A few of my favorite things...
Since I just had a baby, I thought I'd do a post of my favorite baby things. In case anyone cares or is trying to register.
1. Aiden and Anais muslin swaddles. These are awesome, especially for summer babies. They are really lightweight, but still big enough to get the wee one swaddled up very tight. And they have lots of cute prints. They're a little pricey, but I bet if you shop around you can find them on sale.
2. Our swing. A swing is really, really great to have and can be a lifesaver. Right after Judah was born we had a hard time getting him to sleep in his cradle or crib. But we could put him in that swing and he'd sleep for several hours. Now we've transitioned to the crib at night, but still use the swing for daytime naps and are slowly trying to get him in his crib for all sleeping. But even if he's not asleep, he is entertained in it long enough to cook dinner or get something else done.
3. Footed pajamas that ZIP all the way down the foot. My favorite are the Gerber sleep n play pajamas that come in packs of three. Like these. Although Judah doesn't wear pink ones. Zips are great because messing with snaps when you are bleary-eyed at 3am takes too long. And the gerber sleepers are nice because they are lightweight enough so that Judah doesn't get hot, but they still keep his feet warm.
4. A bouncy seat. Ours was fairly inexpensive, but has some dangly things he can look at and vibrates. Again, this is nice for some brief baby entertainment when you need to get something done. I also like we can put it on the table and have Judah join us for dinner. Ours has this one little electronic song that plays. I might recommend one that plays more than one song since when your 3 month old figures out he can pull on the frog and have it make noise, you might be hearing that one song over. and over. and over.
5. Some sort of nursing cover. I have a "hooter hider" which I use all the time. These would be super simple to make (I'm planning on sewing some for a few upcoming babies myself) using this tutorial. I would recommend one that has some sort of flannel or terry cloth in one corner to wipe the baby's mouth after they finish eating.
6. If you are going to be pumping a lot, I'd definitely recommend the medela pump in style breast pump. It's fast and honestly gets more out than Judah actually eats. I've had no problems with my supply since going back to work. There may be other good pumps out there, but I really do love this one. I also used it a lot right after he was born. I'd pump after he would eat and I think this really helped me have a good supply. Plus I was able to build up a little freezer stash of breast milk. My favorite breast milk freezer bags are the lansinoh freezer bags. They freeze the milk flat so they don't take up tons of space in the freezer.
7. The Paci. I'm a big fan of pacis and always recommend them to my patients since they decrease the risk of SIDS. We use a gumdrop paci because that's what they gave us in the hospital. Judah seems to like it and I think it's cute. I know some people worry about nipple confusion, and we did wait maybe a day to give him a paci,until after I knew he was latching on well. But babies need to suck and they need to suck for a large portion of the day. So unless you want the baby sucking on you all the time, the paci is a good option.
8. The boppy pillow. I use this all the time for nursing. I've gotten much, much better at not needing it and feeling comfortable nursing Judah without it, but it's so nice to be able to lay him on the pillow and then have a hand free when he's eating.
Well, that's the list for now. Anyone else with favorite baby things?
1. Aiden and Anais muslin swaddles. These are awesome, especially for summer babies. They are really lightweight, but still big enough to get the wee one swaddled up very tight. And they have lots of cute prints. They're a little pricey, but I bet if you shop around you can find them on sale.
2. Our swing. A swing is really, really great to have and can be a lifesaver. Right after Judah was born we had a hard time getting him to sleep in his cradle or crib. But we could put him in that swing and he'd sleep for several hours. Now we've transitioned to the crib at night, but still use the swing for daytime naps and are slowly trying to get him in his crib for all sleeping. But even if he's not asleep, he is entertained in it long enough to cook dinner or get something else done.
3. Footed pajamas that ZIP all the way down the foot. My favorite are the Gerber sleep n play pajamas that come in packs of three. Like these. Although Judah doesn't wear pink ones. Zips are great because messing with snaps when you are bleary-eyed at 3am takes too long. And the gerber sleepers are nice because they are lightweight enough so that Judah doesn't get hot, but they still keep his feet warm.
4. A bouncy seat. Ours was fairly inexpensive, but has some dangly things he can look at and vibrates. Again, this is nice for some brief baby entertainment when you need to get something done. I also like we can put it on the table and have Judah join us for dinner. Ours has this one little electronic song that plays. I might recommend one that plays more than one song since when your 3 month old figures out he can pull on the frog and have it make noise, you might be hearing that one song over. and over. and over.
5. Some sort of nursing cover. I have a "hooter hider" which I use all the time. These would be super simple to make (I'm planning on sewing some for a few upcoming babies myself) using this tutorial. I would recommend one that has some sort of flannel or terry cloth in one corner to wipe the baby's mouth after they finish eating.
6. If you are going to be pumping a lot, I'd definitely recommend the medela pump in style breast pump. It's fast and honestly gets more out than Judah actually eats. I've had no problems with my supply since going back to work. There may be other good pumps out there, but I really do love this one. I also used it a lot right after he was born. I'd pump after he would eat and I think this really helped me have a good supply. Plus I was able to build up a little freezer stash of breast milk. My favorite breast milk freezer bags are the lansinoh freezer bags. They freeze the milk flat so they don't take up tons of space in the freezer.
7. The Paci. I'm a big fan of pacis and always recommend them to my patients since they decrease the risk of SIDS. We use a gumdrop paci because that's what they gave us in the hospital. Judah seems to like it and I think it's cute. I know some people worry about nipple confusion, and we did wait maybe a day to give him a paci,until after I knew he was latching on well. But babies need to suck and they need to suck for a large portion of the day. So unless you want the baby sucking on you all the time, the paci is a good option.
8. The boppy pillow. I use this all the time for nursing. I've gotten much, much better at not needing it and feeling comfortable nursing Judah without it, but it's so nice to be able to lay him on the pillow and then have a hand free when he's eating.
Well, that's the list for now. Anyone else with favorite baby things?
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