As a new mom-to-be, I honestly had NO idea what items and accessories would be useful once Anna arrived. I spent countless hours hunched over my used Baby Bargains book and many more hours surfing the Interwebs for the best deals on X, Y, Z. Basically, it’s all crap. The majority of items that I put on my registry are now taking up space in our attic because I’m still of the opinion that maybe, just maybe, I can use them for baby #2 (although I know I won’t). So, with that in mind, I figured I’d write about the useful things (things I love) that I’ve tried out since becoming a mom. I will also write about the things I hate, but that will come later, so be patient!
Things I love (in no particular order):
- Munchkin Bath Rinser. Giving Anna a bath is a breeze now. I can sleep easily at night knowing that I’m no longer causing permanent retinal damage by all of the soap that she used to get in her eyes. The soft, flexible part in the front conforms to her forehead and creates a barrier, so the water doesn’t get into her eyes. The person who created this is seriously a genius.
- Homedics SS-3000 Soundspa. Anna was never a napper or a sleep through the nighter until I added the Soundspa (aka Baby Crack Machine) to the equation. We use this for every nap and throughout the night while she sleeps. I’ve heard negative feedback about the projector, but we never use it, so ours still works. The sounds work like a charm – no problems there.
- Ducky Bubble Spout Cover. It’s such a simple concept, but it’s saved us lots of grief (and visits from CPS). Once Anna became more mobile, she would constantly hit her head or scratch her back on the tub spout. I found this little goody at Target and haven’t looked back once! She loves being able to open and close the top (you can put bubbles in there), and the soft material doesn’t even phase her when she bumps into it.
- Two-piece pajama sets and footed pajamas with zippers. Unless you’re some mom whiz, buttoning up pajamas at 2 a.m. is next to impossible. My child looked crooked for the first 6 months of her life because I was just too darn tired to snap her pajamas correctly. So, for the cold nights in our house, my favorite pajamas are the two piece pajamas or the footed pajamas with a zipper (I refuse to say jammies, btw). A few of you asked about some of the pajamas that Anna has worn in her photos. Click the link above to see them at Target – they’re on sale, too!
- Summer Infant Mother's Touch Deluxe Baby Bather Pink. Before Anna took ownership of the tub, we used this bather every time we cleaned our dirty child. She was able to comfortably sit upright the entire bath which made it easier to bathe her and keep her entertained. Since it sits directly in the tub, I didn’t have to worry about filling up a cumbersome plastic tub with water. Plus, it’s portable, so I was able to bring it with us wherever we went. I was actually very sad when I had to retire this tub to our attic. Oh well, if my next child is a girl, we’re in luck. If my next child is a boy, he will just have to deal with the girly pink fabric!
That’s it for now. Please feel free to leave comments about what has been most useful for you. I know lots of moms read this blog and would appreciate any feedback from real moms (not authors of books who are paid to promote crap products).
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9 comments:
All good stuff. Love the zipper jammies. Haha, just had to use your fave word. Also, the baby crack machine? GENIUS! Landon is still using his at 18 months. He has never slept a night w/o it. We're buying another for baby#2.
Footed pajamas are good if your childs feet actually fits in them. Hanna has large feet and finding footed pajamas that fit is really hard. I am a fan of pajamas sets though. I am over pajamas that snap!
We have the spout cover and it works good.
We loved our Diaper Champ. The Diaper Genie is cumbersome to use and empty and takes those special bags but the Diaper Champ costs the same or a few dollars less and you can use regular trash bags in it. Also love that you can carry the baby in one arm and dispose of the diaper with the other in one fell swoop. Using a Diaper Genie is almost always a two-handed affair.
As I was looking thru your list, I found myself vigorously nodding in agreement! We have the bath rinser (a new purchase), sound machine, and rubber ducky spout cover. But I a LOVING her new jammies...they either zipper up or they're 2-pieces (which I'm thinking the 2 pieces will have to go when she figures out how to take off her pants and fling poo...what age does that start?!?)
Anyways, great list...I'm going to look into that bathing seat next go round :)
As a mom of three...the only thing I want to add is you may definitely be surprised by what you'll use on your next child that you didn't use on Anna. ALL babies are different and I have found the products I love for one baby don't always work for the next. It has happened to me with bath tubs, bottles and diapers to name a few :)
we something similar to the muchkin cup, but it just holds all the extra foam letters. I do use a fish scoop toy that I bought from personal creations to rinse Aiden with. I was very curious about that Hemedics white noise machine, but we ended up using an air purifier instead. I agree withe everything you have on there. Def necesities.
One item I could not live without - a wipe warmer. For every person who tells you it's a waste of money, there's another who will sing it's praises!
I'm in the NE, so it gets cold here in the winter - and who wants to wipe their butt with a cold wipe at 2AM???
:-)
So I bought the "baby crack" sound machine for my non-napper, non-sleeper when she was 9 months and it is not crack for her. Is there a particular sound that works best for you? I've tried the ocean one but it seems to startle her when the waves start up again. Do you play it loud, medium, soft? I'de love to give it a second try as we are into the 15 month "not gonna sleep at all" phase and I'm getting mighty tired :)
Thx!
Linda
@ Anonymous: The best sound for DD (and us) is rain. Sometimes we have to use the cradle song for those extra hard nights/naps, but one of those two always does the trick. The ocean and heartbeat never worked for us either.
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