When you are trying to be prepared for your baby to be born, it can be overwhelming trying to figure out what you need.
When I was in my first trimester of pregnancy, my husband and I entered a giant baby store, and I walked out of there not buying a thing, and feeling so overwhelmed. I probably even cried. There were so many products and I just kept thinking that it was going to be so expensive to buy everything I needed.
Well, it turns out there are a lot of things you really don't need, and some that will make your life easier. I'm sharing my top items that I absolutely love for my baby boy. They have helped me tremendously.
This was one of the first gifts I received while I was pregnant with Benjamin. The Complete Illustrated Children's Bible, by Harvest House. I was so excited when I opened it up and saw all the gorgeous photos on each page. It covers the Old and New Testament, and has 606 pages. I had been wanting a book that I could read with him for his morning devotions, and when I received this one, I knew God had heard my heart.
We usually read this in the morning times for devotional time, or sometimes in the evening if the morning got too busy. Afterwards I will sing a couple Bible songs with him that hopefully go along with the stories we read that morning. For example when we read the chapters on David, I sang the song "Only a boy named David..." and so on.
It has been such precious time that we get to spend together and with God. As soon as I lay him on the bed and pull out the book he either gets real quiet and listens intently the entire time, or he will "talk" non-stop as I'm reading it.
This is by far my favorite item I have for him. If you click the picture it will take you to a link on Amazon where you can purchase it, and I hope you do.
This swing was given to us as a gift from my husband's brother and family. There are a lot of baby swings out there, but I really enjoyed this one, and so did baby Benjamin. We keep this in our living room so I always have a place to set him when I need to do things in the kitchen/living room area.
It sings, swings, and has a shiny mirror, on the mobile, at the top that he loves to look at. He used to take his naps in this when he was newborn, and he would sleep for a couple hours at a time. It was wonderful.
Breastfeeding cover, and so much more. I love to use this around his carseat when we are going into a store or restaurant, especially if he is sleeping. It's great because it keeps the light off of him or if it's cold out it keeps him a bit warmer.
Personally, I'm a shy person, so breastfeeding in public is something I'm still getting used to. That's why I like this cover because I am able to feel covered up while feeding him, and he's comfortable eating. I'm shy with breastfeeding, but also there are too many pervs that probably want to check out the side boob, too. So I like to cover up when in public and it does just that.
My son is too little to sit in a grocery cart, but I plan on using in it the cart when he is big enough. I'm the germaphobe who runs around with hand sanitizer before I let you hold my baby, so this cover will come in handy for the germs on the carts.
Oh, this wrap! Moms, go get one! I absolutely love this wrap. After watching a video of how to wrap it, it was so easy. When I would have a hard time getting Benjamin to sleep, I would put this wrap on and put him in it, and in 5 minutes or less he would fall asleep.
One of my favorite things about this wrap is when he looks up at me in it. Oh, melt my heart why don't ya! Sometimes when I'm cooking or cleaning and I have him in the wrap, I will just stop for a few minutes and dance with him in it. He love it because he gets to be against his mama, and I love it for that reason too.
Sometimes in the store he will get fussy because he does not like his carseat, so I will put the wrap on and walk around with him in it. It keeps him from crying in the stores, which means I can spend more time doing what I need to do.
When he was almost two months, I braved the airplane with him alone. ALONE! We were going to Oregon to visit my family, so I had to figure out what I needed to do get get him and I through the airport with a stroller, carseat, carseat base, and diaper bag. The stroller worked while in the airport, but just before boarding our plane I put on the wrap and put him in it. It worked perfectly. I did have to take him out of the wrap during take-off and landing, but it was so easy to put him back in while in my seat. He slept almost the entire plane ride in the wrap, and didn't even make a peep.
Breastfeeding mama's this is a lifesaver! I know they have other types of breastfeeding pillow, but this is my favorite. As you can see it has a strap to buckle it on you while feeding baby, and it is a lifesaver.
It helps to keep you sitting up straighter, which saves your back, but it also makes it so much more comfortable to feed baby. While in the hospital I used pillows under Benjamin to get him to the right height to feed him, but the pillows kept sliding out, and were just such a nuisance.
When I feed him at night I use the pillow while sitting in bed. Again, it makes it so much easier.
Another product that I love is this little bouncy chair. I know I mentioned the swing before, but I think having 2 chairs is essential. I had said that the swing I keep in the living room, but this little chair I put in our bedroom bathroom. Obviously with a newborn and infant, you need to keep them near you at all times. So when you need to go to the bathroom or take a shower, you have this chair in their too.
It is so handy to have in there, and it's much better than having to move a chair from the living room to the bathroom daily. I tried it a couple days, and then I was done with that.
Newborns typically love the sound of running water, so ever since he was just a couple days old I would set him in the chair while I took a shower. Sometimes he would fall asleep, or sometimes he just sits there.
Now that he is almost 5 months old, he is used to sitting in it while I shower, and does not fuss while in it. It's a great training technique.
Swaddling is an art. For the first couple weeks I was using swaddling blankets to wrap him in when he slept, and I was getting pretty good at it. However, when I started using one of these swaddling pajamas, it was SO much easier, and took much less time.
I remember one night, when he was just a couple days old, he woke up with a wet diaper that soaked through his clothes, blankets, and onto the bassinet. When I went to change him and re-swaddle him, I got so frustrated because he kept moving and the swaddle kept unwrapping. I remember yelling, "Benjamin, stop!" Then in the same moment I stopped and looked at his precious little face, and remembered he wasn't just a squirming baby, he was my baby who I absolutely loved. I took a moment to soak in what had just happened, and said a quick prayer that I would not get frustrated so easily again.
Soon after, I started using the swaddle wrap you see above. So buy a few of these and save yourself some time and frustration.
I hope that this helped in some way. Being a mom can be hard and exhausting at times. There are things that can help make it a little bit easier. These products are some of those things, but nothing works quite like their smiles or when they look deep into your eyes.
What products have you found helpful during the newborn/infant stage?
If interested in purchasing any of these products, simply click on the pictures above of the product you are interested in. It will take you to where you can purchase them.