Earlier this year, SimpleMom did a couple of blog posts on "things you don't need for baby" and "things you do need for baby." I was talking with S at that time about what we used for our babies, and thinking about M & A lately, I thought I would do my own version of "what worked for us with our babies." It is a list of things, yes, but really, to us, it is part of the story of how we raised our babies, too.
To preface all of this, we are a shining example of how you don't need anything before you have the baby. We had lists upon lists of things to buy made before our first child was born, and S had taken a day off during the week for us to go on a major shopping trip, but G decided to make an appearance 6 weeks early instead! We had a pack of onsies and...that's it. Not even a car seat! We were able to go out and get everything on our list before G came home with us (she spent 10 days in the NICU). While we don't really recommend being that little prepared, we do recommend not being stressed out about having everything ready. Remember too, that this little person comes into the world very tiny and basically only needs you, not a house full of stuff.
I also am a big fan of garage sales and craigslist and thrift stores, but always always make sure that anything you buy used is in good working condition and up to current safety standards. Anyway, these are the basic things that worked for us:
for sleeping...
- Cribs are nice, but not completely necessary. You really just need a good and basic pack'n'play with a bassinet, especially in the beginning. This was very useful to us not only at home, but traveling, so that the little peanut had a familiar and safe place to sleep.
We also co-sleep with our kids. This worked very well for us, especially with C, in making the night-time wakings short and brief (don't have to get up and drag yourself to their room down the hall!). Always practice good safety with co-sleeping, though.- Having something to rock a baby to sleep in is also necessary in my book. I have loved rocking and nursing my babies. We were fortunate to receive S's Grandma B's wooden rocking chair, and we also received a great used recliner from our friends, E&T, named La-Z-Brown. All of our babies have been rocked so many hours in these chairs!
- Now, an extra that has proved to be in-valuable to us is definitely our exercise ball. Yep, exercise ball. Not for my labor, not for getting me back into shape after the baby was born, but for bouncing very fussy babies to sleep. G was an extremely fussy baby due to a dairy sensitivity that we did not discover for many months. On a tip from dear brother-in-law J and sister-in-law C, we tried holding G out in front of us and bouncing on the slightly deflated exercise ball. Oh my, how she loved it. And so have W & C. So the number of hours bouncing seriously rivals the number of hours rocking in this house.
- All you really need is the momma! =) And I was lucky enough to be able to nurse all my babies!
- A Boppy pillow was very useful to me with all my babies.
- And if you want a pump, the Medela pump is definitely a good one.
- We also use cloth diapers with our kids. We started with chinese prefolds, snappis and prowraps, added some bummis wraps to the mix, and now have been using my favorite of them all, softbums! They are so great with sizing for little bums to big bums, and a lot trimmer than most cloth diapers are. Plus the gal that designed them and who makes a lot of them is super nice and lives less than 5 miles from our house.
- There is a great information on the whole cloth diaper choices and process on softbums' website too. I will add to that info that we love our metal trash can with liner as diaper pails and BacOut for help with odors and stains in the wash.
- When we don't use cloth, we use Target brand diapers. They are not expensive, and they do not have any fragrance to them, which is a big deal for us. All our kids have sensitive skin and break out if we use other brands (even expensive ones!).
- And for those breakouts, we really like Burt's Bees diaper ointment. A little more expensive, but once again worked really well on our babies' skin. We figured the money we saved with cloth diapers and Target diapers meant we could splurge on the diaper ointment!
- We bought a fancy sponge baby tub insert and didn't like it at all. Nor did we like the spendy tiny bath tub that only holds baby for about 2 months. All we did were sponge baths on a towel, or we soaped them up and rinsed them with one of us in the shower, or we washed them in the bathtub sitting on a washcloth. Fancy towels are sure cute, but not necessary either.
- What was necessary for us with bathing babies were California Baby bodywash, and Avalon Organics aloe lotion. A little more expensive, but quality stuff with natural ingredients that we felt good about using with our babies.
- Nice cotton onsies. Carter's has always been a favorite brand. They are really true to size and have lasted through multiple babies. The white ones are great as well as the patterns - oh so cute too!
- Hanna Jams. I will say that Hanna Andersson sleepware is a staple in our kids' wardrobes. I know they are expensive, but the quality is outstanding and when they can be used heavily by 3 kids and still look great, that is a pretty good investment. We had a Hanna outlet near us until it closed last year so I was always able to find them on sale and clearance for great prices, and I have also picked them up on ebay or when they go on super sale at the regular stores or online. This is also something that we use extra birthday/Christmas money on!
- As for other clothes...um...don't get me started...I have a weakness for cute clothes for my children...but I do love a great sale or clearance rack at Target! (or Gymboree, or Carter's, or...)
- A good car seat is a must. We did research (as all good B's do!) in Consumer Reports and bought a Baby Trend car seat. We have really liked it a lot - the triangle on the handle makes it very easy to carry and lug on one arm too.
- We bought the matching stroller to complete the "travel system", and we have used it quite a bit, but when W came along we bought a double stroller and that is really all we use now. A stroller is definitely good to have, but if you are thinking about having more than one kid at all, I would choose something that would either give you a little more flexibility like this, or just spend wisely, knowing another stroller might be in your future!
- Baby Carriers!!! We LOVE "wearing" our babies. I am a little bit of a baby carrier collector, but I do have 2 favorites. My talented sister-in-law C made a mei tai for us (pictured above with W!) that works so well with tiny newborn babies up to toddlers. We also purchased a Baby Bjorn Active carrier (with back support), that was also great to use from about 10 pounds to 20 pounds. The added back support was totally worth the extra. We also have a Maya Wrap, an Ergo, and we just got a backpack carrier from some friends too!
So, M & A, happy baby! Hope this list helps you a little, and always make sure to use what works for you...you don't have to listen to your crazy sister or anyone else! Love you!
1 comment:
To think we held you in our arms in the car, or had the little plastic car seat in front. We did have a Lazy-Boy for rocking but our bouncing ball was walking all of you around the kitchen table. Round and round and round. Cary, you do buy good clothes that last. Kudus!
Loved the list.
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