Remember when I was asking for advice during my pregnancy on what we would need for this and that? Well, we took all that advice to heart, and it was very much appreciated. This is my list of the must haves we could not have lived without during the first month of AC's life. (All of the links are from amazon. I figured it was easier to link everything there. Some of the links might not be exactly what we have, but it's very close.)
Rock n Play — We were gifted this
rock n play very early in our pregnancy and told that this would be a life changer. Boy was
Ryan right! This is used multiple times a day and always at night right now. It's lightweight so I move it from our bedroom to the living room everyday. I love it because it keeps her head elevated in case she starts to spit up, and it also vibrates. And knowing that I can have my baby in arms reach next to my bed gives me peace of mind. She loves it, too. She takes naps in it during the day, and for now, sleeps in it at night.
Pack n Play — This Graco
pack n play is in our bedroom, and the night she came home from the hospital she slept in the bassinet part of it. A few nights later we moved her beside me on my side of the bed in the rock n play, but we do play to move her back to the pack n play in a few weeks. We love the bassinet part because it's high enough for us to see her from the bed, we like the fact that it has a changing station and we can take both of those off and let her lay on a flat surface, too. We will slowly make that change to the flat surface that is higher up before we move her to her room and her crib.
Wipes Warmer — We instantly noticed a trend with our baby girl... she does not like to be cold or have anything cold on her. And that includes wiping her booty. This
wipes warmer gets used a lot every day, and we know she appreciates it too since she isn't wiped with a cold wet one!
Breast Pump — At the hospital, our lactation nurse told me no pumping for four weeks. Well, when the pediatrician told me to pump to see how much I was getting, we realized that pumping was going to be key with her feedings. Basically, when you nurse, you have no idea how much of your milk your baby is getting. And pumping I was able to know how much formula we needed to supplement. Now, I didn't pay for my breast pump. Before you spend hundreds of dollars on one, call your insurance company to see if they cover one. Our insurance paid 100% for my breast pump. It's a Medela electric double breast pump. And it's been used, a lot. The below picture is the exact one that I have... it was over $381 and I got it free from my insurance company. I don't have a link for it due to ordering through my insurance company.
Boppy Pillow — I didn't use my
boppy for the first week of her life, but when I did start using it... hello, it was a lifesaver. Not only did it help with her feedings, but she loves to sit with her back to me, and her behind in the hole with her feet propped up on the boppy. Of course the boppy is wrapped around me, so she isn't sitting alone or unattended. But, when she gets older it can be used to prop her up for sitting. She also loves to lay across the top of it completely stretched out while it's wrapped around me.
Dr Brown's Bottles — While our intent was to exclusively breastfeed, it was not our reality. I simply do not produce enough milk to satisfy her at one feeding. So we knew we would be supplementing with formula. Thankfully we requested to have some formula sent home with us from the hospital for "just in case" and those were the ready made bottles that you just screw the top off, and screw a nipple on and feed the baby. Those can be pretty costly, so we went with the powder formula and found the
Dr Brown's bottles worked best for her during and after feedings. We are using the natural flow, but we also have the wide nipple version that we use as well. She does great with both.
Dr Brown's Sanitizer & Bottle Warmer — When we realized that bottles were in our life for good, and that the Dr Brown bottles made the spitting up and gas less evident in her life... we needed a
bottle sanitizer and
bottle warmer. We scored a 25% off coupon from babies r us and got all of these for a steal. If you aren't a rewards member at babies r us, sign up. We get multiple $5 off coupons monthly and other coupons like the 25% off all Dr Brown items in the mail and by email. We noticed that my milk comes out pretty warm, and even though we are using room temperature nursery water with her powder formula, she likes having the formula warm like my milk. Plus, when I pump and stick it in the fridge, I can get my milk warm in less than three minutes with the bottle warmer. And the sanitizer sanitizes my breast pump attachments and her paci's, too. The link is for amazon, and the items are a few dollars cheaper with amazon. However, I mentioned babies r us because if you have the $5 off coupons and the 25% off all Dr Brown's coupon, you will get the better deal there.
