You should have at least the following items when you return home with the baby:
Clothing
Four to six dozen napkins.
Four shirts—long or short-sleeved, according to the weather and the
temperature of your house.
Five or six nightgowns or wrappers.
Two sweaters.
A hooded wrap for outdoors. Bedding
A bassinet, or a basket that can be used instead. It should be placed on a sturdy table or stand, not on the floor. The baby should have a room of his (or her) own, although you will want to put his bassinet in your room at night for the first few weeks.
A firm mattress for the bassinet; if yours is a home-made basket, and you do not want to buy a mattress, a felt pad or smoothly folded blanket will do.
Two waterproof pads, 11 by 18 inches.
A waterproof case for the mattress—or make one out of rubber sheeting.
Six quilted pads for the mattress, about 11,5 by 18 inches—or make them from two yards of 18-inch material.
Two or three small pillowcases (muslin or cotton) to use as sheets. Three or more lightweight blankets, about a yard square—women’s wool scarves that are about a yard wide are cheaper and just as good. If the baby has a family background of allergies or if his skin is unusually tender, cotton flannel blankets may be better.
Furniture
A table to dress and change the baby on. A good and less expensive substitute is a wide shelf that can be built against the wall. Be sure it is the right height, for the sake of your back.
A chest of drawers, or part of a bureau, for the baby’s clothes and
supplies.
A playpen.
A cot, by the time the baby is two or three months only. The bars must be close enough so he will not catch his head between them. The cot should be big enough to last for at least two years, when he goes into a standard bed. If you paint it yourself, be sure to use a safe, lead-free paint.
A low chair and footstool to use while feeding, and a high stool to sit on while dressing the baby.
An enamel or plastic bathtub.
Two to four towels and three soft washcloths—old linen or soft cotton cloth, about ten inches square, hemmed, will do for washcloths. One cotton bath blanket.
Two towels to use to cover the table after the baby’s bath.
A bath thermometer, handy if you are worried about getting the bath
water too hot or too cold.
A tray with supplies—the tray can be home-made from a flat baking pan, and the jars to keep things in can be food jars, cleaned and boiled and marked with adhesive.
Supplies should include sterilized cotton; rustproof safety pins, a dozen large and a dozen small; a package of toothpicks; any plain, unmedicated, pure soap; and a soap dish.
A rectal thermometer for taking baby’s temperature. Feeding equipment
Note: If you nurse your baby, you will need fewer bottles than you
will need if you intend to bottle-feed him. But you will need some bottles and other supplies, even if you do breast-feed, for providing the relief bottle or because you may have to stop nursing for some reason; also, for water and juice.
Nursing bottles and teats and bottle covers or caps. Three four-ounce bottles with teats and covers is a minimum for a breast-fed baby; for others, you will need nine of each.
A covered pail, large enough to hold a day’s supply of bottles standing upright. A rack in which to stand the bottles.
Brushes to clean bottles and teats; a covered, wide-necked jar for teats; a covered enamel two-quart saucepan to heat the formula in; measuring cup, funnel, and strainer; a long pair of forceps or tongs and a pair of tweezers to lift hot articles; two spoons, one for measuring the ingredients, and one for stirring.
I recommend that you keep separate the objects you need for preparing the formula and use them for nothing else.
Other supplies and equipment
Mild soap for washing napkins.
Two covered two-gallon rustproof napkin pails.
Mosquito netting to hang over the bassinet or cot if there are flies, mosquitoes, or other insects near the baby.
A room thermometer. The room temperature should be around 68° to 74° F. during the day, and may be as cool as 60° F. at night when the baby is covered. Scales.
A baby’s pram. You will need one soon, and it is handy to have one from the first, unless your bassinet is easy to wheel.
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