Since Leo is almost 3 months old I thought I'd share with you my favorite things that have gotten me through the past 3 months. As new mom I basically bought EVERYTHING and tested it out. Thank goodness for hand me downs, recommendations, gifts, and the second hand baby stores. If I have learned anything from being a new mom, what works for your baby most likely won't work for your friends baby. I am so lucky to have a sister in law who has twins and countless girlfriends who are able to offer wonderful advice about breastfeeding, baby products, sleeping routines, and all the other silly questions you have in your first few months. I honestly couldn't of survived the past 3 months without the advice from family, friends, books and blogs. I'm one of those people that welcomes advice and suggestions. You don't have to implement all the suggestions, but I've learned more from my fellow mommy's than I could have from any book. So here are a few items that made my first month SO much easier!
First Month Essentials
This is my friend Lauren's baby named Dean! Isn't he adorable!!
Podster- My friend Ashley recommended this to me, Leo lived in it the first 2-3 weeks. He took all his naps and sometimes at night he would fall asleep in it. I loved how portable it was so when I would go over to my parents house I would just grab the pod and pop it in the car. My other girlfriends who have gotten the pod have ended up loving it was much as we did. I think little Dean is a lover of it too!
Goumikids Goumimitts- My girlfriend China gave us a pair and we ended up ordering 3 more. Leo always had his hands by his face and scratched himself a few times. The little gloves from target didn't work and these were the only ways that would stay on his little hands.
Rock n' Play- We love this so much we bought two of them. One for each house. If your baby has problem with reflux this is awesome cause it keeps them propped up. Leo slept in this for the first month. And even now if he wakes up in the middle of the night I will put him in this and he's guaranteed to sleep another 3+ hours. We got both the vibrating only one and the rocking one, I can't say which one he liked better. He slept like a champ in both of them.
No Rinse Wash- The first 10 days to 2 weeks they can't have a bath so every night we did this little no rinse wash all over his body. He didn't love it cause it was cold so I set it in a glass of warm water and warmed up the wash so it wasn't so cold for him. We do baths now every other day, so on the days we don't do a bath I still use the wash before bedtime.
Cloth Diapers As Burp Rags- MUST HAVE!! We had all these cute burp rags but they aren't big enough. These rags are the best. We ended up buying 2 packs of them, Leo spits up often so we go through about 2-3 a day.
Magnet Sleepers- For those nights when your baby is up every 2-3 hours these were awesome.. I also loved the little sleep dresses especially the ones with snaps. They were so easy to just pull up in the middle of the night and change the diaper. The snaps were nice so you didn't have to pull it over the head if you have a blow out in the middle of the night.
ZoLi'BUZZ B Nail Trimmer- The best little nail trimmer. We learned that it was best to trim his nails while he nursed. He was calm then and Jay could mess with his nails and he didn't seem to care.
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Current Favorites
Bouncy Chair- If there was one item we would have paid $1000 for this would of been it. When we can't get him to sleep we bounce him, when he's fussy we bounce him, he loves it. We were using the yoga ball but he was getting too heavy and now we use this Baby Bjorn bouncer. My mom has a cheaper fisher price bouncer at her house and we actually mailed a cheap bouncer to our hotel this week in Arizona. We truly can't live without one. I will say the Baby Bjorn seems expensive, but it bounces so well and he loves it. In fact he took a 3 hour nap in it yesterday. I am also glad I got a lighter color so we take him outside and let him sit in this. If I would have went with the black it would have been too hot for him.
Halo Swaddle Sack- We are addicted to the sleep sack. We tried swaddling him in blankets for the first few days then realized nothing was the same as the sleep sacks. Leo is addicted to the swaddle, we use these for all naps and bedtime. We are sadly starting to transition out of them now ( sad face). Don't waste your time with swaddle blankets and just use the sacks.
Swing- Ok I lied we would of paid $1000 for this item too. I was getting frustrated Leo wouldn't sleep long during naps the first month. I decided to hit up a second hand store cause my husband said we didn't need to spend money on anymore gadgets. I scored this swing for $60. There are many days that I have to WAKE Leo up from naps in his swing cause he has slept for 4 hours. He loves it. He won't nap in his mamaroo, but he will sleep for days in the swing.
Halo Swaddle Sack- We are addicted to the sleep sack. We tried swaddling him in blankets for the first few days then realized nothing was the same as the sleep sacks. Leo is addicted to the swaddle, we use these for all naps and bedtime. We are sadly starting to transition out of them now ( sad face). Don't waste your time with swaddle blankets and just use the sacks.
