Four years ago, when I was pregnant with Finnegan, I could not wait to register. I took my mom with me, surely she would be a help! There were cute baby sized towels! Look at the clothes! Bedding options! Swaddling things and tiny little socks! And then, right there in the middle of the store I began to have a panic attack. PANIC ATTACK. Why are there so many choices of bottles? I don’t know ANYTHING about safety items, WHY do you need a clip for your toilet? Do babies crawl in there or something? Which baby wash do I use?? I don’t even know! There are twenty different crib mattresses. Is one better than the other? Mom, do you know anything about crib mattresses? Do I need to buy special baby water??? Why does Dreft cost $238.93 for approximately 4 loads of baby laundry?
And on and on until we left the store with approximately 12 items on my registry and a crying panic stricken mom to be.
It was awful. Terrible even.
I had gone there with a plan, I had written down the big things. I knew which car seat and stroller we would get, I made a little notation not to buy into the need for wipe warmers or other unnecessary items, I knew that the Baby Einstein gym and that Papasan swing would make our list. I never thought of the 8 million little items that we would need and I grossly underestimated the sheer amount of baby shit that is out there just waiting to prey on new moms.
I re-grouped after that fiasco. Dave did research on all of the techy or safety items, things like baby monitors and safety gates. I did research on things like bottles and diapers and nipple cream. We divided and conquered that baby store like two champs.
And after all of that, when Finnegan actually arrived, I really discovered my favorites. Those must have, can’t live without, items.
So, here we are four years later. Baby numero dos. While I {thankfully!} do not need to register again, we will need to pick up some new things for this little bug. There might be new stuff, there may be better options, and I love hearing from real moms about what really works.
This is where I ask you for some help. I’ll take any and all recommendations for your “must have” baby stuff. So, spill it…
Umm.. you just saw my fiasco of re-registering. you NEED boob cream, diapers, swing, wash cloths and soap. The rest can wait. Oh wait a tub... shit, forget it. This is hard.
ReplyDeletelansinoh, lansinoh breast pads or there might have been another one I loved...can't remember now.
ReplyDeleteSwaddleme velcro swaddler
bibs, bibs, and more bibs for my spitter
No overalls until he can stand up!
I loved Belle's jumparoo and her swaddle blanket things with the velcro. I wish I had gone with cloth diapers, they are so super cool & easy now, but thats a lesson learned. Oh, and you totally need sparkle shoes, every little girl needs a pair {or twenty}!
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I think is a MUST have is the BundleMe - not the sheepskin looking one, the Metro. We had the uber warm and light versions for Boo Boo and if you live anywhere it can be cold these are MUSTS.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise really, not much. Enough clothes for blowouts and laundry day - sleepsaks or warm jammies - I did a list here: http://www.viewpoints.com/my_home/MommyLisa/profile_reviews?N=4294528094
i had a panic attack and started crying when we went to register too...i never made it past the first aisle, with all of the alien-looking breast pumps and accessories. i had no idea what anything was and totally freaked out. looking back all we needed was a good baby carrier/sling, moses basket (b/c i refused to ever let leaf out of my sight), a ton of baby sleepers/jammies, and a swing...we have so much crap we've never used.
ReplyDeleteI adored the Aden + Anais blankets! They were the perfect weight to use for a summer baby and came in handy for a million other uses. They wore beautifully, and got softer and softer with each wash. Loved them!
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ReplyDeleteAm I allowed to do a plug here for my "fav baby items" blog post?
ReplyDeleteHere it is.
I need to add to it the Sleep Sheep and The First Years Newborn-to-Toddler Reclining Feeding Seat.
for baby number two I really only bought two new things I really liked...
ReplyDelete#1 a fancy diaper bag with clips you leave looped around your stroller handles. Unfortunately the zipper broke :(
#2 a travel booster seat that folds up and looks like a tote bag. It buckles to any chaIr and holds squirmy babies securely. We take it when we go out of town, we took it to a Pistons game, and I use it at work 3 days a week.
Oh, I just made a favorite/must have gift basket for a good friend.
ReplyDeleteI bought a diaper caddy thing (we have two floors, so it was nice to have places on both floors of all the necessities). Filled it with little tee shirts that snap across the front (onesies kind of rub the belly button at first), Mylicon, Aveeno baby lotion, hand sanitizer, taggie blanket, some burp clothes(a few other non-essentials, just things I loved) and the big kahuna: the MIRACLE BLANKET. Life saver for me. That was my must have.
I only have had one as an infant and he is almost 13. LOL
ReplyDeleteI get children at the Toddler Stage!
