When I had my first baby I blissfully walked into Babies-R-Us and announced “I am pregnant and I’m going to need a registry”, so proud of my yet-to-be seen baby bump. They handed me a packet and in it was a list of the “MUST HAVE” items in order to become a mother / have a baby. It was a LONG list and I kept thinking to myself “do I really need all this? Does my baby?”
I didn’t register for all of it, but I did register for a lot of it.
When it came time to have baby #2 I opened all the boxes that I stored stuff away in and, in a sense, went shopping for my 2nd son. It was delightful to rummage through the newborn clothes and remember when boy #1 fit into those things; how cute that onesie, how sweet that sleeper, how precious that hat. But I also was able to sort through all the rest of the baby stuff too. And you know what, I didn’t need half of what I had with my first. That may be a bit of an exaggeration but I didn’t need a lot of it.
So I purged, now with wisdom on my side. Some things I got rid of, some things I traded in for a different style/design/brand, and a very few things I added to the collection. With that, I now give you MY (personal) list of must have items for the BABY stage and the TODDLER/KID stage.
BABY:
Get yourself a good one (with a filter, without, or sonic). You’re going to wish you had one when that sweet babe of yours wakes up with croup in the middle of the night. We now have one in both our boys rooms and ours as well. One note, however, commit to cleaning those things because a dirty humidifier can actually do more harm than good.
I discovered at about 4 weeks old that my first son loved to be swaddled. We had swaddled him when he first came home but truth be told, we were lame swaddlers. Then I learned a particular type of swaddle wrap and he stayed that way until he could roll over at 6 months old. When boy #2 came along we started tying him up right away, and it worked, although we progressed through several swaddle designs the stronger he got. In the end we loved the Miracle Blanket. What I loved was that it was light weight so we could wrap him all summer, you could do legs in our out, and most importantly, with 3 arm wraps he simply could not get out of it.
With our first it was a random morning using the hairdryer when we discovered that he was soothed by the sound. Crazy?! Who knew that white noise was like magic with babies. We immediately bought a CD of just a hairdryer because we were probably going to burn the house down if we ran the real thing for much longer. What a novelty to discover that you can buy white noise in washer/dryer, dishwasher, bathroom fan, car engine. Now, our personal fave is the Homedics sound machine. Bonus, it helps calm baby and also covers the noise from the other side of the door as well, i.e. big brother.
When boy #1 was about 2 weeks old he woke up to the world, we like to say he “turned on”. And he hasn’t turned off since. At his 2 week check-up we told his pediatrician how little sleep we felt he was getting and he suggested the bouncy seat. It vibrated and you could bounce it, wish I had me one of them. I carried that thing from room to room because my son loved sleeping in it. I don’t know if it was so much love as it was he just actually slept. Whatever it was it was one of our little life-savers.
This is another one of those things that will be a preference thing for each new parent. With boy #1 we used the Bjorn. I carried him in that thing until he was about 4 months old and he weighed about 15 pounds. Too much stress on my low back! So with boy #2 I did some market research, i.e. talked with a lot of mamas, and decided on the Ergo. I love it! Boy#2 is now 10 months old and we had him in it for a good chunk of our trip to Disney World. What I love is that it has low back support, and baby can be worn on the front or the back. Very versatile! I strongly recommend that whatever brand you get, PLEASE, get something with lumbar support. You don’t know just how weak those tummy muscles are until you have a baby hanging off your chest.
TODDLER:
Kids are messy and table tops can be unsanitary. There are a lot of kid placemats out there but our favorite was the Tiny Diner. It’s an on-the-go placemat that has a built in scoop to catch all that your kid’s mouth doesn’t, it has suction cups to keep it in place and can be easily washed. Great for home and easy for travel.
When boy #1 was almost 2 we put him in his own bed which now meant he could leave it all that much easier. So we found this clock which turns green when the “alarm” goes off. After about a week he learned that once the alarm turned green he was allowed to get out of bed. We still use it and he still waits for that thing to change color and he’s 5!
This is kind of specific but for any of you parents who are travelers this thing is an absolute must. Once your baby is out of his infant seat there really is no way to use a stroller and carry a car seat as well. You don’t want to ask your 2 year old to walk through a large airport by himself and you sure as heck don’t want to carry him and your carry on as well. Enter the Go Go Babyz! You attach this thing to your convertible car seat and you can wheel him around like a piece of luggage, no stroller needed. Heavenly!
I really, really didn’t want to add this to my list because of what I think it says about me as a mom but let me explain. As much as I don’t want my kids to play with my IPhone I also realize that these things are made to be kid user friendly. For goodness sakes, there are even baby apps out there. Whatever you may think of me right now for even suggesting this, let’s face it, little tiny screens with videos and games makes for a really wonderful pacifier. Not all the time mind you but sometimes you just need a little help. Now it doesn’t have to be an Apple product, VTech and Leap Frog have great products as well.
This one is not something you can buy because you have to make it. One thing we take with us everywhere, restaurants, shops, in the car, is this packet. Inside it I put a writing pad, crayons/markers, stickers, and a coloring book. If we’re out and the wait is long I whip this thing out and let my toddler go to town.
There you have it, my Mommy Must Haves. Do any of these resonate with you? What are some of your must haves?
[…] I think my jaw literally dropped when I saw how many bottle options there were. It seems like it should be so simple. That was my first peak into the world of baby items. […]