TOP 10 BABY MUST HAVES
Do you ever feel like you get lost in the sea of baby items that are a necessity?! There is always an endless amount. Here are my top 6 items you need to get through those first crazy months of having a baby!
My #1 MUST HAVE. The Uppababy Vista- obsessed is an understatement.
Here is my one piece of advice. Do your research on strollers and their reliability. I made the mistake of buying a cheaper stroller and carseat for my first son. Did it work? Yea it did, I used it for its purpose. BUT that sucker broke within a year of buying it. So, I bought another *cheap* stroller. I was super excited, it was doing great!! Guess what… it broke. Again. Different brands, but still cheap. See a trend? So when my best friend came to me and asked about my advice on baby gear, this is what I told her:
INVEST IN QUALITY PRODUCTS. PERIOD.
Will it be expensive? Yep, probably, but that means you are buying something for the long run! I hadn’t purchased the Vista before I gave my BFF the suggestion of buying it, BUT I heard rave reviews about the quality. So when it came time for my son to be born, there was no question that I was going to buy the Vista. Let me tell you folks- buy it. It is worth every penny!! I ended up purchasing a model that was a year old which saved me about $200 #win. PLUS if you put any items on a baby registry on Amazon.com you can purchase those items 60 days before your due date with a 10% (non prime members) and 15% (prime members) code. Let me tell you… I took full advantage of this and it was amazing. It came brand new with the stroller base, seat (which can go forward or backward facing), bassinet, and bug/rain cover. To me, that was a lot of bang for the buck! I was torn between the Nuna Demi Grow and the Vista because I was purchasing the Nuna Pipa Car Seat. Ultimately I went with the Vista because of the items you received with it and the fact it was slightly less expensive. The Nuna Demi Grow is another amazing option, don’t get me wrong! The only catch is that if you want a bassinet and the other add ons that the Vista includes, you will be paying a la carte, which will run you above $1000. Luckily, since I got the Nuna Pipa Car Seat, you are able to get an attachment so you can use the car seat on your stroller. To be completely honest- I never bought the attachment and I really didn’t need it. It was SO convenient to use the bassinet because my little guy LOVED it. Another huge perk was that was what he ended up sleeping in at night in our room! Not only does that eliminate the need to purchase a completely separate bassinet, but it also is amazing for any travel. Uppababy does sell a stand where the bassinet easily clips into and is very safe to use.
All in all, I highly recommend the Uppababy Vista for not only the stroller, but for everything in between! Over a year later, I still am obsessed with this stroller and believe me… I’ve been through my fair share :)
When I found out I was going to have another baby I was determined to find a quality car seat. My first son got a lot of super inexpensive car seats, strollers, etc. because I was #broke. I didn’t have the means to buy quality items! This time around, I wanted to make sure I was doing it exactly how I wanted. I researched extensively about car seats and the features of them. Once I landed on the Nuna Pipa I knew this was it. The Uppababy car seat is price comparable to the Nuna Pipa, but I felt like the Pipa had better features! Here are some of the features I am OBSESSED with:
Built in car seat cover. OMG guys, this is amazing. I had gotten a Copper and Pearl car seat cover, but honestly I didn’t even need it. The Pipa has a cover that is already built in and it zips up when you don’t want to use it! The shade is already really nice and large compared to most car seats I’ve seen. If you want the cover all you need to do is unzip and place it on the magnets on the front of the car seat itself. Whenever I was out in public I would use the cover and I would always get so many people asking about it! Even the nurses at the hospital were obsessed with it… Needless to say, it was worth every penny!
The base. This base is the best thing on planet earth. No, like seriously... The best thing. Do you know the amount of TIME I would spend to try and get my car seat bases tight? I swear to god it was once an hour long battle. It was horrible. So let me tell you about this amazing creation. The base has built in clips (NO STRAPS!!!) and it acts like a seat belt. It easily clips into the car's car seat clips and it very easily comes out as well. You know it is in correctly because the button on the base will turn green. It is always tight no matter the car, so no more pulling and yanking to try to secure it in place. Another feature I was obsessed about with the base was a leg that came out to stabilize the base from moving around at all. Again, GENIUS! If you put it in correctly, the leg button will turn green to let you know you got the job done. If you don’t want to use it, so be it. The leg easily folds up into the base itself with ease. This car seat and base combo made me feel like my little guy was in a very safe place in my car. I would buy this over and over again if I could!
Comfort! Another amazing feature of this car seat is its plushy, comfy memory foam seat. For some reason, I find myself driving a lot. The carseat I previously had for my first son was a nightmare. It was hard to put in the car and it was SO uncomfortable. The Nuna Pipa is so comfortable for those little baby bums! There are various inserts that come with the car seat that make it that much more comfortable.
Guys. Oh my god, I love this crib! I was searching FOREVER for a new crib for my second son. I’m sorry… but I do not want to pay $400 plus for a crib. To me, that is crazy! As I was on my search, my best friend suggested an Ikea crib. I was a little hesitant because I’ve owned my fair share of ikea furniture which is *okay* quality. So, I looked into it and figured I could go check it out at my local ikea. I was pleasantly surprised with it, so I decided to purchase it. Setup was pretty easy compared to some other Ikea furniture and it is SO sturdy!! It is super neutral and simple, which was exactly what I was going for. My little guys has been using it now for over a year and it is still as sturdy as it was when I bought it. Not only is it sturdy and adorable, but it also converts into a toddler bed! I am extremely happy with it and excited to use it for more years to come. Here is the best part: it’s $80!! If you are looking for a minimalist styled crib, I highly suggest this one! Go buy it… do it…
While this isn’t a necessity, it is a life hack needed for when you just need a moment to step away from baby. Believe me. You’ll need some moments to yourself with your arms free from time to time! Both of my kids loved the swing and I ended up getting through both of them with the same one #wahoo!
