diaper genie
oldie but a goodie. we have a large one upstairs beside ellie's changing table in her nursery and a small one downstairs in the living room so we don't have to go up and down the stairs for diaper changes. they work like charms and we love them!
adan & anais easy swaddle
when we first brought ellie home from the hospital, and in the first 3 weeks or so, she slept on her back, and this swaddle was instrumental in keeping her asleep. babies look like they're falling when they startle themselves awake, so keeping her arms wrapped up but her hands still free by her face was perfect for her. we preferred this swaddle to the others we tried (including the sleep sack). no particular reasons why, it was just really easy, light, and cute. :)
and if you're wondering, yes, ellie now sleeps on her belly. we know it's not recommended, but she much prefers it and sleeps much more peacefully that way. she has had excellent head and neck control since early on, so we really don't worry about her on her belly. not to mention, michael and i were both put on our bellies as babies, so it's not something that we're very scared of. [go ahead and call dss on me if you wish, but i'm not interesting in a belly vs. back sleeping debate! :) ]
old navy footed sleepers
i think everyone knows that footed sleepers are a baby must-have, but old navy's are my favorites. they're really soft, plenty long (which is important for our lengthy girl), and very cute! they also have fleece sleepers for colder weather, which we have a couple of, but we generally stick to cotton. it's easy for ellie to get hot while she sleeps, and she seems very comfortable in the cotton version.
medela pump in style advanced
for any breastfeeding mom, i think a pump is a must. i knew i would be going back to work after 6-7 weeks, so i started pumping when she was 2 weeks old to start building up a stockpile for whenever we need it. i also pump at least 3 times a day at work to generate her food for the next day. this pump has worked really well for me and was fully covered by insurance, which was great! it's an electric double pump that's very easy to use and to clean. it comes with a cooler that fits 2 bottles, which is perfect for work days.
[as i said in my last post, we also supplement with formula if and when we need to. i think formula is a wonderful thing that can and should be used for either convenience and/or necessity. thankfully i've had an overall wonderful experience with breastfeeding, but i know that varies greatly from person to person, and i think the fact that your baby is being fed is the important thing!]
medela quick clean micro-steam bags
these bags are great for quickly sterilizing bottles, pump parts, pacifiers, etc. it's not my general rule to sterilize everything all the time, but ellie had a minor bout of thrush when she was about 4 weeks old, so we had to sterilize all of her stuff during that time and kind of got in the habit of doing it at the end of each day. if you do sterilize, these bags are super easy and you get 20 uses out of each one. they last longer than you might think!
brica baby in-sight mega mirror
this is the mirror that we chose for our cars, but really any car mirror should be on a mom-to-be's list. i don't know what i would do if i couldn't see ellie in her backward-facing carseat while i'm driving. it's a lifesaver for getting her pacifier back in her mouth when she's fussy!
boppy nursing cover
i don't nurse in public often, just as a personal preference, but if i do, this cover is a lifesaver. it's cute and easy to use, and it's not bulky at all, so it folds up really small in my diaper bag. this was also really handy in the days at home right after ellie was born. we had lots of visitors, and i wanted to feed her myself at every feeding during those early days, so this allowed me to visit while feeding.
avent natural flow bottles
i picked these bottles as the ones i would use fairly randomly. i didn't want the hassle of cleaning the trendy dr. brown's bottles, and i read lots of good reviews on the avent natural flows. thankfully ellie likes them a lot and has no problem going back and forth between me and the bottle. [to be honest, i also just really like the way they look!]
4moms mamaroo infant seat
ohhh the mamaroo. this is the piece of baby gear that we were most excited about getting, and we still love it. it looks cool in our living room (obviously important), and ellie really likes it. she napped in it a little when she was brand-new, but now we mostly use it during her "awake time" if we need to be doing something else, like eating or laundry or letting the dogs out or whatever. all of the settings are awesome, and even if she doesn't really care how she rocks or what sound she listens to, i enjoy choosing between kangaroo and car ride just depending on my mood. it's a seat for babies and a toy for adults! win-win.
mam pacifiers
we gave ellie her first paci about a week and a half after she was born. we've tried several kinds since then, and mams are our favorites. we started off with soothies since that's what seems to be most recommended by doctors and hospitals, but we switched from them fairly soon for a few reasons. one, ellie started sleeping on her belly more often, and the soothies are kind of huge on the outside of the mouth. it wasn't very comfortable for her. also, those things are ugly. i hated taking pictures of ellie with a soothie in her mouth! finally, the part that goes in the baby's mouth is really small and after awhile it didn't seem like it was doing much of anything for her. the mams are kind of perfect. they're a good size, she can fall asleep on her belly with them, they work well with paci clips, and they're cute!
aden and anais swaddle blankets
these are the best multi-purpose blankets out there. we use them for everything!
aden and anais burpy bibs
[can you tell at this point that i pretty much love everything aden and anais? i seriously love it all]
these are really handy because they're combination burp cloths and bibs. they're a little pricier than your standard burp cloth or bib, but i think they're worth it. we have 3 at home, and they get used allll the time. i also always have one in my diaper bag.
graco sweet slumber sound machine
this sound machine helps us to keep a consistent nap/bed time routine. we go in ellie's room, turn the lights off, and turn her sound machine (with nightlight) on. i really think she associates the noise with sleep time, so it's one of her cues that it's time for bed. there are lots of sound machines out there, but i especially like this one because it's really small and fits in to our nursery well.
pacifier clips
i didn't really think i'd be a fan of paci clips. honestly, i always thought of them in the same category as kid leashes for some reason. that bias quickly disappeared once we started taking ellie out to public places, or letting people hold her, at which point her paci inevitably falls out and on the floor. at home we don't care as much and will usually just wipe it off and give it back to her, but in public that's just nasty. these clips come in handy! i don't like just any clip though. the ones we initially bought at target were not the cutest things in the world and the clips were really tough to open and close. i always felt like i was going to hit ellie in the face taking the clip off! i found my favorites on etsy, at the myhandmadeloves shop. the clips are study, but not tough, and the patterns are SO cute!
safety first sound moments audio monitor
of course every family with a new baby needs a monitor, and this is just the one we chose. it's nice because there's one base to keep in the nursery and 2 receivers to keep elsewhere. we have one in our room for nighttime and one downstairs for when we're in the living room. we opted not to get a monitor system that included video because the security system in our house has a video monitor that we rarely use, so we mounted that in the nursery instead. i actually prefer that, because we can check it on our phones instead of just at 1 of the 2 receivers. regardless, a monitor of some sort is a necessity.
skiphop duo diaper bag - herringbone
i can't say enough good things about this diaper bag! it's got plenty of pockets, includes a portable changing pad, and has 2 handle options. i am also in love with the herringbone pattern. i will probably still use it even when i don't have a need for a diaper bag anymore!
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there they are-all the things i wouldn't want to live without while tackling life with a newborn! [not listed: pampers, common sense, and endless patience]
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