My Favorite Baby Products as of Two Months

Building on my initial baby gear thoughts post, I thought I'd add some more items to the list of baby products I've found helpful.

I'm not an expert on anything but my baby and what she likes at this time in her life, but hopefully these thoughts are useful, if for nothing else than for me to look back on when I want to reminisce about infancy.

I still love the Gerber prefold diapers for burp rags, and even better have got some pretty burpies as gifts. (If I had any sewing talent and scrap fabric I would turn my boring white ones into cute ones too!) The Boppy is still aces for nursing (although we can technically do it without the pillow it's still more comfy), and we still use the Aden and Anais swaddler blankets most every night. Although Jane does have a Halo sleep sack that's good too, since she doesn't really care about having her arms swaddled and actually prefers to sleep with them straight up as if she were in a hold up.

I didn't end up getting the fancy baby bath tub, although I'm sure it's great. I give Jane baths in the sink using this Infant to Toddler Tub with Sling. It fits just great in the double sink, and with my sink's spray nozzle I can get a good shampoo too (something some moms may not have to do if the baby doesn't have a full head of hair like Jane does).

I was tempted by this foldable Puj tub for travel, but when we went to Oklahoma we were able to take our tub with us in the van, and by the time we travel next Jane will likely be able to sit up unassisted, meaning a bath directly in the sink will be completely doable with a towel in the bottom for cushioning.

Some of my nursing favorites include "Mother's Love" nursing bras that I got for cheap on Zulily - with shipping worked out to be around $8 per bra. They're not cute but they work for me. I have a few other bras from Target or otherwise bought online, but I like the cotton Mother's Love ones the best. I use Johnson's breast pads, after reading a recommendation on a blog. I like them a lot, although I can usually find them cheaper at Target or Walmart than online.

I pump every day using an Ameda hand pump that I got at the hospital. If I had to do it more than once a day I'd want an electric model, and I'd probably rent it from the hospital, mostly so I wouldn't have a pump to throw away or store once Jane weans. I started pumping into the bottle that came with the pump and got some more like it for a total of 5. Now I pump into store and pour bags and am stocking the freezer -- they freeze flat and then I can stack them. We haven't actually used any of the milk yet -- but it's there when we'll need it, and I like to think it helps keep my milk supply up.

I haven't really found a bottle I like enough to recommend, mostly because Jane doesn't eat much from bottles, as I'm always around and it's just easier to feed her from the source. We've got a Dr. Brown's bottle that she did eat from when she stayed with Beth and Meme on Boxing Day, and another new mom recommended an Avent bottle that we have yet to try -- its nipple is supposed to be more like a breast.

Our cloth diapering adventure didn't go super smoothly. They definitely leak more than the disposables, and as much as I loved putting Jane in lots of different outfits in a day we kind of fell out of the cloth diapering routine when we traveled for Christmas. So we've been using Target up & up diapers mostly, although I'm sure the Amazon Mom Subscribe and Save would be cheaper in the long run. I'm not ready to totally give up on my idea of cloth diapering during the day. In any case we've found Seventh Generation wipes to be the best -- chlorine free and not so thick as to feel wasteful.

For getting around our best thing has been the Moby carrier. I use it every time we go to a store, mostly because she's too small to sit in the cart and her car seat is convertible, meaning it doesn't double as an infant carrier. (Safety note: those are NEVER supposed to ride in the front part of the cart -- always put the infant carrier/car seat into the big part of the shopping cart.)

Our favorite blankets are the hand made ones -- crocheted blankies and quilts. Jane is just starting to get into toys, so I'll probably do a separate post about those as she develops preferences. Most of her toys have been gifts. We'll also have to keep track of her favorite books -- so far she will listen to whatever I feel like reading. :)

I also am working on a post of the books I've read that I've found helpful (and those I haven't really thought much of). But we'll see when I can get myself together to write that up.

A baby picture for those of you who actually read this (or who just scrolled down)!

Chilling on a quilt made 31+ years ago for me by Grandma Jane
Disclosure: Amazon affiliate links used throughout.

2 comments:

CG said...

Of course I read through! I read everything you write, eventually. Jane is just precious, and I'm so tickled for you.

Uh, forgive me for looking over Jane's head, but is that a SQUIRREL??

Mari said...

It is a squirrel! The quilt has all kind of animals doing all kinds of things. I'll send you a better picture of that square (with Jane in the shot too, of course). The squirrel is playing croquet.

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