Newborn Life & My Favorite Baby Products

It’s been just about 3 weeks with our Saylor girl ! And let me tell you, it has been a whole lot of adjustments around here. From far less sleep to figuring out her feeding schedule to getting into a groove with Sonny’s adjusted routine as well – it has not been easy. It’s been kind of a blur, especially with the lack off sleep, but so special to have our little girl here and caring for her.

 

Over the last few weeks there are certain baby items that really stood out as life-saving or necessary when it came to caring for Saylor. I’m sharing them below with a quick, honest review of each. I’m hoping that this helps the next mom going through their first newborn experience !:

 

S H O P  T H E  P O S T :

 

 

MY NEWBORN ESSENTIALS :

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.
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..
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!
4. Hatch Sound Machine – necessary white noise for keeping her asleep! Also functions as a night light.
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.
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)
7. Boppy Pillow – great for feeding or even holding her more comfortably. We’ve used this a lot !
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.
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.
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.
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 !
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.

The following baby items I have but haven’t used enough to give a complete review just yet ! I’m sure I’ll get more use out of these in the coming weeks..

 

BABY ITEMS I HAVE AND PLAN TO USE MORE SOON :
(review coming later)

1. Solly Baby Wrap
2. Momaroo Swing
3. UppaBaby Vista V2 Stroller

 

A NOTE ABOUT BASSINETS :

I also wanted to add what I bought that I actually don’t use all that often and probably wouldn’t buy again. The Design Dua bassinet. It is beautiful for sure, but not so functional. We wound up buying a Halo bassinet for by our bed because we wanted mesh sides (safe/breathable in case she rolls into them and allows for a clear view of her) and a swivel to more easily pick her up from bed in the middle of the night. It isn’t very cute, but functional/safe and that is definitely more important for us !

 

I’ll plan on updating this post after we get some more weeks under our belts and any more baby items that we find useful.

Leave me a comment below with any questions you might have!