1. bumGenius One-Size Diapers. Yes, I've mentioned them several times in the past few days, but truly, these are awesome diapers. I think what I like best about them is their ability to absorb Niagara Falls and still have a dry top layer. None of my disposables were ever able to do that. The initial cost of buying these little suckers is dear - about $18 a diaper brand-new, unless you score some second-hand ones on a website like Diaperswappers. But the investment is so, so worth it, and you end up saving hundreds of dollars over the long run by not using disposables. And I may be concerned about the environment, sure, but above all, I AM CHEAP. So that's what speaks to me.
2. Kiddopotamus SwaddleMe swaddlers. Jason and I call these the "baby straitjackets". We have several, but our favorites are the fleece ones. Aidan often had a hard time calming down when he was a brand-new newborn, mostly because the sight of his arms flailing about got him worked up - he hadn't made the connection that those waving appendages were actually his own. And the more worked up he got, the more they flew around, which got him even more worked up... well, you get the picture. Wrapping him up in a swaddler calmed him down instantly, kept him warm (we make our house freezing at night), and help him to sleep through the night. We only use them at night now, but somehow, Aidan know that when they go on, it's his cue to head off to Nod for at least 7-8 hours. Brilliant.
3. Kolcraft Universal Car Seat Carrier. You can't really tell by the picture, but the basket down below? HUGE. Absolutely ginormous. Which is why I absolutely love this carrier. Aidan rides in his car seat (a Graco SafeSeat, in case you wanted to know) to the store, the mall, wherever I need to shop, and then I pull this baby out, stick his car seat right on top, fasten a buckle, and off we go. Unless I am making a HUGE amount of grocery purchases, everything ends up fitting in the basket underneath. Plus, there's a cupholder tray, and the whole thing is super-dooper easy to fold and unfold. It holds pretty much every car seat on the market, and it fits into the trunk of my compact car quite easily - way less bulky than the strollers that come with some travel systems.
4. Zippered pajamas. I happen to love the ones that Carter's makes, like this one, but there are lots of different brands out there - I've found some super-cute ones at Target lately. The reason I love these over onesies, gowns, and even buttoned pajamas is how EASY these are to open up. When it's 3am and I'm half-dead with exhaustion and I don't want to turn on the light to change Aidan, these are the easiest way to get to his poopy diaper: zip down, change diaper, zip up. Buttons provide too many opportunities for disaster (it WILL bother me in the middle of the night if I see the buttons don't line up), onesies don't keep him warm enough, and the elastic at the bottom of the gowns was often too tight to lift up without cutting off circulation somewhere.
5. Evenflo Purely Comfi bottles. Apparently, BPA is slowly killing us all and causing all of the world's major diseases. These bottles are BPA-free, so I can spend my nights worrying about other things. Plus, they're inexpensive ($10 for 3), come in some awesome colors, have cool bulbous silicone nipples, and can be found at pretty much any major big box store, like Tar-jay and Walmart. We've used them from the beginning without any problem. They come in 6 oz and 9 oz sizes; we have a combination of both sizes, and that's worked well, as Aidan tends to drink more in the morning and nighttime and less during the afternoon. Both sizes are super-lightweight, so I guess you could use the 9 oz exclusively.
What are your favorite baby/kids items?
3 comments:
We have a few BumGenius dipes as well as Blueberry AIOs. Blueberry has snaps and that's the only diff if you ever need more!
Also: baby burritos are the cutest...Randi used the swaddler until at least 4 months!
Now my can't live withouts are obviously the dipes, a dolly with yarn hair (my baby is very tactile) and my freezer cups for all of her baby food. I usually only have to make food once a week and she'll have plenty. She sure does eat a lot though! :)
After being in acute pediatrics for most of the week: the pacifier.
Yes. I forgot about the precious paci. My favorites are made by Sassy Mam.
But isn't Z a little old for one? Or did YOU need the pacifier? ;-)
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