I thought as a new mom I'd take the time to talk about the baby products I am loving the most right now for my under 3month old son.
First - the video baby monitor. Some may think the video is overkill, but I think its great. Its a nice way to keep an eye on baby without walking in the room and disturbing him. It also allows me time away from him to take showers or post blogs without wondering how he's doing. If you are the type of mom who will be tempted to jump at every sound your baby will make, or feel the need to check for breathing movement, then spend the extra bucks on the video monitor. I have the Summer brand from and it gets great reception and the image is very clear, plus it has great night vision too.
Next on my list is the Fisher price aquarium (I also have the baby
Einstein version of this toy as well - both get my thumbs up). The aquarium makes great *white noise* and seems to have a soothing effect on my baby. I have one in his cradle and one in his crib. I often don't even turn the sound up and just let Brenden hear the rhythm of the moving parts. I can always tell when this toy has hit its auto shut-off because I will hear a cry of protest from my little man.
The swaddle blanket is my next item. I recommend the
kiddopotamus brand. Other swaddle blankets will let the arms wiggle out, but this one wraps him up like a burrito! It also has a hole in it so you can use it with a car seat if you want. When he gets really restless at night this is a great way to calm him down and get him geared for sleep.
Of all his toys, he likes
the mirror the best. He took to this toy right away! He can spend a good 30 minutes or more self-entertaining with this mirror. Its nice because it can be a stand-alone toy or you can tie it to the crib. Very good entertainment for those early months when the vision is so poor. There is a picture below at him using it at just a few days old. Gosh he was a tiny peanut back then!
Probably one of my most favorite items is the Peanut Shell sling. This is great for mommies who are alone with baby a lot and need free hands. It has so many great uses - more than I imagined!
1- hands are free to carry other things and baby at the same time
2- the tightness and closeness of the sling has a very calming effect on the baby. I can tell it reminds him of the womb. When inside he will often suck on his thumb or fist -which he never does - and will drift off to sleep immediately
3 - great for breast feeding in public. I've used this twice in
restaurants and its awesome. It conceals breast and baby, and also leaves at least one hand free so you can eat while baby eats!
The sleep
postitioner. This thing is awesome for me because Brenden shares my bed with me. It keeps him on a firm surface and his face out of the covers. It keeps him from rolling over in his sleep. Its great for naps as the wedges on the sides make him feel like somebody his holding him. He goes to sleep on his own MUCH better in this than if he likes on the
mattress alone. If you look at my previous blogs you can see pictures of him using this.
Other things I have learned - for clothes, go with long sleeve pull over shirts instead of jackets. Jacket zippers/hoods will touch the baby's cheek and trigger his rooting mechanism. When he discovers its a jacket and not food, he's NOT a happy baby. Gowns are great at night, they make for quick diaper changing without waking the baby too much. The snaps on
jammies can be quite complicated when you are half asleep and attempting to change a diaper in the dark. For newborn babies, especially
preemies, I like Pampers better than
Huggies diapers. The Pampers are softer and a little smaller and seemed to be more gentile for his cord stump and for his
circumcision. They also absorb the moisture a little better. Now that he's got some meat on his bones the
Huggies are fitting him just fine, so those diapers I bought are not going to waste! Go with cloth diapers for burping instead of the burp cloths. Cloth diapers will absorb much more than those burp cloths.
That's all I can come up with for now. I'll probably do another post like this when he is 3 months as I'm sure his favorite items will have changed by then!
