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Having a cute little newborn baby snoozing beside your bed probably means your nightstand now has less flower vases and oil diffusers and more pacifiers and burp cloths. Probably less of the other kind of stuff you keep in nightstands too, if you know what I mean 😉
Since you’re going to be spending a lot of time in bed caring for your wee little babe through the night, on very little sleep, it just makes sense to want to set yourself up so you have everything you need within arm’s reach. Especially since you’ll want to keep the room as dark as possible during the night and having to fumble around blindly to find something you need while your baby is crying is such a pain for both of you.
Life with a new baby is crazy, to say the least. But going in prepared makes a huge difference in the ease of everyday activities like nighttime feedings. There are obvious things you know you’ll need closeby like your pump if you’re a pumping mom or a nursing pillow if you’re a nursing mom, but there are also some items you’ll want to have handy that are not so obvious but will make life so much easier for you.
You’ll also find that all the things you need may not fit on top of your nightstand so make use of little baskets you can store underneath your nightstand or the space just under your bed (but don’t forget to give yourself clearance so you don’t trip!).
Lastly, don’t worry about what guests think if they see these items in your room. They may not do things the same way as you but it doesn’t mean anyone’s method is wrong. Parents do whatever they find most convenient and that can look different in every home!
Without further ado, here are the items I highly suggest you keep on or in your nightstand. We’ll start with the more common items and go down to the things you may not have thought of.
What You Need By Your Bedside
Burp Cloths
A solid first item that you probably thought of already. Both of my babies weren’t big spit-uppers but they were messy eaters, whether from the bottle or the boob. I would keep at least two burp cloths handy for when it’s time to feed your baby so you can tuck one under their chin/neck area to catch the dribbles and have another as backup. I noticed for myself that when I would get my letdown while nursing I’d have to hold a burp cloth to the opposite boob to avoid a milky mess all over myself or the sheets. Don’t underestimate the power of a letdown especially in the early days before your milk regulates!
These are my favorite burp cloths! They’re SO SOFT, super absorbent, adorable and lasted perfectly through feeding both of my kids!
Pacifiers
I mean….. does this one really need much explanation? I would suggest keeping two or three around because if you drop one on the floor it’s basically gone until the morning. And sometimes it’s hard to see where it ends up in the bassinet too- somewhere under your baby or who knows where. The Soothies pacifiers have been our kids’ favorites and they’re great but they’re nearly see-through which doesn’t make things any easier.
Boppy/Pillows
Whether you feed your baby from the bottle or the boob, positioning your little one the right way is crucial. These pillows help for just that- to help your baby to be fed at the right angle with a bottle, to get the right angle to latch properly onto the boob, to prop up your arm so it doesn’t give out trying to support the weight of your baby in your arms, or however else they could come in handy. Even just regular pillows help a ton if you’re nursing or pumping in bed. I would keep a pillow propped up against the wall to rest my back and another pillow to position my son when we bottle fed him in the early days.
Phone Charger
You probably already had this plugged in and ready to go long before having your baby. I mean we’re living in the 21st century after all. But you don’t know how valuable it is until you’re stuck nursing for fifteen minutes or even thirty with literally nothing to do and a dead phone in your hands. The AGONY. I honestly keep phone chargers all around the house. I also used my phone to track sleeping and feeding for both of my kids so I needed my phone for that too. Even before having kids I always needed to charge my phone at night and when you’re a mom you know you always want your phone charged in case of an emergency. Last thing I’ll say about this is that it really helps to have some extra length/slack in the phone charger cord too so that you’re not kept on a short leash, so to speak.
Chapstick
I’m sure you already have this one in your nightstand too but it’s worth mentioning! Aquaphor is my ultimate fave because it moisturizes so well, it’s helps my chapped lips heal quickly and stays on all night!
Snacks
With quiet wrappers! If you’re pumping or nursing you’ll want to have fuel handy because it really drains you to be a milk machine. If you can, opt for something with protein and healthy fats. Fiber is always your friend. Just make sure it’s something filling because you’re burning lots of calories every time. Protein bars are great, nuts, trail mix, pretzels, etc. But again, try to find things that have quiet wrappers because if you get baby to sleep and then their eyes shoot open right as you’re opening your snack, you might have to start all over which suuuuucks.
Water Bottles
Along with making you hungry, pumping/nursing makes you crazy thirsty. And you need to stay hydrated to help keep your milk supply up. I’m guilty of drinking a ton of water when I take my vitamins and prenatals right before I lay down to go to sleep every night. I just chug chug chug and it’s miraculous that I don’t wake up before my baby does to get myself to the bathroom. Thank you Jesus because I’m already surviving on very little sleep as a mom of two, two and under. I also chug a bunch every time I wake up with the baby so by morning my bottle is usually empty or very nearly. I always make sure to fill up one of my favorite 32 oz insulated water bottles before I go to bed so hopefully I don’t get stuck having to walk to the kitchen for a refill in the middle of the night. It’s also a good idea to keep a backup disposable water bottle somewhere close by like under your bed. With my first kid I actually had an entire case of water next to my bed and went through it fast but eventually I felt bad for the environment and switched to my Ironflask.
