It feels like our youngest is rapidly approaching his first birthday. I can’t believe how quickly time is flying by! My first is growing up so fast, but everything feels like it is moving even faster with my second! And at the same time, I feel as though we are still working our way out of the newborn fog.
When I was preparing for my first, I was so focused on making the nursery beautiful and collecting cute little baby outfits, and then we got home from the hospital and baby slept in our room for the first 8 months, and rarely changes out of footy pajamas for the first several weeks. I found myself wishing I had focused a little more on making sure we were stocked up on gas drops and a little less on the super cute baby booties that were never actually worn. So, for anyone out there trying to avoid my mistake, I am sharing my top baby items that we used and loved with both babies.
- I mentioned gas drops already, but seriously! No one told me babies start getting gassy and fussy day one. These Mylicon gas drops are safe for newborns and even used in the hospital and the Frida Baby Windi saved the night and got me a little extra sleep on countless occasions! A good suction can also save what would otherwise be a completely sleepless night when your little one gets congested! You cannot got wrong with everyone’s favorite NoseFrida which is even more effective when used with good saline drops.
- I had all kinds of ideas about how I was going to do things with my baby before hand, and it’s funny how quickly so many of those ideas fly right out the window once they are here. For starters, I wasn’t going to offer a pacifier because I thought it might create a bad habit that would be impossible to break…but once again I was not prepared for how quickly the fussing can start haha! So when the nurse offered a Jellypop paci, I gladly accepted without hesitation! We also love the Soothies and these Dr. Brown’s pacifiers for orthodontic development.
- Diapers and wipes! You cannot have too many diapers and wipes on hand!! We tried a dozen different brands of diapers and always end up back at Pampers, and I love that their wipes don’t tear or stick together as often when pulling out of the dispenser like some others do. While we’re on the subject of diapers, let’s talk diaper pales. I hear so many mixed reviews about diapers pales. Some people love them and others think they are a waste of money. I personally loved my Diaper Genie so much that when we were expecting our second, I went out and bought this one with the open button on the top to keep next to our bed for middle of the night changes. When our youngest moved out of our room, I just hid it in a corner of the family room and to this day we still use both. Before we move on from diapering, I can’t foget to mention our favorite product for diaper rash…good ol’ Aquaphor. You just can’t go wrong, unless your baby is truly a newborn, in which case I prefer Vaseline as it is pure petroleum jelly with nothing else added.
- The first go round, I didn’t think an expensive, fancy sound machine was necessary and opted for a basic white noise machine that I later ended up upgrading because boy was I wrong! After trying out 3 other sound machines, we opted for the Hatch and it was well worth every penny! Sleep immediately improved for everyone! And speaking of sleep, we liked to keep our babies in the room with us for the first several months. We used and loved this bedside bassinet with both babies and it even held up when our toddler insisted on climbing in to snuggle the little one every morning. And do not underestimate the power of a good swaddle to help your little one sleep at night! I loved these that give a nice, tight fit and also have the zipper at the bottom to make middle of the night diaper changes a little less disruptive. You’ll likely bring home a couple of receiving blankets from the hospital, but I appreciated having plenty on hand and opted for these Gerber blankets and they were perfect for the job. I also loved these light weight muslin blankets for warmer weather or covering to nurse and these oversized blankets with the perfect amount of stretch that make it easy to wrap your bundle of joy in the perfect snug swaddle!
- I have to admit, finding the right monitor was tougher than I expected! There are so many options today and it seemed like the possibilities were endless! When I started considering the various features offered by each monitor, I was able to narrow down my own criteria to this: I didn’t want to have to download an app in case I ever needed my mom or sister to keep the baby overnight; I didn’t want to have to connect to wi-fi but rather a secure connection that wouldn’t be hacked; I did want the video option; I wanted one with good reviews that would last (so many of my friends complained that they had to replace their monitors every 4-6 months). I settled on this Infant Optics monitor that was a best seller at the time and ranked at the top of many lists, including Oprah’s! We’ve been using it for 3 years now and still love it! Speaking of monitors, I don’t think I would have survived the first several months of my babies lives without the Owlet smart sock, which gave me enough peace of mind and comfort to actually close my eyes and get a wink of sleep when possible. I’m pretty sure I owe what’s left of my sanity to Owlet!
- When my second was born I thought how could possibly have forgotten just how much spit up was involved in those first few months of life! Obviously, I blocked out the fact that I stayed covered in spit up 24/7 until I found myself searching online, “what age do babies stop spitting up?” Needless to say, you’re going to want to make sure you have a hefty supply of burp cloths all over the house so you’re never more than an arm’s reach away from one. These cloth diapers were actually my go to burp cloths around the house, but I also love these Burt’s Bees cloths that come in several pretty color and pattern options.
- One thing that helped a ton with spit up was finding the right bottles to help reduce air intake. We love the Avent Anti-Colic bottles and the MAM Easy Start Anti-Colic bottles. Bonus: you can get interchangeable nipples for the MAM bottles and training cup that make transitioning to a sippy cup a breeze!
- I once heard someone refer to all of the “containers” we put babies in and got a little chuckle out of that, but it’s so true! While the context of this was referring to the fact that parents today seem to have an endless supply of “containers” to keep their children in, and as much as I love holding my babies nonstop, even I have to admit that a good baby swing is a must! We have and love this bassinet style swing with a recline and incline option that kept our babies just out of the dogs reach so their faces weren’t being licked all day! I have several friends that also have and rave about this two in one swing as well and would definitely give it a try!
The Mommy Memorandum 