....These are a few of my favorite things!!!!
Baby's have alot of accessories. Alot of them are necessary (or what we think are necessary in modern times) and alot of them are just fun or super convenient. I went into Babie's 'R Us the first time to register and had to leave half way through because I was so overwhelmed. I didn't want extra crap cluttering up my house that I didn't need or wouldn't use and I didn't know what were the best brands to get. I went back 3 more times to finish my registry before it was complete and just did my Target one online because I didn't want to deal with it in the store again. But after doing alot of homework and asking alot of fellow mommas I figured it out. I have made you all a little listeroo of the items I have been loving this first month for my little peanut. ( I have included the website where you can find things as the link).
#1- Boon Grass drying rack
This baby is heaven! I didn't think I would need a drying rack so soon because I didn't plan on pumping until Henry was a little bit older but due to him needing some supplementation at the beginning because he was a little sleepy and lazy I started pumping to give him milk easier and avoid formula. Thus I was washing my pumping parts and collection bottles ALOT! I hated leaving them on a clean dish towel on the counter to dry, it still just seemed kinda dirty so we got this (which I had my eye on for months). It's cute and super effective. It holds the peices off the counter, has a drip tray (the white part) and is dishwasher safe to clean out. Plus it has the different plant attachments to give you more space. See my little twig tree and flower? LOVE!!
#2- Medela Quick Clean Microwave Steam Bags
$4.99 for a 5 pack and you can use them up to 20 times each.
So after washing all my bottles, pump parts, and pacifiers I want to make sure they are extra clean and these are great for a germaphobe like me! You just put whatever baby stuff you want in it that is plastic and 2 oz of water and microwave for 2 minutes and it steams and heats those puppies up to make sure they're squeaky clean. LOVE these!
#3- Tommy Tippee Bottles
$21.99 for a 3 pack
I absolutely love these bottles. Remember how I said we supplemented for the first 10 days? Well I would pump and cup feed Henry with a special feeding cup to start so he didn't get messed up with his latch and breastfeeding and then I said screw it, this is messy and annoying and he chokes and spills it everywhere and this is liquid gold, I can't bear to watch it drip down his chin into his shirt and be wasted, something must be done. Thus, I let him have a bottle. I have done my homework and these are the reasons I like this one the best!
- Less peices to wash, it's the bottle and the cap. The end. (some bottles have like 5 parts)
- It's small and fits into my diaper bag if need be (and the website says it's to allow baby to be closer to me. Whatever you gotta tell yourself). It's little and that's convenient.
- They have a 5oz size and a 9 oz size for when he eats more
- The nipple is silicone and is super flexible and has a shape like the real deal to avoid "nipple confusion"
- It has a little vent to help with gassiness
- Henry loves them and has no issue going back and forth between me and this puppy which is good for when I go back to work.
50 ct for $11.99
These are great! I actually had a friend give me her extra 2 boxes because she weaned her baby before she used them all up. They are plastic ziplock bags that have 2 separate ziplocks and you put your milk in it and freeze it. She also told me to lay them flat so that the frozen milk is thin and easily stacked up with other bags to save freezer space. I'm pumping about 1-2 times per day to save up a supply for when I go back to work for Taylor to give Henry bottles at night when I am gone. I will also pump when I am at work each night and have that available too for him but these are a great cheap way to save all the milk instead of having to buy tons of milk collection bottles. Those suckers are expensive and a waste of space. I just write the date it was pumped and how much is in it and then Taylor can thaw a bag or two depending on how much Henry will eat at the time and put it in the bottle to feed him.
#5- Carseat Cover
I paid $24.99 for this on Etsy but they come in all sorts of colors and cute fabrics and styles and the price varies based on that.
The one I have is cotton fabric on the outside and soft thick minky on the inside. This makes the cover thick and keeps sun, wind and rain (And snow I'm sure) out and baby warm inside and covered. For me it's a must have because it velcroes onto the carseat handle so it doesn't go anywhere. The first time I took Henry out by myself (the week after he was born for a weight check at the Dr.). Taylor was already back to work and of course it was raining. I was PISSED! I have never juggled the carseat (which was far heavier with him in it than I had planned) and his diaper bag and my keys, phone and such. I was nervous already, especially because my foot was still numb from my epidural so I was unsteady on my feet....and IT WAS RAINING! Why was it raining!? Of all days! Grrrr.
