I rounded up our top 7 favorite items we’ve used the past three months! Many of these I discovered after Theo was here and didn’t register for (Amazon saves the day again). Shop today or share with a mom-to-be!
- Baby Bjorn Bouncer– We purchased this when Theo was 4 weeks old. He loved to be bounced around the house and this saved both our backs and sanity. It’s nothing fancy as it bounces manually, but the movement is more natural than any of the automated bouncers we tried. When baby gets older and starts kicking around, their movement bounces it on it’s own. The has three levels, the lowest seat setting we used when he was a newborn and would bounce him to sleep in it. As he’s gotten older, we use the next step up because he has more neck strength and isn’t slouched in the seat as much. I even purchased this toy bar to attach to the bouncer once in a while and it will buy me some time to cook dinner! It’s pricier compared to other bouncers, but once they’re a toddler you can flip the seat fabric around and turn it into a little seat. I also love that it folds flat so it’s easy to travel with.
2. Boppy Pillow– I registered for this nursing pillow and think I’ve used it every day since Theo was born. It was especially helpful after my C-section, so he wasn’t resting directly on my incision. What I didn’t think about was purchasing extra covers for the pillow. I love this cover from Etsy- I got it to match the nursery. She also has other really cute patterns available.
3. VaVa Nightlight– it seems silly to include to say that a nightlight is one of most used items, but it’s saved us during middle of the night feedings and diaper changes. It’s small enough to not take up too much space on the dresser, but also bright enough to see what you’re doing! I love that it has different brightness settings and can be switched back and forth between a cool blue or warm light. We use it on a brighter setting in his nursery for diaper changes, and while I am nursing him in bed I have it set at a low warm setting so it doesn’t distract him. The best part is that you turn it on and change the settings just by tapping it. Life saver when you’re doing everything one handed 😉
4. Copper Pearl Burp Cloths– I got a few burp cloths in the beginning, but noticed that they didn’t cover enough of my shoulder and I was still getting spit-up on. I purchased a few Copper Pearl bibs, and loved the quality so I decided to try out a few burp cloths too. Best. Quality. Ever. They’re super thick so they absorb a lot, and they’re also nice and wide to protect more of your clothes! I also used them a lot when I first started breast feeding because baby and I would both be soaked at the end of a feeding. These were perfect to tuck under my nursing bra to catch all the extra milk. Bonus-they come in the cutest patterns and launch new styles often!
5. Burt’s Bees Pajamas– I am so picky when it comes to baby clothes. I tend to lean towards a lot of gray and hate anything with graphics on it. Many of the pjs I found for babies just felt tacky to me- until I discovered Burt’s Bees. They have the cutest patterns, and the quality is great. Plus, you can find most styles on Amazon.
6. Nested Bean Swaddle– This was one thing we did register for and it is hands down the best item we own. It’s a swaddle with a weighted patch on the front that mimics your touch. Perfect for babies who only fall asleep in your arms, and wake up the second you set them down. My biggest regret is that we didn’t start using it sooner. Something about swaddling him at night scared me at first- I was always afraid we were doing it too tight and he wouldn’t be able to breathe well, or too loose and the blanket would come undone. It was around 6 weeks when I remembered we had this swaddle and the first night we used it he went from waking every two hours to sleeping 5 hours straight. Then it gradually increased to 6-7 hours, and now he’s only waking once a night to eat. And I know it’s not just because he’s older that his sleep is improving ,because the one night we didn’t swaddle him, he went right back to the two hour wake-ups again. Trust me- try this.
7. Baby Shusher– When we went to have his newborn photos done, our photographer had this playing the whole time we were in her studio and Theo never cried once. Drew would spend hours at night shushing him to sleep, and this thing does all the shushing for you. I never even knew shushing was a thing until we took this sleep course and shushing was one of the essential steps to getting a baby to sleep. We still use it at least once a day- even if he falls asleep on his own, we turn it on to help keep him asleep. It’s great because it’s small enough to travel with and has different timer settings so it shuts off on it’s own.
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