12 Weeks With Our Girl & Baby Must Haves

It’s officially been 12 weeks of loving our Saylor girl ! ❤️ And I am out of what many call the Fourth Trimester. It’s so true what they say about it — your hormones are SO out of wack, and baby needs to be cuddled / close to you at all times (like they were in the womb). Saylor loves to sleep on either me or Zack as opposed to her crib or bassinet ! But we’ve been working on getting her used to crib sleep. More on that below.

 

After nearly 3 months of being a new mom, I am kind of sort of getting the hang of it. BUT as baby is growing they’re changing so it feels like we’re constantly needing to adapt to her new needs! For instance, this week we noticed she’s actually turning herself around in the crib. Not necessarily rolling over yet, but she’ll wake up on the other end of the crib in the morning from kicking her feet! So now we’re discussing transitioning her out of the swaddle, which has been a staple for her.. it’s always something new!

 

I’d definitely say the best change we’ve seen to date is when she started to smile at us. It melted our hearts and changed everything. Now we’re constantly doing things to try to make her smile ! 🙂 It’s really the best feeling in the world when she looks in your eyes and smiles.

 

With all that said, I’ve been getting so many questions on what baby items have worked for us and which have not. Which are essential and which are not so needed. This post is an extension of / update to this blog post I wrote 3 weeks in to being a new mom. First I’ll give an update on the products I’ve already talked about and then add on to this post about the ones that are new!

 

THESE ARE STILL ESSENTIALS, FROM THE FIRST 3 WEEKS POST TO NOW:

