Raising Youngins

There’s now a tool that involves sucking snot out of your baby’s nose?! There’s how many different kinds of baby bottles? Butt paste? Who needs butt paste? You do! Trust me, you do! The amount of baby items on the market is completely overwhelming and (ka-ching, ka-ching!) expensive!!

Here are my thoughts on what to buy for baby’s first 6 months:

1. A&D. About $10 for a good sized jar which seems high, but it always works. Interesting smell. You definitely know when it’s applied. We swear by this brand for any redness or rash.
2. Aquaphor. I bet you’ve seen this stuff around for years, but I’m sure you’ve never known of its magic. Rashes, redness, dry or chapped anything, it’s there’s for you! I even use a smaller bottle for chap stick. Get some and see for yourself.
3. Bouncer. Just a simple one so that baby isn’t laying on the floor. I know you probably think that you’re going to hold your baby 24/7 once that sweet thing is this side of the womb, but trust me 8 pounds is heavier than you think for more than 30 minutes.
4. Sound machine. For the baby, for you, for times when you just need to filter out all the house noise. Grab a portable one for your diaper bag too.
5. Halo sleep sack. I used every type of sleep sack up until my daughter walked. Start with a swaddle sleep sack at the hospital! Minimal clothing underneath ensures baby is the correct temperatire without adding any extra items in the crib. I suggest you purchase neutral colors if you are planning on having more kids and using them again.
6. Portable changing pad. I promise you I’ve changed my daughter’s diaper more on this pad than in her room on her changing table. This thing is genius! We have this fully loaded downstairs so that I don’t constantly have to travel upstairs to change every diaper. Snaps! to my girl because now she even brings it to me when she knows she has a wet or dirty diaper.
7. Video baby monitor. At first we only had a sound monitor, but then I realized that was a huge rookie mistake. We now have two cameras and love how simple it is to use and easy set up whenever it needs to be moved. (You can even tell your toddler to stop playing with the curtains and go to sleep – if that were ya know, something that happens in your house).
8. Nursing pillow. Nursing takes time. Purchase something similar to this so that you are not propping 5 pillows around you every time you nurse (especially at 3am!).
9. Storage drawers. I use this kind of storage item all over my home. I am always on the lookout for clothing for my kids, so I often have a “throw all” drawer when I find clothing for the future. My daughter’s clothes are currently in drawer containers with fun labels so that she can choose her own outfits. I even use one in my closet for my underwear, bras and socks and another for my leggings and lounge wear. Easily repurposed and somewhat cheap, they are great to have for any storage solution.
10. Structured schedule. Yes, it’s not tangible, but it’s the most important thing to a baby’s sanity (and yours!). I followed the Moms on Call schedule with both my kids. I googled schedules based on their age and followed them pretty religiously. My husband was also very on board with schedule – smart man – because we agreed we needed structure to our days and nights. Going day by day based off baby’s cues is not beneficial to anyone and doesn’t set either of you up for success. Guiding baby in a developmentally correct schedule based on eat/play/sleep intervals is key to surviving those long days and nights. I love talking about kids’ schedules, message me for more questions.

Additionally, here’s what not to buy for baby’s first 6 months… or ever:

1. Anything that rocks baby to sleep – don’t buy it! A mamaRoo and baby swing are single handedly setting you up for sleep training failure. Chances are you do not want your baby sleeping in a swing or rocker for the rest of his or her life, so why teach that constant movement is needed to fall asleep?
2. Too many clothes or fancy clothes. Y’all, babies poop and spit up a lot and as much as you want to think it always lands on that bib or burb cloth it’s just not the truth. A huge favor you can do for yourself is buy any children’s clothes second hand or at cheap prices. Any fancy clothes that I owned for my kids were not purchased by me and chances are they were never even in those fancy clothes. There are way cooler things to spend money on than fancy or expensive baby clothes.