I remember feeling like pregnancy would last forever and we would have plenty of time to prepare, but like all the best things in life the time just flew by! Pretty soon we were six months pregnant and I really needed to get ourselves ready to bring a baby home.
When it came to buying baby things, I was definitely a minimalist and since we still live in a small space I thought it best to start off with the essentials and then expand further down the road once we knew what we would need. So much of baby product decisions depends on what your baby is like and how you want to parent, which I found really hard to completely know until we had our baby home with us. But in order to get an idea of our needs, I spent a lot of hours researching all the best baby products and baby registry lists and thought I would share my findings. Hopefully this helps soon to be mommas with their baby shopping. I won't go through our entire registry, but a few of our favorite things and what we found we can't live without. It's way too much information, but hopefully it's helpful!
***Please note, these products are what have worked well for us. Every parenting style, child preference, and life circumstances are different and may produce different opinions about these products.***
1. Solly Baby Wrap - I'm in love with this baby carrier. One of the hardest adjustments to motherhood was learning how to balance wanting to be holding my son and also needing to get things done. This wrap lets you do both! It's perfect for around the house, grocery shopping, walks and outings. There are several different kinds of wraps and we actually tried 3 of them (Baby K'tan, Moby Wrap and Solly Baby Wrap) and this was our favorite since it had everything missing in the other two wraps plus some special details. (Recommended by Love Taza here)
* made of Austrian beechwood trees so the fabric is soft, lightweight, breathable and strong
* thinner design makes it easy to pack (even folds into itself fitting into a little pouch at the end of the fabric) and much more comfortable to wear (doesn't bulk around your belly)
* built in pocket to hold keys or pacifier
* really feels secure, which offers you a truly hands free experience without any worry
* one size fits all (some wraps don't fit both parents)
* beautiful, fun color selection
2. NoseFrida - to get out all those baby boogers
* works without inserting anything into the nasal passage which can could damage to their nostrils (with a wiggly baby this is a must. I was so terrified of hurting our son's nose when fought us using a nasal syringe)
* our baby loves the suck feeling and smiles the whole time while holding still
* it works so efficiently and quickly
* wide neck and nipple base made for breastfeeding babies to avoid nipple confusion
* squeezable silicone base designed to mimic mother's skin
* doesn't leak
* modern look
* BPA, PVC and Phthalate free
4. Pampers Swaddlers Diapers - so these diapers are both great and not so great. They are the favorite of hospitals and lots of moms because they are absorbent, practically leak proof and have a wetness indicator. But the mesh on the inside frequently stuck to our boy's skin and I was concerned it hurt him when we had to remove it (the Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive Diapers were even worse). I also was not in love with the waist band. It was rough feeling and hard to get it tight enough to not cause a blow out without giving him red marks on his legs. That being said,
***we never had a single blow out in those diapers.***
Recently, we just tried Huggies Little Snugglers diapers that were gifted to us and they are wonderful so far. The waist band is so soft and stretchy so we can get the fit tight without restricting his movement or creating red marks on his legs. The inside absorbent layer is so soft too and doesn't stick to him at all. And they do have a wetness indicator. I am concerned though that they are a bit loose around his legs which might lead to blow outs. We will have to see.
5. Summer Infant Bath Sponge (Recommended by Cupcakes & Cashmere here)
* fits in any shower or tub. it also sits on a counter if you are doing a washcloth rather than immersion bath. The Puj is a great baby bath and is small to store but didn't fit in any of our sinks with the types of faucets they had.
* soft for baby when bathing and supportive. not slippery
* super easy to store if you are living in a small space
* cost: $5.99 (on Amazon)
6. Burt's Bees Mama Bee Body Oil - I was very surprised and impressed by this product. I got the typical skinny girl stretch marks when I grew so I thought for sure I would get them on my baby belly. I put this on every single morning and night of my pregnancy in the hopes that it would at least help decrease the amount or severity of them. Well because of this oil
***I actually didn't get a single stretch mark!***
I still can't believe it! This has Almond Oil in it which I later read in Bringing Up Bebe that Almond Oil is the french secret prescribed by Dermatologists to keep the stretch marks away. It has a great lemon sent too! (Recommended by Love Taza here)
7. Baby Bjorn One Carrier - There was really just one main reason I chose this carrier over the Ergo and that is that
***you can put the baby on your back securely and without any help***
I really wanted a carrier that worked 360, but being alone with my child during the day, I needed to be able to utilize the carrier to it's full capacity without any help. Other great aspects about this carrier are it has a mesh material option for hot summer months, the clips are very secure and easy to work, ergodynamic for both baby and you (Baby Bjorn works with pediatricians, child psychologists and midwives on the safety of their designs for baby's hip, body and mind development), it has a stylish design and color choices and the fabrics are safe for baby's skin and to suck on.
