I’ve been a mom for (almost) a whole year now, which is a little difficult to wrap my head around. My little one is one! It’s hard to overstate what a challenge (a good challenge, but still a challenge) this year has been. To commemorate, I thought I’d share some of my favorite baby products that have helped me survive it, in case any of my readers are new or expecting parents looking for some recommendations.
These are the items that were vital to me as I navigated the ups and downs of parenthood and did my best to raise a happy and healthy infant, while keeping myself happy and healthy as well. Most are my picks. Some were impulse purchases, others were planned and purposefully incorporated into our life, and all are items I fully recommend to any new parent.
My goal was to breastfeed for at least 6 months, unfortunately, a whole mess of issues (late supply, low supply, D-MER, strong reflux…) meant that my breastfeeding journey ended after just eight weeks and I was never able to sustain my baby through breastmilk alone. This meant that while formula was necessary for keeping my son alive, I hadn’t really planned for it and was unprepared for using it constantly throughout the day.
For the first couple of weeks we struggled with liquid formula and bottle warmers as we tried to soothe a hungry baby. Then we bought the Brezza, which is like a Keurig for baby formula. Each bottle was prepared and warmed within 30 seconds (we even got the kind that let us make a bottle using our phone) and as long as we made sure to clean and refill it before the next feeding (if necessary), there was no more soothing a crying baby for what felt like an eternity for a bottle to heat up. It also meant we could make a bottle one-handed, when we had a baby on our other arm.
My little one isn’t done with bottles yet, so we still use our Brezza daily (with Kendamil, which I also recommend).
2. Snuggle Me / Dock-A-Tot
The first few days after we brought my son home, he very rarely left anyone’s hands. We struggled getting him to sleep in the bassinet and didn’t have anywhere even safe-ish to put him on the sofa, so we just… held him.
Enter the Snuggle Me. The Snuggle Me let us lay him down safely on the coffee table or sofa beside us so we could give our arms much needed breaks and introduce a hint of freedom back into our lives. Amazingly, he also was comfortable sleeping in it (which we let him do supervised), which gave us moments to relax, too.
We bought the Snuggle Me and were given the Dock-A-Tot as a gift. We enjoyed both and would recommend both. We even got a larger Dock-A-Tot that Charlie still uses occasionally. I’ll also add that the Dock-A-Tot has some useful additional accessories, like the Cabana Kit and the Toy Arch which add to its usefulness.
If you buy them, though, I highly recommend buying extra covers (Snuggle Me, Dock-A-Tot) on Amazon rather than paying $$$ for the “official” covers. You’ll definitely want a couple extra, and you’ll find a wider assortment of designs and fabrics for much better prices.
3. Yoto Player
We’ve used the Yoto Player for playtime and sleepy time ambient music. We use mostly Make Your Own cards, and most frequently have on: the Harry Potter soundtracks, Disney calming piano covers, or Disney World theme park music.
The music is a great signal as to what we’re in the nursery to do—sleep or play.
When Charlie was still very small, I would put on an audiobook like Winnie the Pooh, the Wind in the Willows, or Frog and Toad while we were doing tummy time. I found having the audiobooks playing helped me keep my phone down and stay in the moment with Charlie, while keeping my mind occupied.
I still put on audiobooks occasionally when we’re trying to calm down or nap, but playtimes currently are a bit too noisy for them.
Charlie’s still not quite to the age where he can interact with the Yoto Player and really enjoy it for what it is, but it’s still an item that we use every single day, even just as a speaker that Chase and I can both control from our phones, but isn’t dependent on either of them (we can listen to our own music/podcasts while changing what is playing on the Yoto).
4. Coterie Diapers
We were given the Babylist Diaper Box at our baby shower, in addition to some other samples of Hello Bello and Pampers. I loved that it let us try out a couple of different diaper brands in our first month as parents and by the end, there was a clear winner. Coterie diapers were softer, dryer, and held more… moisture… than the other diapers. We’ve used them exclusively ever since.
Speaking of diapers, I have nothing but rave reviews for our Ubbi diaper pail (which does a great job of masking scents and doesn’t need proprietary bags) and our Skip Hop Changing Pad. Our favorite wipes are Honest Wipes, which I keep in this great dispenser. We love our hedgehog diaper caddy and portable changing pad.
This spray on diaper rash cream should probably get it’s own section, but I’ll just give it a paragraph instead. Spray. On. Cream. It is easy and quick to apply and it actually helps when my little one gets rashes.
5. Carrot Montessori Toy
This little wooden carrot toy was my son’s favorite for the vast majority of his first year. We got it for him when he was about six months old, and it was his favorite until very recently, when it was dethroned by this Little People Farm Animal set.
He loved “harvesting” the carrots, the felt tops were easy for his little hands to grasp while he was still getting a handle of fine motor skills, and the wooden carrots were his favorite teethers. I truly can’t recommend it enough, and I plan to get a more complex version for him soon. (I’m eyeing this one.)
6. IKEA Drawer Organizers
This is such a small purchase that you may not think much of, but baby clothes are so teeny tiny and these drawer organizers have been a life saver for quickly grabbing an outfit before heading out the door or during a chaotic diaper change.
Speaking of, the Tarva dresser was only $250 when we bought it last year (it’s a little shocking to see that it’s gone up almost $100 since), but it’s still an amazing purchase for the price and has worked perfectly in the past year both as a dresser and changing table.
xx
Julia