• Something to soothe or entertain Baby: This might mean a white noise machine, a machine that projects “starlight” onto the ceiling, or a mobile.
• Humidifier for cold months or when Baby has a cold: When you need a little extra moisture to be circulating where they sleep – whether it’s during the cold winter months when your home heating system might cause the air in your home to dry out, or when Baby has a cold and needs a little extra help breathing clearly – a humidifier is great.
• A fan and/or air conditioner: Depending on what your home heating and cooling system is like, in warmer months you might want one or both of these to help keep Baby from getting too warm. Even in cooler months, you might just want a fan on to help circulate air and add a little bit of soothing white noise to Baby’s sleep space.
• Air purifier: An air purifier – specifically a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Arrestance) one – can help to remove tiny, icky particles from the air. Air purifiers can be used to keep the air where Baby sleeps free of smoke, dust mites, and animal dander particles, as well as other not-so-friendly particles created by household appliances and products. Many purifiers also make a soft whirring sound, which can add more of that white noise magic that can help your little one sleep easy.
• A soft rug or play mat: In a pinch you can always place a clean blanket on the floor for some tummy time or play, especially early on when your little one is so, well, little, and won’t be traveling far. But if you have the space, you may want a soft rug for this purpose too. Soon Baby will be on the move and doing a lot of play on the floor, and it doesn’t hurt for them to have a comfortable space set aside to do so.
• Books: Certainly, you can keep these somewhere separate from you baby’s sleeping area if you’re short on space, but it can helpful to have at least a few nearby for bedtime reading with Baby. You might even want a bookcase, a few small shelves, or storage cubes to hold them.
• A surface for extras: Not a necessity, but you might find it convenient to have a small surface or table nearby on which you can place or store items, like a glass of water for you to drink as you feed Baby or a nail file so you can trim their tiny claws while they snooze.
• Stuffed animals or toys: These are also not a bedroom necessity while Baby is a newborn. Remember that you don’t want to put anything soft in their bassinet or crib because of risk of suffocation. But you may want to have some of these items nearby for them to play with when they awake. If you don’t get these right away, there’s plenty of time for toys once Baby is a bit bigger and more able to have fun with them.
• Decorations, pictures, and the like: Even if baby isn’t in a dedicated nursery space, you can always hang a small picture or some festive bunting near Baby’s bassinet or sleep space in your room. And if Baby is in a nursery, even just a few small items on the walls – meaningful pictures, their name, or a cheerful banner – can make a big difference in creating a personalized space.

Remember, whether you just get the basics or go ahead and get some extra baby room gear too, as long as you prioritize what’s best for you and your family, you really can’t go wrong.

Reviewed by the Ovia Health Clinical Team

Read more: 

• Outfitting baby’s room: Everything you need – Part one: The basics
• Outfitting baby’s room: Everything you need – Part three: Where to get the goods

If you’ve already read the first and second part of this series – tackled the baby room basics and even considered the extras – you might still find yourself wondering, “Just where do I get all this stuff?” Unless you’ve done a lot of shopping for little ones before having one of your own, chances are that expecting Baby will open up a whole new world of products, brands, stores, and such to familiarize yourself with. (Don’t worry – you’ll know the difference between Boppy and Bjorn in no time!) Here are some options for where you can get all the supplies you need:

• Borrow: You don’t need baby gear, especially newborn items, for a very long time – supplies you buy for the first months will actually will have a pretty short life in your home unless you have more than one baby. The silver lining here is that this often means it’s possible to borrow baby gear – from clothes to bassinets to toys – from friends and family who have had babies not too long ago. However, this option does involve doing a bit of homework on the safety of the baby gear you’ll be using. When it comes to certain gear – especially items like baby cribs – you’ll want to do some internet sleuthing to make sure the models that you’ll be using are still safe, especially if the product is older, and that there are no current safety recalls on the items.
• Buy second hand:  There are a number of places online and in person where you can buy baby gear second hand, like consignment shops – some of which are even dedicated entirely to baby products. Much like above, just be sure to check on the safety of the products, especially since you won’t personally know the people who had the gear prior.
• Buy new: In store or on online, there are plenty of places where you can create a baby registry or just explore what’s available before you buy – big box stores, smaller local shops, and plenty of online vendors too. Even if you eventually decide to buy products online, many parents find it helpful to see, touch, and try out gear in person – especially big ticket items – to better understand what their options are and to even give items like folding strollers or folding playpens a trial run before bringing them home, all in the hopes that you’ll be happy with your choice when actually using it with Baby.

When preparing for your little one’s arrival, it’s certainly easy to get caught up in all of the new baby products available on the market or the pretty images from glossy mags and Pinterest that suggest you need a nursery that’s decorated to the nines. It’s not that you can’t create a space for Baby that looks super sweet (or fun, or hip, or whatever other style you might want to aim for). But as you buy or borrow, do keep in mind that what works best for you and your family is really all that matters.

Reviewed by the Ovia Health Clinical Team

Read more:

• Outfitting baby’s room: Everything you need – Part one: The basics
• Outfitting baby’s room: Everything you need – Part two: The extras

Because multiples tend to be delivered earlier than the expected 40-week gestation for singletons, many parents-to-be of multiples prefer to start setting up their nursery earlier on than they would for just one child, so they aren’t taken by surprise.

Of course, just like with single babies, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends sharing a room with your multiples for the first few months if you can, so even if they come early, you still may not need everything about your nursery to be set right away, but it can’t hurt to get a head start in any case!

Prepare for trouble, make it double

Your twins or multiples are a ways away from even sitting up, never mind crawling, walking, or climbing, but there’s a good chance that when they do, they’ll start egging each other into trouble faster than any individual baby would.

