It's kind of amazing how much stuff such a small human requires. When Ro was a newborn, we had 3 different contraptions for him to sleep in (travel bassinet, pack n play, rock n play - oh, and don't forget his crib) because we didn't have any idea what we were doing and we wanted to be prepared. Now that we're 12+ months in, we feel a little more knowledgable when it comes to buying for baby and what has long lasting quality/purpose and there are a few items I consider to be CRUCIAL because we have used them almost on a daily basis since he was born.
Hushh Noise Machine
Here are 6 of my favorite baby products with everlasting life:
Hushh Noise Machine
I am not
exaggerating when I say this tiny noise machine our number one favorite item from our registry
that still gets as much use today, as it did 12 months ago. I remember the day
we got it – Ro had been in the world just a few days and my aunt came over to meet him slash give
us a welcome home gift. We unwrapped the noise machine and thanked her, not
knowing it would become as important in our daily routine as our hair brush or
house keys. That afternoon, we put Ro on his Boppy Lounger for a nap (another early favorite of ours) and urned the white noise on. He slept so soundly and we loved that it
blocked out the rest of the sound in the house, some of which we can’t always control
(aka Fitz barking at the neighbor’s dog). Since that day over a year ago, Ro
has not taken a single nap or nighttime sleep without this glorious machine which actually has 3 different sounds but we routinely use the standard white
noise function.
Fun fact: I think we actually own 3 of them at this point
because we broke a few in the early days of stumbling around in the middle of the night and then decided we always wanted to have a backup in
the house - This is serious stuff, guys. We rarely leave the house without it
and have a charger in our car so we can use it for Ro’s naps on the way to
Wisconsin. Now...You can say what you want about creating bad sleep habits and
you may be right – Maybe he will always have to sleep with some sort of noise
(like his Mother – I bring a travel fan on trips with me!), but I consider that
to be small potatoes in the world of getting your kid to sleep well through the
night. Earlier this week we had crazy storms including hail that pelted our
windows and guess who slept through it? RO. Thank you, Hushh 😉
Graco FastAction Fold Jogger
I knew I wanted a jogging stroller before I had a baby – Before I got pregnant, actually or was even in the realm of being Mom ready. When I would be out running in my early 20’s, I always saw young Mom’s running behind a stroller with 3 wheels, pushing their baby, voluminous ponytail bouncing along and I thought they made it look so easy. Maybe it WAS possible to have a baby and still keep my workout routine in tact. Turns out, it IS possible, though I’d like to go back in time to girl(s) with said ponytail and tell them I’m sorry for thinking anything about Motherhood was easy 😉 But this stroller DOES help I researched a lot of them before adding this to my registry and ultimately decided on this one because of its consistent rave reviews and because I knew and trusted the Graco brand.
There are a LOT of fancy strollers these days, some of them closely resembling the bat mobile and some of them being more fashion than function for the leggings-north face-Starbucks tribe (not that I’m too far from that level of basic), but this one has proven to be a perfect choice for us. It is SO smooth, both in terms of pushing for me and the ride for Ro, whether we’re walking or running. There’s a ton of storage space underneath, plenty of cup holders/space for my phone and even though it’s large, it folds up with one pull of a handle so we can store it in a tiny space in our garage. Before we had Ro, I was so worried about where everything would go, especially the strollers because we own 2 but it becomes super compact which makes our lives much easier.
Graco FastAction Fold Jogger
I knew I wanted a jogging stroller before I had a baby – Before I got pregnant, actually or was even in the realm of being Mom ready. When I would be out running in my early 20’s, I always saw young Mom’s running behind a stroller with 3 wheels, pushing their baby, voluminous ponytail bouncing along and I thought they made it look so easy. Maybe it WAS possible to have a baby and still keep my workout routine in tact. Turns out, it IS possible, though I’d like to go back in time to girl(s) with said ponytail and tell them I’m sorry for thinking anything about Motherhood was easy 😉 But this stroller DOES help I researched a lot of them before adding this to my registry and ultimately decided on this one because of its consistent rave reviews and because I knew and trusted the Graco brand.
There are a LOT of fancy strollers these days, some of them closely resembling the bat mobile and some of them being more fashion than function for the leggings-north face-Starbucks tribe (not that I’m too far from that level of basic), but this one has proven to be a perfect choice for us. It is SO smooth, both in terms of pushing for me and the ride for Ro, whether we’re walking or running. There’s a ton of storage space underneath, plenty of cup holders/space for my phone and even though it’s large, it folds up with one pull of a handle so we can store it in a tiny space in our garage. Before we had Ro, I was so worried about where everything would go, especially the strollers because we own 2 but it becomes super compact which makes our lives much easier.
Baby Einstein Sea Dreams Soother
I am NOT lying when I say this crib soother was KEY in Ro learning how to self-soothe. During the infant months, there were many phases where he would wake up crying and we would run in there to rock him back to sleep. Out of desperation, we had tried so many different sleep aids including several different types and brands of sleep blankets and swaddles, hoping one of them would provide the answer (btw, the Magic Merlin was the only one that actually worked and provided a great transition from the Rock N Play to the crib).
But then, around 4-5 months, we installed this adorable fish tank in his crib and it instantly became one of his favorite things. We would lay him in there during the day just for short breaks and he would watch it with a smile on his face, kicking his legs and making giggling sounds. Now, if he wakes up during the night, he will stand up and turn on the tank, watches the floating sea creatures (we have it set on low with music and movement) and a few minutes later, he usually lays back down and goes to sleep. This is AMAZING and such a change of pace from waking up and screaming because he's afraid or unable to get back to sleep on his own. He also turns it on EVERY single morning when he first wakes up. We will hear him through the monitor hit the on button and that's how we know he's up and he will stay content in there just watching the fish for at least a half hour which gives us a little time to get up and moving. We LOVE this product and recommend it to all parents when they're ready to put baby in the crib!
