- Moby Wrap
2. Angelcare Monitor
If you are a worry wart like me- wait until you have kids...it's only going to get worse! And this is the perfect baby item to set your mind at ease! We bought ours on craigslist but you can also get it at Babies R Us too. It's a nifty little monitor with a motion detector that senses your baby's movements as they are lying in their crib. It has a little rectangle-shaped motion pad that goes beneath the crib mattress and is hooked up to the actual monitor. If baby doesn't move or breathe for 20 seconds, a loud beeping alarm goes off . This does two things- it warns you and allows you to go wake up the baby and it also usually startles the baby enough that he/she will start breathing again. It is also great if you baby tends to sleep on their side or tummy. You don't have to worry about the risk of SIDS if you have this monitor hooked up because you will always be warned if your baby happens to stop moving. Personally, I got my first solid night of sleep after we purchased this monitor because I could finally rest without having to check on August every 10 seconds during the night. Bonus- the screen on the monitor also shows you the current temperature in baby's nursery so you can adjust the heat as needed during the night. I highly, highly recommend the angelcare!
3. Boppy
If you breastfeed, the boppy is a MUST. I take it with my everywhere I go and it is great for learning how to breastfeed because it helps position the baby to latch on. You can also use it to prop the baby up in a sitting position or do tummy time with it on the floor. I also used it to sit on after labor because I was so sore from pushing that it was hard to sit without shooting pains. The boppy helped!
4. Little Peanut
Part of my goal as a parent is to produce a thoughtful, nurturing and kind son. So often, these characteristics are overlooked when raising a son. One way to instill those things in our boys is to buy them "dolls". Luckily my husband is right on board with this and loves the idea, but so many men are less enthusiatic about their sons playing with dolls. Personally, I think they need to get over their machoness but that's just me. We bought the lil peanut doll for August and think it's a great way to start that nurturing instinct. It's a baby doll inside a "peanut shell" that kids can carry around with them and act like a parent.
5. Medela Lanolin and EarthAngelBaby nipple butter
Breastfeeding was nothing short of hell for me the first 2-3 months post partum. I loathed it. Right from the get - go I had trouble latching August on properly because I have a large chest. Unfortunately, my wayward attempts created a blood blister on one of my nipples that was the most excruciating pain I have ever been through. (forget labor without drugs ladies this was not even comparable). I almost gave up breastfeeding multiple times because of it. I even had a few sessions of pumping where I was pumping nothing but blood out of my nipple (straight out of a horror film I tell you). But my savior was Medela Lanolin and EarthAngelBaby nipple butter. The lanolin helped ease the soreness and heal the cracks. The nipple butter actually helped heal my blood blister. Plus the nipple butter is made locally! I wish I would have known about these two products when I started breastfeeding..it would have saved me a lot of pain!!
6. Sandra Boynton Books
All of her kids board books are cute, rhyming and often feature a hippopatamus. Gus loves them and we love reading them to him! My favorite? The Bee Bo book (I know that's not what it's called but I call it that.). Joel's favorite? Jamma Jamma PJ, which he reads to August in his "Al Pachino" voice and Gus laughs like crazy everytime!
7. Cloud B Sleep Sheep
We just got this from Amazon last week and we love it! It's a super soft stuffed sheep that attaches to your baby's crib and makes different white noise to help them sleep. Ours has a rain setting, ocean setting, heartbeat setting and whale song setting. It's a great product and the company also makes other sleep animals too that make different sounds! I highly recommend it once you transition your little one into the crib!
8. Bum Genius 4.0 Cloth Diapers
I am a huge advocate of cloth diapering and anything I can do to convince just one mama to cloth diaper is a win win in my book! I LOVE these diapers. They are affordable (especially if you happen to hit a buy one get one sale like we did), easy to use and cute! We spent less than $200 on 18 of these diapers and inserts. They hold up overnight (I'm talking no leaks after 10 hours!) and are super easy to clean. They also are one size fits all with a snap system so from 8 pounds to potty training you have diapers- never have to buy any other sizes or anything. We bought ours at cotton babies in Vancouver, WA but you can also get them online at cottonbabies.com. If you want to give cloth diapering a try- get bum genius...I promise you they are fantastic!!
9. See Kai Run shoes
These are hands down the best shoes for developing feet (in my opinion). Robeez can be good too but they tend to leave deep marks from the elastic bands. I love the funky colors and flexible soles of See Kai Run. They are spendy, but check out their webpage and click on the clearance page for shoes that are half off or more! I bought 6 pairs for Gus for under $100 off their clearance page!
10. ETSY.com
Ok I know this isn't a specific baby item but man oh man I LOVE etsy for buying unique one of a kind baby items! My friend Beki has an etsy site where she makes adorable baby hats (I have 3 of hers and she is making another 2 for some friends babies right now). I also just ordered a custom "lovey" blanket for Gus for $25. I got to pick my fabric and his name gets embroidered on the blankie too! Etsy is a must for unique, funky stuff that you can't find anywhere else!
No comments:
Post a Comment