As soon as I found out I was pregnant, my first thought wasn’t about how my nights would be filled with diapering, if I would breastfeed or not, or what kind of a first birthday I would throw for my child. The first thing I thought about, like most mothers, was the shopping. Thoughts of cute little baby outfits with bunnies and bears or the tiny booties to keep my little one’s feet warm were in my head every day.
But what are going to be the saviors of your parenting days? List after list tells you exactly how many cloth diapers you need or how many pairs of socks you need, but what about those miracle products that will make your life easier? Here is a list of the top five baby products that a parent just cannot live without.
Whether you go with the convenient, but short-lived, infant car seat or a versatile convertible car seat, having one is a must. The law requires it, but more than just abiding the law, a parent can rest assured that when they are driving down the highway with their most precious cargo in the back seat that their child will be kept as safe as possible with a five-point harness.
An infant seat is a wonderful thing. When your little one falls asleep after a cruise downtown, the last thing you want to do is wake him up. Without fail that precious nap will end right there. An infant seat has a base that remains in your vehicle while the actual seat is removable. But for some, the convenience isn’t worth the money spent. There are weight and height regulations that basically insure that your child will outgrow his seat well before his first birthday.
A convertible car seat allows for a longer use, but lacks the convenient base/seat removal system. They are more expensive, however you get a whole lot more bang for your buck. A convertible seat can go from a back facing seat to a forward facing toddler seat, and some even take it a step further to a booster seat you can use until your child is the right age and height to remove it.
Whichever you choose, you can sleep, or rather drive, easier knowing you are keeping your child as safe as possible.
2. Diapers, diapers, diapers.
When it comes down to it diapers are a baby basic. There are some pretty strong opinions about whether to use disposable or cloth, but both have some very good points and few bad points. Disposable allow a parent to toss the diaper and forget about it, but some question its environmental impact on landfills. A smarter choice? Try new G Diapers which are flushable! Whether you flush, toss, or wash, diapers seem to have an impact on the environment one way or another.
Cloth diapers are great because you use the same ones over and over again. On top of that, the average cloth diapered baby is potty trained up to 6 months earlier than a baby who struts around in a disposable. The argument against is the use of water. Babies wetting or soiling 8-10 diapers a day can lead to several loads of laundry per week, higher energy bills, and the burden of finding a top notch hamper to contain the inevitable stink. Hiring someone else to take the diapers and wash them is a very attractive option, especially since once you become a mom it feels as if about 12 hours of the day just flew out the window. Prices are comparable to what you would be paying for disposables.
3. Nursing pillow.
A contoured nursing pillow (such as a Boppy pillow) is a wonderful thing to have even if you choose to bottle feed. After delivery you will be tired and exhausted at best, unable to do anything at worst. A pillow that will help you cradle your child in your arms will be priceless, but the good news is that they are quite affordable. From $20 up you can get a generic or name brand (there really isn’t much of a difference) or for less you can buy the materials and make one yourself! A cover, or two or three, will be extremely useful for those little baby messes that seem to come out every fifteen minutes or so.
No matter how hard you try, one day you will go to change your little one and you’ll be seeing red. When diaper rash strikes no one is safe. It makes for a cranky baby and sometimes an even crankier mom. Diaper rash creams will help to soothe your child’s bum while helping to cure the rash. Desitin and Boudreaux’s Butt Paste are two of the top rated diaper rash creams, but if you are looking at a more severe rash, there is only one choice, Bag Balm.
The day I opened up my son’s diaper and saw what looked like tiny potholes on his fragile skin, I felt I had done something very wrong. It turned out he was having a bowel movement within an hour of falling asleep, and it was sitting on his bottom all night. Luckily that hasn’t happened since, but the advice of my pediatrician is still in my mind.
I called at nine o’clock in the evening worried out of my mind because of his rash, but the doctor said to find some Bag Balm and smooth it on his bum very liberally. Finding the product was a little harder since it isn’t in the baby section, it was in with the animal products! Apparently it is usually used on cows to soothe cracked and chapped udders (Nursing moms, you hearing this?!?) so we were skeptical. But within 2 days his rash was gone. Bag Balm proved to be the best diaper rash cure out there!
If your family values the open road, or even if you would like just one more safe place for your child, a portable play yard is a must. A Graco Pack and Play is the most easily accessible, in my experience. It takes about 5 steps to put up, 5 to take down, and it provides a great little place for your little one to hang out while you are catching up on that laundry or dishes, or when on vacation it is a wonderful crib substitute.
Some of the fancier models include a bassinette attachment, a changing table addition, along with other baby luxuries like a vibrator for the bassinette, music and natural sounds, a mobile, a diaper stacker, amongst other things. We actually didn’t even buy a crib because the Pack and Play has been so wonderful. We have taken it everywhere from Alaska to California and from our living room to my son’s nursery. It has proven to be one of our most valuable purchases.
So, you’re wondering… What about the onesies, the dresses and shoes? What about all those baby toys??” They are all wonderful purchases for a child, but when it comes down to it, the basic necessities all have to do with health and safety and comfort. So go crazy buying all the little outfits you can in the smallest baby sizes (because chances are, you will need all them if your baby spits up even half as much as mine did) and buy all the cute squishy blocks and the noisiest rattles, but remember to get back to basics.
