Top 10 Mommy Must-Haves
First off, I am by no means an expert on parenting. After all, I only have one child! But I wanted to share what I've found useful thus far.
Before my daughter was born, I was so excited to get all the baby things! Give me one of everything! Tip...DON'T do that! You never know what your kiddo will like or dislike, so don't spend tons of money on things that he/she may not take to.
Okay, here it goes. My Top 10 Mommy Must-Haves in no particular order.
#1: A swing or bouncer
I'll admit. I caved at first. I bought the 4moms mamaRoo before my daughter was born. She used it for a few weeks, but soon after, she decided she was done with it. We tried all the different motions, vibrations and sounds. Nothing worked. As much as I loved it, my daughter did not. So, into storage it went.
As I was browsing the aisles at Target, I decided to purchase the Ingenuity InLighten Twinkle Tails Bouncer. This was like having a different kid! She absolutely loved this bouncer. I'm not sure what was so different about it (besides a $200 price difference), but she used it all the time. This was great to set on the floor in the kitchen while preparing meals, in the dining room while eating, in the bathroom/bedroom while getting ready, or in the living room. It's lightweight, easy to move and has lights, vibrations and music. Plus how cute is the little bunny?!
Regardless of what bouncer or swing you get, it will give you another set of hands. So, make sure your child likes it before spending hundreds of dollars on something. Borrow from a family member or friend if you can at first.
#2: Sound Machine/Nightlight
The Hatch Rest Sound Machine was another item we bought early on. We knew we wanted to use it. We do not use the sound part of it very often, but the light and app are great! My all time favorite part is the ability to control it from your phone! We use the timer/program settings every single day. We have ours set to be pink during bedtime from 7:30 PM to 6:30 AM and yellow for "okay to wake" time from 6:30-7:30 AM. Yes, my daughter is only 16 months old, but we've used it like this for almost as long as I can remember. She's slept through the night since the day I went back to work when she was 3 months old. So, we've had these settings on since then. On the rare occurrence she wakes up early, she usually just sits in her crib talking and playing until we go in at 6:30 AM. I can see this being a great tool as she gets older too. There are several different colors and sounds to choose from. Another neat feature is the ability to change the brightness and volume on the app.
#3: Owlet Smart Sock
Every parent does this...if you say you haven't you're probably lying. You come home from the hospital and stare in wonder at this little miracle God has blessed you with. You lay them down for their first nights sleep, and you check on them every 20 minutes to make sure they're breathing. Insert Owlet Smart Sock.
What exactly is the Owlet Smart Sock you might ask? It's a one-of-a-kind monitor that uses pulse oximetry to alert parents when baby's oxygen or heart rate dips too low or goes too high. There are 3 sizes of the sock that come with your purchase, so it will grow with your child for quite some time. We used ours until our daughter was just over one and she started taking it off at night. Some suggest to put a sock over it, but she would take the regular socks off then the smart sock.
The Owlet Smart Socks can be used on either foot (we rotated each night). The set comes with a base station that you can put in your bedroom. This base station is what will alarm. There are a few different types of alerts...yellow, blue and red. Yellow means that the sock can't get a good reading. It could mean it is coming off their foot or is positioned incorrectly. A blue alert means the sock is too far away from the base station. Red alerts are the ones to watch for. They're the ones you don't want. This means your babies oxygen or heart rate are too high or too low. Assess your baby immediately and seek medical attention if necessary.
Another nice thing about the Owlet is that you will get alerts both on the base station and your app. We have the older version (I want to say 2.0?), so ours looks a little different than this new base station.
We actually had several red readings in a row, and a few days later found out our daughter had RSV. Her oxygen dipped down into the 70's, so that was our #1 cue to get her in ASAPt. She was checked out in the clinic and later admitted to the hospital, but it was nice to know the readings we got at home were similar to the what the hospital monitors were reading too.
Yes, we did have a few "False Alarms", but all-in-all, I am very glad we had this product.
