A few weeks ago, a dear friend of mine called to get a little advice on which baby items to register for. I have to say, I LOVED sharing my opinion with her, and probably gave her way more advice than she was seeking, which is always annoying -- Sorry, Sally! After we hung up, I continued to ponder what baby items have made my life as a new mom the easiest. Here are my favorites (as of 3 1/2 months). What are yours?
Top 5 (okay, 7) Baby Items
1. Summer Night/Day Handheld Video Monitor. I can't say enough about it ... SOOO great. I can see if Tanner is awake or asleep without having to go in. Did he just lose his pacifier? Is he out of his swaddler? Was he just making noises in his sleep? I thought registering for one of these was a little excessive in the beginning, but someone talked me into upgrading the audio monitor I had already received to this, and I am SO glad!
2. SwaddleMe Wrap. We use it every night and every naptime. Our boy looks like a little sweet pea when he's all bundled up.
3. Boppy Pillow. We actually have 2 of these -- one to keep in Tanner's room and one for the family room. They make nursing SO much easier and are nice to set our little guy in when he needs a little propping up.
4. Bebe Au' Lait Nursing Cover. Makes me feel like I can feed Tanner anywhere and not be embarrassed. (Not that one SHOULD be embarrassed for nursing in public -- I just had a hard time being discreet about it.)
5. Fisher Price Rainforest Carseat Mirror. It straps onto the headrest on my back seat. I just look in my rearview mirror and can see what my little man is doing since he is rear-facing. It plays music, too, which he LOVES! (the actual tune is completely annoying, but if he's happy, I'm happy!)
6. AVENT Bottle Sterilizer. Just put in everything that needs to be sterilized (including pacifiers and such), pop it into the microwave for 4 minutes, and you're done! I even take it home with me to Michigan whenever I go!
7. Sassy Deluxe Developmental Mobile. In the beginning, I was kind of against mobiles. Don't ask my why -- I was being dumb -- you know, I didn't want to overstimulate my baby. My mom got this one for her crib at home, and I loved it so much, I got one for ours, and then my mother-in-law got one for theirs. I love that it moves a little, then pauses, then moves a little, then pauses, etc. Plus, the little hanging parts change into more complex things to look at as your baby develops. It plays classical music, lullabies, and white noise, AND it has a remote control to go with it. The best part is that they were only $20 at Big Lots.
6 comments:
Here's a couple more:
1. Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Aquarium Cradle Swing: It swings both ways and has a colorful fish mobile. Sometimes it was the only thing that got Brady to sleep.
2. Baby Bjorn: There were times when nothing soothed Brady but being held close, so this came in handy when doing laundry, vacuming, etc.
3. Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Aquarium: It attaches to the crib and plays soothing music. I didn't use this with Brady until he was older, but now it gives him something to unwind with (if he wants) and he'll play with it when he wakes up - a great alarm for mommy!
Rachel, you are going to love having the video monitor later on when transitioning Tanner to a big boy bed--so nice to be able to see what's going on!! Other favorites of ours include:
1. BOB strollers--both the single and the duallie have been AWESOME. 2. Fuzzi Bunz cloth diapers--a worthwhile investment for cloth diapering.
3. Baby Innovations Weekender bag--well-made and great for packing the baby for quick getaways.
4. Evenflo Exersaucer--our kids have enjoyed many hours of play in it! We call it "the office".
5. Baby Bjorn Bibs--rubber with a large scoop for catching EVERYTHING. Run them under the faucet for clean-up. AMAZING!!
Hi Rachel-
I know this isn't really a "top 5" question but how do you like the Chicco stroller? I'm trying to decide which one to get and thought I'd ask you!
Thanks-
Billie
I love all the recommendations! I've been looking for a mobile, and the one you mentioned sounds great. Still torn b/w the regular monitors and video monitor, but after hearing again how much you like the video, I'll probably go with that one in the end. Thanks so much for everyone's input!
Billie --
I LOVE my Chicco stroller. I have to be honest -- when I picked it out, I chose it just because I liked the colors! However, it has turned out to be really wonderful. It collapses easily and you only need one hand to do it. Plus, it's not incredibly bulky like lots of the other ones. It rides great -- we use it everyday for our walk. And the infant seat that comes with it had great ratings at the time I bought it (I'm not sure about now -- they are always changing!). It is definitely more expensive than most, but we just saved all of our babies 'r' us gift cards until we had enough to buy it. I would definitely reccommend it to you!
Rachel,
It seems like so long ago I was thinking of these things, even though Rylin is only 18 months! It would be fun to see what 5 things people wish they hadn't registered for as well.
My top 5:
1. Peg Perego Stroller...we bought it when Rylin was born but I wish we would have had it for Ayden too.
2. Baby Bjorn
3. Pacifier keepers
4. TOWELS and SHEETS...can NEVER have enough!
5. onesies and pacifiers...I always lost them.
BOTTOM 5:
1. Infant socks...they never fit my chubby babies feet and they didn't stay on.
2. rattles...my kiddos never enjoyed shaking a rattle.
3. bathtub organizers...no matter which I tried, they always fell off the tub.
4. bottle warmers. We didn't nurse, we had a bottle warmer, it took like 40 minutes to warm a bottle...much easier to just use warm water.
5. I can't think of anything else!
One piece of advice that I learned from Ayden and didn't do for Rylin...don't take all the tags off the absolutely adorable clothes you will receive...some of them just won't get worn because the babies change so quickly.
Boy, what an exciting time for your friend!
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