1. Carter’s Adrian Swivel Glider – I waited for this item to restock for SO long and let me tell you, it was so worth the wait! We rock Saylor in it daily to feed her or put her to sleep. It is super comfortable, with great support for your back, and the light color fabric holds up really well. It’s called a performance fabric, and we’ve spilled countless things on it (especially milk!) where a quick wipe will get it right off. UPDATE AT 12 WEEKS: we still love and use our chair every day to rock her! The only complaint I have is that it started squeaking a bit when rocking which drove us crazy. Zack applied some oil to the base and now it’s good as new.
2. Baby Brezza Sterilizer & Dryer – I literally run this machine 2-3x per day! After rinsing and washing them in warm soapy water, I throw bottles, pacifiers and other small baby items in here and it gives me peace of mind that everything is perfectly sterilized for the next use. It does a good job drying everything quickly too without water spots. I run the 45 minute cycle each time which is enough time between the baby’s every 2-3 hour feedings if you’re short on bottles. As with everything, you DO need to maintain/clean the appliance, which I do by adding some vinegar to the metal basin 1-2x a week, wiping clean, and then running an empty cycle with water. You can use filtered water but I use distilled water and that prevents the metal basin from staining even longer. It only needs a very little bit of water to run (1/4 cup maybe?). My only wish is that it held more bottles.. UPDATE AT 12 WEEKS still so needed! Cleaning bottles would be such a hassle without this. Now that Saylor isn’t feeding as much in the night, I only really need to run it 1-2x per day.
3. Halo Sleepsack – we had a ton of beautiful standard swaddles given or gifted to us. And when we got home from the hospital we were using them but found that 9 times out of 10 Saylor would work her arms or legs out of them, and we’d get worried that the cloth would wind up covering her mouth/nose. It seemed unsafe to us especially for night when we were sleeping too. The Halo Sleepsack was the perfect solution for this – it fits her nice and snug using velcro straps, and there’s no concern of her coming out or it covering her mouth. We loved it so much that we wound up ordering a few extra sets! UPDATE AT 12 WEEKS: This has continued to be a staple for Saylor in getting good sleep during the first few months! Not every night is perfect, but we did gradually get down to 0-1 middle of the night feedings (one at 3am). Some nights she’s gone from 10pm-7am without waking us! We credit this to a few different things, but the swaddle is definitely one of them by keeping her snug, comfortable and preventing the newborn startle reflex that wakes her.
4. Hatch Sound Machine – necessary white noise for keeping her asleep! Also functions as a night light.UPDATE AT 12 WEEKS: Also continued to be a staple for Saylor in getting good sleep. It provides constant white noise throughout the night and during naps (we love the waterfall type sound!). We also think it helps cue her that it is time to sleep or easily go back to sleep when she hears this noise. Recently we’ve actually turned off the night light at night to keep the room as dark as possible. We’ll turn it on for feedings though so we can see what we’re doing.
5. Snuggle Me Organic Lounger – this is great for me to be able to put her down on the bed or couch when I need to do something quickly (I.e. prepare her bottle for the next feed). It keeps her nice and snug almost like she’s being held and I don’t need to worry about her rolling. UPDATE AT 12 WEEKS: Saylor is not a huge fan of the lounger as she grew! She prefers to be in a sitting up position, so she tends to cry when we put her down on her back in the lounger. She does much better in one of our bouncers. This is probably just a baby preference thing !
6. Baby Delight Bouncer – the less expensive version to the Baby Bjorn one. She likes to be bounced in this one! It’s great for multi-tasking too – I’ll use my foot to bounce her while doing other things (eating or being on my computer). UPDATE AT 12 WEEKS: This thing is a life saver for us and Saylor. She loves to hang out in it over any other seat ! She’s learned that she can bounce herself by moving her feet. Only thing I wish is that the hanging toys (a moon and a star) were a little more substantial for her! Now that she’s curious, would love to have something more interesting for her to play/look at.
7. Boppy Pillow – great for feeding or even holding her more comfortably. We’ve used this a lot ! UPDATE AT 12 WEEKS: Still use the Boppy pillow constantly! Every time we feed her for comfort, and we’ve also started sitting her up in it too!
8. Burp Cloths – never realized how many you actually need and go through until having Saylor lol. Spit up is CONSTANT and we have a million of these super soft but inexpensive ones. UPDATE AT 12 WEEKS: Definitely still need these for feeding times! Otherwise you can expect to have milk all over your clothes lol.
9. Monaco Diaper bag – I LOVE my diaper bag. It’s a bit of a splurge but I love the look, size and the many compartments it has! I wear it as a backpack but it comes with additional straps to wear other ways too. It also comes with a pad to take out and use for changing diapers on the go. UPDATE AT 12 WEEKS: Now that Saylor is getting out of the house a bit more, I use this bag more often. Still absolutely love the look and functionality of it !
10. UppaBaby Mesa Car seat – definitely a splurge but we love our car seat. This one has high ratings for safety and easily inserts into our stroller for traveling with baby. UPDATE AT 12 WEEKS: I’m going to be really sad when Saylor grows out of this. She is SO comfortable in it. And it is so convenient to pop it into the stroller, she prefers this seat for the stroller to the bassinet !
11. The Everyday Mother Tracker Notebook – I am the kind of person who likes to organize thoughts/ notes handwritten, versus in a phone app. I found this baby tracker book on Amazon and it has been our bible to keep track of feedings, diapers and all other little baby reminders (tummy time, baths, medications, etc.!). I HIGHLY recommend this item if you are also a handwritten organizer. It’s got a pretty look to it too ! UPDATE AT 12 WEEKS: Now that we’ve gotten into a real rhythm with feeding and diapers, I don’t use this book as frequently. It was necessary during the first few months! But the last couple week’s I’ve put it down with confidence that she’s eating as she should!
12. Nanit Plus Smart Baby Monitor – last but not least, our Nanit baby monitor! We have both the monitor and a second separate multi-stand. The camera feed links to an app on mine and Zack’s phones, and we can even add others (grandma’s) to be able to view Saylor on it 24/7. The nighttime feed is very clear and easy to see her in the dark. I love that it tells you the room temperature and humidity to make sure those are at good levels. And when installed above the crib, it saves/shows you ‘moments’ or insights, such as when Saylor is put to bed, when Saylor wakes up, etc.  Great for being able to track sleep times when it is SO HARD to remember when you’re exhausted throughout the night! You do need to subscribe monthly for Nanit to save these insights for you, but the fee is nominal and we think it is so worth it. There’s so many other capabilities to it too, but these few things are what’s key for us. UPDATE AT 12 WEEKS: The monitor is even more important to us now in this stage, when we’re working on Saylor’s sleeping habits (both day and nighttime)! It’s key that it tells you when she went down to sleep and when she gets up so we remember how her sleep habits are improving. It will also keep track of the times she is up during the night but puts her self back to sleep. It is SO satisfying to see that happen!

