I can’t believe we’re almost at the 1 month mark for our little girl, Elizabeth! She was born on October 11 (right on her due date!), and we are just at about 4 weeks. Yippee!
When I was researching things to get before Elizabeth arrived, I valued Youtube videos and blog posts that featured the “can’t live without” items that got new moms and dads through the first few months. Each baby (I quickly learned) is so different. So my Top 8 is unique to my little one 🙂 But my husband and I would not have been able to survive these last 4 weeks without these items.
1. Fisher-Price Rock n’ Play Sleeper – I was fortunate enough to borrow this from a friend, and it’s ended up being a life saver this first month. Our little one came home from the hospital with a case of bad congestion and reflux. Sleeping at an incline was critical for her. Plus, I can easily move this around the house. The first few weeks she slept in her room at night, and then I moved her downstairs during the day. She is still sleeping in this now, and we’ll probably slowly transition her out of it once we’re confident her congestion has improved. It will also come in handy traveling… smaller and lighter than a pack n play!
2. Britax B-Agile and B-Safe Travel System – My husband and I spent DAYS trying to figure out what car seat/stroller configuration to get. I wasn’t sure what kind of stroller we would need, so I was waffling between getting a car seat that just snaps into a stroller frame, or getting the more formal Travel System. We spent one Sunday at Babies-R-Us and Buy Buy Baby pushing and folding strollers and hauling car seats out to our car to see what fit. We absolutely love this stroller/car seat combo! The stroller is light weight, easy to fold, and I’m able to swing it around easily. The car seat is, from my understanding, a tad heavier than other infant seats, but to me it’s still fine. I love that I can just snap the car seat in the base or in the stroller with minimal effort or set up. Our little girl also seems to like both! They are miracle baby sleeping devices 🙂
3. Boppy Pillow – This is another borrowed item from a friend, but if I wasn’t borrowing one, or had to return it back to her tomorrow, I would INSTANTLY run to Target to buy one before I had to do another feeding. I love this pillow! I had to survive the first few days at home using just traditional pillows to breast feed until my friend could drop the Boppy off at our house. The minute I fed my daughter using the Boppy, I almost wept for joy! She’s propped up, I don’t have to adjust the pillow a million times once she’s eating, and it stays fairly firm. Seriously, whether you buy the Boppy OR another type of breast feeding pillow, you HAVE to get one.
4. Aden & Anais Classic Muslin Swaddle Blankets – After the first 2 weeks, I figured out that our little peanut doesn’t actually love to be swaddled. I was swaddling her at night using the Summer Me swaddle… but once I received a pack of these Aden & Anais blankets and just loosely swaddled her in that, she was MUCH happier. So these blankets are perfect. I’ve also used them as a nursing cover, a light blanket, burp cloth, and on and on. The blankets are also soft and huge! These are amazing. I bought a cheaper pack from another brand because I hadn’t received any as gifts yet. I wish I hadn’t, because those knock off blankets are inferior compared to the Aden & Anais.
5. Footed PJs – These are so worth the money! Don’t bother with onesies, pants, socks, etc. Just buy cute pajamas. So much easier to get babies dressed. And I hate having to figure out where the missing sock was abandoned…. Most come with small snaps. The snaps don’t bother me, but some people (*cough* my husband *cough*) can’t stand the snaps, especially in the middle of the night. You can find ones with zippers too. Or magnets, apparently! I haven’t seen those out in the wild yet, but apparently they’re out there.
6. iPhone – Probably don’t need to say much about this, other than it takes great pictures and video 🙂 My husband set up a shared photo album with our families, so when we snap cute pictures, we just upload it to the shared album. The Fam gets an alert there are new pictures, and then presto – the Grandparents are satisfied! I also use my phone during every feeding. I haven’t hit the “I love to breast feed!” moment yet, so the phone keeps me sane during those endless feeding sessions.
7. Little Remedies for Tummys Gas Drops – Over the last few weeks, Elizabeth has been struggling with gas. Not sure what’s caused it, but it gave me an excuse to open this up. It seems to work! And she tolerates the taste. So what more can you ask for?
8. Noise Machine – I bought a cheap noise machine because I read that’s what you’re supposed to do with babies – have a noise machine. But I really do like having one! I bought one that doesn’t run exclusively on batteries, and one that stays on until you shut it off. I notice that when I turn it on for sleep, Elizabeth quickly shuts her eyes and settles down. But she also gets tired of the same noise constantly. So we’ve already punched the card on white noise, rainstorms, and now summer night… I’m avoiding the creepy heart beat like the plague.
36.047242
-78.973037
Cup of Tea 
