Changing mats might not seem like an essential item on your list or even something that you thought about till you stumbled across this article, but as a first-time mum, I can tell you that having a dedicated place for changing diapers is invaluable. Our changing mat is one of the most used products in our house, and it’s saved our sanity more than once because we have everything we need to change our baby centered around that one mat specially when the baby poops or pees.

Baby-wearing has recently become super-popular right now, but you might be surprised to learn it has a long history. Mums have been wearing various versions of the baby carrier since many centuries to keep babies close to them. Some of the early carriers were made from just a long piece of cloth wrapped tightly around the woman’s body to keep the baby close to them while they worked the fields or went about their day.