Love it or Leave it - Baby Products

When I was pregnant I spent SO MUCH time creating my baby shower registry. I read blogs, product reviews, and asked other moms what I needed, and what would be nice to have. The truth is there is a ton of crap on the market for babies. It's overwhelming, and my opinion is that the industry takes advantage of first time parents by marketing things as a "need" when they definitely are not. Well, my little Samuel is now four months old, and I feel like I'm getting the hang of this parenthood thing. My body has more than aclamated to the lack of sleep it's recieving (to be fair, I'm getting enough - about six to MAYBE eight hours split up each night). And I now know what baby products have been useful to us, and what ones we certainly didn't need. Of course, everyone has different opinions, and every baby is different, but I've made a list of the things we've used a

lot so far, and I'll share some things we could have gone without.

First off we have a slew of nursing products, so if you're not planning to breastfeed you can skip this section. Breastfeeding was a huge goal and intention of mine, so I put a bunch of boobie stuff on my registry. But truly, the most important thing is keeping your baby fed. These things help me do that. Maybe formula will you help do that - I have no formula advice, I'm clueless in that arena. For nursing, my personal favorite product is the Haakaa. It's a silicone cup that catches your letdown milk. So, I feed Sam on one side, and put the Haakaa on the other side, and I've built a good freezer stash because of it. Honestly, I wish I had two, so I didn't have to clean it between each feeding. I also have two pumps - one handpump, and a double-cup wearable pump. They're both great. And affordable. I don't have a "medical grade" pump (the ones with tubes, that plug into the wall) but personally I haven't needed one. If I was exclusively pumping I probably would. There are TONS of wearable pumps out there, I chose an affordable amazon one, and it's been good. I'm sure there are better ones out there, but this one expresses milk just fine, and fits comfortably. As far as making feeding easier, there is an AWESOME pillow called "my breast friend," that someone gifted me (I had the "boppy" on my registry but the breast friend is WAY better). It'll save your back so much pain because you won't have to hold baby up or lean over so much to feed. Another must have" are silver nursing cups or "silvettes" - they're made to help heal your nipples and they work. I don't know how or why they work, but they do. I've never had sore or raw nipples because I'd use nipple butter and these cups after nursing. And lastly, we registered for a bunch of different bottles, but my midwife and lactation consultant said the Avent ones were her favorite, so that's what we use and they're great. They don't leak at all! Baby has to actively suck to get the milk which helps him not get "lazy" at the breast. The four other bottle. brands we received are untouched in a kitchen cabinet.

Below are some affiliate links to the breastfeeding products I use and love.

Haaka for letdown milk: https://amzn.to/47mzmYy

Medela Hand Pump: https://amzn.to/3sIUUjc Wearable Double-Cup Pump: https://amzn.to/40McAqH

My Breast Friend Nursing Pillow: https://amzn.to/40OuCZf

Silver Nursing Cups: https://amzn.to/3SVbuXw

Avent Bottles: https://amzn.to/47H2qK2

Next: Our stroller system. It's the 3-in-1 Chicco Bravo system, which includes an infant car seat, a base, and a stroller (that the carseat snaps into while they're still super little). We use this obviously every day, and have loved it. It's pretty affordable, as far as strollers and carseats are concerned, and it works really well for us. Chris is able to easily run (no "jogging" specific stoller needed), and I go on nice long walks (even through the grass and gravel) with it. Plus, Sam seems pretty comfy in there, and an added bonus is that the Chicco infant carseat is apparently the safest one out there.

If you're interested in taking a look, here's a link to the stroller system: https://amzn.to/47i4Mzf

Another item that we use daily is the momcozy baby-wearing sling. We have a few different "wraps" or items to wear baby, but this is our favorite one. It's easy to use, lightweight, and affordable. We also have the Ergobaby one (which isn't as affordable). It's more bulky and kind of hard to put on by yourself, but it's been good as he's gotten a little bigger. We use this one for things like long walks, and I think will become our main carrier as he gets bigger because it's so sturdy. I definitely reccomend the momcozy one for day-to-day and smaller babes.