8. Halo Sleepsack Swaddle - This was our favorite sleepsack for one main reason,
***the swaddle can be done with either the arms in or out.***
This was essential for our little boy because he absolutely hates having his arms restricted. He sleeps in a superman position with both arms up above his head. We were able to swaddle his whole body the first two days of his life and then all he wanted to do was break free! We would wake up to him squirming and grunting and trying with all his might to get his arms up. In order for us to give him the comfort he was looking for in a safe SIDS wary way we loved this swaddle.
9. OXO Tot Bottle Brush - This is the popular bottle brush and it is fantastic. It's colorful, fits in every bottle and cleans every cranny, stands upright to keep it sanitary and has a smaller nipple brush included inside the stand. (Recommended by Love Taza here)
10. Nature Baby Organic Cotton Drawstring Booties (Recommended by Love Taza here)
* organic, soft, warm fabric
* stay on baby's feet even when they are kicking like crazy
* cute color choices
11. Layette Gowns - A lot of friends told us to stock up on these for middle of the night diaper changes and they were completely right! When you are so exhausted you can barely open your eyes, the last thing you want to be doing is snapping up a onsie. So definitely invest in a few gowns for bedtime. Our favorites were KicKee Pants because they are insanely soft.
12. Mato & Hash Adjustable Hat - I knew i needed a simple lightweight baby hat to keep my little one warm in the house and outside in temperate weather so I grabbed this one. I love that it is adjustable so it can still fit him as his head grows and only costs $0.99.
13. Fisher-Price Auto Rock n' Play Sleeper - This was one of the best purchases we made in preparing for our baby. We heard a lot of our friends swear by it that it got their little one to sleep when nothing else worked. So we gave it a try and in doing so learned it was amazing! Our boy had a bit of a spit up problem when he was born and so being able to put him on his back to sleep, but still upright really helped him to sleep longer and not spit up. The pediatrician also told us to keep him upright for 30 min after feedings and in the middle of the night I could barely stay awake during the feeding let alone hold him upright for 30 min afterwards. The rock and play did it for me! And it didn't hurt at all that it can rock automatically too! I was concerned that like sleeping in a car seat, sleeping in the rock and play might be dangerous too, but our pediatrician said that as long as the angle is no more than 30 degrees we don't have to worry about his head falling too far forward and inhibiting his breathing. Now that our boy is older, he sleeps in a crib, but we still use the rock and play so he can watch us as we do things around the house.
14. Aden & Anais Swaddle Blankets - These are the best blankets! They swaddle perfectly, are lightweight, can also be used as car seat covers and nursing covers, and are safe textiles for babies. The bamboo ones are even softer than the muslin ones! You'll want a few packages of these!
15. Pampers Natural Clean Wipes - We loved these wipes in comparison to the Huggies Natural Care brand. They are so soft and have Aloe in them. They are also hypoallergenic and unscented. Our boy got diaper rashes when we used Huggies brand because they are more firm and dry, but never with the Pampers. I felt like the Pampers coated his skin with a little healing Aloe with every wipe and so kept his skin protected.
16. Graco Snugride Car Seat - This car seat had very high ratings on Consumer Reports and other reliable sites which made it automatically a top contender when we were deliberating which one would be best. It won out because the carrier without the base only weighs 7.5 lbs. This is whole 1-2 lbs lighter than almost every other infant car seat. It was really important to me that if I was going to invest in an infant car seat rather than an all-in-one car seat that I would actually carry the baby around in it. If it were too heavy I knew I wouldn't want to.
Research Resources: Besides long chats with friends, product reviews, consumer reports, and new articles, I used four online sources I highly recommend. They continue to be my favorite blog resources for baby, product and parenting inspiration.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
#4 The Wise Baby: Comprehensive Product Reviews
______________________________________________________________
No comments :
Post a Comment