I love things that are pretty, shiny, new and did I mention pretty? Anything can be pretty.
New shoes, a sexy purse, clothes, even your baby! Whatever pleases the eye. Anywho, I get asked from time to time by pregnant acquaintenances, family, friends, etc what are my favorite baby things, so here is a list of some of MY favorite Pretty Mommy Things that are not only
pretty but totally useful and necessary. As well as some other newborn items and tips that I wish I knew.
Here are just a FEW of my must have Pretty Mommy Things. I'll try and post them as I remember / see them.
- A BOUNCY seat. You HAVE to have one of those when you have a baby. It didn't seem like a must have at all, it was probably at the bottom of my list, but we did get one. And Carter ended up in it all the time. It was the only place we could set him down. We took it everywhere. It ended up in the bathroom a lot. If you think about it, there aren't a lot of places to put your baby down so unless you want them in your arms 24/7, get a bouncy seat. Or get three. I think this one by Fisher Price is SOO pretty for a little boy. Yes, little boy things can be pretty. Ours wasn't nearly as cute, and this wasn't around then:
- Long sleeve onesies. It's preferred if they ZIP! Do you realize what a pain in the ass it is to button 10-15 buttons up a onesie several times a day? When Carter was first born, he was so teensy and didn't move, and It felt odd to dress him in pants and shirts, etc. Don't waste your money on fancy clothes, jeans, or frilly outfits. Carter basically wore long sleeve feet onesies for the first 3 months. My mom thought it was odd he was always in "jammies," but I didn't really think of them as jammies. I wanted him to be warm, I rarely put something short sleeve on him, and I wanted him to be cozy. So we had a lot of long john type onesie's. You think you're going to want to dress them up all the time, but in the very beginning, you just don't want to disturb the little angel. And your not exactly leaving the house all that much anyway. Comfy and warm is best! Like this (although I don't love the buttons) by Carters:
- Trumpette Socks. So they may be a little expensive for a baby (about $25 for 6 pairs) but they are so gosh darn cute. They have little "cowboy boot" socks, "sandal" socks, even little "loafer" socks. And an added plus is that they stay on REALLY well. My newborn always had to have socks on his feet, always or else they would get super cold so I had a lot of socks. Now, he doesn't wear socks nearly as much. But my favorites are still the Trumpette's. I love these adorable little Trumpette's called "Cheeritoes," and if I had a little girl, I would totally get her the Mary Jane's I've been drooling over.
- Diaper Change Baskets. We had a diaper changing table in the upstairs nursery. Are you really going to walk upstairs every single time you need to change a diaper? No. I think I changed Carter on the changing table twice. Literally. After Carter was born I stayed with my parents for two weeks to get some help and a routine going. My mom had set-up a basket filled with diapers, wipes, cream, powder, and a cute little changing pad. I loved the convenience of this basket and ended up stealing it for my house. We still have that basket as well as another one in our bedroom, and another one at my parents house. You'll want a few of these stations through-out the house. I promise convenience is always going to be the most important decision making factor after having a child; your brain will stop working for a while due to lack of sleep and you will not have ANY energy or free time. ANY. Not exaggerating. ANY. It's flippin hard I tell you. This is the changing pad we used (we have like 4). You can get it off Amazon for $9.99.
And I love these pretty white baskets:
Some Mommy Tips:
If you're expecting and plan on breastfeeding and need a good pump, stick with Medela. I personally didn't like having a dual pump, I always liked having one hand free to do something (browse the internet, use the remote control, magazine, etc). I would rather take the extra 10 minutes and pump one side at a time then sit there pumping both boobies at once. But thats me. I bought an electric one-sided Medela pump and it was just what I needed, and much less expensive. Plus, I almost always was BF, so I didn't need to pump all the time, but I had it if I needed to. And it also can be used cordless with batteries so I ended up bringing it to Disneyland with me once.
If you plan on bottle-feeding (we did both, formula and BF) make sure to buy ALL the same bottles. You'd think if you buy standard bottles and nipples they would all be interchangeable, but sadly no. There is nothing more annoying then trying to find a nipple ring to fit a certain bottle when you have a screaming baby in your arms. Or putting the bottle together, walking all the way upstairs only to find out the nipple didn't fit the bottle and formula goes everywhere while your little one cries. SO please, just pick a brand and stick to it. STICK to it. And remember to switch your nipples to fast flow after 3-5 months. I didn't right away and couldn't figure out why Carter would take forever to drink his 6 ounce bottle. Oops. Also, make sure it doesn't come in too many parts. Your baby will be just fine. You don't need a Dr Browns bottle with 4000 different parts that need to be washed, sterilized and put together 10 times a day. I promise you, you will get soo sick of it. Three parts is enough, bottle, nipple ring and nipple. For my bottle recommendation, I like these by Evenflo. At one point we got rid of a lot of bottles and just bought a ton of these. Carter still uses them. I also can't stand the VentAir bottles that unscrew at the bottom with a little plastic-y thing that has to be inserted. I have a whole bag of these bottoms that we packed away after a few months of using them because we couldn't stand them anymore.
BIBS for newborns. Maybe it was just me, but I had all these cute newborn bibs that we never used. A. Newborns don't eat, so there isn;'t a lot of food going everywhere that needs to be caught by a bib. B. They're not exactly messy eaters when they are nursing. It kinda stays in. C. Newborns don't really spit up. It actually takes a few months before the spitting up to begin. Carter didn't start spitting up (like real projectile spitting up) until about 3-4 months. We thought we were lucky and skipped the whole spitting up stage, but I found out later this is normal.
Toys for newborns. Seriously, whats the point? We bought Carter all kinda of toys, and I think he just started playing with them around his 1st birthday. Prior to this, all he needed was paper, a remote control and a cellphone. That was enough toys for him. In fact, if it was brightly colored and plastic, he showed no interest until recently.
One item I underestimated was mittens for a newborn. I don't think we had any mittens when Carter was born. I guess we never got that memo. I didn't realize how much little newborns scratch their face after being born. It was pretty surprising. Carter lived in mittens for at least the first 8 weeks before he finally stopped scratching himself. My favorite long-sleeved onesie's were the ones that had sleeves that folded over the hands. Those are a must have!!
Oh, and I thought nursing bra's were totally a waste too. I just used a regular bra and pulled the goods out. It works just as good. Those nursing bra's don't give much support.
Ok thats enough Mommy info for now. It's my favorite subject as you can see. It's basically my entire world so I can talk about baby stuff all day long. Ask me anything! I think my next blog will be all about adults and adult things.
I'll close this post with a picture of Carter because I can't resist and I'm his mommy. That's what we do.
Xoxoxo
Posts
