Favorite Baby Products for year 1!!
I decided to make a list of my favorite baby products from this first year! There were some things that we bought and never used, and I don't want that to happen to you! So here are my must haves!
Okay! Let's start with sleep!
For the first two months or so Kanaan slept in his Rock-n-play Sleeper next to me in the bedroom! It was so so nice because nursing he was right there, he was at an incline so I never had to worry about reflux, and it was portable so easy to move from room to room and take on trips! It also has a little vibrating setting, which I didn't use a ton but someone might want! After this we moved him into his crib and love his crib too (mainly for the style, but I will link that too!)
I also didn't really think I would need a sound machine (no clue why?!) until Aaron and I realized we were watching TV and just reading subtitles 😂 and the dogs barking down the street would give me serious anxiety. So we actually went to TJ Maxx and got this sound machine. It's linked on Amazon for a little more so you might just check out Ross, Marhsalls, or TJ also! This really is the absolute game changer! It helps sooth him to sleep and gives us a little peace of mind. There are several different settings (rain, ocean, etc.) but we just like the white noise!
Another thing for sleep that I swear by is using Young Living Essential Oils! We do a bedtime routine that includes a baby massage with lavender and then I also put lavender and cedarwood in a diffuser in his room for every nap and at night! The diffuser pictured also doubles as a humidifier! I also use the oils in here for diaper rashes, keeping bubs healthy, boosting milk supply, literally everything! I will do a separate post on this! This is the kit that I recommend!
Okay now to eating! Staying at home I nurse full time. It has definitely had its challenges at times but I really have loved nursing Kanaan and as of right now (a year) we are still going strong! This nursing cover by covered goods is amazing! We use it as a cover, carseat cover, and shopping cart cover. It is so soft and light and stretchy, plus it prevents anything from slipping out if you know what I mean!
We also have a pretty small dining room area so we took our time finding the perfect high chair. My husband being an architect, he hates all the obnoxious baby patterns and prints and the modern looking baby brands do come with a higher price tag. After searching, we settled on this baby bjorn high chair. We got it from target and I think used a coupon towards it! I absolutely love it because not only does it look great, but it is very compact and if you wanted to store it out of sight it folds in half easily. The top tray also comes off for easy cleanup!
Another must have products is this infant bathtub from 4Moms. It is so great because it has an electronic temperature reader and it lights up green when the water is perfect and red (and also beeps at you!) if the water is too hot. It has a reservoir system that runs the dirty water out of the tub and really was just great overall. Kanaan sure enjoyed it!
I also put Kanaan in this Baby Bjorn bouncy chair when I was trying to cook dinner or get ready. I did not think that I really needed this early on, but I was wrong haha. You need something to set them in when you are just trying to do something quick! This also folds up really easy and was great to take outside places! As Kanaan got older we would let him play in an exersaucer/bouncer thing but those are nothing compared to the old school Johnny Jump-up my parents have at their house. He absolutely goes nuts in that thing, but unfortunately we don't have any doorway trim at our house so it stays over there.
I chose to cloth diaper Kanaan while I was pregnant and was so blessed with a lot of diapers from a shower my coworkers through me. I have truly loved cloth diapering! He like never smells bad (I think disposables smell horrible like even when baby is wet, it smells bad). He also had only two instances where poop was ever on clothes! The cloth diapers like hold in the poop! We used a couple different brands along the way- bottom bumpers and little joeys when he was a newborn until about 12 lbs then I moved to bumgenius, rumparooz, and grovia ones at night time. I prefer all in one style because they are easier in my opinion. My absolute favorite diapers, hands down, is the snap closure Bum Genius Freetimes! They have super cute colors and designs, grow with baby, and hold really well. While buying diapers in the beginning is an investment, I really think that we have saved so much money. We use cloth wipes also and our water bill from washing never even went up!
Okay and the last two things on my list are my wrap and carrier. I loved having one of each because I used them differently. I used the Boba wrap when bubs was really little. It was great for around the house and when I needed him to sleep because it felt the most comfortable. You do have to get used to wrapping that up, but everyone get's the hang of it! The Infantino Flip Advanced 4-in-1 carrier was great as he started to get more alert and want to see a little more. The one we chose was also a little manlier so Aaron would use it too. It was great when it was hot out because it seemed to be a little cooler. We still use the carrier, but I have't used the wrap in awhile.
Okay so I feel like I could go on and on but these truly are the things I used the most and got the most money out of! What are some of your baby must haves??
