my favorite things… BABY GEAR edition

Before we dive right in: just in case you begin to wonder… I was soooooooooooo NOT compensated to write about any of these products.

{I mean, who am I? Oprah???}

We either received these at our baby shower or bought them ourselves. These are purchases I researched and chose to register for and these are my honest to God, non-influenced opinions! =)

 

 

 First things first, though this may be a little tongue in cheek and not a literal baby item, personally, my day’s productivity level {since baby} can be measured by what time I got to drink my coveted cup o’ joe and how strong the coffee is that’s now coursing through my veins. If you don’t own a coffee maker, I strongly suggest that you  purchase one. It also doesn’t hurt to get yourself a cute coffee mug to look at when the rest of the scenery in your house could pass for the remains of Armageddon…

{source}

{Side note for those who are wondering: I’ve been enjoying my coffee since day one that this joyous little creature entered my life. I usually don’t have more than one cup a day – there are exceptional days though – and I haven’t seen any problems with breastfeeding and the consumption of caffeine. My little angel takes fantastic naps throughout the day and lately – knock on wood! – has been waking up just once or twice in a 10 hour stretch at night =)=)=) Praise GOD!}

 

The First Years BabyPro Sterilizer by Learning Curve

Speaking of Armageddon and the lack of cleaning that seems to take place with a newborn… a friend suggested this little gem to me for helping with the endless sterilizing of pacifiers, bottles, breast pump equipment, etc. I have used it at least a million times already in only 10 weeks and I LOVE IT.

  

 

 

Angelcare Movement Sensor with Sound Monitor

Seriously, peace of mind – can you put a price on it? This device fits under the mattress and is SUPER sensitive to your baby’s every move, specifically breathing. If it doesn’t sense movement {breathing} within 20 seconds, an alarm goes off alerting you and hopefully startling the child enough to prompt breathing.

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

 

 

Also, a good baby monitor is a MUST! A sound monitor can do the trick, but a video monitor can be a mom’s best friend. Count the years you can continue to use it {I’ve been told} once he’s in his “big boy bed” and you just want to check on him without opening the door and risk waking him up – totally worth the $cha-ching$! I just got my monitor, a Safety 1st brand, this summer but can no longer find it online. There is an Angelcare monitor that incorporates video in the device as well, and if I were doing it all over again, I’d probably opt for that instead of having both monitors at my bedside. Live and learn!

 

 

Graco® Pack 'n Play® Portable Playard with Newborn Napper™ in Maddox

I love the newborn napper on this pack ‘n play, great for a bedside bassinet to keep the baby up higher and in your view, as well as giving your baby the little bit of incline they love and keeping super cozy.  There’s a tiny nightlight built in, but it isn’t really bright enough to be of much use. The vibrate and sound is a great little feature that we did find useful though. I haven’t used the changing table much but had no complaints when I did. Great for a travel bed and I’m assuming we’ll get lots of use out of it as a play pen when he gets a little older.

 

Pee-pee Teepee™ by Beba Bean

Okay… if you’re having a bouncing baby boy and you haven’t heard of these, consider yourself warned! IT will get you… ;)

 

Medela® Pump In Style® Advanced Breastpump with Metro Bag

I haven’t even been back to work yet but I’ve already used my electric pump a ton! I’ve been doing my best to save up a good freezer supply and it’s definitely MUCH quicker to pump and let someone else feed the baby at times. This weekend, we got away for a 24 hour span {more on that later!} and I even used this in the car. I.LOVE.THIS.PUMP. I have a manual hand pump by the same brand too… holy cow, it is night and day in speed difference and how much more milk I can get with the electric!

 

Lansinoh HPA Lanolin

Essential for breastfeeding moms! I tried the Medela brand, which was much more “runny” and even though some think the Lansinoh is too sticky, it was better at doing the job it’s made to do. In the first few weeks, I used it after every feeding. Now I only use it about once a week, though once daily would probably be better for the health of my little friends ;)

At the risk of you thinking I’m completely gross and downright weird, I’ve now been using it as…. chapstick!