Swing- Ok I lied we would of paid $1000 for this item too. I was getting frustrated Leo wouldn't sleep long during naps the first month. I decided to hit up a second hand store cause my husband said we didn't need to spend money on anymore gadgets. I scored this swing for $60. There are many days that I have to WAKE Leo up from naps in his swing cause he has slept for 4 hours. He loves it. He won't nap in his mamaroo, but he will sleep for days in the swing.
Dock A Tot- Ok another must have. Leo started sleeping in his DockATot in his pack and play at 4 weeks, and the first night in his dock a tot he slept for 6 straight hours. We now sleep in this every night. I also can take it to my parents house or on a trip and just set it on the bed or in a hotel crib and it is the same environment he's used to. I'm sure we will have to transition out of this soon too, but it'll be the last thing we transition out of.
Nuna Sena- A regular pack and play was too big to fit into our room so we found this at Nordstrom. It's a smaller pack and play and it is what Leo has slept in since we transitioned out of the Rock N' Play. I travel from Portland to Tri-CIties a lot and this is so easy to pack up and put in the car.
Aden and Anis Blankets- We use these as burp rags, over the top of car seat to block the sun on walks, and as a regular blanket. We really love them!
Boogie Wipes- My friend Sara told me something that stuck with me before I had Leo. She showed me these wipes and said "No one wants to snuggle a baby who smells like spoiled milk". Babies spit up and milk drips all over their face. So I make sure I wipe Leo's face and under his chin a few times a day with these yummy smelling wipes.
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Nuna Sena- A regular pack and play was too big to fit into our room so we found this at Nordstrom. It's a smaller pack and play and it is what Leo has slept in since we transitioned out of the Rock N' Play. I travel from Portland to Tri-CIties a lot and this is so easy to pack up and put in the car.
Aden and Anis Blankets- We use these as burp rags, over the top of car seat to block the sun on walks, and as a regular blanket. We really love them!
Boogie Wipes- My friend Sara told me something that stuck with me before I had Leo. She showed me these wipes and said "No one wants to snuggle a baby who smells like spoiled milk". Babies spit up and milk drips all over their face. So I make sure I wipe Leo's face and under his chin a few times a day with these yummy smelling wipes.
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Fun Items:
Here are a few things that have made the past 3 months fun!
Milestone Cards- We love our milestone cards, from baby sleeping through the night to baby's first smile. It's a fun way to remember the little milestones in baby's life.
Black and White Cards- The first few months babies aren't super interactive. I found these cards for my niece and nephew a few years ago and I now buy them for all my friends. Leo loves them, he smiles when we pull them out. I talked to Leo all about the animals on the cards and (my husband) also uses the time with the the cards to start talking to Leo in Spanish.
Nursing Poncho- I have the apron which I use at home when I am on the couch with company, but I quickly realized as summer approached I needed something to cover my back and my front. I found some cute nursing ponchos. Another recommendation is get them in a light color, I got everything in black and I now regret it due to the hot summer sun. So I recently ordered THIS light color nursing poncho from a site called Milk Maids.
The App Sprout- Ok I live and die by this app. It tracks nursing times, how long your baby sleeps, etc. You have to manually add in everything, but it has helped us figure out Leo's schedule. He has been sleeping 7-10 hours straight for awhile now (Thanks to the book Baby Wise) but we wanted to get more 10 hour stretches. We looked back on our app on all the days he slept over 9 hours straight and realized he had had a 5 oz bottle around 6-7pm these days. Getting a baby on a routine is a puzzle, but this app helps you fill in those missing pieces.
Wubbanub- Leo doesn't take a paci, but he will take the wubbanub for a a few minutes. This is the only paci he really likes.
Mamaroo- I was hoping this would work for napping and was so sad when Leo wouldn't nap in it. But the mamaroo has turned out to be a great addition to our house, cause he loves sitting in it looking at the mobile. He will lay in it for an hour while we eat dinner smiling, laughing, and cooing. It has been such a great addition.
Otteroo- After hearing about the otteroo from a few friends I decided to order it. It was on backorder for awhile but it finally arrived. It looks a little funny but Leo loves it. He kicks around the bath tub and smiles the entire time. Check out the otteroo sitehere !
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I know this is a lot of information, but I get asked so many questions about our routines and items we used. I thought I'd share with you. I'm not an expert by any means, far from it. And I'm sure some Mom's would disagree with me about a lot of these items. But this is what has worked for us. We were blessed with an amazing sleeper, I have no clue if it is because we are strict about sticking to a routine and use these items or if it was just luck of the draw and we got lucky with a super sleeper. Regardless, here is what works for US!
Cheers,
Jess
Cheers,
Jess