20 Important Household Things to Stock up on Before Baby Comes

Wondering what things to stock up on before baby comes? Having essential household items on hand will make postpartum life with your newborn as easy as possible.

The first few weeks with a newborn can be chaotic. Between hormonal changes, sleepless nights, caring for your postpartum body and your brand new baby, life can feel very overwhelming.

Newborns can take all your focus and keeping track of what’s in your pantry or medicine cabinet can easily slip your mind. You also may not feel up to running errands right away. Trying to run out to a store either with or without your newborn can be a challenge.

And though I hope we all have help and support around us as mothers, it isn’t always the case. Even with a great support system, you likely don’t want to find yourself out of toilet paper in the middle of the night.

Make the transition as easy on yourself as possible with a little extra preparation.

Wondering when you should get started with your stockpile?

The third trimester is a great time to start stocking up your household supplies.

For a full list of all of the things you should do during your third trimester, you can find our Third Trimester Checklist here.

Now if you’re tight on space and don’t have room to store a stockpile of household goods, consider putting these items on autopilot with Amazon Subscribe & Save. Then you know you’ll still have everything when you need it and even score a discount.

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In This Guide:

Household Things To Stock Up On Before Baby Arrives

Disposable plates and utensils – Even if you aren’t a frequent paper plate user, during this short window of time, they are extremely convenient so you can avoid washing dishes as much as possible the first couple weeks.
Dish soap and Dishwasher Detergent – Unfortunately, paper plates won’t save you from all dishwashing. Not only will bowls and pans still somehow pile up in the sink, but you’ll also have plenty of extra washing if you’re bottle feeding.
Paper towels – Easy to grab for quick cleanups, make sure you have an extra pack since these can fly off the roll.
Trash bags – Babies seem to create a lot of trash, so stash an extra box of trash bags.
Cleaning Supplies – I wouldn’t expect to be doing any heavy cleaning, but sometimes with newborns messes just happen, like diaper explosions that somehow get on your walls and carpet, so it’s best to have some of your preferred cleaning products on hand.
Laundry Detergent – As stated, messes happen, and newborns create a surprising amount of laundry. Many parents pick a detergent without perfumes or dyes that might be irritating for newborns.
Batteries – Between TV remotes and baby products, you do not want to run out of batteries.
Pet supplies – Make sure you have enough food for your furry friends for at least a few weeks. Also, for cats stock up on kitty litter. Not only are these things absolutely necessary, but they also tend to be fairly large and heavy making them more inconvenient to shop for with your newborn.
Toilet Paper – Just pick up an extra pack so you won’t have to worry about it.

Toiletries To Stock Up On Before Baby Arrives

Hand Soap – You’ll probably be washing your hands much more than usual with so many diaper changes, so make sure you have extra soap. I like to get the giant tub to refill the soaps as needed.
Lotion – Make sure you have any moisturizer you typically use especially since hormonal changes postpartum can cause dry skin. Also, the frequent hand washing can lead to very dry, cracked hands.
Shampoo and Conditioner – At least check them and see if you’re low before baby arrives so you don’t run out. Postpartum can feel super gross and you may want to shower more frequently. Also, a shower can be a nice little moment of calm on a chaotic day.
Body wash or Soap – Just like above, make sure you have enough for a few weeks of frequent showers.
Toothpaste – This is something you definitely won’t want to run out of so grab an extra tube.
Postpartum Supplies – There’s actually a lot of postpartum supplies that we recommend getting ahead of time and you can find the full list of postpartum essentials here. At the very least stock up on menstrual pads because you’ll be using them for several weeks.

Foods To Stock Up On Before Baby Arrives

You won’t want to come home to a bare kitchen so stock up on your typical groceries, but especially on items that you can freeze or are shelf stable.

The simple task of feeding yourself can suddenly feel challenging with a newborn. Even if you usually love to cook, you might not for a while. Having lots of easy to grab snacks and low prep meals can be life saver.

Your regular groceries might be different from mine, but here are some foods that I found helpful to have on hand:

Cereal
Crackers
Peanut butter
Coffee
Pasta
Spaghetti Sauce
Dried fruit
Granola bars
Nuts
Frozen Veggies
Freezer Meals

I personally LOVE freezer meals, but I know they aren’t everyone’s thing. If you don’t care for freezer meals or the prep isn’t for you, consider stocking your freezer with other perishable ingredients you typically use. For instance, having ground beef that is already browned in your freezer makes it super easy to throw together tacos or spaghetti.

Baby Supplies To Stockpile

So I focused primarily on the non-baby, household items. Obviously, you’ll be preparing for your baby as well. There’s only a few items that you may want to consider stocking up on before your baby comes:

Wipes – You can never have too many baby wipes. Again though, some babies may be sensitive to certain types, but you can usually find uses for extra wipes.
Diaper pail trash bags – If you are using a diaper pail that requires a specific bag like a diaper genie, stock up on extra refills.
Diapers – Many parents wonder “should I stock up on diapers before baby is born,” but the answer isn’t that simple. You should have some newborn and size 1 diapers, but since babies grow so quickly don’t go overboard on the small sizes. Some babies skip right over the newborn size.

If you want to stockpile diapers, I would only get 1 box of Newborn, 2 boxes of size 1, and 2 boxes of size 2. Depending on how fast your baby grows, you could need to get more in each size, but hopefully you won’t end up with tons of extras that they’ve outgrown.

Also, keep in mind that some infants react to different brands and sometimes different brands just fit better, so it’s best to keep the receipts just in case.

If you have a toddler in diapers, make sure you are stocked up on their size.

If you’re looking for recommendations for specific baby products, we’ve got you covered with our reviews and our top picks for everything from stollers to bottles. They’re organized by category: