Favorites

I dislike the majority of wedding products out there because they are overpriced and generally not needed. This dislike transferred over into baby world. There are 1,000 times the products and I shunned each and every one of them as I felt they were overpriced and unnecessary. However, over the past 15 months I have had to swallow my pride and admit that perhaps there are just a couple of products that are actually wonderful. I won’t say mandatory because you can live without all of them. But their ease in our life has been worth every penny and I would pay double for all of them.

Diaper Genie: I have fought against this since the beginning of time. Way before pregnancy. Extra money for a glorified trash can? Ha! And initially, I was secure in my opinion. Because newborn poo isn’t too bad. But then came the solid food. And the death poos that followed. And my dream of taking each diaper to the outside trash can was laughable as this would have been multiple times per day and our outside trash can isn’t very convenient. So Cameron’s room ended up smelling like death. And we tried one thing after another but nothing ever worked. So in a fit of frustration/exhaustion/overpooedness, I bought a diaper genie. The best diaper genie. The Plus-elite-we’ll-guarantee-your-child-admission-into-top-notch-college Diaper Genie II. Worth every penny.

Pros: Keeps poo smell in the container, not in the room.                                                      Cons: Doesn’t have tremendous volume, brief poo smell when you open it, but                            this quickly dissipates.

Wipe Warmer: Best bang for your buck. When I originally heard of this I scoffed. A wipe warmer? Seriously? How about little special cloud diapers made out of bunny fur and angel dust? Would that please Himself? Then J’Cam got the worst diaper rash known to man. And anytime we even had to open his diaper it brought all of us to tears. Wipe Warmer? WHERE IS THE WIPE LIDOCAINE/MORPHINE? So I again entered Target in a state of frustration/exhaustion/overpooedness. The wipe warmers were $20!  $20??? That’s one of the cheapest baby items out there. I thought about buying two.

Pros: Makes for a super happy baby bum. Cheap, simple, works perfectly.                             Cons: Has to be near an outlet.

Saline nose drops: These are not expensive nor something I didn’t like, just something I didn’t really know about. They are about $3.oo and about the best way to unsnot little noses. For the first couple of months babies can get nasal congestion from mom’s estrogen. They are not sick, but can be kind of snuffly. Suctioning frequently isn’t good because it can cause more secretions. A couple of saline drops squirted up each nostril breaks up the congestion and most times the baby will actually sneeze the boogers out.

Pros: A happier, easy breathing baby.                                                                                        Cons: Can require a ninja death grip to get those drops to slide on in.

Sound Machines: The pack and play that we purchased came with a little circular sound box that played nature sounds and heart beats. I tossed it to the side when we first set it up thinking, yeah, right, what baby is going to find those things soothing. Oh, I don’t know, EVERY baby. After one of our sleepless nights of exhausting all possible soothing methods we dug around in the closet until we found the sound box. We turned it on and sparkles flew out as Cameron stopped crying and fell asleep. And after countless nights of John and I also listening to it, we realized it soothed us to sleep as well. The heartbeat was especially soothing. We now have a sleep sheep, which is an animal version that makes noise. It is soft and lovely and wonderful.

Pros: A fabulous, relaxing, non obnoxious way to sooth a baby and parents.                        Cons: Each product has a different length of time the sounds stay on, some shorter than others, which can be a hassle if you have to keep pressing a button.

Snuggle Pig: Not everyone will choose a snuggle pig, but the important lesson here is the security item itself. Unfortunately this is not something that can be decided for a child, but trying to have something for them to latch onto and create for themselves has been invaluable for us. Our life would not be nearly as enjoyable without snuggle pig.