not leaving the house for groceries is one of the best luxuries of recent years, I don’t know how I’d live without it — especially once baby boy gets here.
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