newborn changing table essentials

the beauty of being pregnant in the age of the internet and the power of google is that it is insanely easy to figure out all the prepping you need to do ahead of time. however, that is also the biggest downfall. everyone approaches new motherhood so differently and when there are basically a million new mothers telling you the right and wrong way to do it, things can get pretty complicated.

but surprisingly one of the things that i found the hardest to research was the most essential elements to include on my changing table. i literally almost had a break down at 37 weeks because i didn't know if the butt paste or baby wipes should be at arms length. 

well worry no more my darling soon-to-be mother friends. this is my take on those things you need to wipe that tiny little tush.

*please note i said, "my take" because every baby is different and all their tush needs vary but these are the things that worked best for my little one.

first off, invest in a diaper bin. do NOT waste your money on the trash bags that are made for them. we have this one and use regular kitchen bags inside it. the diaper bin is clutch because it has a safety order blocking window that keeps most of the stank out. however, on extra poopie days, we would take out the trash on the regular.

next, we found the changing tables are nothing more than a glorified dresser with tiny panels on each side. I'm not the tallest so we used an old antique hutch that I had restored a couple years back. my husband then sawed down the legs so it was a nice comfy height for me. all you really need is a dresser wide enough for a changing pad to sit on top and long enough to fit a basket with a few essentials and a wipe warmer.

the changing pad: we had and still have only two covers for our changing pad. however, we bought these disposable mats and cut each sheet in fours. the changing situation is messy in the beginning so unless you plan on doing laundry twice a day, i would highly recommend slapping on one of these disposable mats during each changing.

that leaves us with the wipe warmer and her essentials basket. the wipe warmer is something i was not entirely sold on to begin with. it's definitely not a "need to have" but it's a really nice "nice to have."

some argue that if the wipes are always warm then they fuss when you're traveling or on-the-go and are forced to feel cold wipes. not true in our case. i think it only made her appreciate the warm wipe against her tush in the comfort of her own home.

now for the essentials basket.....this was so clutch for us. we received our basket from a friend with a ton of other really fun things inside and now i always make sure to put together a sweet basket for my friends. the basket itself is large enough to hold diapers for a few days and a bunch of random little lotions and necessities. here's the list of what we started with and where we are now:

• every day cream: we love us some california baby
• diaper rash cream: aveeno was our go-to rash cream when things looked super red but luckily we never experienced any sort of severe rash
• teething tablets: true this doesn't have to do with the bottom but it was so nice to have these within arms reach
• thermometer: it takes up precious basket space but trust me, you will be happy you had it around
• body lotion: one would think we're california snobs. honestly,  i'm sure any kind of lotion will do but i was sold on the "calming" selling point. after-bath-baby massages were essential with this stuff
• honest products: so now that we've gone over most of the essentials, i can't leave out the real key to the changing table....the DIAPERS! i was so dead set on cloth diapers. UNTIL i actually had to figure out how i was going to wash them and dry them and wash them and dry them. but with the daunting task of motherhood weighing over me, i tip-toed away from cloth (i may revisit the idea for the next round) and then we explored a diaper service but then i decided i would ultimately land at honest diapers. they are biodegradable and void of harsh chemicals so it felt like a nice compromise. i can not say enough amazing things about honest. and to be totally honest (no pun intended) we actually started off with these guys in the beginning for the blue line alerts just so we could get the hang of how often she needed to be changed but then once we got the swing of things around month 3, we decided to make an "honest family" out of us (hehehe). she had a couple minor rashes when she was in the pampers but has rarely had a rash since we made the switch to honest. we are also very consistent with her diaper changes and the honest balm and calendula cream. i want to say she's had a total of 3-4 rashes in two years so I think that's pretty good. 
• the most important item EVER!  I left this one for last because it was truly the best item on our changing table. a friend of mine gave me this as a gift and it was the most cherished newborn item. we generously applied this stick on her little bottom with every changing during her first 6 months or so. I can not say enough amazing things about this product. it was literally the only thing we needed before making the switch to the creams and balms.

And i guess that's it. so no need to have a 37-week freak out like me. all you truly need are diapers and the magic stick but the other stuff will definitely come in handy along the way.