MORE ESSENTIALS I’M ADDING TO THE LIST:

13. UppaBaby Stroller Vista V2 – (we have the light grey Stella color) We’ve been using the stroller so frequently lately. We try to get out for a walk with her every day it is nice since it won’t be warm out for much longer! I have to say that we absolutely love our stroller and think that this one was worth the investment.  Here are the reasons why:

• • Car Seat flexibility is #1. Being able to simply pull the car seat out of the car and pop it in the stroller makes maneuvering with her on the go SO much easier. I can’t imagine having to unbuckle her, pick her up and move her to a stroller. Especially if she’s fallen asleep! Like I said, she’s very comfortable in the MESA car seat and falls asleep in it often.
  • Lots of conversion options. It comes with the bassinet and seat for when she’s a little older (have not used seat yet). If we have a second baby, I don’t need to buy a new stroller because this one will convert to hold two seats !
    • It also comes with a plastic cover for rain and a net for bugs. We’ve gotten a lot of use out of both.
  • Large shock-absorbing wheels. Going over bumpy roads or grass is easy.
  • Full basket below for storing. Fits my huge diaper bag so I don’t have to carry it if I don’t want to, lol.

The negative to this stroller is that it is bulky, meaning it doesn’t fold down small and takes up trunk space. BUT I think with any stroller with big wheels and all the bells and whistles that is inevitable.

14. Baby Brezza Formula Pro Advanced – as Saylor is growing, we’ve been supplementing with formula, especially right before and during the night feedings. It is SO nice to not have to warm up breastmilk or measure out a formula bottle at 3am when baby is crying.. a warm bottle is ready in a few seconds with a press of a button. It makes night time so much easier when it can be so exhausting! (The machine makes you clean/replace the funnel every 4 bottles you make for cleanliness purposes, so we bought a second funnel that will always be washed/ready to pop back in)

15. Baby Gate – our baby gate is super easy to use and has a minimal look that blends in!

 

NOTABLE MENTIONS:

• Mamaroo Swing – Saylor didn’t like this swing when she was smaller, but now she seems to love it! It is not easy to move since it’s heavy so we tend to keep this in our basement for when we hang out with her down there, either watching TV or working out in our mini gym.  I do love that it both rocks her and plays white noise sound.
• Ergobaby Wrap – I used this more around the 2 month age when she was not napping well in the daytime and I needed to hold her while getting things done around the house. It was a lifesaver to have my hands free!  But lately now that she’s napping in her crib longer, I don’t use it as often around the house. I definitely see myself using this on the go eventually! I was a little underwhelmed by my Solly Baby Wrap (although beautiful) which was kind of a hassle to tie up every time. The Ergobaby lets me clip her in quickly and go.
• Design Dua bassinet – I would not use this for overnight sleep since it has non-mesh sides, but we actually tend to use this bassinet as a portable one since it’s so lightweight. We’ll use it in our basement so she can nap while we’re down there and we’ve also brought it to parents/friends houses so she can nap there. It fits into our car’s trunk!

• MAM Bottles & Pacifiers – We’ve found these to be Saylor’s favorite, no complaints they are great products! And the bottles are easy to clean too.

 

I hope this little mom share is helpful! Let me know in comments if you want to see a follow up to this in a few months when we need to introduce new baby products..