Having a baby? Send this list to every cousin flying back from the US before your due date

A nasal aspirator that works via suction. You, the parent, provide that suction. With your mouth. I understand if you need a moment—I did too. My friend Harshana, who has two kids under three, called it one of the most useful products she owns. The filter means nothing comes back to you. When your baby can’t feed because they can’t breathe and it’s 3am, you don’t want to be refreshing a shipping tracker.

The Boppy gets all the press, but My Brest Friend has a flat, firm surface, a back-support strap that stays in place, and a small pocket for your phone—which you’ll have, because breastfeeding in the early weeks takes much longer than anyone warns you about.

Solid sterling silver cups that sit over the nipple between feeds. The silver is naturally antimicrobial, so they work as both protection and mild healing. They sound like a medieval remedy and, from everything I’ve heard, work like one in the best way.

For postpartum recovery, specifically the first few weeks when the bathroom is, as they say, a whole thing. The angled neck means you’re not contorting yourself for basic relief when you’re four days postpartum and running on three hours of sleep. Every person who has mentioned this to me has done so with a quiet urgency. I’m taking that seriously.

Sound machine and night light in one. The red-light setting doesn’t overstimulate the baby or pull you fully out of sleep during night feeds. This is mostly a vibes purchase. Sometimes that’s enough.

One of the things nobody warns you about is hair loss—it happens a few months after birth when oestrogen drops, and for some women it’s significant enough to cause real anxiety. Nutrafol’s postpartum formula is a daily supplement designed specifically for this window. Worth knowing about before the baby arrives so you’re not scrambling to source it later.

The baby monitor that keeps coming up. Overhead 1080p with night vision, but the real draw is sleep tracking that analyses patterns through an app. Also notably well-designed for something that’s going to live in your nursery for years.

The baby skincare product that’s taken over TikTok. Parents use it for baby acne, eczema, rashes, and general newborn skin drama, and the before/afters are genuinely convincing. It’s the kind of thing you’ll want stocked before you need it, because when you need it, you’ll need it at 2 am.