My Mommy Must Haves

Here are some items James and I think are important must haves when you have a baby. Feel free to suggest others. :)

1. A good stroller - We love our Bumbleride  Flite stroller. It is super easy to navigate around tight corners, in between crowds at the zoo, and busy aisles at our local Target. It is made with durable material that I am sure will last a very long time. It even happens to look pretty neat. The stroller is also very compact when folding up and fits in our trunk with plenty of room to spare to groceries and crazy shopping days at Babies R Us. It is super easy to fold open/close and to attach either the carry cot or the car seat.  We were lucky enough to win the stroller and we feel so blessed! This stroller is definitely a life saver!

2. Fisherprice Rock 'N Play Sleeper. It amazing, especially for how simple it is! We use this has Chloe's bassinet. It rocks, it has ventilated sides so she doesn't overheat, yet feels cozy and surrounded. It has an incline to help with colic and gassy babies who spit up every time they are laid down flat (enter Chloe and Noah). It has seat straps for when the baby gets older, it is ridiculously light weight and super easy to transport from room to room while I am cleaning house.  IT also folds up very slim when not in use, so it doesn't take up much space. Very helpful in an apartment.  Little Noah wouldn't sleep anywhere except his mothers arms, until they got him this... definitely another life saver.

3. Sony Baby Monitor - the "Sony 900 mhz baby call nursery monitors" to be exact. These monitors come in crystal clear. We even play music in her room right next to the monitor (because of where the electrical outlets are located) and it still only picks up her voice... It is made to drown out the white noise in the room and only pick up on vocal sounds. It picks up all of her little whimper and whines. It has a crystal clear connection. We did TONS of research on what baby monitor to get, and I am so glad we went with this one! Not to mention the price was about half of what the other ones we were looking at cost!

5. On the go diaper changing pad/bag - This mini bag folds out into a diaper changing pad with pockets for diapers and wipes. It saves room in our diaper bag and super convenient for changing Chloe out in public. Gives me piece of mind about laying her out on a dirty changing table in public restrooms. I was surprised at how much space it doesn't take up, giving we super stuff it with diapers. We got the munchkin brand because we found it on sale, but it is the same as the skip hop brand.

6. Baby Bjorn baby carrier - we love it! I use it when doing chores around the house and Chloe is awake and wants to be held. It helps me when I need to use both hands. I use it when I need to take out the trash, go get the mail and go do laundry, but can't leave Chloe in the house alone. I just strap her in and go. :) She seems to like it a lot an sometimes passes right out when put in it. We got the organic cotton one in walnut, shown below.

7. The Miracle Blanket - an amazing swaddler. Our baby is a little houdini and usually gets out of the tightest swaddles. This blanket has a totally different design than the typical swaddle blankets and after trying several out with Chloe, this one works the best. 

8.White Noise CD's - we got this CD about 2 weeks ago and we put it on every night at bed time. It really helps Chloe go to sleep a lot faster. It has tracks such as rain, gurgling stream, waterfalls, whale noises, white noise, a rain forest and more. It was super cheap to download from i tunes.


9. Medela Swing  electric pump- my breast savers! Since the Dr. told me that Chloe doesn't have to woken up when sleeping to feed anymore, my boobs would swell and hurt when she missed a feeding. Now that I am able to pump, my breast don't get engorged and I am able to pump to save the breast milk for bottle feedings out in public. This pump is super lightweight and can be used with an electric plug in or batteries, for on the go pumping. IT is really easy to put together and take apart. There are not that many parts to wash, which is a blessing when you have to wash it 4 times a day! It's a little pricey for a single pump, but it had the best reviews and I feel it was worth the price.

10. Dwell Studio's receiving blankets - we have gotten tons of receiving blankets, but they all are 30"x30" and just not big enough to wrap/swaddle Chloe in and keep it wrapped. For some reason they always come undone. However, the Dwell Studio ones are 30"x40" and work perfectly! Not to mention, they come in the cutest and modern prints. You can find them at Target... and if you are lucky you can find them on sale like we did. :)  

11. Mam newborn pacifier- we received a ridiculous amount of pacifiers (binky;- as we call it) and we tried many of them, but this was the ONLY pacifier Chloe liked. And it was the only one that didn't cover her entire face. It is orthodontic too. They come with cute little designs, without being overbearing and without clashing with her cute little outfits. Chloe is a binky-holic, and although I was against using a pacifier, when you baby just wants to suck on something to help calm her down, your boob is not always available. In steps the binky, this particular binky to be exact.  

12. Diaper Genie II Elite  - We were considering this diaper pail along with 2 others, but we are so happy we went with this. It is super easy to use and the refills can be found everywhere and are pretty cheap. It has a black line on the bags when they are almost empty (like the red line on a receipt roll when almost out) which is really convenient and it really does keep the odor in. I was surprised at how many diapers it hold before it is full, trust me, it's ALOT. 

13. Avent Bottles - These are the ONLY bottles that my Dr prescribes. It happens to be the only bottle Chloe likes as well. They have an anti-colic system in which the air goes into the bottle, not the babies mouth. they are BPA-Free . They are wide bottles and have a wider mouth nipple, more like mom's breast. The only thing is that the 4 oz bottles are a yellow/brownish tint and it makes the bottle look old and tea/coffee stained which I really dislike. They are  Once you get to the bigger size bottles, the colors can be clear, blue or pink though....

14. Medela microwave steam sterilizer bags - super quick and easy. The bags take 2 oz water, fill it up with bottles or pump parts and microwave for 1.5 minutes, Each bag is good for 20 sterilizations. Talk about easy! Big bonus, they run about $5 for 5 and so much more portable than the big round microwave steam sterilizer.

15. Happiest Baby on the Block - our baby is not that fussy, but I wanted to get prepared in case she does end up with a crying fit. This book/video gives you steps to help make a baby feel more comfortable and help them feel like they are back in the womb. We have used the techniques and they really work! We have seen them work on other babies too! We ended up getting the VHS for super cheap from there website.

♥ Michelle