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New baby must haves

My perspective for baby must haves has changed with each child.  When you have baby number one (now a toddler) it is important to have safe places to put the baby.  Obviously it depends on the age of your first child, but natural curiosity and toddler behavior require a bit more planning than you needed for baby number one.  The other thing to remember is that you need ways to keep the new baby happy while you care for the needs of your first child.  Imagine this scenario, you are making a meal and trying to feed toddler.  Your new angel is very upset and DEMANDING attention.  It happens. It happens a lot.  With a few plans in place, you can be prepared to appease everyone!




Pacifiers:

All of my kids have been pacifier users.  We also travel a lot by plane, so it's important for little ears to suck on something to equalize the pressure.  My uncle is a dentist, and he stressed the importance of orthodontic pacis. After trying lots of different types, the natursutten is one of my favorites. It is natural rubber, my son loved it and so it was a must have for little Belle.
http://www.amazon.com/Natursutten-BPA-Free-Natural-Pacifier-Orthodontic/dp/B001AVNK6E/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1415148588&sr=8-3&keywords=natursutten+pacifier





Swing:

I was able to borrow the mamaroo from a friend of mine for Belle.  It was seriously a lifesaver.  It has a ton of speeds, sounds and the ability to play from your phone.  A.  Ma. Zing.  It also has cute fabrics, which is a bonus.  I haven't tried the rockaroo, but have heard great things!  Another plus for this is its small footprint.  As we know there is nothing that bugs me more than bulky baby gear that is impossible to store.  This thing rocks my world.





Bouncer vibrator:

Don't even question it.  Get one whether it's baby number one, two or one hundred.  Belle lived in this on the counter (in front of me) as I was feeding the big kidlets.  It is upright enough that it helped soothe the reflux that we suffered with and the vibration also helps newborns sleep.  As they get bigger, you pop on the activity bar to get enough time to shower.  Booyah!





Woombie:

It's expensive, and completely worth it.  I understand how important sleep is for new parents and have tried about every swaddler out there.  It is so simple to use and is safer than a lot of the other more popular swaddles that I have used.  They very frequently have good sales, so check out the clearance bin!





Muslin Swaddle:

I wish I had discovered these sooner.  Like two babies sooner.  They are great swaddles, but also a very large and absorbent blanket.  Super useful for lots of things!  With babies one and two I just didn't understand HOW such an expensive blanket could be worth it.  I was wrong!





Nursing support pillow:

Whether you are nursing or bottle feeding it is important to have proper support.  My PT friend pointed out that the numbing sensation in my arm was probably from bad positioning.  Oops!  I know better.  There are lots of options out there from lots of companies.  One of the ones that I am most excited about is from Nook and it is new this year.  It is called the Niche and it's organic ingredients are enough to make my crunchy heart sing!





Noise maker:


Babies are used to a lot of noise.  Talking, regular life noises, siblings, mommas heart pumping, digestion noises, etc.  I have discovered that my very new littles sleep better with the sound of mummy's heartbeat white noise.  It helps a lot!  My co sleeper had it built in and there are plenty of apps for your phone for white noise.  That said, the sleep sheep is one of my favorites.  It's small, cute and once they don't like the heartbeat noises, the other noises come in handy.





Co-sleeper:

We have a king sized bed, so I used a co sleeper bassinet for the bed.  I was not comfortable putting the new baby in the bed with two exhausted parents, so this was a good compromise.  Instead of getting up 500 times a night to check baby, I was able to reach over and feel them.  It was very comforting to me.  There is a brand new one on the market that I am insanely excited about and really bummed that we missed out on. It's made by Halo, behold the coolness!





Cute sleepers:

It is so important to have cute outfits that they can sleep in too.  If you are like me, you have what seems like a change of clothes for every hour from baby number one.  You know what I am saying, the ones with all of the complicated snaps and buttons (eyes roll).  You won't be needing those.  What you will want are tons of cute one pice outfits.  If you can get the kind with fooldover mitten hands-even better.  The best is when you get them monogrammed.  Not that I'm obsessed or anything.




Digital thermometer:


They are gross, I get it.  But now that your toddler is older you need another one.  Do yourself a favor and label the oral one?  Just a helpful suggestion from me to you.  Don't ask.  I like the one that only takes eight seconds to read.  It makes the whole experience less (ahem) painful for everyone. 




Nosefrieda:


This little sucker (pun intended) works SO much better than the bulb style.  You will be very glad that you have this when that first cold comes along.  And they do with older siblings.  This is one of the things I wish I had invested in years ago.  I even used it on my two year old this winter!





Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Weisbluth:


This book has saved my bacon more times than I can count.  I can almost hear you wondering when you will get the time to read ANOTHER book.  You will read it when I did...at three am when the baby who was sleeping perfectly fine last week is now up.  All. Night. Long.  It has really changed my perspective on sleep-in a good way.  This is another one I buy and give to new mom friends.




Mild soap:


Every baby is different.  My little boy has seasonal excema and really suffers.  My first daughter had nothing like that.  Imagine my surprise when I found out that the baby wash that I was using wasn't good for him.  Long story short, just start out with one that's mild and you may not develop the issues that we did.  I love California Baby.  It has really worked for our littles!



Humidifier:


Your poor baby isn't used to breathing dry, air conditioned or heated air.  Unless you live in a balmy climate, chances are your baby will breathe easier with a humidifier.  I have had several and now use the Mac daddy.  This thing goes a couple of days without needing a refill and if you need it to, will turn the room into a tropical rainforest.  In a good way.





Carrier:


saved the best for last.  I LOVE my Ergo.  You can get them at TJ Maxx these days (on a good day).  It has lasted through three kids and it is always being used.  I use it at the grocery store, in the airport, on the plane, at Disneyland, walking the kids to preschool, I use it everywhere.  Ergo is the bomb, especially during witching hour.  I, or the hubs, can strap that baby on and she will fall right to sleep.  It is a lifesaver.  Lots of times I need all of my hands in order to care for the older two, and this thing makes everyone happy.  There are lots of great carriers out there now.  I have heard good things about Beco and Lillebaby too!





I am sure that I have missed something.  Absolutely sure that after you read this, you will think of something that I missed.  What was your baby must have for number 2?

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