Because I fully believe in milking this whole week as Mother’s Day week, I wanted to dedicate this post to new Moms and I’ve created a guide of some of my favorite must-have items! Even though my little girl is already 8 months old, I still consider myself a new Mom, to her. 😉 We’ve got a pretty good eating, sleeping, playing schedule for her down now which ALWAYS makes things easier for everyone. Did you hear that new Mom? Once you can get into a routine, life will get easier, I promise. When you are in that whole newborn phase, you are probably thinking that it is one of the best and worst times of your life, trust me I’ve been there. But it gets better and the challenges are still there as a parent, but they change.

Anyhow, I just wanted to share some of my “Top 12 New Mom Must-Have Essentials” and what I love about each thing… and the best part is, ONE WINNER WILL WIN IT ALL IN A GIVEAWAY BELOW… YES, EVERYTHING IN THIS GUIDE WILL GO TO ONE LUCKY NEW MOM!! There’s a lot of guides out there that are geared towards “baby”, but I really wanted to gear this towards items that would help Moms.

1. Medela Freestyle Breast Pump
Me and my pump have a love hate relationship. If you know me personally, you will know that my life is basically tied to the pump right now. My schedule goes like this, wake up in the morning and nurse Vivian. Go to work for a couple hours, then pump. Work some more, then pump. Get off work and pick up the kids and head home to pump. Eat dinner and put the kids to bed. Blog. Then pump before bedtime. Obviously since I am a working Mom, I can’t nurse my little girl throughout the day, so a portable, yet strong pump that does the job well, is key. The Medela Freestyle Breast Pump is a great option that fits all these criteria. Even if you are planning to exclusively breastfeed, a pump is great to increase milk supply in between nursing sessions as well.

One great thing about Medela is that they have a program called Medela Recycles where they will donate two Symphony Preemie+ Breastpumps and breastfeeding supplies to Ronald McDonald House Charities across the country in exchange for the pumps they receive through the recycling program.  The end goal is to provide mothers with the same high-quality equipment they use at the hospital during their stay at a Ronald McDonald House. The simple act of recycling an old breast pump through Medela Recycles provides mothers with peace of mind that their pump will be recycled with the added benefit of knowing they are providing much-needed support to another mother beginning her breastfeeding journey during a difficult time. To date, there have been almost 1,900 pumps recycled through the program as Medela strives to meet a goal of 12,000 recycled pumps this year.  Amazing!

2. 4Moms Breeze Playard
This is where Vivian currently sleeps at home. We haven’t moved her up to her crib yet since it’s a bit far from our room, but she currently sleeps in the 4Moms Breeze Playard on the same floor as us. She loves it, you will love it, it’s where your baby can SLEEP! And yes, your baby will sleep… even if it’s just for 1-2 hour spurts of sleep at first!

3. $100 Oilo Studio credit
I recently discovered this shop and have a few friends that own items from this shop, but you can basically buy anything and everything you need for your baby’s nursery here. They’ve got bedding options, furniture, lighting, basically anything to make your baby feel comfortable in her room, which means you will feel good too. They’ve also got some of the prettiest looking designs that will make your nursery totally pin-worthy.

4. Undercover Mama Nursing Shirt
Yes yes yes yes yes. These nursing shirts clasp to your nursing bra and come in a variety of colors and styles. If you are like me, you probably like to wear a cami under every shirt, well with this, you don’t have to pull down the straps like a normal tank top to nurse or pump. One step saved for you, which means more time back in your day, woot!

5. Lily Jade Sarah Grace Diaper Bag
A stylish diaper bag, comes in gold or silver, this is your EVERY DAY BAG. You can use it to store diapers or baby stuff, or you can just use it for YOU, it’s THAT PRETTY!! I use mine a ton, it has a lot of compartments and matches any outfit, I swear!

6. Tiffany Rose Floral Maxi Dress
Tiffany Rose carries some of the most gorgeous maternity and nursing dresses ever. This floral maxi dress is just insanely gorgeous and would make any new Mom feel like a million bucks by just wearing it. Because you know most of the time you don’t even change out of your sweats or shower… but throw this dress on and some eyeliner and lipstick and you are ready to go out on the town!

7. Little Dream Bird Stroller Cover
Did you know that the top part or canopy of a stroller usually doesn’t do a great job of keeping out cold air, wind, etc. from your baby? A stroller cover is a great product to have to ensure that as your strolling along to get your baby to fall asleep, that suddenly harsh wind or rain or something doesn’t wake him/her up! Because there’s not much worse than a baby being startled awake right as they are about to fall asleep, and then you have to start all over again.

8. Lou Lou and Company Roo + Water Sling
Babies can be fussy, did you know that? But they LOVE being worn close to their Moms (or Dads), just like they were for 9 months in a Moms womb! I absolutely LOVE babywearing and the Roo Sling is my fave. It’s super easy to slip on and take off and Vivian adores being right in my chest. She loves looking around at things with her tiny little head and she can fall right asleep in it when tired. The Roo + Water is even great for taking with you when showering or to the pool! Yes, you can even wear your baby into the shower if you don’t want to take him/her off!

9. Dr. Brown’s Bottle Feeding Gift Set
You may go through a lot of bottles with a lot of different nipple types, but we landed on Dr. Brown’s bottles for both of our kids. This is really a preference thing, but once you find what your baby likes, then Dad can take over for a feeding here or there so you can get some rest!! I like Dr. Brown’s because it has a great vent system, comes in a variety of nipple flow sizes, and there’s a few different bottle sizes too. Vivian is currently using the 8 oz PP bottle with a Level 3 flow nipple.

10. Covered Goods Nursing Cover
Nursing covers are amazing. I like to have one everywhere I go, basically one in the house and one in each car. This is an amazing product for nursing on the go (or pumping)! Instead of showing it all out there, you can slip one of these bad boys over and basically the whole nursing (or pumping) situation is covered. The great thing about the Covered Goods one is that it can also be a multi-purpose cover and act as a car seat cover… OR you can wear it as a scarf!

11. Belabumbum Mom and Baby Sleepwear Gift Set
In terms of nursing sleepwear, all I wear is Belabumbum! They have a variety of designs, sleepwear styles, and everything is nursing friendly, i.e. wrap tops or easy to pull down clothing. Not to mention, everything is super soft so perfect for your and baby’s skin!

12. BeliBea Nursing Bra
And last but not lease, the BeliBea nursing bra will be your new friend. I mean, you are wearing it pretty close to your heart so it better be your friend. The unique thing about this bra vs. other nursing bras is that it actually has two pull down clasps on each side. One for the bra part and one for an extra layer that has holes in it for pumping! Yes, you can stick your pump right into the holes and pump without even having to take off the bra! Again, anything to save me steps in my busy life of mine, is a bonus in my book!

OK and now what you have all been waiting for… all of these shops that I have mentioned have come together to give away each of these items I have mentioned in my guide! This giveaway has a total value of $1200+! All you have to do is enter in the Gleam widget below for your chance to be the lucky new Mom essentials winner! 🙂

New Mom Essentials Giveaway on Sandy a la Mode!

This giveaway is for U.S. residents only and closes on 5/20/15 at 11:59PM MST. Good luck!! 

Special thanks to Alexi Bullock for creating the graphics for this post!  If you are looking for any web design work, she is your girl!