If you know me, you know that I’m always on the lookout for anything that makes my life easier, particularly as a mom. With Anne’s infancy behind us, I think it’s time to give a few great, big shout-outs to the products that helped us through:
- Dock-a-Tot. I’m sure that I’ll get flack for this, but the dock-a-tot is the only way baby girl would sleep anywhere other than on the boppy, physically attached to me. It’s an incredible invention that makes the issue of a great, big crib full of empty space well, a non-issue.
- Pully Palz. Something that keeps your infant’s binkies within reach, even when they barely have motor control to grab them? Take my money.
- Piyo Piyo Scissors. Who in their right mind uses nail clippers on babies? Oh wait, that’s us. We did. And we cut our poop baby one too many times, so I searched for another alternative. You’d think scissors wouldn’t be the easiest option, yet they are. They are far, far superior to those old annoying, dangerous nail clippers!
- Formula canisters. If you’re neurotic like me, or just plain exhausted, having these little do-dads of pre-measured formula is glorious at 3am on your 891st waking.
- Rock-n-play. Her first four, five (okay almost six) months, she slept in this. It was impossible to get her to sleep laying down flat, and our doc said it was fine. It was especially nice because she was close to me for breastfeeding or my anxious fear that she might suddenly stop breathing. Go ahead and get yourself two of these. Carrying it up and down the stairs multiple times a day just wasn’t worth the $50.
- Sit-me-up Chair. Yes, I know there are a lot of options for infant “chairs” that give them some sort of sitting experience without the potential for falling and cracking their tiny skulls. However, nothing beat our Sit-me-up. It’s lightweight, folds up nicely, is very secure, and even doubles for a play desk.
- Laundry basket. Nope, no link on this one. Just a plain ole laundry basket, with loads of blankets. Prop up your infant in there (once she’s reasonably sitting) and you’ve got a little self-contained playpen while you vacuum or cook or do laundry or watch horrible trash TV.
- Fresh Food Feeders and Num Nums. These freaking things are amazing. The mesh allows you to stick a whole bunch of different foods in there for your little one to munch on endlessly, like apples or pears or even oranges if she’ll tolerate that. The miniature spoons? Oh my gosh, genius way to get started using utensils.
- Baby Einstein Musical Take-along Toy. When you have a child with an extremely short attention span and most toys make noise for all of three seconds, having something that plays a longer song, or at times, endlessly, can help you get some chores done without screaming.
- Anything Zoochini. Seriously. Their stuff is super cute and for whatever reason, stands up better to the washer and dryer than most anything I’ve bought.
- Stroller Fan. Okay, these are horribly made, just to let you know in advance. You’ll go through them like crazy, which seems annoying since you’re probably already cash-strapped. But, they’re awesome. They work. And they’re made of foam, so when you knock one off the stroller and some random toddler comes to pick it up, he won’t be hurt. At all. Nor would your infant. And baby stays cool despite the heat.
- Boppy. I’m adding this a year and a half later, because, a year and a half later, I still use it. It’s my daughter’s favorite pillow to lay on the couch, or the floor, or at Grandma’s house, especially to watch a movie with mom. Usually Moana. Sometimes Frozen. But always on the Boppy. Just get the regular one. It worked fine for breastfeeding. You’ll use this damn thing for years.
`O ka hali`a aloha i hiki mai 