My Top Ten Baby Items

As I said I know quite a few women expecting or that recently had babies so I have been inspired to share my top ten favorite baby items. It has always amazed me with the plethora of things they have for babies these days and yet many of us still survived. What is worse when I had my first few children I actually bought some these items that seemed like they would be wonderful and they just weren't. So now after having five babies I feel I have weeded out many of the things that were completely useless and are left with a few items that have been "must haves" for me. Unfortunately most of the items took me several children to discover which is why I thought I would share my findings.

10. Teething Necklace Can also be found Here

Now, I never had babies that were overly crabby while teething so perhaps this would not be the best thing for those that really suffer but then again maybe it would be. But I do not like to give my children chemical products of any kind so I was never big on the orajel and such. The teething toys contain many chemicals as well and always seem hard for them to hold. But the teething necklace is completely natural, can benefit them simply by having it next to their skin and looks beautiful to boot! Actually all of my children wear one most of the time even at age 9 since they are so stylish as well!

9. Cozy Cocoon Can also be found HereThis is one of the best things. They take up much less space than blankets, so much easier to use and lets be honest, only those labor and delivery nurses can do the "baby bundle wrap" so that they can't kick their way out. I swear there is some secret wrap that is only taght in nursing school. Gage always called this Brody's coconut!

8. BabyLegs Can also be found Here

Not only are these TOO cute but they have endless uses for all ages. They help keep baby's legs warm under pants, you know when you pick up your baby and their pants ride up exposing the skin between the cuff and the sock... not with babylegs on. They cushion knees while crawling. They add style when used over tights, keeps legs warm while dancing or doing gymnastics. Can be worn under short sleeve shirts... even my older kids use them for this. Gosh I think these have more uses than I can even list. All the kids love them and wear them often!

7. Dr. Bronners
Okay I have no picture, come on it's soap. I suppose I could have put up a picture of one of the kids having a bath since this is all any of us use but honestly I don't bathe my kids that often. In any case this stuff ROCKS! Anything you can clean your kitchen with, wash your kids with and brush your teeth with is a must have in my house. This is all I use for cleaner for anything in my house, living or non living. Even the most natural of baby products contain chemicals that do not benefit anyone. This is completely natural and perfectly fine if it is swallowed or absorbed through the skin. With each child I have tried to bathe my babies less and less since it is not good to wash our natural oils away but when I do I have to have something completely eatable.

6. Bouncy Seat

I think this may be the only thing I had when I had Kain that is still a must have for me. Of course I don't have any pictures of him in his. I did have a swing for my babies but I think Aubriel was the ONLY one that liked it... maybe swinging is a girl thing? So with every baby I would set it up and they would never use it. But the bouncy seat they all loved. It is perfect, you can bring it in the bathroom while you shower, you can set it on the counter when you are cooking and it can keep them from getting stepped on when you have other children running around. We actually like ours so much we keep one upstairs and down. And of course the one I happened to find a picture of is NOT our favorite, this babies or ours. We got this one thinking it would be "better" because it can be used longer (again something we learned is that just because it can be used for a longer amount of time does NOT make it better, we have found it is actually more useless) but this seat is larger and just seems to not hug the babies like the hammock style ones... like in the link.

5. Bundle Me This was the best thing for our Wisconsin winters. I had one with each baby for their infant car seat, even Kain and of course no picture. It was SO much easier than trying to stuff them into a snow suit for every outing and then try to strap them in their seat while they are completely immovable on top of that!

4. Birthing Pool

Okay this isn't exactly a "baby" product as much as a birthing product and I also did not use the fancy one listed, mine as you can see, were blow up kiddy pools (I honestly don't think the others are worth the extra money either, IMO) BUT after giving birth 5 times twice out of the water and 3 times in water I could never imagine NOT being in the water for another birth. I have spoken to some women that enjoyed laboring in water but wanted to get out to actually give birth but not me. The water helped a TON with pain management and I believe made an incredibly peaceful birth for my babies. I think every baby of mine born into the water cried so much less if at all compared to both Kain and Gage that came out screaming. I think if I had to give birth with only one item this would be the only thing I would need!

3. Cloth Diapers Can also be found Here Well of course this had to be one! Now there are many wonderful brands but I think the starbunz are by far the cutest. This is obviously going to be a huge one for me since I started a company based solely on my transition into them. This is one of those things I wish I would have tried much sooner than I did since I truly fell in love with them once I switched. Not only are they healthier, cheaper and cuter but they are so darn easy and it is wonderful to not run out of diapers. Also just today it dawned on me when Ozzye had a blow out of poop come out of his diaper that I have only experienced that a handful of times with both Bro and this would be the first time with Ozzye. Now anyone that has breastfed and used disposable diapers with their newborns knows of "blow out", when they poop and it shoots out the back of their diaper getting everything a mess. I have rarely had this with cloth! Plus why wouldn't you want to cushion your baby's bum in soft cloth rather than paper?

2. Attached Crib

I have no links for this one since it is so incredibly simple. I never planned on being a co-sleeper when I had Kain, never even gave it any thought actually until the first night we were home from the hospital and I went to bed and missed him. The first time he woke up crying that night I took him to bed with us and he simply never left. He always slept between Dave and I with my arm around him. Then with Gage I got one of those "sidecars" which was really only used to hold diapers and to catch him if he fell out since Kain was still sleeping in between us. We always had a crib and set it up in the baby's room and they rarely used it except for nap time and sometimes when I would first lay them down for the night. I remember my sister in law attaching the crib to her bed and I am not quite sure why it took me so long to join that train but I finally did with Brody and it was the BEST thing we ever did. I have never suffered from "sleepless" nights that I have heard so much about from new moms and I believe co-sleeping is why. Not only did I sleep better with my babies in bed with me but so did they, it made feedings so much easier and I believe it may have saved Aubriel's life. She stopped breathing twice as a baby and while I feel the "cause" was her vaccines (but that is a whole other story), I think having her in bed with me it what saved her life. So now with the crib attached to our bed, I can lay them down in their space if I need my own but can still have them close enough to me that I don't actually have to get up to get them and if they sleep next to me, which they do most often I don't have to worry about them falling out and the icing on the cake is I have space to keep everything I could possibly need for baby during the night! So all I do is remove the one side, zip tie it to my bed frame, push the crib mattress against ours and stuff blankets in the other side to hold it. Super easy and the BEST way to sleep with baby!

1. BabyHawk

BabyHawk wins for number one because I love their designs but honestly there are a lot of good Mei Tais out there or if you are more talented than I very easy to make. I tried a few times (as you can see in the last picture) and discovered buying was a much better option for me. I wish I would have found them sooner because I longed to wear my babies so much but never found a comfortable way to do it. I had the traditional western style baby carrier with Kain, similar to the baby Bjorn, but not only did he hate it but I did as well. So with Gage I never wore him. With Aubriel I used a simply ring sling which I enjoyed until she got a bit older. So with Brody I dove into the world of all styles of eastern baby carriers. I used slings, wraps, and various Mei Tais and I loved the Mei Tais the best. So with Ozzye I got a BabyHawk for the headrest so we could use it earlier instead of our ring sling if I wanted. Unfortunately I think I am liking it more than he is right now but he does enjoy most of the time, I am crossing my fingers it will grow on him even more since I could hardly get Brody out of it but it makes life much easier when I need my hands for chasing after toddlers or even want to be "lighter" while shopping without the bulky stroller! Sorry for the poor pictures of me, this is what happens when the only people to take pictures of you with your children ARE your children. It is going to look like Kain and Gage just got a mom at age 8!