Not only is it nice when you need a moment to yourself, but we would be those “bad” parents and let the kiddos sleep in the swing when we were in the room watching them. When they are newborns, it’s such an easy place to plop them down! I love the swing that we had because it had music, different settings for the swing itself, and the rocking was gentle. There are a wide variety of swings out there, so do your research to get a quality product!! I was pleasantly surprised with our Fisher Price swing that made it through 7 years!
My poor children. For some reason they just had to inherit my horrible skin! Weird how that works, gotta love genetics. Here is a list of some of the lovely skin issues my kids have endured due to sensitive skin:
Eczema
Hives
Rashes (bizarre ones at that)
Bumps of various sizes
Dry Skin
Luckily I have had my own lovely experience with many of these skin issues. Here is my trick and tip: Aquaphor (any petroleum jelly). It is a LIFESAVER. Of course neither of my boys ever responded well to any diaper ointment cream due to their sensitive skin. Once I started using Aquaphor it changed everything. It would help with any dry skin or diaper rash that would be impossible to treat. I will literally put a *gallon* of that stuff on and just like that, it gets better. Well… I mean it isn’t magic, but sometimes it feels like that. If you are noticing your little one has issues like mine (wahoo!) I highly suggest Aquaphor has your go to.
#6 Baby Carrier’s
I’ll be completely honest. When my first son was little, I thought I would carry him around in a carrier ALL the time. Well… I didn't. It was easier at the time to use the stroller or just carry him instead. When my second son came around to town, a carrier was a necessity! I had to deal with another kiddo who was constantly wanting to do something or eat something or just be busy AND carry a newborn around. Not the easiest of tasks, if you ask me.
I decided to invest in a nicer carrier and it was super useful! I ended up with two different types of carriers. One for when he was still a newborn and then a different one when he got a little older (and a whole lot heavier). I used the Moby Wrap from Amazon for when he was a newborn. It was super easy to put on and my little guy absolutely LOVED it! He slept in that thing constantly, plus it was so nice to have my hands free while I was on the move with my older son. As he got older, I decided to look into something that had a little more form to it, because he was getting LARGE and HEAVY! The next one I purchased was an Ergonomic Carrier from Amazon. I loved it because it had a lot of great features! This one fit more like a backpack, had a “seat” for your child, and had SO much space to bring with phones, wipes, or needed accessories :) My family loves to hike at different state parks around us and this carrier was perfect for it! It kept my little one contained, my hands free, and it was comfortable! I highly recommend both carriers if you are looking into wanting your hands free!!
#7 Infrared thermometer (TOTAL GAME CHANGER!)
GO OUT AND BUY THIS NOW. No seriously, like now. I *just* bought this for our household a couple months ago and this sucker is a game changer. Do you know the amount of times I had to attempt to take my childrens temperature at home…. Go ahead.. Ask. Do you know how you take babies' temperatures to be accurate???? In the butt. Just no.
Forever I did the “under the armpit” method and let me tell you, I don’t think my child is 93 degrees F. It was never accurate because trying to hold that thing in a baby armpit is near impossible and I really did not want to go the other route.
Hence an Infrared thermometer. The holy grail of thermometers. It is so convenient and easy to use. FINALLY I don’t need to worry about how I will attempt to take my children's temperatures anymore. For real, if you don’t have one of these I highly recommend you get one for your house ASAP!
Ahh, good ole Oxiclean! Babies are messy little humans. Spit up, milk, puke, poop, food, oh my! It really never ends… the amount of clothing that I’ve had to throw away due to stains is unreal, well, until I found Oxiclean Baby! I wanted to use a product that would get stains out of my kids clothing, but didn’t have super harsh chemicals. I came across Oxiclean Baby while I was on my search. It is chlorine free and white/color safe. As soon as I got the package in the mail, I put it to work! I had multiple onesies and adorable outfits that were stained from who knows what. I put a scoop of it in the washing machine with the stained clothing, hoping for the best, and it was glorious when they came out. NO MORE STAINS!! Ugh, it was a beautiful sight. Soon, I was putting Oxiclean into almost every load of laundry just to be on the safe side and it did not damage his clothes at all. For super hard stains, I would soak the clothing in warm water and a scoop of Oxiclean. That gave it some extra love before throwing it into the wash! If you are on the search for stain remover that *actually* works and is baby proof, look no further!
#9 High Chair (stylish AND functional!)
#10 Changing Table Pad
Try not to get TOO overwhelmed by all the baby products out there. While there a lot of amazing products to choose from, the bottom line is to do your RESEARCH and INVEST in quality items that will stand the test of time! Believe me… don’t make the mistakes I did.
Disclaimer: I may receive a small commission when you click on some of my links, but don’t worry, it’s at NO extra cost to you :)