Truth Be Told….

Are you an expecting First-Time-Mother-To-Be and wondering, “WHAT THE HECK DO I REGISTER FOR??” Or maybe, “How am I supposed to know what I will need for my baby when I’ve never had a baby before??”…I understand. I thought those same exact thoughts, too.  Or maybe you’re wondering what to get that expecting Mother-To-Be? It’s so hard to know what baby products to get these days because  there are so many out there. You will buy and be given some things that you can hardly even use. They sound good in theory, but in reality, you will probably never use them. Or then there are those products that don’t work as well (or at all) as they promise (Peepee Teepee for the Sprinkling Weewee…I’ll explain that story later!) But on the bright side, you will buy or be given some things you will think You can’t live without. THANK YOU to the makers of these products!!!! Seriously, you have made my life as a first-time-mom and mother-to-a-infant so much easier!

 

Here are a few shout outs to those who deserve them:

 

My newest favorite find: the In-Step Swivel Safari Jogging Stroller!

Oh. My. Goodness. Thomas loves it!!!! He is actually asleep in it right now as I am typing this. Yes, my son is sleeping in his stroller, which is parked in the kitchen, when he could be sleeping all cozy in his nice bed…but hey, he fell asleep in it outside while we were working in the garden so why move him and risk waking the Stinker up!:) Ever since the weather warmed up enough for us to be outside, we have been taking full advantage of it with our new stroller! We LOVE to walk around the farm in it and down to Daniel’s parents house. It puts Thomas right to sleep most of the time! It can be adjusted to where he sits up and can see what all is going on or to where he is reclined back (more comfortable for sleeping). We put him in it and parked it under the carport cover where Daniel parks his truck while we worked in the garden today, and he was perfectly content the whole time! I did have to buy the Kiddopotamus Shade Protector that attaches to the visor that’s already on the stroller so the sun  would stay completely off of his face. You know how we red heads burn:) It also comes with an attachment that you can snap your infant car seat into until the baby is big enough to sit in it like a big boy. I just put Thomas in it without his infant car seat this week (he is 9 weeks old).  All that to say, I think this was a great purchase! We have really loved ours!!  We got ours off of Amazon, but I am pretty sure you can find them at Target and Babies-R-Us, too. Side note: from all the reviews I have read and from other people’s advice, having the front wheel be a swivel wheel is a big plus! I’m not sure exactly why, but I know a lot of people complained in their reviews about other jogging strollers I was looking at that didn’t have a swivel wheel.

 

LOVE this stuff! Boudreaux’s Butt Paste! It works so well!  Every time that Thomas’s hinney has started to get red or irritated, we just start using a little bit of this stuff, and it goes away within a day or so!  I know I have seen this at Wal-Mart and Babies-R-Us.

 

Next is the Boppy! It is a WONDERFUL pillow to use as support under your arms when you are nursing or just holding the baby. We always get ours out whenever guest come over to hold Thomas because we know their arms get tired! I also use it every single time I nurse.

 

Sassy Disposable Diaper Sacks is another item that I absolutely love. I actually keep them in my diaper bags at all times. Mine come in little packs of 50 so they are packaged much smaller and are easier to tote around. They are scented little baggies that I throw Thomas’s dirty diapers in when we are at someone else’s home before I put it in their trash can. You know, just a nice gesture so they don’t have a stinky poopie diaper sitting in their kitchen trash:)

 

Medela Steam Bags are another must-have for me! I use them to sanitize my pump parts, bottles, and Thomas’s pacies!  Each bag can be used twenty times. All you do is add a little water and stick it in the microwave for a minute and a half! Then you have sanitized pacies and bottles without having to boil water. They’re great!

 

The SwaddleMe Infant Wraps have been another life saver! They are SO EASY to use! When we tried to swaddle him using regular blankets, it seemed like the blankets were never quite long enough, or they were too thick and we couldn’t get them to stay tucked in. We swaddle Thomas every night and for most of his naps now, too! Loveee this item!!!

 

We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this next product: The Homedics Sound Spa Lullaby…..Oh! My! Goodness!! It has different noises (ocean, rain, heartbeat, etc.) you can listen to, and we fall asleep and listen to rain all night, every night! It not only helps Thomas fall asleep, but stay asleep too. AND it helps him put himself back to sleep if he wakes up. It also projects little characters (stars, moon, sheep) onto the ceiling above Thomas’s pack-n-play, and he absolutely loves staring at it! He just grins and grins and grins when he sees his little “friends” on the ceiling! On a side note, the hair dryer also works great as a baby soother! It always stops Thomas’s crying and calms him down.

 

The “What To Expect The First Year” book has been so handy to have around!! It tells you month by month what you can expect from your ever-changing baby, including milestones they should/could be making developmentally. It also has the most common Q&A’s that parents ask about what is going on during each particular stage with the baby. I have really enjoyed reading it!

 

Infant Tylenol Drops and Baby Saline were our best friends a couple of weeks ago when Thomas had a little cold!  These are the only medicines that the doctors recommended using when he was sick because they really do not like prescribing antibiotics to babies that young. These are DEFINITELY things I would recommend every mother having on hand! 

 

And I can not even begin to tell you how many hours I have spent in this thing!

I love my glider! Especially at 3:00a.m:) It was worth each and every penny!!

 

We love using this Johnson and Johnson Bedtime Lotion because it smells soooooooooo good! Seriously!! You will want to snuggle your baby all night long. There is nothing sweeter than a baby who’s just had his bath and smells so baby-like:)

 

On the flip side, this is one product that I was very disappointed in. The Peepee Teepee for the Sprinkling Weewee covers. I’ll let you guess what they’re for. They were a total flop. They didn’t work. At least for us they didn’t.  Cute idea, but not practical.  Now, we just throw a wet wipe over that weewee during diaper changes.

 

 

So, there ya have it!  Those are a few of my favorite things these days! Please kindly remember that these are just the products that work well for me and Thomas!  You may completely disagree and find some of them useless!  I just thought I’d pass along the items that I thought worth sharing. Let me know if you have any “must haves!” that you think Thomas and I would enjoy using!