Baby essentials for grandparents’ house?

February 22, 2025 3:19 AM

Our daughter is a few weeks away from her due date, and we’re shopping today. What should I have at my house? They live about 45 minutes away and I’m hoping / expecting that the baby will be here a few days a month once they’ve settled in a bit. Looking for personal recommendations rather than an internet list. Thanks!
posted by Sweetie Darling to Shopping (14 answers total)

Our two year old daughter's paternal grandma is nearby and we visit 4-8 times a month. Grandma got a changing table and crib early on ... changing table has been used a lot, crib not so much for sleeping, but it's been a fun place for them to play in a contained way, which is what a pack and play can do. Our daughter outgrew hers for sleeping while traveling around 18 months. The crib at least continues to provide an option for sleep at grandma's and we'll adjust the rails to a toddler bed setup soon. We've never used noise machines for sleep with our daughter, but we were gifted one and will leave it outside her room at grandma's if grandma wants to play games or when we are on the weekly family video calls during nap time. We only used audio monitors at our home and mostly just listened with our ears for her at grandma's. However, if we feel like we needed extra monitoring, we use our phones and FaceTime as a monitoring system. The phone that will be placed along the crib rails gets the volume turned to silent and the monitoring phone that stays with us goes on mute. This allows us to watch and hear anything in her crib without disturbing her with any noise we make.

We bring and leave behind toys and books and she has a few lightweight decorative bins that she stores them in for easy transport between the kid room and living room. We were inundated with blankets from friends and family, so we also had plenty of those to pass along, as well as burp cloths. We also left some plates, cups, and utensils that our daughter liked once she was eating solids, plus bibs. That pretty much set us up for a while and we've recently added a potty seat and stool.

Congrats on this new phase in your life!
posted by icaicaer at 3:39 AM on February 22

Oh yay! It's awesome you are thinking about this! Here is a list to get you started:
Pack 'n play
Muslin baby blankets
Find something (just about anything) that lights up for tummy time
Sophie the Giraffe is a classic for gnawing on
For toys, think texture, sound and light - doesn't have to have batteries, per se, but use of shiny, crinkly fabric
Playmats are great too
Vibrating baby bouncer
If you are in the US, sign up for this book club, as it'll help you keep new and age appropriate books in your house as the baby grows.

Also, what is the car seat situation? Can you get one for your car or will the car seat travel with the baby?

PS You can get all of this stuff for free or cheap on Craigslist because babies grow fast!
posted by Toddles at 3:40 AM on February 22

Congratulations! Good advice above, but a couple more things to consider:

2-3 spare emergency outfits, including at least one sleeper (find out how your daughter feels about fleece vs. cotton, etc.)
duplicate nursing pillow if your daughter will be breastfeeding and if she uses one
diapers (ask her what brand she wants to use)
a light, movable, secure place to put the baby down for just a second-- small newborn rocker or similar. Pack-n-play will be useful for naps, but you don't want to be carting that from room to room.
posted by Bardolph at 4:09 AM on February 22

Would it be helpful to have some baby tylenol, a baby thermometer, that kind of thing? Diaper cream or aquaphor, whatever they prefer? If by any chance they are formula feeding, it might be helpful to have on hand an extra bottle or two and unopened can of whatever it is they use, but it may take a little time to settle on what baby likes so you can wait and see.
posted by fennario at 4:39 AM on February 22

Once the baby is out of infancy (i.e., is crawling/scooting) child proofing will be a big deal. This was always the most difficult thing about being at someone else's house. Not least because you also need to account for your own needs to access and accomplish things in your own home, too. It's something I would ask the baby's parents to come do a walkthrough for later on, but before the baby can get into trouble, for instance, chewing on electrical wires or, nature forbid, getting into weapons.
posted by cocoagirl at 4:42 AM on February 22 [8 favorites]

Adding, it's also good practice to take an infant/child choking & CPR class or have the instructions easily to hand.
posted by cocoagirl at 4:46 AM on February 22 [3 favorites]

Congratulations! I recently had my delightful grandson visit me in southern Vermont and even though my daughter likes to pack heavy she said it was great that I had:

first aid kit with baby tylenol, thermometer, etc.;
pack and play;
changing pad(s);
diapers and the special organic made from fairy wings wipes she uses;
all the books;
2 baby blankets;
bottle washer;
one of those play pad things that you stick the kid under;
a rocking baby bounce chair;
baby gates to keep the dogs out of certain rooms;
nursing pillow;
accomplice who will tell daughter she needs to check her tires while I steal baby because he is the BEST and smartest and cutest baby in the world/jk.
posted by berkshiredogs at 5:24 AM on February 22 [3 favorites]

My parents had a playpen with an attached sleep-safe bassinet and later a full crib. I was pretty hard core on sleep safety standards. Also a car seat in their car (though I didn't own a car so this was basically the only car seat --but I know that lots of grandparents have car seats even if parents have a car with car seat).

Some sort of seating for feeding. A high chair or lobster chair. A swing or bouncy seat. Also feeding tools once baby starts eating...plates and spoons...whatever type of sippy cup parents prefer...a food mill if that is consisten with parents' feeding plan. Mom would probably live t8 have a burning pillow (my brest friend!) Stored at your place if she is nursing.

Gates, cupboard locks for anything dangerous, a plan for storing medication and any dangerous chemicals out of reach.

An available bath method for the inevitable away-from-home blow out. Lots of people use the kitchen sink for this though pediatricians don't recommend due to concerns about exposure to raw-food-borne pathogens.