So I put a heavy blanket over his carseat to cover him like I have seen many a mother do and got out of the car, ran around to get him out and get my diaper bag out and lock the car door and as I was hauling his seat in with my limp in the pouring rain the blanket flew off his seat in the wind. It blew half way across the parking lot and I didn't know whether to hobble across the parking lot after it with Henry in his seat (you can't move fast with a numb, weak foot and a huge carseat with a new fragile baby in it) or set him back in the car since it was now raining all over him and try to run over to get it with him dry in the car and go back and get him, or just let the damn blanket go, cut my losses and run inside. UGH! Luckily as I was panicking and starting to cry in the rain, someone grabbed it off the ground and brought it to me. HORRIBLE. Bottom line, get the damn carseat cover and order it sooner than the week before your baby is born so it's ready to go for those first outings just in case.
Sidenote: I also love it to keep him covered when I'm in a store with him, helps keep germs out and dirty fingers and annoying onlookers and helps keep him calm because it's more dark and quiet in there when he is covered.
#6- Eddie Bauer Carseat head support
$11.99
See how my tiny monkey has his head bent and looks so uncomfortable? This is how he is in his carseat all the time, he hates his carseat for one but part of it is probably the fact that he is too weak to hold his little head up strait and it falls forward or to the side and he looks horribly uncomfortable. Thus, I broke the rules from the hospital (nothing in their carseat but what comes with it, for safety reasons) and bought this. It has been worth every penny. This one has a patented design and the ring around his head is completely mesh so he can breathe if he were to turn his head (but he can't really turn it in there anyway, just wiggle it alot from side to side but it's doing his job to support his head and neck at least until he gets a littles stronger. It's just for my peice of mind ok. Leave me alone if you don't think it's safe.
see, much better.
$15.99 for a 3 pack
I only have three but that is all I have needed. These things are amazing!!! I could kiss the person who thought of these. When I know a baby has a dirty diaper at work I put a burp cloth under them to save their bedding from getting gross just in case and it has saved me many a linen change but at home I thought I was going to have to do that as well. WRONG. Some genius made these waterproof liners to lay on the changing pad over the cute cover to save you from poop and pee laundry from diaper changes, I can just swap these out if they get dirty and put a new one on! Yay!
$30-40 for a pack of 3 or 4 (I have seen them different prices at different places)
These really are all that they are cracked up to be. I have heard they are the cats pajamas, if you will, but they turned out to be pretty worth the money. They are HUGE which is great for swaddling as baby gets bigger and if it kicks and punches to try to hulk out of the said swaddle that your kid might hate, like mine does, it makes it harder to escape. Henry thinks hes hates to be swaddled. He does hate it when he is awake, he likes his hands and legs free to move around and kick. But, he needs it when he sleeps so I just swaddle his arms down so he doesn't move them in his sleep and jolt himself awake and I then leave the bottom undone to let him kick and stretch out. Sometimes he likes his legs tucked up and other times he likes them strait out so this allows for that. They are muslin and kinda stretchy. They are also THIN so he doesn't get too hot in his jammies and he is swaddled up too. Fantastic!
$139.99. It's worth it (mine was a gift but wait and use a 20% off coupon)
This swing is fantastic. It's off the floor a ways so it helps with Cora messing with him because she is kinda scared of it when it's on. It's got a great seat that lays him correctly (our little travel floor swing I bought from a friend has a weird angled seat and it folds him in half and he hates it). This one lets him lay fairly flat and as he gets bigger you can incline the seat. It has an AC adapter so you don't burn through batteries. It's cushy! It can swing side to side or you can turn the seat and it will go back to front. It has several speeds, sounds and a mirror over the top of him with a mobile that turns that he LOVES to look at. It's awesome, he stays in it and just hangs out when I get stuff done and he will sleep in it too.
$15.99 for one (waaaaaay cheaper than the $40 fancy ones I hate)
This nursing tank is FAR better than any others that I own and it was the cheapest one! This one is from Walmart, on a whim I looked for ones there that were less expensive than the $30+ ones I had seen at Babie's 'R Us and maternity stores. These are super supportive with thick straps like a sports bra almost and they have the babydoll style tummy in them which is good for me because after a baby your stomach is not your most proud asset and this hides it well. They are comfortable to sleep in and I don't feel like I need a nursing bra with it. Hurray for afforable, cute, comfortable nursing tanks. Hurray!
$3.41 and worth every last penny.
