I just crossed the one year mark with my daughter, Edie. It has been a wonderful, wild ride full of smiles, laughter, dirty diapers and laundry detergent. My wife did a ton of research on the best baby products and we tried a ton of different stuff from bottles to toys to vacuums.
I compiled a list of seven important products that have been instrumental to the happiness and sanity of our home. My hope is that you, as a new or future parent, can benefit from all the product testing my family has done this past year.
So, without further ado…
1. Medela Breastmilk Bottles
Whether doing the momma’s milk thing works for you and your baby or not, these bottles are fantastic.
They are compatible with the Medela Freestyle Breast Pump
Our baby needed the Slow Flow Nipples for the first few months, but then the medium ones were fine for the rest of her first year. The bottles in the link below come with medium flow, your baby will need to try them out and see which ones they enjoy the most.
2. Alva Baby Cloth Diapers
Diapers are expensive. No question.
Maybe you are made of money, but probably not. Diapers can break the bank more quickly than just about any baby product if you let them.
With reusable cloth diapers, you can turn that overwhelming expense into an investment. Since they can size up as your child gets older and larger, once you make the initial purchase, it’s smooth sailing from there on.
That savings can then be compounded as your family grows, as long as you have enough of them to keep all of your little beauties clean and dry. The ALVABABY Reusable Cloth Diaper Inserts are the best that we tried. You may want to stock up on those.
As far as a hamper for the used diapers, we have two of the Teamoy Hanging Wet Dry Bag that hang on a hook in our laundry bag, you can zip them shut to keep the stinkyness away, plus you can just toss the whole bag in the washing machine so you don’t have to handle dirty diapers once they are safely locked away in the hamper.
3. Munchkin Warm Glow Wipe Warmer.
Your baby will thank you.
She is gonna wake up in the middle of the night, upset, hungry, and needing a diaper change.
Who in their right mind would want to get their tush wiped with a cold, clammy cloth?
No baby in the world, of course.
Put your pack of disposable wipes in this clever little box and give your babe a soothing, warm wipe that will lull her back to slumber fast.
Also, it has a gentle glowing light which is perfect for those late night changes.
If you are into the sustainable/reusable thing, you can fit a bunch of these Heart Felt 100% Natural Baby Wipes into the warmer also. We’ve been doing that in our home for the past year with great results. You can throw them in the Teamoy Hanging Wet Dry Bag with the diapers for the ultimate sustainable baby experience.
4. Baby Einstein Sea Dreams Soother
You’re drowning, and I’m gonna throw you a life preserver.
The baby is learning to lie by himself in the crib, but sometimes just won’t calm himself down and go to sleep.
That’s where this little beauty comes in.
Not only does it play a series of soothing songs, but the nautical inspired characters move along to the tunes. Plus, it is easily activated via a large button near the bottom that baby can quickly learn to push.
On top of the unit, there are volume and lighting settings that mom or dad can adjust to their taste. There’s also a button on top that switches on a pale blue light that can be a major helper in the dark of the night.
As it soothes your little angel to sleep, it becomes progressively quieter and dims until it eventually stops all together.
5. Himalayan Glow Salt Lamp
Regular lamps and light fixtures can throw off too much light in baby’s room.
No one wants to wake the children in the middle of the night just by checking in on them.
A regular night light could work, but they look so dated. Not classy at all.
Some friends of mine had a baby about a year before me, and they gave me one of these as a gift. They claimed that it was the best investment into their new baby lifestyle that they made.
That’s a large claim, I know.
They were really onto something though.
I love mine so much, I’m planning on getting more for around the house.
The glow is warm and natural. It has a dimmer switch so you can set the level to exactly the amount of ambient light you need.
No complaints from baby either.
P.S. The manufacturer makes health enhancing claims about “ionizing air” and “holistic health”. I’m skeptical about claims of that nature, so interpret that how you will. The light it gives off is awesome though.
6. Amcrest Wi-Fi IP Camera
Forget the baby monitor.
They’re just a bunch of overpriced security cameras.
Think about this:
You already have a smartphone or tablet or something.
You also have a wi-fi router and internet.
The infrastructure is already in place to add an IP camera (or two, or more) to your home.
What we’re really talking about here is a cost effective solution for keeping that watchful eye focused on your sleeping infant.
With a microphone and a speaker integrated, you can hear all the wily things your babe is up to, and even speak back to him/her.
All securely on your home network using the iPhone that you’re already carrying around with you.
You can also record with this camera but you will need a SanDisk Ultra 32GB microSDHC card or something similar.
7. Roomba
Having a new baby means you have invested in a tiny floor-dweller.
That baby is gonna be up close and personal with every piece of dust, food particle, hair, dander, etc.
Keeping that floor any level of clean can be a real pain.
And a lot of work.
Allow me to introduce you to the world of the robot vacuum.
I set mine to run basically every day when no one is home. It runs around on the floors and then goes home to it’s charging station.
Now, I have all wood floors so my Roomba doesn’t have to face the perils of carpeting. I couldn’t quantify the results on 70’s era shag carpet but it does a stellar job at my place.
Try one out, your baby will thank you.
If you acquire these seven items, you will be on the fast track to a happy and successful first year with your precious new babe. These products have been a success with our family, I bet your gang would love them as well.
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