My lips have developed insane sensitivities to random chapsticks and lip glosses and when Houston was about a month old, my lips reacted to a new lip gloss and decided to peel off completely, leaving them swollen and burning 24 hours a day for a full week. Though I truly enjoyed the look of my new Angelina Jolie-esque puffy pout, they were unbelievably painful, continually peeling, and made it extremely difficult to eat, drink, or kiss my precious little angel. My mom suggested I try this to heal them. Lo and behold it WORKED! I’m now on the search for actual lanolin based chapstick to make it more convenient for my purse than this large tube.

 

Pampers Swaddlers 

I didn’t know we would favor one diaper so much over the others, but I will only buy these for now because of their OVER THE TOP HELPFUL little yellow line that changes to blue when wet. Love it! Truly saves all the guessing when the baby is crying and you’re not sure why. You can take a peek at the diaper without having to unnecessarily undress them just to find out they’re dry. I’ve compared prices using coupons, ordering from places online where you get cash back and there’s no tax or shipping costs, and STILL, Sam’s club beats all of those prices. We burn through this HUGE box right now in a little over 2 weeks!

 

My sweet little model showing off that tell-tell blue line and just how cute a dirty diaper really can be!

 

 

NEST Elliott Diaper Bag 

I looooooove my diaper bag! More than enough pockets, zippers, and room for organization while still staying stylish ;) I always get compliments carrying it.

 

Looks like Heidi Klum loves hers in black!

 

NEST Quilted Diaper Bag – Black

I really wasn’t wanting a diaper bag with lots of colors and busy patterns, I figured getting one in brown and one in black would take me far. I have not been disappointed with that decision. I love this bag that is also from NEST, but not as much as the previous bag. Sometimes I think I should have got the first bag in multiple colors!

 

I’m also diggin’ this NEST Canvas Diaper Bag - Khaki/Black!

 

custom designed baby bedding at Carousel Designs

I spent far too much time searching for the perfect baby bedding. Every time I liked one, it was waaaaaaaay out of my price range. {As in, more than I paid for our lovely king size bedding, 2 sets of sheets, decorative pillows, 2 dust ruffles to make it extra frilly, and 4 curtain panels…. yeah, some crib bedding is totally overpriced!}

This website has a fun little interactive tool you can use to combine your style and your fabrics to create one of a kind bedding you can see on the screen before ordering. It is a whole bunch of fun and surprisingly inexpensive!

Here’s the screen shot of the bedding I put together online before ordering:

…and in real life:

How’s that for accuracy?!

 

Skip Hop Funky Farmyard Activity Mat 

Nothing special – just a fun little place to let him kick and reach and stare at himself in the mirror. I love the little curved pillow that comes with it that helps him tolerate tummy time much better when propped under his chest.

Chicco®Cortina KeyFit 30 Travel System in Romantic

Researching the many strollers and travel systems that are out there: muy frustrante!

This travel system came highly recommended by… like… all of my friends who have kids. That’s all it took to sign me up. I haven’t had one single problem with it and thanks to the dog needing his daily walks, we have been strollin’, strollin’, strollin’. No probs with the carseat either – little man never protests and never seems uncomfortable.

 

Baby Jogger City Mini Single Stroller

We also got this jogging stroller at the recommendation of friends who navigate the streets of NY and Chicago with it daily. I’m a believer, but not from experience… it’s still in the box. When the boy can hold his head up consistently, we’ll be breaking this bad boy out! I’ll be sure to update you.

 

Fisher-Price® Zen Cradle Swing

Thanks to this little beauty, yours truly was able to finish typing this post while my sweet angel swings and slumbers! I love that the seat pivots so that you can experiment with which way soothes your baby better – swinging side to side or front to back. It also plugs in, battery free is a positive these days!

 

 

There is so much more to review… carriers, books, teethers, toys, bouncy chairs, bumbos… I will be back with those reviews as soon as they have been tested and tried! Hope you enjoyed =)

 

 

This resource for baby coupons might save even more money on these favorite things!