A few months ago when I was still pregnant with Hadessah I made a wish list of all the things that I was excited to use/try when she arrived. Now that she is here and she is now a little over a month I wanted to share with you guys my must haves for a newborn. These things are tried and true and we literally use them everyday. They truly make life easier so I am so excited to share them with you all, especially if you are a new or expecting mommy!
1. A few months ago I had mentioned that I wanted to try a baby wrap, specifically the Moby Wrap. When my husband and I went to go pick one out I realized that they are absolutely huge! There is so much fabric involved and we just thought that it was way to complicated for our taste so we decided to go with the UltraSoft Magic Infant Carrier by Chicco. Oh my goodness I can't even tell you how much I LOVE this carrier. It is so simple to put on and adjust and it is so soft! It is also extremely ergonomic and fits the baby's body like a glove. I put her in it sometimes when I am just doing chores around the house and she loves to just hang out watch me (she's just starting to smile...MY HEART). She falls asleep in it often too, which means it has to be comfortable enough for her taste!
2. So far my husband and I have noticed that Hadessah is almost the complete opposite of Ezrah (our first born) when she was a baby in every way and swaddling is first on the list. Ezrah loved to be swaddled and would fall asleep almost right away when we laid her down for the night. Hadessah on the other hand will do everything in her power to escape the swaddle. For safety reasons we decided to try out these swaddle blankets by a brand called NoJo, which have a pouch that you put the baby in and velcro on the flaps to keep the blanket from opening up. These things have been such a great help when it comes to bedtime. They have darts in the shoulder area, which makes the blanket just fit her body perfectly and in a few simple steps she's as snug as a bug in a rug! I will admit that Hadessah is a fighter and she has managed to get her little hands out a few times but the beauty about this blanket is that there is no extra fabric so even when she does manage to wriggle her way out she is not in any danger of getting her face caught in the blanket. It helps this mommy sleep a lot easier and I seriously cannot recommend this blanket enough!
3. Hadessah is still doing a lot of napping during the day, which is great because I can get a lot work done but she does not sleep very well at night and by the time ten o'clock comes around, when the rest of us are ready to go to bed she is wide awake. We decided to try a noise machine to see if it would help sooth her to sleep and I have to say it works really well! We picked this one up my MyBaby at Target. It has three different lullabies and you can also choose from the sounds of rain or the ocean. You can also adjust the sound, which is great because we can set it where it's not too loud for Bryan and I. The best part about this sound machine though is that it has a projector that shines on the ceiling. The projector changes between three different sea animals and the images are really bright and clear so the baby gets really engrossed in the movements. Overall this had made a significant difference, especially after late night feedings and I don't think we could ever go without it!
4. This one seems like the most obvious but it is a MUST! Hadessah is still at the point where she swims in bibs so we aren't using them just yet. Instead we use burp cloths whenever we are feeding her, and she is a messy eater! We literally have one in every single room and it just makes it so convenient that we don't have to change her clothes several times a day. I use the ones from Carter's. They are super cute and soft so they are non-abrasive on her skin. They also come in packs of four, which is great because burp cloths are like pacifiers, constantly getting lost!
5. Since I am not breast feeding Hadessah we of course have to use bottles, although even if you are breast feeding these can come in handy for those times when you are pumping, or even if you pump exclusively. So it's obvious that bottles are a necessity for us but it's more about the brand than anything else. I highly recommend Dr. Brown's bottles because there is a venting system that helps with an even flow and it reduces air bubbles. This helps with digestion and ultimately reduces gas making baby a happy camper! We used these with Ezrah when she was a newborn as well and I would never use anything else!
6. Ok, so I saved my very favorite for last! Since I became a mother for the first time, three and a half years ago I have gone through at least five or six diaper bags. Every time I got a new one I was convinced that it would be "the one" and they always disappointed me. I first heard to Petunia Pickle Bottom when I was out shopping with my mom one day when Ezrah was only about a year and a half and I really loved it but I looked at the price tag and was like "oh no!" I won't lie they are not cheap. So I never really got it out of my head but I just wasn't willing to spend the money. I continued to get frustrated with the other bags I was buying because they were just low in quality and didn't do what I needed to do. I will admit that I am a bit OCD when it comes to organization and when it takes twice as long to go out with your kids you really want something that is going to keep everything well organized to you can get to what you need right away, with no digging. So when I found out I was pregnant again I told myself that I was going to get one of these bags. The number one thing that I was not going to compromise on was that the bag had to be structured enough to stand up on it's own when nothing was in it. In my opinion there is nothing worse than a floppy diaper bag.
Floppy=digging
Structured=OCD satisfied
Determined that this would be the last diaper bag I bought I read all the reviews on the website and watched about 10 reviews on YouTube before I actually bought it, which in the research made me feel a lot better. So I ended up going with the black and gold Boxy Backpack, which matches my style really well. I have had this bag now for about three months (I bought it while I was still pregnant) and I LOVE it so much! The quality for one is fantastic and it has all the pockets I need to stay organized and I can wear it like a backpack, which is my favorite because it keeps my hands free for baby and toddler business. It also has a changing pad that is built in so when we are out I can just set it on the end changing table and unzip the pad out so I don't have to lay my baby on gross changing tables. Anyway, I have gone on and on but I just wanted to say that it was totally worth the investment and at the end of the day going from bag to bag cost me just as much. I wish I would have made the decision much earlier!
I hope all of you new or expecting moms found this helpful and I hope you all have a wonderful week! See you again soon!
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