Play-Learn-Grow-Repeat

From Monday Mom – Neetika:
As I’ve posted about before, I had major stress thinking about all of the products I needed for the baby when I was expecting her. If you are a first-time parent, the best thing you can do is rely on the advice of friends, do research on parenting websites, and read the reviews on Amazon and babies r us (Truly lifesavers! Thank goodness for random people on the Internet, who are astonishingly helpful!). However, you don’t know what stuff is going to work out for your baby. Now that I’m a few months postpartum, I thought I’d share how the gear adventure is working out for me. Without further ado, here are my new mom lifesavers, most of which I use every day:

1. Snap and Go Stroller System. Whenever you take the baby out in the car, she’s in the car seat, obviously. But very quickly, you learn how cumbersome it is to take the car seat out and carry it around. You can attach car seats to most fancy strollers with the use of an adapter, but those strollers (which you will use without the car seat once the infant can hold her head up) are usually bulky, and don’t maneuver as well with the car seat. A Snap and Go is basically a very simple stroller frame that’s lightweight and quick to add a car seat to. We leave ours in the trunk of our car and use it whenever we take Haley anywhere. It’s affordable and wonderful for this early stage.

2. Baby carrier. Lots of parents like the baby carrier as place to put the baby when they get things done. It is nice to have your hands free sometimes, but the bigger use I’ve gotten out of mine is that Haley goes to sleep within ten (screaming) minutes of being put in it. She will sleep soundly until we pull her out. It won’t take a new parent long to yearn for a no-fail sleep solution.

3. Baby chair. In our house, we have a travel swing, a rocker and a bumbo chair (which helps baby learn to sit up). I didn’t mean to be an “attachment parent” but I find myself holding Haley a lot. As in, constantly. It’s great to have the chairs in different rooms so I have a place to put her down quickly when I need to. Also, a word of advice to new parents regarding chairs: the ones that don’t soothe your baby now will work later. And vice versa. You can’t count on any of them forever, or count of them out forever!

4. Bodysuits, or “Onesies.” You may spend a lot on or receive a lot of cute outfits for the baby. But assuming it’s warm enough, your baby will basically live in these basics. Also great are sleepers. I love the ones from Carter’s and The Children’s Place.

5. Pacifier Clip. I wasn’t too keen on using pacifiers with Haley, but they serve us well doing crucial moments. What doesn’t work so well is how often they fall out of her mouth and onto the floor. When she’s screaming to have it back, and there is no soap and water around, it’s not pretty. But a simple clip that attaches to baby’s shirt solves that issue.

Good luck, new parents, on getting your stuff together! Don’t get worked up. Remember, it will be fine. And here’s a brilliant idea that I couldn’t understand when I was baby shopping—you can buy stuff after the baby comes, too. Imagine that!