It is so funny to see what changes from preparing for your first child's arrival to each subsequent child. Our first son's nursery was completely finished by about month 5 of my pregnancy and I HAD to have all of the newest gadgets and baby items. Then I quickly realized that I really didn't need 90% of them and have slowly donated many items over the years. Here is a list of what has truly become our top 5 favorites for newborns. This list does not include the OBVIOUS basics including: Crib, Diapers, Clothes, Car seat and Bottles (if needed).
1. Fisher Price Rock and Play Sleeper:
We have gone back and forth with different sleeping options for our babies between sleeping in the crib immediately, co-sleeping, bassinettes, etc and my favorite is the
Fisher Price Rock and Play Sleeper for the infant months! It is compact and easy to move around, rocks nicely, has a great little incline, is made with a breathable fabric and the new ones even vibrate and make music! It works great to put this sleeper right by our bed for baby to sleep and even move it about the house throughout the day!
2. Swaddle Blanket:
I know so many people who RAVE about the
Aden and Anais Muslin wraps, but we never could get them to wrap our babies tight enough. For us the original
Halo SleepSack is our best option! The Velcro is strong to wrap the baby tightly and the material is great for washing and soft for the baby. Our babies sleep in these until around 3-4 months old.
3. A Baby Carrier/Sling:
After trying out multiple different baby carriers and slings over the year I have truly fallen in love with the
Ergo carrier. I really think that our third son basically lived in this carrier for the first 3-4 months of his life (especially with the
Infant Insert, which is amazing!) It is comfortable to wear, I can breastfeed baby discreetly when in the carrier, our babies sleep well in the carrier and I have two hands free to help with other children or household needs!
4. Diaper Cream
We have been so blessed with very healthy and really good babies. We have not had to deal with reflux, poor breastfeeding, colic or really any big newborn concerns (knock on wood for this time around), so the biggest concern for us has really been a little diaper rash here or there. The biggest winner for us in that department is
Bourdreax's Butt Cream. It is thick, stays on well, and usually after only one application any diaper rash is completely cleared up. It is the one thing that I always have on hand in the nursery and diaper bag. We love it!
5. A Good Stroller
Over the past almost 6 years of parenting I think I finally counted that we have owned more than 10 different strollers. My poor husband was always so supportive as I found the "next best thing" that I thought would work perfectly, and sometimes only a few months later I would have numerous reasons why I would be frustrated with the functionality or something else. Well, after those 6 years and many different options I finally put in a ridiculous amount of research, decided to invest a lot of money and go for what will really work for the long haul. I ended up selling EVERY SINGLE stroller that I had on Craigslist, etc and put the money together to purchase a
BOB Revolution Pro Duallie Stroller and let me tell you, I am IN LOVE!
It pushes and steers like a dream, it doesn't weigh a ton, it is easy to use, comfortable for the children, can easily fit through doorways and fits in our vehicles! I also got the car seat attachment, but usually once our kids start sitting around 6 months old they would rather just sit in the stroller seat than in their car seat in the stroller. I could not be more happy with our stroller decision and truly think we finally might be down to a ONE stroller family! My husband and our garage are very please with that!
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