Momcozy Wrap: https://amzn.to/46h65gN

Ergobaby: https://amzn.to/41UYjbM

Of course some clothes are needed for baby, but honesty less than you think. We were super blessed to receive SO many hand-me-downs from friends with older boys, that I really didn't register for very much clothing. I will say, Sam pretty much lives in double-zip footie pajamas because they're the easiest and coziest option, and make diaper changes a breeze. Other than that a few short sleeve, and a few long sleeve onsies will do. Maybe a pack of socks for when their feet get cold.

We really like our diaper bag so far, and it's a very neutral-looking backpack so both Chris and I can wear it without feeling any kind of way. Inside the bag we keep a travel changing table (which I've used tons times when we're out and about), a burp cloth or two (you'll want like 20 of these to just have around), a change of clothes (just in case), a blanket, a pacifier, and diapers and wipes (not even going to get into diapers right now because that could be a whole separate blog). Here's the links for what we personally use!

Diaper Bag: https://amzn.to/3sIUCsC

Travel Changing Table: https://amzn.to/46pv9SL

Burp Cloths: https://amzn.to/46kN6Sn

Pacifiers: https://amzn.to/3sL0X6N

These last few things aren't necessary, but we do really enjoy them and are thankful to have them. His Playmat - we use for tummy time and back time daily: https://amzn.to/40HSbDb

Airfilter - we keep this in our room where we all sleep (will move to his nursery once he transitions to sleeping in there) to keep his little lungs as healthy as possible: https://amzn.to/3QOb5Uc

Baby Bathtub - I'm sure we could just bath him in the sink or tub without it, but it's a great size and converts a few different ways so he can grow with it: https://amzn.to/3sCVnDx

And that's about it, as far as what we use daily or almost daily for the time being. Of course there's lotions and shampoos, ect. but everyone will have their own preference on that stuff. We use alot of "Earth Mama" and "Young Living" products.

Now for the things we've never used, or very rarely and could have gone without.

This first one is controversial, but the bedside bassinet. I wish Sam loved it, I really do. I would get much better sleep if he did, but we realized very early on that we had a baby who HATED being swaddled and HATED his bassinet. We quickly succumbed to co-sleeping because it was the only way he wouldn't scream his head off. He sleeps for much longer stretches in our bed than he ever did elsewhere, and it makes night nursing way easier on me (as I can just plop a boob out instead of getting up to feed him). So we could have gone without the bassinet, swaddles, and sleep sacks. Now, we all know co-sleeping is not recommended by doctors, and it's definitely not for everyone. There are safety measures you should take if you plan to co-sleep (like less blankets and pillows, not going to bed under any influence, and certain positions to sleep in).

Next for things we haven't used: a sound machine. TONS of people recommended the "Hatch" to use, but I couldn't justify an expensive sound machine. We do sometimes play white noise or rain sounds for Samuel to sleep better but we just use Alexa, or a cell phone and Spotify, and that works fine.

We were gifted a wipe-warmer which sounds nice for baby's bottom but we never used it. It was bulky, needed a outlet close by, and seemed like a hassle to refill so logistically it didn't work for us. Our poor, poor baby has known nothing but cold wipes on his booty and he's perfectly fine.

Another thing we didn't even register for and haven't wished we did was an owlet sock, or baby-wearing monitor (anything that goes on their body to keep track of heart-rate, etc). Personally, I think there is such a thing as TOO much information and constantly seeing my babies health stats didn't feel like something I wanted to get obsessed with. Not to mention the EMF radiation those devices emit. Unless your babe has a specific health reason to need this kind of monitoring I'd steer clear.

Lastly, a rocking chair. I'm sure if we got one, we'd use it, but the chair we registered for just reclines and swivels (and has a foot rest which is necessary in my opinion) and it's worked just fine. I couldn't seem to find a chair I liked aesthetically, that rocked, reclined, and didn't break the bank. So we skipped on the rocking feature and we're doing great without it. Some people swear it's necessary but we've been OK without.

Obviously, everyone and every baby has different needs. This is just what's worked well for us, and if it can help another mom decide what she needs or doesn't need that's great! If you do decide to purchase anything I've recommended, I ask that you please use the link in this blog, as I'll get a tiny kickback from your purchase, and every little bit helps :) Good luck mama!