Obviously toys and books are great ti have but baby will likely arrive with some of these things if they have favorites.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 11:39 AM on February 22

One daughter-in-law kept a couple of packs of frozen breast milk in our freezer, to go with the couple of bottles/nipples/caps we kept around as well. She breastfed our grandson almost exclusively but Stuff Happens. We never used the milk, and our grandson was having other liquids from sippy cups before the milk had to be discarded, but we were prepared in case Stuff Happened.

Our other grandson, only 8 months older, was bottle fed and we kept some canned formula for him, always checking expiry dates, of course. As it happens, both families used the same brand of bottles, etc. (the breastfeeding family used bottles for the occasions when Dad was feeding), but if they had used different brands we would have kept a couple of each around.

We had a bunch of other things that we could have done without or made do, except for the two baby gates and all the cupboard safety locks. Those we used a lot and workarounds if we didn't have them would have been problematic.
posted by angiep at 12:20 PM on February 22

+1 to baby proofing house. Probably won't be needed until baby is around 9 months old, but the work you do to make your house safe will be needed for years. A safe room where babies and kids can play safely without fear of breaking any expensive knickknacks would be the best gift. It is exhausting to visit people who haven't child proofed and have to keep repeating, "don't touch that".

Honestly, when my kids were babies we traveled with everything they needed because the diaper bag was always packed.

It was more when they got a little older that I appreciated people having plastic plates and cups. And then around 3 when kids really started having opinions I loved the relatives that always had the kids favorite food on hand. (yogurt and chicken nuggets for my youngest)
posted by MadMadam at 5:48 PM on February 22

I watched the grandchild two days a week from a couple weeks after he came out of the NICU until he was three and went off to preschool. In the beginning, you don't need much. Honestly. A basket to put the baby in, in the beginning. A second-hand crib, with some sheets and a mattress protector and a chair for sitting next to it. A sleep sack is nice, with mitts so they don't scratch their faces. Diapers. Changes of clothes. Extra bottles (he never did figure out how to latch, being five weeks early, so my kid pumped a lot). Some burp cloths. A front-pack for going out for walks. Later, a backpack and a stroller. A pack and play is nice, but not until later, and not for long (they want out). Baby gates.

Of course, I took it a lot further than that. All the drawers in the kitchen with baby-proof latches. No furniture that can be toppled over. An entire room in my house, a room that is just for him, with low shelves full of books and a bunch of bins of toys. He is five now and when the family comes over once a week for dinner, he goes upstairs to "his room" and we hear him telling stories to himself and crashing around.

Basically, whatever your grandchild's parents are willing to put up with. The most important thing about being a grandparent, after having an absolute blast, is not to get on their nerves and to make their lives easier.
posted by Peach at 7:00 PM on February 22 [1 favorite]

Buy Nothing groups are great for baby stuff. A car seat is really handy; they're a pain to to move and reinstall and required for any car travel. Otherwise, babies do not need much more than what's in the diaper bag. Once a baby is sitting up, a high chair is handy and multi-use. When my grandson was toddling, I used wooden shims to make the bookcases harder to pull over. Screwed a tall cabinet to the wall. Put blanks in outlets and used a strong elastic to secure a cupboard. He liked banging on pots and pans with wooden utensils. I'm hearing impaired, I didn't mind.
posted by theora55 at 11:54 AM on February 23 [1 favorite]

I always made sure that the grandparent homes had:

a couple of bottles (same as they used at home)
a pacifier, if they will be providing one
several spare outfits
small package of diapers and wipes
tummy time blanket
a few receiving blankets/burp rags
baby thermometer, infant Tylenol
a pack n play
maybe a stroller? We had strollers at each house (at the grandparents' request)
carseat base in case of emergency (make sure it matches the seat they have!)
simple baby toys
baby proofing items (plug covers, cabinet latches, etc)
Small swing or bouncer
High chair, for when baby is old enough (and then we added little baby bowls and spoons)
My husband's parents also had a little baby bath, for clean up after messy meals or diapers (this was super helpful many times!)
Eventually a little potty chair
posted by I_love_the_rain at 11:12 PM on February 23 [1 favorite]

If you're in North America, garage sale season is coming up; don't pay full price for stuff unless you need to. (Car seat is one thing recommended to buy new, because you don't know if a used one has been in an accident, FYI.)

Baby Tylenol, thermometer, etc.
Pack n' play or crib, depending on your available space, with appropriate sheets/etc. Bouncy seat.
Eventually, high chair and later, booster seat. My mom had some boosters that slid onto the table. I have a plastic booster like what you'd find at Perkins, found at a garage sale for a dollar, that has been used for many niblings (still waiting to see if grandkids happen).
Plastic tableware, small utensils, etc (Ikea has some cute stuff for cheap.) Sippy cups and probably bottles.
Toys you can get at garage sales/buy nothing sites for cheap. Better if they're different from what's at home.
Books that you used to read to your kids - it'll trigger nostalgia for all the adults in the room.
Extra blankets, spit-up rags.
If Mom is nursing, make sure there's a comfortable place for her to do so; private if she desires, or kick Grandpa out of his recliner if that's the best place (YFamilyMV).

When kid gets bigger: boots, jackets, hats, mittens in a range of sizes, for if they want to play in the muddy yard and parents didn't bring an extra outfit on Easter or whatever (this is the kind of thing you want to buy at garage sales, so no one cares if it gets messy). Stroller if you want to take the baby on walks.

I figure diapers/spare clothes will be in the diaper bag anyway, but if you can have spares of the bigger things/furniture, it will make it easier for the parents to bring baby to you on a whim/short notice without having to pack the trunk. And that's probably what you're hoping for, yes?
posted by cinnamonduff at 8:15 PM on February 24