Baby Gear: the first month

I loved reading new moms' baby gear recommendations while I was pregnant and stocking up on supplies, so I hope to do these types of posts myself every now and then. What better time to do one than after our first month (and then some) with our little man?

Let's remember that I am INCREDIBLY blessed and had the honor of five baby showers, so we have a lot of baby gear. A lot. Like, more than we'll ever need. But some of it we use a lot more than others, so I will focus on the items we use frequently and would highly recommend to any new mom with a one-month old baby. I don't like to call it a 'must have' or a 'would die without' type of product because let's get real, people have been having babies for hundreds of years without all of the nifty gadgets we have today and they did just fine. But that doesn't mean that the new modern baby paraphernalia isn't extremely cool and helpful, right?

Okay, let's get started.

1. The Boppy pillow.


(do you see how much little man has grown? He used to fit squarely inside the Boppy and now his legs stick out the bottom. The horror!)

The Boppy was something I wasn't sure I'd really use that much but figured it would be a nice thing to have for nursing Truman. Not only do I love it for proper baby positioning while nursing but T loves to sit up inside the pillow like he's doing in the above pictures. In fact, for the first few nights at home that was the only way he'd sleep---in a more upright position---and I always set him down in the pack-n-play inside the Boppy just for a better view out the top:) Oh, and back to the nursing since that is technically the main purpose of the pillow: as I mentioned before my biceps were totally shredded from labor (pulling on these long legs is no joke) and I doubt I could have successfully nursed T for the first days with how sore I was. I relied on the Boppy for every feeding in the early days although now I'm an old pro (ha ha) and rarely need it anymore. I would say that the Boppy is an excellent purchase for anyone planning to breastfeed, and maybe even if you aren't. Plus, you can pick out fun covers and make the pillow all cute. I got two slipcovers and am glad I did--spit up happens. And as a side note, I did take this to the hospital with me after much debate and was very happy with my decision, no matter how badly it flagged me as 'NEW MOM ALERT' as we walked into the hospital:)

2. Swaddle Me blankets


We knew swaddling a newborn was important from the Happiest Baby on the Block book and DVD but we didn't know that regular square receiving blankets would be such a pain to use for swaddles. Thank goodness we had a few of these Swaddle Me blankets with velcro and a leg pocket ready to go for mister man. In fact, I promptly bought another 3 of them off Amazon in our first week at home because we use them so much. Most of the time we just swaddle him for naps and bedtime now, but in the beginning we swaddled him quite a bit and he loves it. Well, most of the time he loves it and sometimes he protests the swaddle but mommy knows best on this one. It really does help him sleep better when he doesn't startle himself with his crazy arms. In fact, I need to buy a few bigger sizes now that mister T is growing out of the newborn sizes...

3. Baby carriers! In particular, the Moby Wrap and Baby Bjorn.



So these are two very different carriers and I'm glad we have each of them. For instance, Nate believes the Moby to be 'girlie' and prefers to rock the Bjorn. And when I have T swaddled, I can't use the Bjorn properly since his legs won't stick through the holes, so I rely on the Moby for naptime when the crib isn't cutting it. Let me just tell you that having a sleeping baby on my chest while I walk around the house and get things done with TWO HANDS is priceless to me. I use the Bjorn quite a bit when we go for walks outside with Henry because I feel like it's a bit sturdier and safer when maneuvering a crazy Cockapoo on the side. Yes, the Moby does take a bit of practice and I've only tried one position so far (but am bound and determined to figure out the breastfeeding hold so I can go hands free with that, too) but it's fun and not that hard. Yes, the Bjorn is a classic 'yuppy' purchase and it reminds me of the movie The Hangover. But we love them both and use one of them about every day. I'm hoping we can continue to do so even when Truman is a big boy!

4. Pacifier wipes

Totally random, I know, but before I bought these I was constantly running to the kitchen or bathroom to wash off the paci (that he really kind of hates, actually, but I'm still trying to use it as I can for extra soothing!). Now I keep these wipes right by the couch and wipe it off as needed, and can pop it back into his mouth without worrying about germs. As an extra bonus I'm totally obsessed with how they smell even though Nate thinks I'm crazy. I swear it's a banana scent or something!

5. Itzbeen Timer

This one appeals to my Type A self for sure. It's like a stop watch of sorts, and you can press a button for diaper change, feeding, sleeping, and one wild card for whatever you want. Then the timer starts going so you can see how long it's been in between feedings, diaper changes, etc. It won't tell you exactly how long each feeding takes since it just starts at 0 and starts counting from there, but it will tell you if it's been 2 hours, 3 hours, or more since the start of the last feeding. Let me tell you that in the middle of the night, looking at the clock and seeing that it's 4 am does not tell me a darn thing. I have no idea if we last fed at 10 or midnight, so this timer lets me know exactly how long it's been. Same with diapers...if I'm not sure he needs to be changed, I glance at this timer and see if it's been close to 2 hours because that is usually when my 'heavy wetter' needs a good changin'. I know you can totally survive without this one but it really does help me keep track of things since I officially have mommy brain and cannot remember what happened an hour before the present moment. I just wish it would keep track of a whole day's worth of data and let me plug it into my computer for some good old fashioned spreadsheet fun. Sort of. But not really. It would make me crazy to analyze all of that (and yes, I know there are websites that can do this but I try to avoid them at all costs).


6. Soothe and Glow Seahorse

(also, tell me he isn't half- smiling here!)





I already raved about this product but just to remind you, this bad boy is the bomb. It's not 100% effective at putting baby boy to sleep all the time but it's definitely helpful. If I get him to fall asleep in my arms, put him down, and see that he's startling back awake I automatically turn the seahorse on and usually it will calm him down a bit. Plus, I admit that Nate and I really like the tunes on this beast. So sue us:) And it's cute in pictures.


7. Arms Reach Mini Classic Co-sleeper




My good friend Laura recommended this co-sleeper to us even before T was born, when I was all, 'Oh, my baby will stay in his nursery where he belongs since we can't fit anything in our room anyway, so he has to sleep in a different room period.' Ha ha. That lasted up until we brought him home. This is the miniature version of the co-sleeper and it fits just perfect in our tiny room as you can see. I love that it has three sides and the fourth is open to pull up next to the mattress. You are supposed to secure it to your bed but I like having it mobile to pull away from the bed at times, too. The pockets on the sides are fab for my diapering supplies, since I change his diaper right there in the middle of the night, too. And you could actually use this like a regular bassinet with four sides because it does pull up on the open side as well, if needed. I think it holds up to 23 pounds or so, but the 'classic' version will last even longer if that is a problem. It's not cheap, at $140, but I swear it's been a lifesaver for us. The pack-n-play was just too huge for our little room and plus you have to reach up and over the side to pull the baby out with a PNP. Basically, I love our co-sleeper even though sometimes baby boy prefers our bed to this one:)

Oh, and those two rolled up blankets are in the co-sleeper because we used to position him on his side with them just like they did in the hospital. Now he does fine on his back or slightly on his side when swaddled tightly, but it was a neat trick we learned from the nurses.

I think that is it for my 'first month' list of baby gear we love. I'm sure there is a lot more but these are the items that stick out in my mind that we use all.the.time. If this is helpful for some of you I will do more posts in the future, so let me know!