Okay! Let's start with sleep!
For the first two months or so Kanaan slept in his Rock-n-play Sleeper next to me in the bedroom! It was so so nice because nursing he was right there, he was at an incline so I never had to worry about reflux, and it was portable so easy to move from room to room and take on trips! It also has a little vibrating setting, which I didn't use a ton but someone might want! After this we moved him into his crib and love his crib too (mainly for the style, but I will link that too!)
I also didn't really think I would need a sound machine (no clue why?!) until Aaron and I realized we were watching TV and just reading subtitles 😂 and the dogs barking down the street would give me serious anxiety. So we actually went to TJ Maxx and got this sound machine. It's linked on Amazon for a little more so you might just check out Ross, Marhsalls, or TJ also! This really is the absolute game changer! It helps sooth him to sleep and gives us a little peace of mind. There are several different settings (rain, ocean, etc.) but we just like the white noise!
Another thing for sleep that I swear by is using Young Living Essential Oils! We do a bedtime routine that includes a baby massage with lavender and then I also put lavender and cedarwood in a diffuser in his room for every nap and at night! The diffuser pictured also doubles as a humidifier! I also use the oils in here for diaper rashes, keeping bubs healthy, boosting milk supply, literally everything! I will do a separate post on this! This is the kit that I recommend!
Okay now to eating! Staying at home I nurse full time. It has definitely had its challenges at times but I really have loved nursing Kanaan and as of right now (a year) we are still going strong! This nursing cover by covered goods is amazing! We use it as a cover, carseat cover, and shopping cart cover. It is so soft and light and stretchy, plus it prevents anything from slipping out if you know what I mean!
We also have a pretty small dining room area so we took our time finding the perfect high chair. My husband being an architect, he hates all the obnoxious baby patterns and prints and the modern looking baby brands do come with a higher price tag. After searching, we settled on this baby bjorn high chair. We got it from target and I think used a coupon towards it! I absolutely love it because not only does it look great, but it is very compact and if you wanted to store it out of sight it folds in half easily. The top tray also comes off for easy cleanup!
Another must have products is this infant bathtub from 4Moms. It is so great because it has an electronic temperature reader and it lights up green when the water is perfect and red (and also beeps at you!) if the water is too hot. It has a reservoir system that runs the dirty water out of the tub and really was just great overall. Kanaan sure enjoyed it!
I also put Kanaan in this Baby Bjorn bouncy chair when I was trying to cook dinner or get ready. I did not think that I really needed this early on, but I was wrong haha. You need something to set them in when you are just trying to do something quick! This also folds up really easy and was great to take outside places! As Kanaan got older we would let him play in an exersaucer/bouncer thing but those are nothing compared to the old school Johnny Jump-up my parents have at their house. He absolutely goes nuts in that thing, but unfortunately we don't have any doorway trim at our house so it stays over there.
I chose to cloth diaper Kanaan while I was pregnant and was so blessed with a lot of diapers from a shower my coworkers through me. I have truly loved cloth diapering! He like never smells bad (I think disposables smell horrible like even when baby is wet, it smells bad). He also had only two instances where poop was ever on clothes! The cloth diapers like hold in the poop! We used a couple different brands along the way- bottom bumpers and little joeys when he was a newborn until about 12 lbs then I moved to bumgenius, rumparooz, and grovia ones at night time. I prefer all in one style because they are easier in my opinion. My absolute favorite diapers, hands down, is the snap closure Bum Genius Freetimes! They have super cute colors and designs, grow with baby, and hold really well. While buying diapers in the beginning is an investment, I really think that we have saved so much money. We use cloth wipes also and our water bill from washing never even went up!
Okay and the last two things on my list are my wrap and carrier. I loved having one of each because I used them differently. I used the Boba wrap when bubs was really little. It was great for around the house and when I needed him to sleep because it felt the most comfortable. You do have to get used to wrapping that up, but everyone get's the hang of it! The Infantino Flip Advanced 4-in-1 carrier was great as he started to get more alert and want to see a little more. The one we chose was also a little manlier so Aaron would use it too. It was great when it was hot out because it seemed to be a little cooler. We still use the carrier, but I have't used the wrap in awhile.
Okay so I feel like I could go on and on but these truly are the things I used the most and got the most money out of! What are some of your baby must haves??
Thank you for this fabulous post. I have a question. For a new parent that is researching the best baby products to buy, which product will you recommend as the must-have before every other product? Thank you.
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