Baby Week: BABY-baby gear

It's baby week . . .
In all truthfulness, every week is baby week around here now!  But this week is a LITTLE less Bo-focused and little more generic.  For all those prego friends out there, here's what your life will soon look like!  For all those varsity moms out there, I'd love to know what you couldn't live without!

This is the "Baby-baby" edition . . . things we used immediately.  It seemed like all of our efforts for a few months were focused on getting the baby to sleep and then praying he stayed asleep, so most of these things help with the all-important SLEEP!

Swaddle Wraps

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I only had the Summer Infant/Kiddopotamus brand swaddlers, but we used them for EVERY nap and at night.  We stuffed Bo in the pouch, closed the velcro - instant swaddle.  He really fell asleep so much easier when he was wrapped up in one of those things.  In fact, we used them until he was 4 months old . . . and then he suddenly didn't really need his "Baby Snuggie" any longer.   

Aidan + Anais Muslin Blankets

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These things are great . . . they are HUGE, which is great for getting a good swaddle.  I was a little late in the game getting these; maybe we wouldn't have been so dependent on the baby snuggie.  These are really multipurpose, though - great for covering up the car seat, as a nursing cover, lying on the floor, keeping sun off the stroller, etc.  I still always have one of these with us wherever we go - I think Bo enjoys snuggling up with them to sleep.

Soothie Pacifiers

Available here.

Oh, little Bo!  There are varying opinions on pacifiers but we decided to go for it after I asked the nurse in the hospital how it was possible that this baby could nurse for 45 minutes.  She said, "No, dear, he was done after 20 minutes, he just likes sucking."  I said, "Give me a pacifier."  And this is what they gave me.  We're only 5 months in to this so I don't know if I'm setting Bo up to going to kindergarten with a pacifier in his mouth . . . but I try to use it only when he's tired.  And it certainly helped him relax when he was a tiny little guy.  Something about releasing that 'sucking energy.'  He prefers a different kind now but for a while we had 10 Soothies spread all over the house.

MAM Anti-Colic Bottles

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I started Bo with an occasional bottle of breastmilk pretty early.  I tried 3 other brands but they all seemed to come out too fast and he choked and sputtered.  My sister-in-law recommended these and they have been great.  They aren't expensive, but they just worked for us.  Bo does so well with formula or nursing, which makes it nice when we want to go out.  

Sleep Positioner

For sale here. 
(Baby Bo modeling the sleep positioner, an unwrapped swaddle blanket, and a discarded soothie pacifier.

So this is one of those 'first time parent' things . . . a friend of ours passed on their sleep positioner and I was sure we wouldn't need it.  When we got home from he hospital and put Bo in the middle of his big crib swaddled to his neck, we immediately fished out the sleep positioner to secure him somehow before he fell asleep.  We were afraid he would roll over and not be able to breathe, but this thing helped us sleep better knowing he would stay on his back all night.  I also took it with us when we traveled so he felt snug in the hotel crib or pack-n-play.  

Bouncer

Available Here

Bo was in this thing for 90% of his waking hours until he was 2 months old.  We went for the bouncer instead of the swing because it was smaller and more portable (and less expensive).  This one is battery operated and bounces on its own.  (We haven't had to change the batteries yet!)  We carried it all over the house and outside so he could sit near us and he napped pretty well in it, too.  

iPhone

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This was probably my #1 baby item, believe it or not.  I used it as my flashlight, clock, record keeper, entertainment, and portal to the outside world.  Would you believe I kept track of every single feeding for three months?  In the middle of the night it was impossible to remember if I'd been feeding him for four minutes or twenty . . . and I could never remember the last time I'd fed him, so I just wrote them all down on my phone.  It's amazing what you can do with one hand on this thing - so much easier to read, email, text, etc.  I don't have a Kindle but I imagine it would be similarly nursing-friendly. 


So that's my non-comprehensive list of essential-to-us infant gear.  What did you use?