Must Have

As we've blundered our bleary-eyed way through the first two months, I wanted to give credit to a few items that we could not have made it without.

I remember being so overwhelmed when it came to products for baby when I was pregnant. What would she like? What would she hate? What would she absolutely need?

Here are a few things we could not live without. Mind you, these will likely all change in the next few months.

-Halo Sleepsack. Many parents use these at varying stages. We used this from the start. The main reason was because I am like a 2-year-old when it comes to swaddling. I cannot figure it out. And no matter what we do, our little ninja works her way out of any swaddle! Except this one....when it's nice and tight. Additionally, I'm convinced having her sleep in the same type of pajama sack every night helped us build our night routine from the start. Here's the catch...don't give in and feel bad for swaddling them! I did and I think that is what contributed to so many sleepless nights. She may think she loves having her arms out, but the startles are what keep you up at night!

-Soothie pacifier. Ahhh the paci. I was finally able to get her to take this after a month of trying and buying 8 different kinds of paci's. For whatever reason, she likes this kind. I was also excited to discover this type of paci is what is attached to the famed Wubbanubs. What the hell is a Wubbanub? Some genius who has been laughing their way all the way to the bank decided to attach a cute, soft stuffed animal to the Soothie and sell it for $17. This helps the little ones to keep the paci in their mouths. I was so excited to plop in Adly's new, cute, sweet Wubbanub with an innocent lamb attached to it. I put it in her mouth only to have her punch poor Lamby and knock it out. This has happened multiple times. Sigh. Either way, we put poor Lamby to rest and now continue to help her put her paci in over and over again. At least that works!

-Playtex Nursers. For us, these bottles have worked the best. We discovered that after spending a lot of money trying many different kinds. She has never had any problems with nipple confusion and can go from breastfeeding to bottle and back again, no problem. My advice is to at the very least, make sure the nipple is slow flow. That was a hard learned lesson for us.

-Playtex Double Electric Breast Pump. This was the pump I got through my insurance and was really the only one available. I wasn't thrilled about it at first. However, after two months, I think this is a fantastic pump. Best part is, it's under $100! It is loud, but it does the job. If you ask me, this option is just as good as the other models that run you over $300.

-Snap n' Go Stroller Frame. Wow. I don't think there's one thing we use more. My friend Laura emailed me a week before I gave birth and said if I hadn't gotten one yet- I really should. 8 months in, they were still constantly using theirs. So, I waddled myself into the nearest store and picked one up. Best. Advice. Ever. This allows you to take the carseat from the car and literally, "snap" it into the stroller frame. It's lightweight and super portable.

-Boppy. Seriously use this for everything. Breastfeeding, holding baby, helping others hold baby, propping baby, etc. Its possibilities are endless. You'll also want extra covers. I didn't get that memo and instead learned the hard way as I was washing mine daily.

Oh my gosh. She's so little here!

-Plain old white burp cloths. I received a lot of really cute burp cloths at my showers and I couldn't wait to be a super stylin' mommy. But when it comes down to it, nothing really works better than the good ole Gerber diaper cloths. They are littered all over our house, car, in my purse...everywhere. 

Lastly,

-Pampers Swaddlers. After trying many brands of diapers, having way too many blowouts, and doing way too many loads of laundry, I jumped on the expensive bandwagon. I love these diapers. Rarely do we have a blowout anymore. They seem more soft and comfy and in my experience, the fit is just overall superior to others. 

The Value of a Brand

I'm not into name brands when it comes to most things. I'm cheap and have no problem going for the store brand version to save a dollar or two. Clearly, I'm also not ashamed of that trait.

Enter the world of diapers. Suddenly I find myself struggling with the fact that all diapers are not created the same. I did some research before Adly was born on what kinds of diapers were the best at containing the mess. Mom's have very strong opinions when it comes to brands of diapers and I found myself a bit overwhelmed when it came to which brand was best. Thanks to some lovely friends of ours, we were given quite a few packages of diapers in varying brands when Adly was born.

From what I've read, Pampers Swaddlers seem to have a cult following that I have yet to understand. Are they good diapers? Sure. But they're expensive. I still have a hard time splurging for them. For newborn diapers, I came to love the Target Up & Up brand. They fit Adly well and we had no blowouts. The Swaddlers were definitely nice, but they have a sort of mesh covering on the inside. Perhaps those are there to help contain the mess, but it annoys me that they leave marks on her little bum. Call me picky.

In the last week or so, Adly has grown her way out of the newborn size diapers. For those of you that don't know, after this we move to size 1. Contrary to my husbands belief, diapers do not come in load sizes. We have one pack of diapers that are the off brand from CVS given to us by some friends. When I was in Michigan, I had to stock up so I went to Wal-Mart and of course, bought the off brand kind. How different can they really be?

I'm here to personally attest that when it comes to diapers, apparently name brand does matter. Or at least, certain diapers are definitely better than others. In the last three days we've had numerous blowouts. No, my sweet pea hasn't begun producing more massive amounts of poo....its the diaper. At first I found it funny.

She's going to kill me for this one day. But until then....

After numerous outfit changes in one day due to either a blowout or leakage, I had had enough. I know the picture is proof...but these were up the back, up the front, out the sides blowouts. Any which way the poo could go outside of the diaper, it went! Ick. Brand name or not, I must find a diaper that can properly contain the mess. So now I'm on the great diaper hunt for the best diaper at hopefully not the highest price. I'm starting off my search with Target's Up & Up and Pampers Swaddlers. Stay tuned for what we discover. Hopefully I can also help you new mommies avoid this trial and error process. 

Mommies, whats your favorite brand?

blowout!

Once my preggo in crime, Laura had her little one, I made sure to get in touch with her about a week before Adly arrived to find out what items were "must have" in the newborn stage. Laura had a boy, but I figured the items would still be pretty useful to have, even though we were having a girl. One of her recommendations was to get a washable pad to put over the changing pad.

You see, you buy a changing pad, then a cutesy cover, then you get a washable pad to put over the cutesy cover. It really makes no sense to me and at the time I was like, "Ehh...I'll get two just in case." Being that Laura had a boy, I knew he had a tendency to time his number one movements for right when they were changing his diaper. Therefore, having a washable pad would be important for them. But our little lady would certainly never do such a thing.

Fast forward to two nights ago, when daddy took on changing duty. I hear him in the bedroom going, "Oh no! Yup...thats pee. Warm...all over my hand." Turns out our daughter took the time between diapers to tinkle. Of course this was no problem because all I had to do was wash the washable pad I had purchased. I whipped out the second one (they came in a 2-pack) to put on while the other was being washed.

Fast forward to last night, during our 4am feeding/change. My darling daughter chose that time to release a wicked number two. All over the pad. Sigh. Honestly, I was too tired to care so I chose to ignore it until this morning.

The purpose of this post is to inform and educate. Buy yourself and your child some washable pads to put on top of your cutesy changing pad cover. It'll save you having to wash the cutesy cover over and over again, whether you have a boy or a girl! Let the parenting blunders begin...