About a month ago, I shared with you my favorite products for newborns. Bailey was around a month old, and as most people know, babies mean that your house is no longer your own. No matter how much you try to keep on top of keeping it tidy, things just end up all over the floor. You have more products for the baby than you have for yourself.
I have always been pretty stubborn, thinking that I didn’t need half these products, I could get by on something similar enough, and honestly, for the most part, I have been able to get away with that for a lot of things…but there are definitely a LOT more things that I have had to swallow my pride and get…and use.
Now, every baby is different, so unfortunately you have to find what your baby likes. In my previous blog post I mentioned that Bailey liked the MAM brand pacifiers, but if you took another 9 babies, maybe all of them would like other brands, you just have to try them out.
That being said, I am going to share the ones I have loved, and as a product review nut, I definitely wanted to make sure products have good reviews before I get them, and all of the ones I recommend do, so maybe they will work for you too.
You can go back and read my 1 month baby product recommendations post, but just a recap here before I go on to new things. The products I am still using and love are:
- DockATot for sleeping (called Sleepyhead in Europe)
- Burp cloths, you go through A LOT of these
- Dr Browns Natural Flow Options Bottle
- Dr. Browns full microwaveable sterilizer
- Dr Browns breastmilk freezer bags
- Miracle Blanket to swaddle her at night- she sleeps 8 hours with one wakeup
- Boone Drying Grass for your bottles, pacifiers
- Baby Tracker App for keeping track of her feeding and changing
- Cradle app, although we now use the Spanish lullaby for evenings while she unwinds and rain with heartbeat overnight
- Mam Pacifiers, the glow in the dark ones
- Skip Hop Activity Gym
Now for the newer items I did not mention last time:
Tula Carrier (plus newborn insert) and Free-to-Grow Carrier
This is probably my favorite product on this list.
A friend of mine had told me that she loved the Tula carrier above all others, and a lot of what her daughter preferred has been similar to what Bailey likes, so again, I trusted, and she was right with this one. This calms Bailey down in a matter of seconds when she is upset. She falls asleep in it daily, and especially if she gets overtired, this is the only way to get her to fall asleep.
Bailey clearly remembers the movement of running, and movement soothes her when she is upset, so walking around in this is ideal, and I actually find dancing in it (especially to George Michael, she remembers!) sends her to sleep within the duration of a song!
This carrier spreads the weight pretty well around my body, is really comfortable in all the right places, and it is very obvious to me that she loves being in it. Right now we are still using the newborn insert for the original Tula carrier, which is for babies up to 15lbs, but they also have the Tula free to grow carrier, which I was actually not aware of when I ordered the original, but have since got one!
They have the most gorgeous patterns and colors for these carriers, but also keeping it simple when you know your husband will be using it, and if your husband is anything like mine, he wont be too keen on using one with girly patterns 😉
I have this carrier, this newborn insert, and recently got the free to grow, which is ideal for both Steve and I.
Chicco Mini Bravo Stroller
Last time I told you how much I was enjoying my Chicco Trio Bravo system, and the trio is still working really well for us, but Chicco also make a lighter version of the stroller, for easier use. Of course removing some of the weight and clunkiness can only help us when we are trying to juggle 100 things at the same time, especially when your babe doesn’t want to be in the car any longer looking at the back of a seat.
Chicco were kind enough to send me a mini bravo, and I absolutely love it. As you can imagine, a stroller is a must for a new mum, especially once you start to get cabin fever and want to get out the house! This stroller works seamlessly with my Chicco car seat, and I am really looking forward to those summer morning walks!
Skip Hop Diaper Bag
I decided to go against the grain when it came to diaper bags. I wanted one that was more of a backpack style than the traditional bag to wear over your shoulder. Those looked painful, messy, and too easy to become a black hole of a bag. This Skip Hop Diaper bag has lots of compartments and even little containers to put things into so you know where they are. It comes with its own changing pad to fold open and put down when you need it.
I also like that it has the two side pockets, probably meant for bottles, but as I am breastfeeding, I put my wallet in one side and a bottle of water for me on the other (have to stay hydrated!!).
Very happy with this bag!
Flip Diapers plus inserts
Here’s a big one.
Where I try not to go off on a rant about the environment and waste.
Most people know by now that I really try hard to do my part for the environment, and one thing that makes me cringe is thinking about the amount of waste we, as a human race, are accumulating, and someday, we WILL run out of space, WALL-E anyone? This is also where my Leo DiCaprio obsession comes from 😉
Anyway, one way I wanted to reduce my impact was to use reusable diapers as much as possible. It would also save us money and be better for her.