#4: Swaddle/Sleepsack
Babies seem to love the comfort of being swaddled. The Halo SleepSack Cotton Swaddle is a lifesaver! It provides the kiddo with a sense of security. Use it as a swaddle until the first sign baby is ready to roll over. Most articles I've read say to stop swaddling around 8 weeks/2 months (or the first sings of rolling over).
Once it's time to ditch the swaddle, move on to the Halo SleepSack Wearable Blanket. These come in sizes up to 3T. Both the swaddle and wearable blanket come in cotton or fleece. For us, we had to stop using them at the same time we stopped using the Owlet. She would unzip herself and take it off anyways, so shortly after her 1st birthday she started sleeping with a regular blanket. But it's always best to check with your doctor first. If your child will keep the SleepSack on, I definitely recommend letting them!
#5: Boppy Pillow
A Boppy Pillow is great for nursing, feeding, tummy time, support while sitting and so many other things! It just gives a little added comfort. These come with removable covers because...babies! Not much else to say about it, as it's pretty self-explanatory. But definitely get one regardless if you plan on nursing or not.
We love our Motorola 5" Video Baby Monitor! It came with 2 cameras, which we like. We plan to use the second one if/when we have another child. Things we like about this particular monitor: the display is large and very clear, 2-way talk feature, room temperature display (although this usually reads way higher than the temp actually is), and the fact that it does not need Wi-Fi. We've all heard horror stories about baby monitors being hacked. This does not run off Wi-Fi, so we're good to go there too. Battery life is decent.
#7: Laundry Bag
This next one might seem kind of silly. It didn't take long after bringing our daughter home from the hospital for the washer/dryer to eat one of her socks. Anybody else have this happen? Why do socks magically disappear when they're washed?! Before I even left the house for the first time post-partum, I had my husband go to Walmart to find something to put her itty bityy socks in. This Mainstays Mesh Lingerie Bag was exactly what I was looking for. We put her dirty socks in here and don't have to worry about losing any (just don't forget to zip it before tossing it in!). It's approximately 15" by 18" with a zipper enclosure. This is one of those "I wish somebody had given me that advice" things. Every mom needs one of these! It doesn't matter if your child is a newborn or 10 years old, I can see this working for all ages.
#8: Stroller/Car Seat Combo
I can't stress enough how nice it was to have a car seat that just clicked right into a stroller! Our combination did not come as a set, but they worked together. Tip...the Graco Click Connect series will all work with each other! We have the Graco Fast Action Jogger LX and love it! It's folds up nicely, can be opened up with one arm (a must for parents!), and has multiple seat positions. The only downfall about this particular stroller is the cupholders are on the smaller side. My Yeti, TAL and Camelbak water bottles don't fit. A regular bottle/can of pop or water would fit. 
I couldn't find the exact infant car seat we have, but this Graco SnugRide SnugLock 35 DLX Infant Car Seat is almost identical. Again, any of the "Click Connect" seats, bases, and strollers work together. This gives you lots of flexibility to choose what you want to purchase. What I love most about this car seat is the one handle adjustment. With a lot of car seats, you need to push buttons on each side to get the bar to go down. With this one, all you need is one hand to push the red button shown below. This leaves one hand free for baby!
#9: Aquaphor
No questions asked. Just do it. Aquaphor Baby is a necessity. Far less "messy" compared to other brands I've used. Get the biggest tube you can. Then get a smaller one for the diaper bag. We keep a big one in her diaper caddy and a small one in the diaper bag.
#10: Diaper Storage
I'm a Thirty-One consultant, so I swear by all things storage and organization! I'll have to do another post on all the 31 products to help make mom life easier. But for now, we're going to focus on the Double Duty Caddy.
Let this sit out by the changing table and you have yourself a diaper command center! This puppy fits easily 20 diapers, a large bottle of hand sanitizer, lotion, wipes, Aquaphor and so much more! Easy to just grab and go in to another room if you need to as well.
Well...there you have it! 10 Must Have Items for new parents! Do you have other items you swear by as a parent? Let us know in the comments!
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