Show Us Your Life- Baby Gear

I was excited to see that this week at Kelly's Korner she is doing Show Us Your Life- Baby Gear. Having a little guy who just turned 3 and an almost 5 month old I have tried lots of different baby gear. I've found it is so true that what works for one baby may or may not work for the other. My two kiddos have liked some of the same things and some different things. Here's the list I came up with:

Miracle Blanket- a MUST have! I was not a good swaddler with my now 3 year old and he did not sleep well for a very long time. He actually had to be held to sleep which you can imagine was slightly inconvenient. I read about the Miracle Blanket on MckMama's blog before we had our little girl and it is amazing! It is very easy to swaddle with and I like that it has extra flaps for the arms and no velcro, zippers, or buttons. I quickly found that you will need at least two of these because you won't want to be without one when one is in the washer. My little girl sleeps so well and has right from the start. Even if your husband protests and says it's like a straight jacket, use it anyway! :) Most babies love to be swaddled.

Swing- We have this Fisher Price swing which I think has been replaced with the Rainforest series but it's the same swing just a different pattern. Both our kiddos have loved this swing. It can swing two different ways and both our kids have liked the fish mobile and the music features that it has. Our little man actually slept in the swing for a few months which I know is not recommended but sometimes you just have to do what works when it comes to sleep. We bought a set of rechargeable batteries which I strongly recommend!




Graco Travel System- We actually did not buy a gender neutral travel system with our first so we splurged and bought a second travel system for our little girl. I have the car seat and stroller pictures separate and we actually bought this particular car seat and stroller separately but they snap together as a nice set for walks, shopping, etc. The Graco strollers have 3 cup holders and a big storage basket underneath which is great for shopping bags, your purse, and the diaper bag.




Bassinet- Our little girl is almost 5 months and is about to outgrow her bassinet which makes me very sad. I have loved having a bassinet for her. We keep it right beside our bed which is great for nursing. We tried the Graco Pack N Play with the built-in bassinet feature with our little man and he would not sleep in it. I used it for a long time as a diaper changing table but that's about all the use we got out of it. This bassinet though our little girl has slept in right from the start. I've stored diapers and wipes and sometimes extra outfits in the basket underneath.

This is the bathtub we got as a shower gift with our son and I am using it with our little girl too. It has a net that hooks on to use when they are newborns and then it transitions to a bigger tub when the baby is a little bit bigger.

Boppy- We have two boppys now and I use them ALL the time when nursing. It is great to help hold the baby and keep them in a good position. This is another place we splurged and bought a girly one with our second. I recommend them to any new mom.

Car Seat- Matches our stroller to make a travel system by Graco.

Diaper Caddy- This is definitely not an "essential" but for the short time I had two in diapers it was so nice to be able to keep both sizes of diapers, wipes, diaper rash cream, and even baby q-tips and nail clippers in the drawer part. It's also really easy to just grab it and go if you're running errands or going to grandma's house so that you have all your essentials with you in the car.

Jumperoo- Our son loved his jumperoo. We would play music and he would bounce and bounce and laugh and laugh. We have it out again for our daughter and our son is always trying to climb in there! I should have posted a picture of his big self sitting in it the other day. Too funny. This one has a lot of neat features, plays music, etc. We've put our daughter in it once or twice but she might need to be a little older before she really likes it, maybe 5 or 6 months.

Medela Pump N Style- This is such a good investment for a working Mom. It's a dual pump which makes pumping at work so much quicker. This must be a newer model than the one I have but it's similar. They are around $300 but worth every penny. I bought mine with my son and used it at work for 7 or 8 months and I am using it again with my daughter with no problems.

Medela Vehicle Lighter Adapter- It might seem like something you would never use but you might be surprised. I have to be out of the office at times for work for maybe a full day in Court or something and this is great to have if you need to pump in your vehicle. Just use your nursing cover and it's pretty inconspicuous. It's not the easiest thing in the world to do but it can be done when necessary.

Nursing Cover- For obvious reasons, you will want a nursing cover. I got mine at Target in a pink and brown version of the one pictured below for only maybe 14.99. There are so many to choose from and lots of them are more expensive but this one has worked great for me.

Playmat- We got this playmat as a shower gift with our son and he didn't really get much use out of it. He was not a fan of tummy time and preferred to be held most of the time until he was five or six months old. This is one thing that my daughter loves though. She's very content to lay here and look in the mirror or grab at the animals hanging above her.

Bouncy Seat- This has been a lifesaver with both our kids. It is something you can put them in from day one and ours plays music and has a vibration feature. It's great for when you need to make dinner or take a shower or just can't hold your baby for a minute. Both of our kiddos have really liked the bouncy seat. This one was less than $30 if I remember right so it has been great especially for that price. I couldn't find a picture of this one online so this is ours with a happy girl eating rice cereal sitting in it.

Other thoughts: We've used MAM pacifiers (and yes the pacifier straps are great to have too!), Dr. Brown's bottles (pain to clean but no problems with leaking), Pampers Swaddlers (then Cruisers) and Pampers wipes for both kids. Things we used with our son but haven't with our daughter are the Diaper Champ and the Wipes Warmer. I liked the Diaper Champ because you could use regular garbage bags and not the expensive refills you need with the Diaper Genie but we just don't use it this time. It's just as easy to throw them in the garbage can in the garage. I used a wipes warmer for a long time with our son but haven't really used it with our daughter. She doesn't seem to mind the cold wipes and the warmer was nice but it did seem to dry out the wipes at the bottom.