Baby Necessities

I've seen a few other mama's out there do a list of things they found they just couldn't live without once baby came along. I know it helped me quite a bit... especially when I was putting together our registry. So here I thought I'd add a little bit of my two cents! Feel free to add to this in the comments, I'd love to hear what genius products you've found!

First and foremost ~ The Itzbeen Timer! This thing is pretty much attached to my hip at all times and I've made it my life's mission to make sure all new mom's know about this. You can check it out my clicking on the link, but basically, it's a simple little gadget that helps you keep track of how long "itzbeen" since your baby last ate, had a diaper changed, since they've slept or have been sleeping, and then a miscellaneous button you can use for whatever. I use it for pumping for instance. If they're sick you can use it for medications. You could also set timers.. so if you needed to give meds every 4 hours or so.. you can set a timer to last however long you want it for. It also has a little Left and Right switch if you are breast feeding to remember which tata you left off on. TRUST ME.. you will not remember these things on your own! You can find this at Target or BRU for just around $20.

Speaking of pumping... my little monkey never did take to me, so I've been pumping constantly for the last 7 weeks. Yeah.. it's about as fun and convenient as it sounds. But I have found a pump that I really like that isn't as expensive as the Medela and Ameda brands. I can't speak for those two.. so I don't really know for sure what I'm missing out on, but I have tried a Playtex brand that was more expensive than mine and I like mine much much better. So.. if you're thinking about buying a pump and you want to spend about $140 instead of $300, the Lansinoh pump is wonderful! It's much quieter than the other one I tried, easier to clean (which you have to do after every pump), and expresses more milk. Winner in my book! Plus, their customer service rocks. I did have a problem with the base this week. When I called them, they asked if I was a strictly pumping mom and since I was they sent a new one out to me immediately.. I had it the next day. KEEP YOUR RECEIPTS!

Baby Einstein music! If you're only planning on listening to it in the home, don't bother buying the cd's. Get onto the Pandora website and search for it. It's a great station, it's FREE, and keeps Andrew entertained for quite a while. He loves it!

Swaddle Blankets (any brand as far as I know)! We weren't planning on buying any, but when we realized we had a ninja for a baby, we went ahead and got some. My husband is an expert swaddler. He would wrap him up as tight as could be but within 3 minutes, Andrew would have his feet and arms out wailing all over the place and wouldn't stay asleep. Swaddle blankets.. problem solved!

Pampers Swaddlers diapers and wipes. We've found these to be the best and have tried them ALL! He seemed to have much more leaks with Luvs and Huggies and the Parents Choice brand from Walmart was just cruel to put on his little hiney! Not such a good material and not worth the money you save. Huggies wipes were too coarse in my opinion and took more to clean up the mess!

That's all I can think of for now! I hope this helps some of you :)