Nifty Baby Products 101

Last October, for the most part, I felt like I had became a new mom when I had my daughter. 

My parents helped raise my son who is now 9 and even though I have been in my youngest step-daughters life since she was 5 months old, I still felt like I was in a whole new world of parenting. 

Surprisingly enough, there are sooo many nifty things for babies on the market now that I don't remember finding before. I wanted to share all these nifty things I have came across and my experiences with them, what made life easier, harder and what to get and what not to waste your money on. Here we go....

I bottle fed my son formula. At 16, breastfeeding just seemed... weird. He is a happy, healthy 9 year old today and I fully support mothers who choose to formula feed as well as breastfeed. However, after some consideration and conversations regarding breastfeeding (as well as our limited finances) my husband and I agreed that we would first try breastfeeding before introducing our daughter to formula. It was new to both of us, as this would be the first breastfed baby either of us had.

Sore, so sore! First on my list if must haves, Lansinoh HPA Lanolin cream. Lifesaver, hands down. 

I was horribly sore and her latch wasn't the greatest so a nurse suggested a nipple shield, at first, WOW! What a life saver, 6 months into it, not so much...If you use one of these, attempt to wean as soon as you can. Fortunately for me, my daughter just decided one day to eat with out it and started nursing normally, perfect latch and all! 

Now that we have covered my two most useful items for breastfeeding, I need to list some things that wasted my money. Bottles. I do pump so I needed something to feed her out of. So of course trying to find a bottle that had a similar nipple so she wouldn't get nipple confusion lead me to buying like 5 different types of bottles. NOW, I have a cupboard full of useless bottles and I maybe use like 2 of them. Research bottles before you buy them to ensure you are going to get the right bottle the first go round OR find someone like me who has tried every kind and ask to borrow a few to experiment with. I find that the MAM bottles and NUK orthodontic bottles work the best for me. :)

I love these now that she is older, simple for her to hold, simple for me to wash! She seems to be OK with the orthodontic nipple on these even though she doesn't like the pacifiers with the orthodontic nipple... who knows!

Anti-Colic bottles by MAM, they are a 5 part assembly but they do work well if you have a baby that has colic.

I have used both of these bottles and they are great!

Binkis, as I like to call them or for some pacifiers. At first I thought I had wasted money in buying them because my daughter didn't have much interest in them, until of course my mom gave her one around 5 months, now we take one everywhere. I personally love the MAM brand when it comes to pacifiers. I tried the Gumdrop brand as well as some orthodontic type pacifiers and she seemed to take really well to the flat, rounded nipple that MAM offers. Win!

The MAM Original and MAM Air are two of my favorites. Super cute designs as well!! 

Also, these are the best thing ever, pacifier clips always save you the hassle of lost or dirty binkis!

Introducing solids. I wanted, first of all, organic. I wanted to be that mom. So I used my rewards from my credit card and obtained a nifty 3.5 cup KitchenAid mini food processor. It is wonderful!! If you were to buy it, you're looking at spending around $50, which isn't horrible if you enjoy cooking. Purchasing a mini food processor has a lot more uses when your child is older vs. trying to figure out what to do with your Baby Bullet later on down the road.

I started out buying organic veggies and fruits and taught myself the ins and outs of making your own baby food. I introduced her to Avocados, Apples, Bananas, Squash, Carrots, Green Beans and Mango, all organic. It got old quick though, and I figured now that she has been introduced to a good number of solids that I could venture off into the world of store bought baby food. Still organic.

I did my homework and decided to go with organic pouches. They are the greatest for traveling. They take up a lot less room too!

So far I have tried three different brands and I have no complaints and neither does my little one!

You can feed them directly out of the pouch or put it in a bowl and spoon feed. So nifty!!

Earth's Best has great flavors!

Love these, they offer some unique combinations and my little one eats them up like crazy!

Think about trying these after you have introduced basics though.

Lastly, these are great tasting too. And cute! 

**I always taste before hand just to ensure they aren't spoiled**

A few more items I have tried...

These spoons are great, the bright colors always get my lil one's attention. 

Also, Munchkin brand, these are great for teethers. I love to put ice in them and let my daughter go to town.

Lastly, this was a super awesome idea, but a waste of money for me. It has a small opening so only super smooth purees will work with it and it is a pain to clean. Also, with using food pouches it is really unnecessary. 

Bath Time!

I can't lie, when I saw the Blooming Bath for the first time, I wanted one so bad. SO, I got one. They are super cute, amazingly soft and as a four day old, my daughter took a bath in one like a champ. However, they are a pain to ring out and without proper care I assume they would start to smell sour and musty in no time. I do love it, but I wouldn't spend $40 on another one.

These however, are pretty awesome and easy to maintain.

They aren't outrageously priced either!

I could go on forever, over every little product I have bought and tried but I will end it with three products I swear by...

This got rid of diaper rash extremely fast for me. Unscented and doesn't make a mess. It is a clear ointment so it won't leave a big white mess on your babies bum!

This stuff is amazing (aside from using breast milk) to clear out a stuffy nose!

Lastly, the bubblegum flavor is the best, but the most appealing quality is the mess free bottle. You insert the syringe into the top of the medicine bottle, tip it and pull out the amount you desire! Best thing ever!!

I am sure over the next 5 months I will stumble across a few more nifty and not so nifty items for little ones, until then I hope what I have shared with you now saves you some time and money when it comes to baby products! 

Until then,

-N