Throughout pregnancy and now parenthood, I’ve asked many Moms about items that made life easier. I never found the checklists from registries or magazines helpful since they want you to buy everything. If I could start over knowing what I know now, these are the things I would make sure we had…(however, I say this knowing that parents in previous generations raised children without the aid of these inventions, but since they exist I am grateful and recommend taking advantage of them.)
(1) Cloth Diapers made into burp cloths: $12 for a 12 pack. We received so many of these at our baby shower, and they work better than any terry cloth, cutsie burp cloth. They absorb a lot of spit-up and drool quickly. Callen doesn’t spit-up very often, but we still have them stashed everywhere in the house.
(2) Bright Stars Bouncy Seat: $20 at Walmart. Nothing fancy. Just a chair with a vibrator. Callen never like the vibrator, but we would turn it on to briefly distract him if he was starting to fuss. We put him in this chair during dinner, and while I was cooking or folding laundry. Just recently, he’s started pushing himself out of the chair.We now call it the "poop chair"...no explanation necessary.
(3) Wiggle Worm Activity Gym: $25 BabiesRUs. Once Callen was able to track objects, he loved this gym. He “talks”, kicks, and grabs the toys that hang down. He loves entertaining himself. His new game, is finding the arch with his foot, then kicking it down. Sanity Saver.
(4) Diaper Genie Elite II: $40 at Amazon with $6.50 refill. Pay a little extra money to get the foot pedal, so you can keep one hand on the baby when throwing away the diaper. Gets rid of the stench! Down side: purchasing the refill bags. So far 1 refill lasts ~3 weeks.
(5) Brest Friend Pillow : $35 at Amazon. (We got the cheapest one). I made myself a Boppy pillow, but I preferred this one in the hospital. I've heard great things about both (I think its mostly personal preference), but it has been an arm saver in the middle of the night when I'm hardly awake. (Actually, I'm not awake since I wake up several hours later and have no recollection of feeding or putting Callen back to bed.)
(6) Diaper Bag Backpack: $20 Ross. We use a plain, school backpack for a diaper bag, that way hands are always free. Much cheaper then the “diaper bag backpack” sold at Target or BabiesRUS.
(7) California Baby Calendula Cream: $13 for 2 oz at Target. Works great for diaper rash and other mysterious red spots in fat rolls. The Lavender Diaper Rash Cream works great too, but come to find out after using it…I’m allergic to Lavender.
(8) Toothbrush and Baby Oil. I use it to get the dead skin off of his scalp. Around month 2 Callen developed a very dry scalp. Little baby oil massage, toothbrush scraping, and comb through (once a week) did the trick.
(9) Amazon Mom www.amazon.com/mom Sign-up to get free 2-day shipping (make sure to read the FAQ so you don't miss out on the free shipping) and discounts on baby things. I found a 4 pack of disposable breast pads for $22 (almost 1/2 the price if I would have bought them individually at Walmart).
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