And once they’re born, you’re never going to have quite as much time to baby-proof, so when you’re setting up the nursery, make sure all of the furniture is secured to the walls, cords are up and out of the way, and any throw rugs are secured with non-skid pads.

Maximize

If your multiples are sharing the nursery, you’ll be trying to fit twice (or more!) as much clothing in the same closet as you would if you only had a singleton. There are a few ways to maximize your closet space, though.

First, clothing for babies and children is small enough that it doesn’t need to hang from the height of a normal closet rod – which means there’s plenty of space to install a second rod half way down the closet. Sure, that may take up some of the closet floor space, but a hanging organizer over the back of the door can fit all of the things you’d keep there and more.

Two for the price of one

Look for items that can serve two purposes – ottomans to sit on that double as toy chests, say, or neutral-colored onesies, caps, and socks that don’t have to belong to one of your children or the other, but can be a sort of communal baseline for them, at least until they’re old enough to object.

That doesn’t mean you don’t want them to have clothing of their own – in fact, a little judicious color-coding can save you some future embarrassment when you’re trying to figure out which of your cutie pies is sucking their thumb in which picture in the baby book.

Having a few staples that can go either way lets you get some practice buying in bulk, though, which is definitely a skill that’s important for parents of multiples.

Reviewed by the Ovia Health Clinical Team

Read more

• Being pregnant with twins, triplets and other multiples
• Telling identical twins apart

Prenatal costs

Baby costs can start piling up even before Baby is born. Prenatal vitamins are sure to ring you up quite a bit, as might the cost of your food if you’ve made major changes to your diet. Maternity clothes, prenatal classes, and healthcare provider appointments may also start to add up. These amounts can vary quite a bit depending on your insurance coverage, out-of-pocket maximums, dietary changes, what sort of prenatal classes you choose to take, and how many new clothes you need or choose to buy.

Ways to save:

• Ask your OB provider what they can prescribe. Sometimes prenatal vitamins, blood pressure cuffs, support belts, compression socks and more can be ordered through insurance and save you cash!
• Contact your insurance carrier to get a clear estimate of costs. Often prenatal care is bundled – meaning that you can get an overall estimate of costs for the entire pregnancy. This may allow you to budget more effectively or develop a payment plan with your OB provider’s office. If your OB office is part of a not-for-profit hospital, be sure to ask about charity care income limits. 
• Pregnancy clothes are often worn a handful of times or not at all! Thrift stores and sites will often have new or like new options for a fraction of the cost. Local mom’s groups will often have some great options too.
• Opt for clothing that will stretch to fit your pregnant and postpartum body. Getting 2 years out of something is much more cost effective!
• Hospital based classes will almost always give you a discount if you’re unable to pay the full amount for a birthing or breastfeeding class where you plan to give birth. Online classes are sometimes discounted at various times of year, and it’s always worth contacting the vendor to ask for a code.

Hospital costs

Like prenatal care, giving birth is often a bundled fee. It may be outlined in your insurance information very clearly, or you may have to contact your insurance carrier to find out that information and any possible surcharges to be aware of. If the cost is not clear, expect to meet/pay your out of pocket maximum for the year (which should be easy to find). Again, if you plan to give birth in a not-for-profit hospital, you are often eligible for financial support. Each hospital has their own income guidelines to determine this, so you’ll need to contact their billing or financial office. Organizations like Dollar For can also help people navigate this system. 

Initial baby needs

So you’ve already dropped a few hundred or thousand dollars, and Baby is just now arriving! But what else do you need, and how can you save? At a minimum, you should make sure that you have all the items you’ll need for your little one’s first days – like a crib and mattress, car seat, first clothes, diapers, wipes, and other grooming and body care supplies – ready to go before they is born. Certainly, you can keep things rather simple to get started, though many parents also want to use this time to get some of the extra items that they’ll need very soon – like a stroller, additional baby gear, toys, extra clothes, and even items to baby-proof your house once your little one is on the move. After all, you’re not going to be any less busy once Baby arrives. In terms of how much damage this might do to your wallet, again, there is a huge range here. Will you be purchasing new items? Outfitting a whole nursery? Are family and friends planning to graciously gift you with a lot of baby registry items at a shower?

If you’re looking to cut costs or reduce waste, there are great ways to do this locally and online through thrift shops, baby groups, and other parent organizations. People are often very excited to pass on a variety of items and de-clutter! If you go the second-hand route, just make sure that anything you get – like a previously used or older crib or car seat – hasn’t been recalled and meets the latest safety standards. It’s okay to invest in an item you know will last and be used frequently, like a stroller. If you’re looking to cut costs, buy only what you know you need or can confidently re-sell.

Ongoing costs

Now that those big-ticket items are out of the way you’re in the clear right? Well, not exactly. Once you have all those initial essentials, there’s still a lot more that you’ll be buying over the next 18+ years. Some estimate a cost of about $50/week for baby’s food, clothes, and diapers, but this figure doesn’t include some major costs, like insurance, childcare, or formula. And if you want to buy toys, books, or make a special trip to Disney World on top of that, you will, of course, want to save and budget accordingly. 

The bottom line

Raising a baby certainly isn’t cheap, but there are definitely ways to cut costs. And all families are different. What might be a necessity for one family, might not work for or not be needed by another. So make sure you have the essentials, then go from there in a way that works for you. 

Reviewed by the Ovia Health Clinical Team

Read more

• Unexpected costs of having a baby
• Budgeting for baby: From childcare to college, the items you should plan for now