Hellobee

I’ve been on the baby shower circuit lately, so I’ve been thinking about the best baby gear. The items that made life easier, and the gear that stayed in the boxes. Here’s my round up of favorite baby gear for the endless cycle of eat, sleep and diaper changes.

Feedings:

Nipple Shield – I breastfed both my babies for a few weeks as infants. However, both times I wouldn’t have fed my kiddos that long without turning to the nipple shield. The lactation consultants tried to talk me out of using it with both kids, but honestly, it made breastfeeding less painful and my kids did well with it. (I switched to formula for many different reasons). At first it was awkward to use the nipple shield, but then again, learning to breastfeed was awkward too. But after a week, I could easily handle putting on the nipple shield, and feeding my baby in public. If you go this route, try different sizes shields. If the shield is too small, it pinches and hurts just as badly as a poor latch. If it’s too big, it won’t stay on for feedings.

Lansinoh – This became my go-to product with breastfeeding. Latching was difficult and painful in the beginning, and I used this in between feedings to help. The salve heals sore nipples.

Breastfeeding Pads – I started producing milk at the end of my pregnancy, and it took a while for my milk supply to dry up after breastfeeding. I bought these in bulk, and wore them during my last trimester to well after I had stopped breastfeeding.

Formula – With both kiddos I used formula that was gentle on their tummy. Enfamil Gentlease worked well for both my kiddos. But I had friends that used Similac Alimentum, and liked it for their babies. These types of formula are generally more expensive, but it helped my babies’ tummies. And they weren’t as fussy, which was worth the money for us.

Dr. Brown Bottles – I love these bottles. I used them with both kids. My daughter had colic, and these bottles seem to help. The idea is the bottle minimizes air going into their tummy to prevent painful gas. The bottles come with a lot of parts to clean, so we bought extra bottles. We put the bottle parts and nipples in this dishwasher safe basket to save time with cleaning.

Gas Drops – During one of BeBe’s more memorable colic episodes. I called a family member for advice, and they told me about these drops. We had switched to a different formula and Dr. Brown’s bottles, then added the gas drops. It seemed to help. We used the gas drops when our little guy was a baby too. Of course I’m not a doctor, so you can run this by your pediatrician if you are considering using gas drops for your baby.

Sleeping Gear:

Glider Chair –  With my first baby, I focused on finding the right crib and bassinet, but I should have searched for the best rocking chair. Because baby sleep is all about helping your baby fall asleep. With BeBe I had a wooden rocking chair with cushions, and it was uncomfortable, especially for those late-night feedings. It was even harder to find a comfortable position with breastfeeding. For our second baby, I ditched the wooden rocker and found a comfortable glider similar to this one. It was way more comfortable for feedings and rocking him to sleep.

Swaddle/Sleep Sack – With this swaddle, you zip your baby’s arms inside the sack. The idea with swaddling is to prevent the startle reflex from waking your baby up, and this one worked great. It’s also lightweight fabric, and works well for warm weather. We used this other swaddle sleep slack with our little guy. He didn’t like to be swaddled after two weeks, so we used this sleep sack to wrap around him with his arms out. The outer part is removable by Velcro, and we removed it once he could roll. Then we could use it as a sleep sack only. Also, he was born during a Midwest winter, and I liked that the heavy fleece fabric kept him warm.

Diaper Supplies:

Diaper Genie –  With infants it feels like an endless cycle of changing diapers, especially if you’re a SAHM. I didn’t want to deal with taking smelly diapers out to the trash, multiple times a night, during lousy weather. We used this daily with both babies.

Huggies Wipes – I usually go the cheap, discount route, but not with wipes. If your kiddo has a sensitive bum, these will help prevent diaper rash. Also, my friends who used a discount brand complained they used too many wipes with diaper changes because the wipes would fall apart. They spent just as much money as I did on wipes.

Desitin – Anytime my baby would start to have a diaper rash, we used Destin. It cleared it up immediately, and we didn’t have a need to try a different diaper cream.

Changing Table – I loved having a changing table not just for changing diapers, but getting your baby dressed. And it’s really helpful when you have two kids, because your older kiddo can’t grab and distract the baby while you are getting the baby dressed. We used a store-bought table with BeBe, and put diapers in baskets on the shelves below. With our little guy, we went the DIY route, and converted a dresser into a changing table. The top drawer held the diaper supplies.

Jumbo Burp Cloths for Changing Table –  The insane amount of laundry that comes with babies and kids is something I was not prepared for. I quickly learned to use burp cloths, made of terry cloth, to place over the changing table covers. That way if the diaper change was messy, I could just throw the burp cloth in the hamper, and not have to constantly wash the changing table covers.

Portable Diaper Changing Pad – I love that restaurants and stores have fold-down changing stations, but the germ factor grosses me out a bit. That’s why we bought a changing mat the folds out on the sides and not just long ways. Once your baby starts rolling around on changing stations, you want to avoid a wrestling match where your baby is trying to teeth on the changing station straps. Using this mat, my babies could happily squirm, but not touch anything gross in a public restroom.

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There’s tons of baby gear out there for eat, sleep, and diaper changes, but for us, these were the must-have items.