Some adoptive parents stock up on supplies beforehand, while others choose to wait. If seeing baby supplies around the house is painful for you, we suggest you wait to purchase supplies, or buy minimal supplies and store them away until you’re ready to use them.
Becoming potential adoptive parents can leave you with a lot of questions. When should you prepare the nursery? What do you do if the baby comes early? When should you purchase baby supplies? The answer to these questions varies for everyone. For some, it’s easiest to get all the preparation out of the way as quickly as possible. For others who may have been struggling with infertility issues, it’s difficult to walk past an empty nursery day after day, waiting for your baby to arrive. For others still, there are so many things to be carefully planned and attended to, they don’t know where to start! To help guide your preparations, here is a list of what to get before your baby arrives and what can wait.
What to Buy Now
Many adoptive families find it useful to have a few supplies ready to go. If it’s too difficult to have baby supplies around, you can box everything up and store it away or have a family member hold onto it until you are ready to use it, or you can simply wait until after the adoption to stock up.
- Diapers and wipes. Start out with both newborn size and size 1 diapers, since you don’t know how big your baby will be. You can also buy from a few different brands to see what you like best. Just a few packages will do; you can stock up later after you know exactly what size and brand you’ll need.
- Bottles. Buy just a few 4 or 5 oz. bottles with slow-flow nipples to start. You can buy more later.
- Burp cloths. Babies tend to spit up a lot, so you’ll want to be prepared to start cleaning up messes the moment you bring your baby home.
- Blankets or swaddles. Babies love to be swaddled, so you’ll want to keep some cozy swaddling blankets on hand.
- Baby clothes. You can buy a few baby outfits for the first few days and stock up on more after you know the baby’s size and gender.
- Diaper bag. You’ll want this to carry all the above items when you go to meet your baby!
- Crib. A crib is a bit difficult to buy last minute. It’s a good idea to buy it ahead of time. You can wait to assemble it until you are sure you are going to be bringing your baby home.
What to Buy Later
Many baby supplies are unnecessary to have immediately. Here are some supplies that you can wait to purchase later.
- Car seat. You can actually buy your car seat on the way to the hospital.
- Bathing necessities. Your baby’s first bath will be at the hospital, which means that you’ll have more time to get bathing supplies later.
- Pacifier. You’ll receive a pacifier from the hospital. Some babies won’t even respond to a pacifier at first. This give you time to get more pacifiers after bringing your baby home.
- Stroller. This can be bought with the car seat or later. You most likely won’t have a need for it right away.
- Nursery furniture and decorations. Waiting to decorate the nursery until after you bring your baby home will allow you to customize it to your child’s name and/or gender.
Remember, this list is just a guideline. Some adoptive parents prefer to prepare every last thing before they bring their baby home, while others prefer to wait. Prepare in whichever way is best for your family!
Want More Help? We Are Here For You!
Adoption Makes Family is here to help! We are a non-profit (501-C3) licensed adoption agency based in Maryland. Our birth parent adoption counselors are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for your convenience. If you would like our advice or just need to talk, please give us a call at any time.
24-Hour Hotline 410-683-2100
If you have any questions about how to create your adoption plan, you can contact us by e-mail – dr.kirschner@adoptionmakesfamily.org – or use our online contact form. Adoption Makes Family was founded to meet the needs of birth parents and adoptive parents in a manner that is sensitive, compassionate, and personal.