Baby must haves

There are so many baby items out there these days. Some items are must haves while others are good to have but not necessarily needed, and then there are the ones that are just a waste of money. Take a stroll though the isles of Babies R Us and you will see what I mean.

A good example of a waste of money item would be the PeePee Teepee They are kind of light weight and if your little one wiggles and squirms around as much as ours do it will fall right off. Also, once the fountain starts to spray it just hits the top of the teepee and dribbles down so you still end up cleaning up after them. Great in theory, but not really practical. A good but not necessary baby item would be something like the Dr. Brown’s formula mixing pitcher. This is a nice item to have because you can mix a batch of formula and then pour it into bottles for the entire day, all at once. It cuts down on time and is nice to have but definitely not a necessity. It’s not that difficult to fill the bottles with water for the entire day and then at each feeding mix the formula in with it.

But here is a list of things, that in my experience, have become definite baby must haves:

1) The number one thing that I would recommend to any parent of an infant is the Fisher Price Rock ‘n Play sleeper.

This bassinet is awesome and I can’t give enough praises about this product! It is extremely portable and easy to take places. We have taken these to both of our parents houses for visits and its great because the boys are used to sleeping in them so their sleep environment doesn’t change that much. Its also pretty light weight so you are able to carry it after having a c-section. It has a 3 point restraint for babies security and the cover is washable. Our boys slept in these the first 3 weeks and then we tried putting them in their crib. They didn’t do well laying flat on their back because they spit up more than normal. The bassinet is at an incline so it helps with their spit up and if your baby has reflux, like I suspect mine does, this is a must have.

2) Tommee Tippee bibs which are perfect for newborns and infants.

The neck is small enough to actually fit around their necks and it has a fat collar that’s absorbent and soaks up the slightest leaks and dribbles that run down the neck. Every bib we have is either too big or not absorbant enough for newborns so we haven’t used them. Instead we were just using a burp cloth under their necks and that’s a hassle and a half. Since I found these awesome bibs, I’ll never go back to the burp cloths. I went back and bought two more sets (they come in a pack of 2). The one downside is that the only place I’ve found them is at Babies R Us.

3) A sheet saver. In one night (the one night we put them on their back in the crib) we went through 4 of these.

These are great to have for little ones that spit up, vomit, or pee and poop through their diaper. It is made of ribbed fleece, an absorbent fabric, and has a leak proof backside to help to protect baby’s sheets.

4) This one was on my wish list a while back and I ended up getting two sets of them, one for Hayden and one for Ian (a set is 4 labels). It is the Inch Bug bumpy name orbit labels that imprints your baby’s name on the label.

With two babies, these are a must! Our babies are on two different formulas so we need these to differentiate the bottles from one another and so we give the right bottle to the right baby. These are especially good for babies that go to daycare or any childcare so you can keep up with your bottles, cups, etc.

5) Bouncy Seats are a wonderful thing to have. Of course you could live without having them so technically this should probably fall under the nice to have but not a necessity category. But with multiples, it is a must. I usually put the babies in these and put them in my bathroom while I take a shower. Ours has a vibrating mechanism in it and that seems to soothe them sometimes when they are fussy or tired but don’t want to go to sleep.

6) Dr. Brown’s Bottles. I’ve never used any other bottles so I can’t compare them to others but I love these bottles. They claim to reduce colic symptoms and decrease the amount of air babies take in while eating. I guess it works because our babies don’t seem to spit up a whole lot…I’ve seen some babies that spit up far more than ours, and ours have reflux. The only down side to these bottles are they have some extra parts to clean and it can be a hassle. Luckily we have like 16 bottles so we only have to clean them once a day.

7) Biz is a wonderful invention, while its not a baby item, it is a baby must have. Let’s face it, babies spit up and dribble formula when they eat. Formula likes to stain clothes and everything else it touches if you let it sit and dry. My mom told me of this little secret and it has worked so far, not one stained outfit or anything. I have a little tub that I put warm water and biz detergent in and then just soak the clothes, cloths or whatever in the water for a while before washing them.

8) Lastly is the Belly Bandit. Ok, so this one isn’t necessarily a baby product, but it’s a post baby product for mom. And what’s good for mom is what’s good for baby…in a way. This is a band that you put around your abdomen and it basically acts as a binding to hold in all your gushyness that is your abdomen after you have a baby. It claims to help get your body back to its pre baby state. In mine opinion, not only did it help with reducing the size of my tummy by helping the abdominal muscles, uterine swelling, bloating, etc but it also helps with pain control after the c-section. I’ve also noticed that it helps with stretch marks….not sure how but I guess it works with the elasticity of the skin. However it works, I notice that they seem less noticeable after I’ve been wearing the band for a while. I didn’t wear it all day like they say your supposed to and honestly I didn’t wear it everyday either. I still will wear it occasionally and I probably will for a while. Depending on the shirt you are wearing, you can tell you are wearing something under your clothes, but its not that noticeable. I recommend this for anyone who has had a baby….c-section or not. It is on the pricey side so if you are worried about cost, honestly you could probably just use a big ace bandage, but I can’t vouch for that since I haven’t tried it.

So there you have it, those are my baby must haves. I’m sure in 6 months my must have list will change as our boys get older, but this is my list for newborns.