This little gem is a diaper baggie dispenser. Think dog poo bags that strap onto your leash...same thing....for humans...wait. what? Anyway, It's small and it clips onto the strap on the inside of my diaper bag so I never have to look for it and it makes me feel polite when I am in public and have a diaper to get rid of. The other benefit is that I can put the dirty diaper wrapped in this puppy back into my diaper bag and know it's not going to get anything gross if there is no trash available to me at the time.
#12 Diaper Genie
$29.99 at walmart
Another genius invention. Most people think it's unneccessary and it is, but I love it. I've had people tell me they just put dirty diapers in a walmart sack, tied up and take it to the trash in the garage. I'm sorry but that doesn't work for me. I am lazy and I don't make trips to the garage in the middle of the night, thanks but no thanks. I'll use this. It makes Henry's room smell lovely like clean baby laundry and Baby lotion and not breastmilk poops. Which don't smell that bad.....yet. Get one. You will love it. Can we talk about how I thoroughly enjoy that in the picture the diapers in the collection area of the genie are labeled "Hell Sausage" BAHAHA! I had to look twice. Someone has a sense of humor.
$329.99 at Babie's R Us
This gem is our travel system that I am obsessed with. I don't run, don't get it twisted and I want to pretend like someday I will jog but who are we kidding here. I really just wanted a nice stroller that could turn easier than an aircraft carrier at sea like most other strollers and had a thinner profile so I don't take out small children and racks of clothing in a store. I wanted one that was light weight, easy to push, easy to fold up (since we realize now I have no upper body strength) and worked well in the mall or on a sidewalk or whatever path I chose for it. This is the winner! The manager at Babie's R Us talked me off my anxiety ledge as I was in the carseat/stroller area crying and rocking in the corner errr, shaking my head in sheer disbelief of the choices and where to start. I can stand in my living room, on carpet, and take one hand and spin this thing on a dime with no effort at all. Literally spin it in a circle without it moving out of it's spot, not drive it in a circle, twist my wrist and spin it in a circle. Amazeballs! And the carseat clicks into the stroller with ease, comes out by pulling a small lever once and the whole dang thing folds up with one hand by pulling on a strap in the seat. It's fancy Nancy, and Heaven I tell you. Heaven. Aaaaand if you are cheap smart like me, you wait until Babie's R Us has their great trade in event (happens twice a year, watch your emails) and you buy a peice of crap bouncy seat or swing or something for $5 at a garage sale like I did and "trade" it in for a 25% off coupon, wait until the system goes on sale anyway and add it to that price, trade in extras of things you got from baby showers and christmas gifts and get your store credit and tack on a $50 giftcard from Christmas and Whallaa. Free stroller. Ok I paid $7 but you get the idea.
$14.99 for 4 of them. Do it.
Call I get a "Hell Yeah" and a splash of Halleluah and maybe an amen! Breastfeeding sucks to start, (read my earlier posts about it) and it makes your nipples SORE. These puppies provide instant relief. Cool and soothing and stick to you and protect you from rubbing against your shirt or nursing bra. Not much more need to be said except these are like a hug for your boobies. You will need one, trust me.
#14 PACIFIERS
$3.99 for 2
We can't live without these pacifiers, we would go insane. Sometimes all this munchkin wants is to suck and I was the thing he would suck on to start and that started to hurt, thus I begged the nurses in mother/baby for a pacifier to give myself a break from the pain of him nursing constantly even when he wasn't hungry. They don't stock them on their unit anymore because of "nipple confusion" and feeling that it hinders breastfeeding. I don't beleive in nipple confusion at all because I have seen hundreds of babies go from only using a pacifer in the NICU to being exclusive breastfeeders AND using pacifiers by the time they go home. If a preemie can do it, my kid can do it. I do beleive in flow confusion however, where the baby has to work alot harder to get milk out of the breast than out of a bottle and then starts to not want to work that hard to breastfeed and will only bottle feed out of sheer laziness (babies are SMART) BUT that is different. So I begged for a pacifier and Henry has been just fine ever since. He exclusively breastfeeds and loves his pacifer too and if it helps keep him from using his fingers/ thumb to sooth himself I am good because I can take a pacifier away when he is older, I can't take his hand. Or can I.....? Muahaha.
Just kidding, that was gross.
So basically these are the things I can't live without, or don't want to live without. And I have come to terms with how babies aren't expensive, it's momma's taste that is. People raised children with far less but I say why not enjoy their childhood a little more with some fun products. I also did all this on a budget, asked for these items on my registry and paid smart with coupons, sales, gift cards and some smart shopping online for the rest and here we are. Happy Shopping!
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