Hello Everyone! Today, I want to talk about little things that make a huge difference when it comes to my infant daughter. As a new parent, I had no clue every little thing that we would get into, but I am so happy with some of our purchases. There are thousands of "new fangle" baby products, and some of them are not practical, worth it, or just plain old junk. However, in this post, I'm sharing all of my faves and life savers!
Bibs with Snaps/Velcro
I was gifted a few bibs with strings. Since I never really grew up around babies, I thought strings were the only kind of bib around. Well, needless to say, most modern bibs have snaps or velcro, and Boy, are those 1000 times better! The strings are hard to tie if you have a squirmer, and they are also quite dangerous. If you have multiple children, or your child attends a daycare, one of their peers can pull on the strings, which may end up choking your baby or causing your baby to fall backwards. I would definitely stay away from string bibs if at all possible. My favorite are snaps. They are sturdy but not as cumbersome as velcro.
Thermometer
I had my daughter at the height of the pandemic, and people were panic buying. There were seemingly zero thermometer's available in Japan. Therefore, when we finally spotted one, we snatched it up. We have come a long way from the mercury ones that need to be left under the tongue for ages to be read with a squinted eyes, and thank goodness! We ended up with a digital thermometer that goes under the arm. It has a flexible tip and is quick reading (About 10 seconds or less). We are so thankful for the flexible tip because it's really hard getting my daughter to stay still, but we have to take her temperature at least three times a day! Nowadays there are even more high tech thermometers, like infrared thermometers. I highly recommend investing in a good thermometer, especially these days.
One Pieces
My daughter absolutely lives in one piece pajamas! Although I swoon over the cute outfits in other, more fashionably knowledgeable mothers', photographs, my daughter is absolutely happy and comfy in her one pieces. Since most newborns and young infants don't yet have strong neck or trunk support, it's just super difficult lifting the shirts over their heads or putting pants on them. One pieces are quick, one zip, and done. I love the Carter brand ones that have a zipper at the top and bottom so you don't need to take their arms out. As newborns get older, the more they protest against changing clothes and diapers, so I'm so grateful for the quick and easy one-piece's.
Bottle Drying Rack
Most of us have a drying rack, so many parents, understandably, skip buying the bottle drying racks, but mine has come in handy, especially when I was breastfeeding. One thing I honestly try to avoid is cross contamination between our (husband and I) and my daughter's eat ware. Also, nipples, bottles, bottle tops, breast pump pieces take up a lot of space, and so, it's nice to have a place for them all that I can leave them until I need them. I thought we weren't going to use it, but we've been using it every single day since she was born!
Electric Breast Pump
At first I had a manual breast pump, but when the baby came home from the NICU, the manual pump was just not practical because I always had to be with my daughter and when we weren't stuck at the hip, we were sleep. Needless to say, I had minimal time to pump, so I eventually got an electric breast pump and it was such a game changer. The electric pump is faster and you don't need two hands to operate it! I could pump and tend to my daughter, and also it cut my session time in half! if you only pump part time, maybe you can get away with a manual pump, but definitely full time, exclusively breastfeeding mothers should look into electric pumps.
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