Baby Must Haves on Polyvore.com
1. Aden & Anais Swaddle Blankets - hands down best baby product ever. We adore these. They are made out of muslin which makes them very breathable which was great during the hot month we had after Eden was born, but then were still very useful throughout the winter. Eden is definitely a swaddle loving baby so every night she was swaddled in one of these. You have also seen these in our monthly birthday posts because I love to use them for photo backdrops. Even when we are not swaddling we use them to shield her eyes from the sun in the stroller. In short, these are amazing. Get them.
2. Netflix - This is a mommy must have. Eden had a VERY hard time learning to nurse and would not gain weight for anything. This meant having a very strict schedule where I would feed and pump for over an hour and then two hours later start all over again...all day and all night. So, I fed Eden in the living room, on the couch so that while she ate and drifted off to sleep I could watch an hour of a movie. This may make me a bad mom, but I figured I had PLENTY of bonding time with her throughout the day, so a movie was a nice break during one of the many night feedings.
3. Nursing Tanks - LOVE THEM. Everybody has their own style, but seriously I live in these. I am quite sure I will be wearing these even after I am done nursing. Oh, wait, what? Did I just admit that where everyone can see!? Uhhh...well, now you know just how much I love them. I ended up with the GlamourMom nursing tanks from Motherhood Maternity. They saved us a few pennies from the actual GlamourMom tanks. If I did it over again I would have just bought the regular ones because those are much longer. I ended up having to wear a regular tank over it and any of you that have breastfed your babies know how annoying layers are.
4. Nursing Pillows - Again, LOVE these. I first owned the Boppy, and refused to use the "My Brest Friend" nursing pillow because the name annoyed me. I changed my mind quickly. When Eden and I were with the lactation nurse (we saw her every other day for TWO WEEKS) she had us use the My Brest Friend pillow. It was a lifesaver. We purchased one on the spot. For the first few months that pillow was a staple. Now it has retired and Mr. Boppy has replaced it, but honestly, it is wonderful. Oh and we love the Boppy for many reasons...not only is it great to relieve your arms from baby's heavy head, but it is also great for tummy time and then for sitting up.
5. Grobag Egg Thermometer - This was an essential for our nursery. We do not have heat or air conditioning in either bedroom so we really needed to know what the temperature was at all times. It's so comforting to know how hot or cold it is in Eden's room and adjust the main temperature accordingly. It kept me from stressing about SIDS and about frostbite.
6. Baby Jogger City Mini Stroller - We heart our stroller. It has definitely gotten some good use. When purchasing a stroller we knew we wanted one that was multi-functional. The last thing we needed was multiple bulky strollers taking up precious real estate in our house and car. We use this for walks and for shopping...we just never felt safe about a car seat teetering precariously on a shopping cart (and our carseat does not actually fit in a cart).
7. Medela Tender Care Nipple Cream - Hands down, great stuff. I started using it a week before Eden made her debut and used it for her first few months of life. I had zero issues and this, my friends, is a good thing.
8. Boppy Changing Pad Liners - In case you didn't know, when you have a baby you change A LOT OF DIAPERS. Like a ridiculous amount. With that comes the inevitable blowouts as well as baby's who feel it's necessary to pee or poo the second the diaper is off. In short, these kept us from having to wash the changing pad cover every single day. We have three and we just rotate them as needed.
9. Medela Pump In Style Breast Pump - Thanks to a fabulous friend I was able to use one of these for the first few months. Saved my life. Okay, a bit over dramatic, but it was pretty amazing. I had to pump after every single feeding for the first two months and then had to pump for work. Let me tell you, not every breast pump is made the same so invest in a good one. Also, loved the fact that it has the option of being a double and a single pump...I usually always use the double because um hello, nobody has time to waste when it comes to pumping. Oh and an electric pump is a necessity...trust me, you'll thank me later.
10. Born Free Bottles - Eden never has had gas or colic. I don't know if it was because of these bottles or not, but I am willing to attribute it to them. They say on their label that it reduces gas and colic so hey, why not? They are great bottles and we have had absolutely no issues with them.
11. Bright Starts Automatic Bouncer - Our mission in life is to bring in as few large baby items as possible. Not that we don't want Eden to have options, but just because we simply do not have the space. So, we opted to not have a swing and just get this bouncer. This is not your typical bouncer, no sir. Instead of vibrating, it actually goes up and down. It's great. It also has music and white noise that you can play while your baby is bouncing. It was a great place to put Eden when we needed to grab something and it seemed to keep her happy.
It was SO hard to narrow down the list. I tried to choose items that have been useful for a good majority of her baby days as opposed to ones that we used for a short time. As I type this I realize I actually did miss two items that are quite vital to our lives so let me add those (sorry, it can't be helped).
Meet the Sleep Sheep and Sophie the Giraffe. Eden has been using the Sleep Sheep in her crib since the day we brought her home from the hospital. She can sleep without it, but definitely is used to the soothing sounds. See, the sheep is actually a white noise machine in disguise. We prefer the ocean waves and it seems Eden took a liking to that one as well. Sophie is a new friend around these parts (I know that means we haven't used this item for a good majority of her days, but I like to break the rules). Sophie is AWE to the SOME. She is a teether disguised as a cute little toy. Eden thinks she is great...and so does Bella. Sophie pretty much goes wherever we go, we love her.
Alright, I think I am done. Thanks for any of you that stuck it out with me through this super duper long post. We definitely made it a goal to only get things we thought we would actually need...and not fill our house with tons of baby items that would go unused. We are happy to report that everything we registered for and have bought has been used a lot. This may not always be the case, but we are happy with what we have.
I hope this was a great resource for those of you getting ready to pop out a little one. Eden would like you to know that she is ready and willing to be your baby's best friend. Oh and if you are not pregnant....what's keeping you?! We really would like more babies around!
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