Another post I've intended to write up for a while -- here goes.
The No. 1 baby item that I am in love with right now is The Happiest Baby on the Block. Isaac has been a great night sleeper almost since we brought him home from the hospital, but he was getting fussy at times and keeping himself awake with all his flailing lately (still working on that thumb project). One of the mothers in the moms' group I recently crashed mentioned this book, and I bought it last Sunday. The author has a five-step process for getting babies to sleep, and the first step is swaddling. Isaac hasn't been a fan of being swaddled (as I had predicted), so when we've wrapped him in blankets, we've mostly let his arms go free, so I wasn't really buying into all of that. Then the other night, he was waking himself up nearly every hour and a half trying to get his hands in his mouth, and he was getting so mad that he was grinding his face into the sheet. Not good. The next night I figured, what the heck. Let's try it. So, despite his protests, I swaddled up his arms, and he freaked, but I launched right into the next steps, shushing, swinging, putting him on his side (on the Boppy on my lap) and letting him suck (this time on a pacifier, but bottle or boob work, too). He stopped fighting it, whimpered a couple of times, and then passed out. And slept for nearly nine hours! So I've been doing this nightly since then, and he has slept so well. When Judah got home (after being in North Carolina for almost two weeks), he had the bright idea of trying the swaddling at naptime, since Isaac was pretty much only sleeping on me during the day. He still doesn't take long naps, but he has taken a couple of naps in the past few days. Hallelujah!
Adiri Natural Nurser: Unfortunately, breastfeeding has not gone that smoothly with me and the little guy, though it's not his fault at all. He has a killer latch, but my supply hasn't ever really come in, despite my best efforts. We're still hanging in and nursing several times a day, but hardly any meal is just breastmilk. That's OK, though. You do what you can do, right? Anyway, we started supplementing with formula in the hospital on the second night because he had lost a ton of weight, and even with pumping, I wasn't producing more than a couple of drops of colostrum, and he was clearly starving. For the first several days, we were supplementing with a 20 mL syringe, and it was such a pain. Then my friend Kit brought over this bottle, and it saved the day. It's made to mimic the breast as much as possible -- the baby has to work almost as hard to get the milk out, so they don't get spoiled and start turning down the breast, and it's free of all those bad plastic chemicals. We have several now and love them. It's also supposed to help moms who have been exclusively breastfeeding and are trying unsuccessfully to get their babies to take a bottle, but that wasn't our situation, so I don't know how it works in that case. (By the way, the Adiris fit in the Skip Hop insulated bottle holders.)
Aden and Anais muslin blankets: We originally bought these for swaddling, but then we weren't swaddling Isaac. Still, we use them all the time -- they are great, especially for summer babies because they are made of breathable muslin. I've used them to create extra shade in the carseat or stroller, for burp cloths when I forget one, to wrap him up when he's got a chill, on the floor to create a play space (or great photo background), and they are large enough to be used as playpen sheets, too. Also, we've started using them again for their original purpose, swaddling, and their size makes it so easy. Plus, they are darned cute. They apparently make thicker blankets for cooler climates and towels and washcloths, too, but I haven't tried those out.
Trumpette Johnny Socks: I registered for these on a whim because I thought they were cute. I'd been ogling the Mary Jane ones for girls for ages but figured I wouldn't inflict those on Isaac. I got the Johnny socks as a gift, and not only are they super adorable since they look like hightop sneakers, but it also turned out that they fit and stayed on better than any other socks we have. Love!
Angelcare Movement Sensor with Baby Monitor: My friend Belle got this monitor for us because she found it so useful. It transmits the sound from the nursery, and it also has a sensor that goes under the mattress and sounds an alarm if Isaac doesn't move for too long. We've had the alarm go off a few times unnecessarily (though that's gotten better since we readjusted the sensitivity), but the peace of mind is really great. Thanks, Belle!
Fisher-Price Papasan Swing: My friend Chris got this swing as a hand-me-down and passed it on to me when her daughter Hannah got too big for it. Isaac doesn't always love it, but the days he is in the mood for it, it's a godsend because he will nap in it! Many days I have been able to bathe only because we have this swing.
Baby Bjorn Air Carrier: Kit also gave us this carrier, and I am so glad. I have another sling, but thus far, it hasn't worked out for us. Isaac doesn't like being in it unless he is already asleep, and it KILLS my back. This, however, has been a lifesaver and allowed me to do grocery shopping and Target shopping and take a couple of walks. I know we'll be using it for months to come, too.
Inglesina Zippy Bassinet: I kind of jumped the gun on our stroller purchase back in January, but that's OK. I think it's going to work out just fine once Isaac is old enough to fit into it. I did end up purchasing the bassinet attachment (on closeout!) just before he was born, and I'm so glad. Our original plan was to have our Pack N Play in our room, but we set it up on the middle floor instead because I could not move around very much when I first got home, and it was much better to have it on the same floor as the kitchen and a bathroom. So for the first couple of weeks, Isaac slept in the bassinet, which we kept right next to the bed. It was so nice to have him so close, especially since my movements were so limited at first. And though he hasn't slept in it much since then, I take him out on walks in it fairly regularly. I even took the bassinet to Emily's son Henry's birthday party so he could sleep in it. That didn't quite work out as planned, but he still chilled out in it quite a bit. Most of the time, though, we use the Graco SnugRide Stroller Frame with his carseat snapped into it, and that thing also ROCKS!
Swaddleaze Sleep Sacks: Judah bought two of these before Isaac was born, and we hadn't used them because they were still pretty big, but I tried them out the first night of swaddling a la Happiest Baby, and they are great.
Diaper Champ: I got this as a shower gift, too, and it rules. Keeps the smell down, easy to use, and takes regular old garbage bags.
Newborn gowns: For his first several weeks, on the suggestion of my friend Michelle, Isaac lived in these. Easy to get to the diaper, and they had foldover pockets on the sleeves to cover his hands and keep him from scratching himself. We had ones from the Gap, Carters and Circo, and they all worked just great.
Other random things: Of course, we love the Pack N Play. We've tried out a few kinds and are liking Pampers BabyDry diapers the best, along with Costco brand wipes. Gone back and forth on types of formula, but we're now sticking with Enfamil since it dissolves so much better (plus the pediatrician said it was a little better). We have a few kind of pacifiers at the moment, and my favorite is the Gumdrop. Isaac doesn't seem to care much, but I like that it's one piece, that it doesn't run into his nose like the Soothie and since it doesn't have a handle, he doesn't accidentally grab it out of his mouth as often. For distraction (and learning!), Isaac has been liking his TinyLove Mobile and Baby Einstein Activity Mat.
That's all I can remember right now, but I wanted to share. (And note: This isn't everything that we use and love, so if something you gave us isn't here, that doesn't mean it's not been wonderful and helpful!)


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