But then, around 4-5 months, we installed this adorable fish tank in his crib and it instantly became one of his favorite things. We would lay him in there during the day just for short breaks and he would watch it with a smile on his face, kicking his legs and making giggling sounds. Now, if he wakes up during the night, he will stand up and turn on the tank, watches the floating sea creatures (we have it set on low with music and movement) and a few minutes later, he usually lays back down and goes to sleep. This is AMAZING and such a change of pace from waking up and screaming because he's afraid or unable to get back to sleep on his own. He also turns it on EVERY single morning when he first wakes up. We will hear him through the monitor hit the on button and that's how we know he's up and he will stay content in there just watching the fish for at least a half hour which gives us a little time to get up and moving. We LOVE this product and recommend it to all parents when they're ready to put baby in the crib!
Moonlight & Melodies Elephant
This item was on our registry but we actually didn't start using it until about 6 months ago. A) I kind of forgot we had it and B) I didn't think we needed to add another thing to Ro's sleep routine but my Mom showed me a soothing hippo she used for his naps that played music and a projection on the ceiling and he seemed to like it which made me remember our SkipHop Elephant. Since that day I brought it out, it has been a staple and one of his favorite things in his room. I actually only turn this on before his nighttime sleep (not at nap time) because I like how calming it is and I think it's the perfect thing to signal to him that sleep is near. I give him a bath (every single night - I know, slightly crazy), read him a few of his favorite books, give him his bottle, turn off the lights and turn on the elephant.
It has a star projection for his ceiling and lots of different songs/calming noises to choose from but we usually use the rainforest sounds for bedtime. It has 3 different time settings which is awesome so I just set it to 15 minutes and it typically turns off by the time he's sleeping. It has also saved us on his hardest nights, like the ones where has threw up all over his crib, followed by 2 hours of inconsolable crying. In order to get him to finally calm down and go back to sleep, I would turn on the elephant softly, rock him in my arms and then put him back in his crib, letting the elephant continue to play while he dozes off. It's calming, comforting and all of the things a baby should experience when they're falling asleep.
Hudson 3-in-1 Convertible Crib
Our crib was one of the only things I didn't waiver on when it came time to register because I loved it's mid-century modern style and clean aesthetic from the moment I saw it. It's made with eco-friendly, non-toxic materials (which is comforting since Ro went through a heavy rail chewing phase!) and when we're ready, it will easily transition into a toddler bed and daybed so it can grow along with him for years. It comes in grey, white and a few two-tone options so there are a lot of choices depending on the style of your nursery. It was very easy to lower the mattress once Ro was mobile and we feel good knowing how comfortable and safe he is in there every night.
Our crib was one of the only things I didn't waiver on when it came time to register because I loved it's mid-century modern style and clean aesthetic from the moment I saw it. It's made with eco-friendly, non-toxic materials (which is comforting since Ro went through a heavy rail chewing phase!) and when we're ready, it will easily transition into a toddler bed and daybed so it can grow along with him for years. It comes in grey, white and a few two-tone options so there are a lot of choices depending on the style of your nursery. It was very easy to lower the mattress once Ro was mobile and we feel good knowing how comfortable and safe he is in there every night.
Dr. Browns Bottles
Though we are working on transitioning off of bottles soon, these were our go-to brand by far and we tried a lot of different kinds in the beginning. I breastfed Ro for 10+ months and early on, I was very concerned about finding a bottle that wouldn't deter him from that because I wanted to continue for as long as I could. I knew my Mom was going to be watching him a few days when I went back to work, so I didn't have a choice when it came to introducing a bottle and luckily, these worked out perfectly, allowing him to seamlessly switch from breast to bottle with no issues.
The Natural Flow bottles use a patented 2-piece internal vent system which creates positive-pressure flow for vacuum-free feeding that is similar to breastfeeding. The breast milk or formula flows freely without nipple collapse and as the baby feeds, air is channeled from the nipple collar through the vent system to the back of the bottle. Air never mixes with the breast milk or formula so oxidation is prevented, thereby maintaining essential vitamins such as C, A and E. The vent system eliminates air bubbles in the formula or milk, which helps to reduce feeding problems like colic, spit-up, burping and gas. Dr. Brown's bottles are completely BPA, PVC, lead and phthalate free for baby's safety.
Though we are working on transitioning off of bottles soon, these were our go-to brand by far and we tried a lot of different kinds in the beginning. I breastfed Ro for 10+ months and early on, I was very concerned about finding a bottle that wouldn't deter him from that because I wanted to continue for as long as I could. I knew my Mom was going to be watching him a few days when I went back to work, so I didn't have a choice when it came to introducing a bottle and luckily, these worked out perfectly, allowing him to seamlessly switch from breast to bottle with no issues.
The Natural Flow bottles use a patented 2-piece internal vent system which creates positive-pressure flow for vacuum-free feeding that is similar to breastfeeding. The breast milk or formula flows freely without nipple collapse and as the baby feeds, air is channeled from the nipple collar through the vent system to the back of the bottle. Air never mixes with the breast milk or formula so oxidation is prevented, thereby maintaining essential vitamins such as C, A and E. The vent system eliminates air bubbles in the formula or milk, which helps to reduce feeding problems like colic, spit-up, burping and gas. Dr. Brown's bottles are completely BPA, PVC, lead and phthalate free for baby's safety.
SHOP OUR FAVORITE BABY PRODUCTS:
Mama's, what registry/newborn items are you still using a year later?
Let me know your favorites!
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