Three babies in eight years and a lot has changed in the baby gear space. As a seasoned parent, I’ve learned when to save and when to splurge.
Here are my top ten picks in no particular order…
- The Doona stroller. This is a combo stroller and car seat. It is heavier than a traditional infant car seat, but you aren’t typically carrying it. I love that it saves room in the car because we don’t have to bring a stroller with us. Plus if she falls asleep in the stroller I don’t have to wake her to transfer into the car.
- I am not able to breast feed with this baby, so we are constantly washing and sanitizing bottles. Most sanitizers don’t dry the bottles, so unless you get to them immediately, you have to sanitize again. This Wabi Baby Sterilizer has a built-in dryer function and is huge. I can fit all my bottles and turn it on when we leave the house or at night without having to worry.
- The Nanit Complete Baby Monitoring System Bundle. This does it all. There are lots of breathing monitor options, but this combines a video and breathing monitor and sleep coach all in one. You do have to wear specific swaddles with a funny checked pattern for the breathing functions to work. These aren’t very cute, but are actually really nice swaddles. The have zippers on the top and bottom, so you can keep the babies arms swaddled and use the bottom zipper for late night diaper changes. You can sync to your phone to watch wherever you are. We also use have it synced to our Amazon Echo if we don’t want to use our phones.
- Magnetic pajamas. These are so fast and easy for late night diaper changes. I love the brand Magnetic Me!
- The AstroAI Mini fridge to keep overnight bottles in babies room. The best advice I ever got was to get the baby used to a cold bottle from the start. This is so much cheaper than the Baby Brezza and premaking the bottles saves so much time. Plus this fridge has a car outlet so I can take it on road trips or reuse later to store face creams and/or vitamins in my bathroom.
- Use a Formula Pitcher to cut down on gas bubbles. I make a pitcher a milk ahead of time and get all the bottles I’ll need ready for the day. Making formulas in a pitcher also helps it dissolve and get bubbles out so your baby is less gassy. We use Earths Best Organic Sensitive formula and use Dr. Brown’s Options glass vented bottles.
- Bibs pacifier. My first two children would never take a pacifier. In fact, I was the pacifier. I wonder now, had I had tried this particular pacifier if things could have been different. The natural rubber and shape feel similar to a nipple. They have a reversed base with breathable holes and don’t rub against the babies nose or lips to cause irritation. They are also the lightest weight pacifier I’ve ever come across. We love the glow in the dark versions for sleep training and cutting down on night feedings. Being able to enter the babies room and quickly locate the pacifier in the dark is a blessing.
- Newton mattress. This is a breathable and washable mattress. I sleep better knowing if she turns ove
r she can breath. They are also completely washable which is a must! My middle child used to put his hands down his diaper during naps and you can only imagine the mess! - Basic Fisher Price swing. This is better than most of the fancy ones. With my first baby I bought the fancy mamaroo and my baby hated it. We ended up holding him constantly which became an issue. With the second baby someone gave me an old fisher Price swing and he loved it. Now, with the 3rd baby and starting over with all new baby gear, we went straight for the tried and true Fisher Price swing. I think babies prefer the basic figure 8 motion and the lights show mirror on top best.
- Electric Nasal aspirator. The Nadal Frida was all the rage when my boys were little, but it grossed me out so much. I don’t care what they say, a tiny sponge isn’t going to keep you from ingesting your babies boogers. I found this on Amazon and plan on using it when/if she gets a cold.
Hope this helps all the new parents out there struggling to make a baby registry in the middle of Covid. I know it’s hard enough being a first time patent, but even harder when you can’t get into stores. If your a veteran parent, let me know in the comments if there is a product you couldn’t live without!
Xo
Kim
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