Although we are still using diapers at night right now (we love the Honest ones), I have been using the Flip Diapers for the rest of the time.
Yes, it is a little more phaff. Yes, it does mean more washing. Yes, it does mean you have to be a little more hands on with your Childs poop, but I couldn’t be happier with them.
We love the Flip diapers, after feeling overwhelmed with options, I decided to just go for one, and Flip was the one we chose. They are great! I do 1-2 loads of washing a week, and whenever possible, hang the inserts (the “cloth” part) out to dry on a washing line outside as much as possible. The sun also bleaches any stains.
We have about 8 of the shells, well, shells are what I call them, the outside, waterproof layer, and we have about 30 inserts total. I purchased mostly the flip stay dry inserts, about 6 of the newborn inserts (as the other ones are quite bulky while they are so small), and 12 from Alva.
Cloth diapering seems really intimidating, but once you get the hang of it (took a few days), it really isn’t that bad. Bailey can wear these flip diapers until she is potty trained, and they wash up really well.
The only real downside for me right now is just that they are so big on her. They fit her well, but as they do wear them for years, they are quite bulky while they are small. We had to use disposable for the first month as Bailey was just too small to wear the flip ones (minimum of 8lbs).
If you are interested in learning more about cloth diapering, let me know and I will do a post on it, but do I recommend it?
You have to be prepared for a little more work, but if you don’t mind that, absolutely, yes!
Oh, and we use Charlie’s Soap for washing and Grovia Mighty Bubbles every few weeks to give them an extra clean.
Tula Blankets
At the one month products post I mentioned that a soft blanket was a must, and Bailey still uses hers every day, but I have since acquired these Tula blankets and they are SO soft and so comfortable, I absolutely LOVE them! We have one for her in her car seat to cover her legs, one in the bedroom for night-time and one downstairs for general use.
Megafood Bone Health Tablets
This is one for mummy, but there is a good chance you will need these too. During pregnancy and breastfeeding a lot of your calcium goes to your baby, which is partly why many postpartum women are at risk of stress fractures. I try to get as much calcium as I can through my diet, but I love these MegaFood Bone Health tablets with bone building components to give my body a boost.
Water Wipes
We actually mostly use just water with cotton buds to clean Bailey (again, environmental concerns), but when we do use wipes…like after a messy diaper, I love these water wipes. A little more expensive than most, but I feel like they are worth it.
Mommy’s Bliss Gripe Water (Night Time)
I hope you wont ever need this, but in reality, most newborns do go through some kind of fussiness with tummy troubles or gas at some point. We went through a stretch where Bailey was taking in a lot of air while feeding as I had such a fast flow, and she was really really upset in the evenings. During this time we gave her half a serving of this Mommys Bliss Gripe Water in her evening bottle and it made a huge difference. They recommend to put it slowly into the babys mouth, but babies don’t know how to swallow on cue yet, so Bailey (and a lot of other babies!) choked on it, so I didn’t want to risk that again. The bottle was a much easier alternative.
We dont give her this very often anymore, but it was a real lifesaver if you have a very fussy baby and nothing seems to be working.
Babyganics Foaming Dish Soap and Hand Sanitizer
New mothers wash their hands A LOT. Not just when you go to the bathroom, change their diaper, or touch something dirty, but you have to wash them for plenty of other occasions too. We use the Mrs. Meyer hand soaps for ourselves and the Babyganics foaming dish soap wash to clean her stuff.
No matter how hard you try tp prevent it, hand washing will leave your hands very dry and cracked. Moisturizer helps, but when you are washing them so often, it doesn’t really get much chance to soak in.
It is nice to sometimes use a sanitizer if you can’t leave the baby alone to go to the sink or if you are out. I love this babyganics hand sanitizer, and like that it is alcohol free and made of safer ingredients.
And obviously lots of adorable clothes 🙂
Tiny Love Travel Mobile
We do have the rain sound playing throughout the night, and although we didnt want a full mobile for her, I wanted one that she could learn to associate with sleeping and relaxing that we could take with us. A travel mobile seemed perfect. I tried one from Skip Hop, but was REALLY not happy with it, so returned it, and found this Tiny Love one instead, absolutely LOVE it. It plays about 5 different tunes, quietly, on repeat for about 30 mins.
Now Bailey is old enough to try to start falling asleep on her own, this is really good for her falling asleep as she will watch it and then drift off.
I love that we can clip this to her carseat if we are going on a long drive and it will bring her comfort, and that we can turn it on as we put her into bed, and she falls asleep in a peaceful slumber 🙂
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