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Don't put sunscreen on a new baby. Keep them in the shade when outside. When they get to be a little older (maybe 3m+) you could put on a little baby safe sunscreen if you're going outside and can't avoid the sun. Most sunscreen says not before 6m, but if sun is unavoidable, then sunscreen is preferable to being burned.

They don't recommend baby sunscreen until your baby is 6 months. In terms of the other stuff, we use what we were gifted (Johnsons) and alternate it with Earth's Best shampoo. For soap, we use regular old Dove Sensitive Skin bar, which is what they gave us in the hospital. Gas drops worked well for us, and we had to buy our own baby Tylenol. Get the store brand though, it's so much cheaper and is exactly the same!

Is Burt's Bees safe for whatever cloth diapers you are using? Also, water works great for cloth wipes! We just kept a spray bottle full.

@buttermilk: I love Ava Anderson for baby soap, lotion and diaper cream. I think the burts bees stuff smells terrible!! They also have a sunscreen but like pp said, not til 6months.

@buttermilk: We still use Burts Bees at 2.5. We love it. For diaper cream, we mainly used coconut oil in the beginning, or California Baby if he got rashy. Both are CD-safe. Now we primarily use CB because sending coconut oil to daycare was weird, ha.

For yourself, PP, I definitely recommend the EMAB Nipple Butter over regular Lanolin. It is not as thick so it goes on much more easily, which is key when trying to soothe sore nipples!

Definitely stock up on Baby Tylenol. If/when you have to use it, you go through a bottle more quickly than you think, especially if you're giving it every 4 hours for a couple of days. Our ped recommended Vit D drops, but that's because D was a January baby, so neither of us were getting ANY sun exposure.

@littlebug: Small thread jack. Do you find that baby doesn't mind the emab nipple butter? It smells so strong to me, that I'm afraid it will be off putting even if it's been a while since I put it on.

what i suggest is not stocking up or buying huge bottles, b/c you just never know how baby will react. we fortunately got different sets of baby items at my baby showers. i used aveeno baby wash and aveeno lotion for my son. he was ok with the wash, but his skin was too dry (he has mild eczema) for the lotion. my pedi recommend aveeno too and aquaphor. but he didn't do well w/ the aquaphor then she said to try cetaphil, and in the more severe areas of eczema, she said to mix a dab of hydrocortisone in the cetaphil and it worked wonders!

We love CA baby products especially the lavender lotion! I like the Honest body wash/shampoo but haven't been a fan of the Honest lotion...it's so hard to rub in!

We use everything EMAB....

Aquaphor. I love it b/c it can be used for pretty much anything anywhere so that's what we have in the diaper bag instead of carrying different things!

I personally didn't care for EMAB's nipple butter - Lansinoh's lanolin was a lot more soothing.

Get hand cream - I used a lot of Jenna Hipp or Cetaphil hand cream - because you are going to be washing or sanitizing your hands like crazy the first few months.

Get/save the peri-bottles they give you at the hospital. I keep a diluted baby soap solution in them next to the sink for in-the-hair throw ups or poopsplosions.

We had an entire full of foaming hand soap because it rinses a lot faster for the million times a day we were washing our hands.

Get a tub of Triple Paste - at some point your baby will get the skin peeling type painful diaper rash and that stuff will heal it up ASAP.

You may want to make some padsicles. Your hospital will probably send you home with those giant postpartum pads. Squirt them with alcohol free witch hazel and a tablespoon or two of 100% aloe vera gel, fold them in thirds, wrap them in foil, and freeze overnight. I ended up with a C-section and gave them to my friend with a 2nd degree tear and she said they helped a ton.

Keep baby first aid stuff on hand - you wont need them right away probably but you don't want the 3am baby screaming situation. Baby Tylenol, Baby Advil, gas drops, Pedi-Lax suppositories, Nose Frieda, thermometer, baby Q-tips, and nail clippers.

Also, we have Honest Company's sunscreen and don't really like it. It stains and its greasy. We use it cuz we have it, but I like Babyganics sunscreen much better. We also have their insect repellant although we've never used it - we live in a buggy place.