A Few of My Favorite Things

I've been wanting to publish a post like this for a while now.  The purpose is not really so much because I'm a baby expert or because anyone will care what baby products I found most useful.  It's more about me remembering what I found useful so that as friends and family have babies of their own, I have good gift ideas and advice!

Food/Feeding

I love my Dr. Brown's bottles.  They are a pain in the neck to clean with all their parts, but they really do seem to reduce gas.  And, when they did the swallow study on Adrian at Children's Hospital, it was the only bottle he didn't aspirate with.  So, the Dr. Brown's bottles got him home to us sooner. 



Once they got started on solids, the boys loved Earth's Best.  This brand was recommended by Michelle.  Just as an example, I bought organic peas that were Earth's Best and that were Gerber Organic.  The boys would not eat the Gerber peas!!!  They devoured the Earth's Best.  I don't know why, but the brand made a huge difference!

Sleep

Halo sleep sacks with wings are THE BEST things to swaddle your infant in, hands down.  No other brand of sleep sack even began to compare. 

These worked on their own for a while, but then I had to use an Aden and Anaise muslin blanket to double swaddle the boys first. 

Then I wrapped them in the sleep sack (without pulling their arms out throught the arm holes because they were wrapped up in the muslin blanket) and swaddled them up tight.  Not even Houdini could have gotten out.  The boys slept so well!

The Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper was extremely useful to keep the boys in our room, right next to our bed, for the first few months.  They were practically sleeping in our bed, but they were safe from us rolling over on them.  Added bonus: it turns into a regular play yard after you detach it from your bed!

Transport

I've loved my Britax B-Ready stroller and the Britax Chaperone car seats.  These were recommended by Michelle who never led me astray.



The infant car seats can be put into the stroller in a way that doesn't make it impossible to maneuver it.  I didn't boy the cow print car seats.  Yuck.





















Then, when they outgrow the infant seats, the stroller uses other seats so that you can use it until they just don't need a stroller anymore.  LOVE IT.




 

Seats and Swings

Bouncy Chairs were so helpful when they were really small for naps and as a way of keeping them in a safe, comfortable position.



The Nap Nanny was a life saver--it helped tremendously when Adrian's reflux was not yet under control.  He was able to sleep strapped into it at night, so that he was elevated.  A godsend.


Adrian loved the Graco Infant Swing; Sebastian not as much. 



A Bumbo Chair is great for when they can ALMOST sit up and you don't want to leave them lying on their heads all day!

Miscellaneous

Charlie's Soap is great for washing cloth diapers and for baby clothes.  I wash our clothes in it too, and I love it.  I ordered the largest container of it I could find (below).  It will last a loooong time.



A water play mat was recommended by our Early Intervention contact.  The boys enjoy playing on it and trying to "eat" the fish in the water below them.


Lamaze toys are great.  The boys love Olivia the Owl (below).  They love to try to eat all the parts that dangle from her.



Bathing the boys every night is an important part of our bedtime routine.  So, an infant tub has been so important.  This isn't the kind we have, but ours is simple and works just fine. 


We use LOTS of wash clothes giving the boys nightly baths.  I love these whale washcloths that I got at my baby shower.  Some of the other wash cloths are too flimsy.



We have a ton of burp cloths (diapers) and, boy, were they useful when both boys had reflux!

 
Every mother seems to have a Boppy pillow, and even though I'm done breastfeeding, I still use it to feed the boys and to help them sit up.

Were were given this play mat from Ikea, and it's been so useful for tummy time.  It's padded nicely, and it has lots of things on it that the boys can play with.



The boys really enjoy their jungle playmat.  I turn off the lights and they are dazzled by the lights that change color above them.



I'll keep adding to this list as I think of things, but for now, these are things I'd buy for a friend who was having a baby.  I use them all pretty much on a daily basis.