The two things that I am LOVING this time around with the little man are my SwaddleMe Velcro swaddler blanket, but this is if your baby likes to be swaddled, which he does. Some don't. I also LOVE and couldn't live without our Ergo carrier. Everything else is kind of whatever for us, but I do love those two items. OH, and my breast pump, but that is probably because of the way his life started out, with me needing to pump! Now I have just kept up with it. I have the Medela electric but if I could CHOOSE one I would have the double medela or the ameda double. MUCH faster pumping!
ReplyDeletei LOVED the swaddlemes for my little one. he was sooo squirmy he would always wake himself up, so i had to swaddle him to keep him asleep. and these stay nice and tight and don't come undone. i also used sleepsacks, as it's cold in WA and when he outgrew the swaddlers i needed something to keep him warm but didn't want a bunch of blankets in there. are you by chance cloth-diapering? :)
ReplyDeleteoh yeah, stacy just reminded me of carriers! i LOVE my ergo, but when sam was teensy i also really liked wraps, they are so nice and secure right against you. i had one similar to a moby.
ReplyDeleteA few of my favorites for both of my boys were...the SwaddleMe blanket(I didn't even know what it was until I got it as a gift for my baby shower), the boppy pillow(for BF and to lay baby on), onesies and sleepers, nipple cream, the little smelly bags for poopy diapers to carry in the diaper bag, and the video baby monitor.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't do without my Boppy, sleep sacks, and my BOB stroller (seriously - that thing goes everywhere). As for the "not buying into the wipe warmer" thing...Have you ever wiped yourself with cold wipes in the dead of a winter's night? Try it and you'll change your mind. I know from experience. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI had my third son TEN years after my second. We got the bare minimum for this little guy who is 2 now. Good car seat/stroller combo Chicco Keyfit 30. A bit pricey but it goes to 30 pounds. My boy was in this seat for 1 1/2 years!! Money well spent. A swing with battery operation with built in lullaby music! My Avent breast pump and 2 extra bottles, all Avent, love the brand. Amazon Mom for diapers, SO CHEAP! And 2 day delivery, free to your door! Pack N Play, he still sleeps in this. Never bought a bassinet or crib. Bassinet was built in and when he was too heavy, we removed it. As he got older, we added some extra padding to the bottom. He can't climb out of this! Also came with vibrations for the bassinet part and a music box. Tide, screw the dreft. A good pillow if you're going to nurse, I actually used the one the hospital gave to me. A bath with a built in sling for newborns. Pumped head to toe wash by Johnson's. iPod with lullaby music. Moby Wrap!!! My son lived in this thing. Boy, is this too much?
ReplyDeleteGlad to know I'm not the only one who had a panic attack! Think it was the crib mattress that did it for me. I remember thinking, holy shit I never even thought of getting a mattress, I'm gonna be a terrible mother!
ReplyDeleteMy 2 must-haves were/are:
HALO sleepsack/swaddle - swaddled Linds til she was 6 mths.
Chicco caddy hook on chair - we take it with us just about every time we go out to eat and to my Mom's house. Way better than highchairs at restuarants.
my favorite baby items were: our jumparoo (this was a total life saver some days) and velcro swaddle blankets and sleep night gowns (makes changes in the middle of the night soooo much easier)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my little blog! :)
ReplyDeleteMy must haves are: Budreaux's Butt Paste. Way better than Desitin
- baby swing (my girls NEED it. at 6 mos Bee STILL uses it)
- stroller that the carseat pops into (I way underestimated this the second time around as I had run over my stroller the first time *baby not in it*. I went out and bought a used one 3 weeks ago)
- nursing cover (if you nurse)
- formula dispenser (if you don't)
- exersaucer
- Baby Einstein DVD's (my chid dispises nap, these allow me to clean)
- a babysitter (seriously, the multi-tasking hurts my brain and I need a break every so often)
I love having two, and I am sure that you will too! :)
Ugh I totally remember the overwhelmed feeling...pregnant women shouldn't have to make such big decisions! My must haves would probably be a swing, zippered sleeper things because they are awesome for night time changings, and the angle care monitor (detects breathing and movement) because I am a paranoid crazy mom and and it helped put my mind at ease a little bit. Good luck! :)
ReplyDeleteTwo friends that just had babies both swear by the Moby Wrap. Me? I'm 16 years removed from baby items. We got a ton of hand-me-downs at the time, and as much as I wanted the new gadgets of the day, looking back, I'm glad I didn't drop a ton of money on things that I'd only use for 2 years or less. That said, there were some items I WISH they'd had back then that would have made my life SO much easier!! And now I love buying them for pregnant friends or relatives! :-)
ReplyDeleteSo glad I came across this post! I'm hosting a baby shower this weekend & I've been having a tough time figuring out what to buy as a gift...reading through all the comments was super valuable! Hope all is well!
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