*Note: These are in absolutely no order whatsoever and if you click on a link you will help support this blog but that has no impact on what I am recommending.
1. ZoLi Bunny Dual Nub Teether for Babies and Toddlers
This thing is amazing. It reaches all the way back to both sides of the baby's mouth to help them with teething when their molars are coming in. Even my two- and three-year-olds have used it. It is also always lost (like now) so this is nice that it comes in a two pack...mine didn't!
2. OXO TOT Cleaning Set for Straw & Sippy Cup
I have actually purchase this for people even without a sippy cup set running around their house. It is perfect for getting in the crevices of water bottles and straws and is absolutely essential for the gross places in sippy cups.
3. Fisher-Price Infant to Toddler Rocker Sleeper, Safari Pattern
I was so thankful to find out about this when #2 was coming and I was going to have a newborn and an 18 month old. Have you ever seen a toddler in a typical bouncer? They flatten it! No bounce. I got this and Baby #2 could be in it and the toddler could also use it without hurting it (hopefully not while the baby was in it, but not always.) It reclines and then has a kickstand type thing to keep baby reclined. It rocks and has a vibrating motor. It also comes in all kinds of themes and colors so if this one isn't your thing, look and see if there is one that matches your life. The toy bar is easy to remove (and is necessary really if using it as a toddler rocker. I do have two disclaimers with this though. By Baby #4 with a five-, three- and two-year-old, the toy bar did get bent down some from them hanging on it and was hard to get back up. Also, the three boys I've had this with could not use it from about six months until toddler age because they have crazy ninja skills that leave them dangling from the safety strap.
4. Baby Jogger
City MiniI have had quite a few strollers. I've had travel systems, sit & stands, single strollers, a double jogger...It's rather embarrassing actually. This is THE most amazing stroller ever. It reclines flat. It has a super larger shade canopy. It steers with one hand. It folds with one hand! (Really and truly, not just on the ad!) It weighs less than 20 pounds so that while holding a baby, you could actually fold it and put it in the trunk. Incredible. If you only need a stroller for one person, get this one!
But, if you're like me (or think you might be) and need a way to strap every.single.person somewhere, get this one...
5. Baby Jogger 2016 City Select Single Stroller - Black
Ok, I know the price on this is cr-a-zy but listen. The frame has a lifetime warranty and it is sturdy. The seats work up to 50 pounds. It fits through doorways. It has the largest under stroller storage you have ever seen with zippers so you can actually get to the stuff you put in there! You can buy the single version (picture 1) and then add on the second seat with you need it (picture 2--which wouldn't bring up a picture but imagine a second seat on the first picture). Then, if you need it, the jogger board attaches to the back (it also works on the City Mini) basically making your stroller a triple stroller without having to have triplets. I often use mine as just a single stroller and keep the second seat and the glider board in the van to pop on when #3 and/or someone else needs a place too. The seats also recline flat and the foot part lengthens or shortens depending on the kiddos height. The handlebar also extends so that Danny Long Legs can comfortable push it without kicking the stroller (or me when the glider board is on). Here's the part I don't like about Baby Jogger in general though, every piece is a new cost...parent console will be extra. The car seat adapter? Extra. Snack trays? Also extra. Anything else you never thought about having on a stroller, like an under storage cooler? Extra. But they are within a reasonable cost so go ahead and register for them. This also is not an easy stroller to fold up as you have to take the seats off unless it is single rider mode. (Although the seats do click on and off easily.) And it will show you a million different configurations but I couldn't get them all to work comfortably. Still my favorite multi-kid stroller though because it is the only one you would ever need for the lifetime of all your babies.
6. On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep, by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam
This book is one that I knew I wanted to use right out of college when my friends were having babies and they were sleeping through the night. I had babysat for the previous ten years for probably close to 100 different families and I knew that babies did not always sleep through the night. I used it really well with the first three babies and all were sleeping through the night or close by 4-5 months if not sooner. This current baby something happened and I have created a non-Baby Wise sleep monster and I have not slept more than about 6 hours straight in almost as many months. Which I realize is ok for some people but I'm more of the 9-10 hour sleep person! It's time to pull this book back out and solve this problem! They also have a brand new 2019 edition!
7. Munchkin Miracle 360 Trainer Cup
Along with strollers I have tried an abundance of sippy cups in our house. Although I am happy to report that we've had more sippy cups than strollers! Because of the ages of the kids {read someone always in a dumping stage} the boys don't get to use a cup without a lid regularly until about six. (Don't worry, they have the skills to drink from a cup without a lid long before six but because we keep water for each of them on the table for when they are thirsty they must have lids.) Back to the cups. I do not enjoy having pieces to clean (or find) or crevices where even my handy dandy scrubber (see list item #2) can't get to. Also, the toddlers should not be able to take them apart. These cups are the most spill-proof I have found and the easiest to drink from. I have the first two but love the stainless one because I could use essential oils in their water when I needed to if I had that one. Also, a friend didn't like that they didn't have lids for when you transport them and I just found these as an add-on item! They will spill if left tipped over for hours...or overnight under a piece of furniture, and they do splatter if banged or thrown. However, still nothing like any other sippy cup I've tried. I like them all the way through the toddler years. My bigger boys get a different type of cup but I wouldn't get any others until preschool age if I could go back.
8. Halo Sleepsack with Swaddle
I have zero swaddling skills. Like, in the hospital the nurses always swaddle because my boys are free in seconds. I have even taken classes that cover swaddling, and I can absolutely swaddle the baby dolls when my boys need me to, but a real live baby...nope. Then, to be expected to swaddle in the dark...in the middle of the night...after being woken up every three hours. HA! So these sleepsacks were invented for people like me. I love that they zip from the top down because those middle of the night changes are cinchy. No unwrapping the whole swaddle. No ripping of the Velcro to awaken the baby that was going to mostly sleep through the diaper change (I have another kind where that exact thing happens!). Then, when they don't need swaddled anymore, I either don't use the swaddle feature (it's adaptable) or I transition to the regular sleepsacks (brand is not usually that important to me).
9. KitchenAid Kitchen Shears and Immersion Blender
I realize these are weird things to have on a baby list, but as soon as your little one starts eating table foods, you will be happy you have these. The scissors are perfect for chopping up whatever you are eating into bite sized pieces (and continue their use for the rest of your children's lives honestly) and the immersion blender is perfect for making homemade baby food (and soups and pesto which can also be eaten by small people). If you do choose to make your own baby food, freeze the puree you've made in ice cube trays and then pop it out and store it in a Ziploc baggie in the freezer. Then just take out how many cubes you need for the day and defrost. Both of these save you from having to buy any specialty baby food prep stuff. They will last well beyond the childhood years.
10. Crib
Seriously. No link attached because you need to get the one that fits your space but not a bassinet, co-sleeper, or pack and play. All my boys ended up in their nursery in their crib. Some from Day 1 out of necessity (he was under Billy lights) and some because when I tried to let them sleep near me they decided to nurse non-stop (which isn't really nursing but just using me as a pacifier) and wake up every time I laid them down. Moved them to their crib. They sleep three hour stretches with sometimes a five hour stretch thrown in. We have organic mattresses that we use in the crib, a sheet and their swaddle sack and they are good to go. I walk down the hall to nurse when they wake up, change a diaper if needed and put them back down. No transition to a crib later or out of our room or naps being tricky.
These are the top ten baby things I'd absolutely buy again if I were starting over from the beginning. Along with picking the most comfortable rocker/recliner you can find and a wrap/pack that fits your body.
What are some baby things you couldn't live without? Leave a comment so I can share with other baby moms!
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