Haakaa Silicone Breast Pump
A friend of mine built up a fabulous stash of milk in her garage freezer and when I congratulated her she told me it was all caught from her Haakaa pump! I couldn’t believe it. I had to get one and try it out and sure enough, if you stick that sucker on your boob while you nurse on the opposite side, you’ll catch a great amount from your letdown! Even if you nurse on both sides, you’ll still have plenty of milk but the Haakaa catches whatever milk would have soaked into a burp cloth and more. So helpful!
Hand Lotion
You’re changing lots of diapers so you’re washing your hands all the time and maybe also washing lots of bottles and pump parts and it doesn’t take long before you have reptilian hands. Keep this insanely moisturizing lotion in or on your nightstand to put on before heading to sleep and whenever you can and your hands will be as soft as your baby’s butt.
Hair Tie/Scrunchie
Who wants their hair all over the place during a feeding or pump sesh? Not I.
Baby Monitor
And keep the monitor plugged in and charging, every night. Why, you may ask? The baby is right next to me so why would I need to watch them on the monitor too? I guess you don’t have to BUT here’s a pro tip- if you’re not sure whether your little one is asleep yet or you hear them moving around and want to check on them but you definitely don’t want to wake them by hovering your face over them, pull the monitor under your covers and take a peek! I do this all the time. Or I’d lay my baby down and go crouch down low with the monitor across the room (so the light doesn’t brighten up the room) and watch. Just make sure you keep the volume off.
Prenatal Vitamins
Prenatal vitamins are STILL important after giving birth if you’re breastfeeding your baby! What worked best for me to ensure that I took my prenatals every single night is I kept them on my nightstand so it was a part of my bedtime routine that was like clockwork for me. This prenatal vitamin was the one I took because it has folic acid and DHA (super important omega-3 fatty acid that helps with brain and retina development) and it was very affordable. I just replaced taking my nightly birth control pill that I had taken for a decade with my prenatal vitamin. If you’re not great at remembering to take it every day, a great way to start a new habit is to attach it to another habit so for me, I’ve always paired taking my prenatal with the things I did right before going to sleep- lotion, chapstick, vitamins, water. You don’t have to keep them at your bedside if you prefer to take them another time of day but this worked really well for me.
Backup Swaddle, Backup Bassinet Sheet, Backup Jammies
One word: blowouts. Poop or pee, either one, and either way you will have to do something about it and it’s best to just have backups right there for when your little love does their worst at 3am.
BONUS ITEMS
These extra items apply to pumping mamas and mamas of formula-fed babies.
Bottles
Keep more than you think you’ll need nearby and pre-assemble all of them. It’s so much easier to have them ready to go than having to rummage through a bin of all the individual parts and assemble them when you’re half asleep. I think we all discover at some point that if you miss one piece, it just doesn’t work. I ended up grabbing 9-10 bottles so that I was never left high and dry with no clean bottles to use if I got behind with washing them during the day and I think it was a totally justifiable purchase.
Pumping Supplies
When you’re a pumping mom you know there are lots of parts that are necessary every time you get yourself set up to pump. And just like bottles, if you’re missing one piece, it’s a no-go. If you can get extras of your pump parts it really helps too. I did this too late in the game and when a teeny tiny little part went down the drain in the middle of the night I was just thankful that I somehow had ONE extra of that little piece. I pumped in bed or right by our bed but I personally didn’t bag up or bottle my milk at my bedside. I actually turned our guest bathroom down the hall into my own super clean bottle and pump part washing station with bins and brushes and everything (no one was allowed to go to the bathroom in there) and I did my best to set everything up each time to make the next pumping session as prepared as possible. Extra parts can give you a lot of peace of mind.
Pumping Bra
I don’t know HOW I got by without a pumping bra in the three months that I exclusively pumped for my son. My arms were always sore from holding my pumps in place and I hated how I had to rig up a setup to keep them in place if I wanted to use my phone at all and I still knocked the pumps out of place all the time which is so frustrating and messy! Am I the only person who cannot stand realigning the flanges?? It’s so annoying. A pumping bra makes life so much easier by keeping everything in place for you so your hands are free and you can just live your best life while you milk yourself.
Mini Fridge
This one might seem funny but let me tell you, it made such a difference to not have to walk all the way down the hall, down the stairs and over to the kitchen every time I had to go bring my freshly pumped milk to the fridge or freezer. If you have a mini fridge it can really come in handy to keep in your room or closeby to save you time, especially since pumping is already such a time consuming task. And after you’re done using it for breast milk you can keep it in your room for wine and cheese! I mean drinks and snacks….
Bottle Warmer
If you’re trying to save the step of walking to the kitchen to put pumped milk away then you should also save the walk to the kitchen to warm up a bottle. We kept a bottle warmer on top of the mini fridge, along with a hand towel to dry off the bottle when we took it out of the warmer because it warms in a water chamber. We also kept a disposable water bottle on top of the mini fridge to refill the warmer when needed. It might have been an unconventional setup but it was highly functional and worked great for us!
Formula
If you feed your baby formula, the same concept of having it nearby through the night applies. If you use a baby formula maker/dispenser, keep that nearby and keep the water you plan to use nearby whether it’s from a water bottle or a pitcher in the mini fridge, and you’re golden! Now you have no reason to walk all the way to the kitchen all night!
Those are all my must-haves for your bedside when you’re taking care of your newborn and they will definitely make your nights so much easier!