When we were buying things for Evelyn, I found reviews and lists from other bloggers so helpful. So I figured, why not make my own? These are some of our favorite products for the first several months of new parenthood…things that have made life easier for us, and things that we (and Evelyn) love. (We were not compensated for anything in this post (we truly love these products), but many links are affiliate links.)
When it came to stroller buying, I let Gerrit geek out. We spent a good amount of time at the store with me standing in the aisle while he folded and unfolded strollers with lots of “Ohhhh look what this can do!” We finally decided on the Britax system and love it. It is so easy to snap in and out of the car and the stroller. The navigation of the stroller is great. I use it daily when I take Evelyn to the office. My only complaint is that the car seat is a little heavier than some others, but nothing unmanageable by any means.
Yes, this is a splurge when it comes to nursery rockers. (And yes, it was a gift that some of our wonderful family got for us.) And I’m just going to be honest–I’m not sure I could have survived the early months without it. In the first few weeks, I parked myself here every 2-3 hours to feed Evelyn; and because we had so much trouble with nursing at first, this chair, its comfort and how it helped us to position for feedings, was essential. And of course we still love it for rocking and story reading. And we got it in a beautiful gray color, so that in several years when it is not needed in a nursery, we should be able to move it to another room in our house.
This has provided us with hours of entertainment. Hours. If I can keep her happy on this looking at the animals and trying to grab at them, then I’m happy and it frees me up to eat breakfast/make lunch/fold some laundry/etc.
We decorated Evelyn’s nursery in lambs, so the Pottery Barn Lamb Mobile was a given. And she LOVES it. I put her in her crib to watch her lambs every morning and she gives them a big smile. And spinning it up three times gives me the 10 minutes I need to get ready.
Unfortunately it is no longer available, but I think the point of my saying this is that a mobile is a must for us…and I think the stark contrast of the black and white really catches her eye.
We love this swing. And our favorite thing is that the swing part is removable from the frame. We put it in the kitchen all the time and she sits between us and watches us eat dinner or sits by the counter and watches me cook dinner. My only complaint is that I wish the mobile spun independently (I have another swing at the office that does this, and it is fantastic for keeping her occupied).
I’ve always loved Todd Parr books, and now that we have a baby I have a new appreciation for them. Not only do a I love the messages (From The Peace Book: “Peace is keeping the water blue for all the fish…Peace is listening to different kinds of music…Peace is everyone having a home.” YES.), but Evelyn loves looking at the brightly colored illustrations more than any other books we have.
This was the swaddle we got in the hospital and we love it. It keeps Evelyn swaddled tightly, which keeps her sleeping well (although we are currently working on transitioning her out of the swaddle one arm at a time). I’m pretty sure once we transition out of the swaddle, we’ll be getting her the regular sleepsack to keep her warm this winter, too.
We use these constantly as burp cloths. They are everywhere in our house and always in our laundry.
I was nervous to use this at the beginning and have her sleep next to the bed at night, so I didn’t (we used our pack n’ play instead). But it has been useful in so many other ways. I use it every day at the office for her naps right now, and she lies in it and plays and talks to me and watches me work. We took this down to our
Auburn tailgate a few weeks ago, and we plan on taking it with us for Thanksgiving. It seems to be convenient in endless ways.
These blankets are so soft. Like unbelievably soft. They are thin and breathable (great for summer!) but are also big enough to be folded up several times for warmth (so also appropriate for chilly days). We actually don’t use them for swaddling, but one is always in her car seat and out and about with us.
These kind of item is really perfect for baby shower gift. All of the above are really nice to be used. Especially for those moms who’s searching for a gift I think this is something you’ll go to find out.
Awesome baby products! Thanks for this. Got an idea on what to buy as a gift for my newly wed friends.