Zip Up Sleepers — I'll be honest, we like the
zip up sleepers the best. Because nothing is worse in the middle of the night than trying to pair up buttons, trust me on this. And mom found the best zip up sleepers at...
Walmart! The faded glory ones are soft, durable and the Mr says these are his favorite because of the zip up feature!! And they are a steal for $5 each! We don't have this set below, but the yellow and gray one that you see her in... that's one of them! Downside is, these don't have the fold over at the end of the sleeve, but no worries because we have plenty of mittens!
Mittens and Caps — AC's little hands stayed cold the first few weeks after she was born, and not to mention those baby fingernails are brutal. They were extremely sharp, yet not long enough to cut. So we kept mittens on her hands, and still do at night. You can get sleepers and shirts that have the little fold over cuffs and those are a favorite around here, too. Also, we noticed keeping a cap on her little head help keep her warm. We only use these at night now, but it's like she knows it's nite nite time when we put it on her head. You can buy them in bundles
here.
Nat & Jules Blanket — This
blanket was gifted to her from one of my dad's co-workers. We use this blanket every single day, it's her favorite. We've even bought another one of these blankets so we have one when the other is in the wash. It's the perfect size for a newborn and extremely soft. This will probably be my go to item for a baby gift from now on! Oh and it comes with a small little giraffe rattle, too.
Aveeno Body Wash/Shampoo and Lotion — I wanted to be sure that she had a
lotion and
body wash/shampoo that would keep her skin moisturized and wouldn't break her out. So we went with Aveeno. Now, we were gifted lots of Johnson and Johnson Baby Shampoo, Body Wash and Lotion, and will probably use it at a later time, but with her being so new and sensitive, we decided to start out with this. And so far, no issues. Her skin is perfect and very moisturized.
Mam's Paci's — These were the
paci's that the hospital was using. We had a variety of paci's that were either gifted to us or purchased, but she took this one very well. And I will say that even if you decide to not give your child a paci, the hospital
will give them a paci even if you tell them not to. We were informed that during their hearing test, a paci is given to make sure they are quiet and still. We had asked them to not give her one, but they came to us before her hearing test to let us know they were going to and did we have one we would prefer they use. Now, she doesn't take her paci all the time. And usually within five minutes she has spit it out across the room because she doesn't like it. However, her pediatrician said a paci is great for helping prevent SIDS. AC also sucked her thumb in my womb, and we are trying to prevent her from having that habit. The Dr said you can always take a paci away, but you can't chop off her thumb. So we use these. We have two in the house and a two pack in her diaper bag.
Fisher Price Swing & Bouncer — Both the
swing and
bouncer have been great for having her near us to watch her while she sleeps. I can put her in the swing right after she eats and she will look around for a few minutes and then drift off to sleep. The bouncer is perfect for when I need to run to the bathroom, fix her a bottle, etc. It entertains her for a few minutes without me having to hold her. However, she doesn't like to sleep in it.
Music Maker — We were gifted an
Ocean Wonders Soothe and Glow Seahorse and a
Soundspa Sound Machine and Projector. We use the seahorse at her changing table. She loves to hear the music and look at the light coming from the seahorse, and we love that it turns itself off after about 5-8 minutes. The sound machine and projector we have in our room right next to her rock n play. We use this every night at bedtime. Most of the time she doesn't go right to sleep (even if she was asleep when we put her in the sleeper) and this machine has a variety of sounds and music and has a timer! Score! It has three different discs that project scenes on the ceiling, however she's still a bit too young to see that far and notice it, yet. But we know the day is coming soon and she will love it.
Noise Machine — we are using my air purifier. I've slept with it for years, and I bought it at Walmart. Our neighborhood is about 1/2 mile from a railroad track, and about the length of three football fields from the interstate, so there is a lot of noise at night when she's trying to sleep. The first couple of weeks I refused to turn it on because I wanted to make sure I could hear her. However, during week three, we started using it, and found it made a big difference in her sleeping more soundly.
These are along with a few other things like hooded towels, burp clothes, etc have been used each and every day since we've had AC home. While every baby may not like these things or use all of these, our little one does.
