Baby Favorites: Newborn

So I mentioned many of the things we got at our baby shower and as I catch you all up on events from the last year (coming soon! William's birth story and life with a baby), I thought I'd reflect back on items that have been essential for us! Here's a few from the early days. While every baby and parent is different, these are products and brands that worked well for us.

1. Graco glider: A friend of mine let us borrow her glider (something similar to the one linked here). I cannot tell you how much I love this thing. It does have to plug into the wall, but I don't mind because it's then automatic motion. The boy loves this thing and will instantaneously fall asleep in it now. When he was a newborn, William had horrible colic and acid reflux. This glider saved us!

2. Halo sleepsacks: Once William moved to his crib (during Christmas time), he needed to be completely swaddled to sleep even somewhat well. We had only swaddled him with a blanket when he was in our room, but he was getting too big for that so we began using the sleepsacks my friend bought us. We started out with the sacks that swaddled his arms in and moved to swaddling with his arms out. These sleepssacks were nice because you could use them either way. This fleece sleepsack was amazing during our cold winter here in VA.

3. Ingenuity moonlight rocker sleeper deluxe: I read so many comments about rock n' plays for newborns and I have to say this one has worked great for us. We used this in our room for the first two and a half months with William, and occasionally still use it if he's having a bad night. It's nice because you can take everything off and machine wash it (we definitely did a lot of laundry in the beginning before William was diagnosed with acid reflux). It also had a vibration thing that attaches (not very well) and a little light and music options. We didn't use anything else, so I don't have comparison with other sleeping options, but this has worked well. I wish it had some sort of automatic motion, but otherwise, it's good.

4. Aden + Anais swaddle blankets: I had read a lot about Aden + Anais and wasn't sure if they were really worth the money. After seeing how large and soft these blankets were though, I put some on our registry (too bad it was after our baby shower that I discovered the awesomeness that is this brand). Laurene's parents bought us a set as a gift and they are amazing! We use these blankets for EVERYTHING. It's perfect to swaddle newborns (or in our case even two-month olds!), cover a car seat, use as a burp cloth, etc. I highly recommend everything that Aden + Anais make. We have the cute giraffe set, but they have some really cute designs. I love the new "rock star" design!

5. No-scratch mittens: Newborns don't really know how to control their hands in the beginning. William was always wearing mittens those first few months because he would scratch himself (filing baby nails is ridiculous!). He still scratches himself, but it's much better now. These mittens from Babies R Us stayed on better than some others. Still not great, but they were good.

6. Nuk pacifiers: This kid loves his pacifier! Luckily now, we see that he is using it less and less on his own, but man in the beginning, William used his pacifier ALL THE TIME! We had grand ideas about not giving him a pacifier right away...out the window day 1 when he cried non-stop the ENTIRE time we were at the hospital. These happen to be William's favorite (we had others, but he never liked them). It really does depend on your baby though. I recommend having one or two of a few brands and then buy more as needed once you figure out what baby likes.

7. Mam bottles: Since William had acid reflux, I researched bottles to see if maybe the ones we were using made a difference with his spitting up and gas. In December, we started using these bottles and haven't looked back. It could have been the bottles or just coincidence, but either way, William does well with these. Plus, they are so much easier than Dr. Brown bottles to get all the parts clean. 

8. Taggies tag snuggle n stroll carrier blanket: William was born in October so it got cold while he was still a newborn. This wrap for his car seat has been amazing! We still use it now during the colder Spring months. Now that William is older, he loves the tags; and I love the little elephant. :)

9. Baby K'tan:  This wrap was another life saver during those colicky months. I never thought I'd be one to "wear" my kid, but William loves being worn. Some of those early days, I wore him for hours! He would instantly go to sleep in this wrap. Now, I still use the wrap occasionally (there are different positions you can use as the baby gets older). 

10. Boppy: So at first, I wasn't sure how much we'd use our boppy, but within a few weeks, I realized this little pillow is amazing! I exclusively pump and this pillow has allowed me to pump and keep William entertained at the same time. Now in the mornings when he gets up, I still use the boppy to feed William while I pump. I highly recommend this cover too because it has toys that attach that help keep the baby entertained.