Products We Love…0-3 Months

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A really good friend of mine is currently getting ready to become a new mommy. I am incredibly excited for her and myself. Something about being a mom makes me want all my friends to become moms so we can drink wine, tell battle stories, and share in the mommyhood together. Her baby shower is fast approaching and she hasn’t had much time to create her baby registry.  Being the extra helpful, control freak that I am, I created a list with all the products we love and used a ton in these first 3 months.

BABYBJORN Baby Carrier Original, Black, Cotton– I use this so much.  I would honestly say I wouldn’t be without it.  The one downside to this carrier is we couldn’t use it until M was 8 lbs (he was born 6 lbs 10 oz) and I didn’t see an infant insert. But I love this baby carrier!  We use it for everything from grocery shopping to hiking to cleaning. Another reason I love it is M was really gassy in the beginning. I was blessed with an oversupply which caused a lot of problems at the start of my breastfeeding journey.  Putting him in the carrier really helped get burps and toots out making a happier baby. I love this carrier more than the wrap style carrier because, we tried the Moby Wrap but it was a two person job to get it tight enough and to get M into it without causing too much upset, on everyone’s part.  I also couldn’t remember how to do the different wraps and was constantly watching the Youtube tutorials.

Graco Fastaction Fold Jogger Click Connect Baby Travel System, Gotham– I knew before I got pregnant that I wanted a jogger stroller. I love going for runs, walks, and working out.  I wanted a way to easily take M with me. This stroller is easy to control and very agile. Another reason I chose this stroller/car seat combo is it’s less expensive than the BOB Jogging Stroller.  And with the Bob, you have to buy a second piece that allows you to attach a car seat.  The Graco stroller comes with the car seat. For a fraction of the price of the Bob, it’s worth it.

Infantino Play Mat– (This isn’t the exact one we purchased) We bought this second hand from a Facebook Swap site in our area.  M loves his play mat.  He loves to look and talk to the dangling animals, which is so cute.  He still isn’t the biggest fan of tummy time, but the mat has different colors and loops to attach the toys, which can sometimes keep his interest a little longer.

Graco Pack ‘n Play with Reversible Napper and Changer Playard– I wished we would have purchased this for M.  I found a bassinet on a Facebook Swap for $10 and couldn’t pass it up.  Then I realized he would have to be moved to something else at 3 months. I like this more than the bassinet and the pack n’ play we bought because of the changing table attachment. During the new born stage, you change a lot of diapers and we went to the nursery every time to change him.

Cosco Deluxe Funsport Play Yard– This is the pack n’ play we purchased.  I like it, easy to put together and it lives on my side of the bed for midnight feeds. We had to purchase a Mattress
Boppy Nursing Pillow– OMG…I couldn’t imagine my breastfeeding life without this pillow.  It is an arm saver and so helpful for different feeding positions.  In the beginning, we did the football hold and cross cradle and it made everything so much easier on both of us.  Now we also use it to prop M up which he likes in the mornings to help get those tummy juices flowing.

Tommee Tippee Bottles– These bottles were recommended to me by my lactation consultant.  She told me that you want to start giving your baby the opportunity to have a bottle between 1 month and 6 weeks as long as it doesn’t interfere with the breastfeeding latch.  I suffer from cold sores and I have a prescription for valacyclovir.  This prescription is safe to take while pregnant and breastfeeding. But M has a bad reaction to it.  He gets extra gassy every time I take it.  So we tried him on bottles pretty early on. (Sadly, being an exhausted mama makes for more cold sore outbreaks.) But the bottles also gave him an upset, gassy tummy.  We tried the Tommee Tippee Anti-Colic Bottles but they still caused him to swallow too much air because the nipple allowed too much milk to come out. Then we finally got the Tommee Tippee Closer To Nature First Feed Bottle with the size 0 nipple, which worked so much better.  He still takes the bottle with this size 0 nipple.  But in all honesty, we don’t give him a bottle very often.

Medela Pump in Style Advanced Breast Pump– I was blessed to be gifted this breast pump from a dear friend of mine, and I don’t know what I would have done without it! I know you can get pumps through your health insurance but I am so thankful I didn’t have to go through that. I was just able to have a pump and all the supplies before M came.  The only thing I hate about pumping…Cleaning all the parts!

Bamboo Eco Breast Pads– because leaks happen, and breast pads are spendy. I use breast pads 24/7. These organic ones are so nice. You just throw them in the washer with mild detergent and then bam they’re ready to go again. I love these for during the day use,  but I do use the at night.

Diapering:

Diaper Genie

1. 1. – Got it second hand, but would have bought it new if I had to.  It is amazing you throw all the diapers in and you can’t smell them around the house. Then when it’s full you just cut the bag, re-tie and fill it up again. Through Amazon, you can get the subscription for the

   Refills

    which will save you a little money.

WaterWipes– A friend of mine recommended these to us before M was born.  Her daughter had extremely sensitive skin and she swore by these wipes. They only have 2 ingredients.! We started with these wipes when M was born, then we tried “regular” wipes but they made his bum super red.  We quickly switched back to water wipes.

Aquaphor Baby– knock on wood, we haven’t had diaper any rash.  However, we do put Aquaphor on 2-3 times a day, including right before we put him down for the night. When we used the “regular” wipes and his bum was getting extra red we used a little more than normal. Works great!

Bathing:

Angelcare Bath Support We love this bathtub! We just put it in our bathtub so we don’t have to fill up a special baby bathtub and have M bathing in dirty water.  It is also super easy to clean, we just rinse and hang to dry. The fact that it’s angled makes it easier for my husband to wash all the cracks and crevices. It also keeps M safe by not allowing him to slide down or wiggle around.

Honest Perfectly Gentle Hypoallergenic Shampoo and Body Wash – We like the honest brand lavender shampoo. It smells nice, helps baby sleep, and is organic with no SLS, sulfates, parabens, synthetic fragrances, formaldehyde donors, MEA, DEA, or TEA. Being organic it is made with things I know/can pronounce: Coconut oil, jojoba protein, and quinoa extract.

Babyganics Lotion –  We love the Babyganics lotion; it is organic, plant-based, and super creamy. M doesn’t have dry, itchy, or irritated skin but the texture and formulation leave his skin so soft for days after a bath.

Health & Safety:

NoseFrida WE LOVE THIS PRODUCT! It is one of our pediatrician recommended products.  We were using the blue bulb they give you at the hospital, which just made M madder than it helped him.  When we got the NoseFrida he just let us suck the boogers out.  He even lets us use the saline spray without getting upset.  We’ve been cursed with a terrible smoky summer here in Oregon, tons of wildfires. M would wake up with the worst stuffy noses, to the point where it would affect his latch.  With the NoseFrida it only takes a minute, at the most, to get him booger free and breathing again.

Sleep:

Love to Dream Swaddle UP Original THIS HAS BEEN A LIFE SAVER! When we first brought M home he was not a good sleeper.  I know that most newborns are not the best sleepers, but he would be awake for hours between naps even though we knew he was tired.  Before he was born we bought the SwaddleMe Original Swaddleswaddles but he absolutely hated them.  He would scream bloody murder and wiggle uncontrollably trying to get his arms free.  After 2 nights we gave up.  For a few weeks, we tried just wrapping him in Muslin Swaddle Blankets which he would quickly break out of and wake himself up. Then a friend recommended the Love to Dream Swaddle Up and it was a GAME CHANGER! The first night he slept for 5 hours straight.  We use them for naps and for night time.  He loves it! Now when it is nap time he fusses until we put him in his swaddle up.  I love that it has the 2-way zipper so we can change him in the middle of the night if we need to. You just unzip from the bottom to get to the diaper while his arms are still in the wings. Of course, we have to start training him out of sleeping in the full swaddle around 3 months for safety reasons. So we bought the Love to Dream Swaddle UP 50/50

. Right now we use the 50/50 like the original because we are going on vacation next weekend and don’t want to change anything before we go.  But when we get back from vacation we will start training him to sleep with one arm out and then the other.  I really love that it’s a slow, easy transition instead of, “Ok now you sleep with both your arms free let’s see how it goes.”

Fleece Footed Pajamas – I love pajamas.  Like I said we’ve had a terrible summer and we lived in pajamas. My only recommendation about pajamas is to stay away from the snap kind…They are a pain in the butt.  Zipper pajamas are so much easier, you don’t have to worry about missing a snap, you have quicker access with a zipper, and if you’re like me sometimes you can’t get the dang snap to actually snap shut.

These have been the most heavily used products in our house. I hope if you’re expecting like my friend, you can learn from my mistakes so this first stage is a little easier. Some of these products have changed our lives. God knows the first few months are already so hard if there are any little tips, tricks, or products that can help even slightly, it’s worth it. I’m sure there are other products out there that people swear by.  If I missed anything or if you have a product that made the first three months of motherhood easier, I’d love to hear about it.