My Everyday Baby Items
A little while ago I wrote about my newborn must-have’s to help expecting moms get organized with the things they actually need in those first few weeks of newborn life. But now that that Lil is over 4 months old (how the heck did that happen?!) I wanted to talk about the items that we use on a day to day basis. Some of these things we used from day 1 (like the bucket and stroller) and others we had to wait for her to be big enough.
If you are looking to put together a registry, I would suggest combining this list with the newborn must have’s and you will be all set!
Based on all of my friends recommendations, we went with the Nuna Pipa bucket seat. We got it from West Coast Kids and also had the base installed by them. I love the bucket because it is super easy to click in and out of the car, is obviously super safe and was compatible with our stroller by using the adapters. Best part about it is the sun shade that pulls down and attaches with magnets.
We went with the Bugaboo Fox and love it. It is very smooth to drive and the wheels are sturdy and massive which will be perfect for the inevitable Toronto winters. For the first 3 months, we used the bassinet to take Lily on walks. I loved that she would fall asleep in it and then I could just transfer the bassinet inside and she would stay sleeping because we wouldn’t have to take her out. Now we use our bucket on the stroller base but will be transitioning her to the Bugaboo seat shortly.
We started with the K’tan which I loved because she would curl up and sleep on my chest in it for hours. Literally heaven. But now that she’s a chunkster I need a lot more support so we went with the Ergo Omni 360. It offers great back support and now she also loves to face out in it and see the world. I never really used the infant insert but I do use the little pillow that comes with the infant insert when she faces out.
If it weren’t for this mobile, I would still be in my spit-up-stained pyjamas from August. Even before Lily was sleeping in her crib, one of my friends told me to put her down in it with this mobile on to give myself a few minutes in the morning. And they weren’t joking! I could probably leave her in there for 30 minutes straight. She is obsessed with the critters and she also talks to them. It’s the cutest thing ever. I take it down when she sleeps then put it back up in the morning so I can get ready.
White noise for the win! This helps Lily sleep at night and nap during the day. It’s soothing for her but it also blocks out all the noise from our creaky old house and the cars and construction outside her room!
We went with the Motorola MBP845CONNECT 5″ Video Baby Monitor with Wi-Fi. It connects to your phone too but I think it still needs to be on wifi so you can’t get too far? I know there are some apps you can get to watch when you’re not actually there but we haven’t explored that yet…I think it would drive me crazy. The camera and sound quality are amazing. I wouldn’t have been able to transition her to the crib without using the monitor because I liked to watch her breath at the beginning. You’re laughing now but you’ll know what I mean one day.
7. Fisher Price Piano Activity Mat
If you thought you could get away with a neutral white or grey activity mat that matches your living room decor and still entertains your child…think again. They want bright, loud and annoying AF. They basically want this activity mat, AKA my life saver. I don’t know what it is about this thing, but I could legitimately leave Lily on this for an hour and walk away. Byyyye. We went with the pink one (obvs) but they have a couple other options (like bright blue or orange). To be honest, the songs are kind of legit which is good because they will be stuck in your head forever. So if you need to eat, go to the bathroom or check Instagram…get this mat. Then thank me later.
I personally don’t think you can go wrong with any simple, leather black knapsack. You’ll quickly see that every trendy diaper bag is basically some variation of that. We chose the Skip Hop Greenwich bag thanks to everyone’s suggestions on Instagram. It has a small side pocket where I throw in a dirty diaper (I’m not even sure if that’s what it’s for?) and it also comes with a very thin change mat which is awesome because you don’t need to buy a separate one.
A diaper genie always reminds me of the Sex and the City episode where Carrie thinks it’s a man you hire to come take away all the diapers – so good!! But this is basically the next best thing. It’s a garbage pail for diapers that is sleek, white, doesn’t take up a lot of space and most importantly masks any odours. It’s also super easy to use and change so even I can figure it out!
I hope this was helpful. As Lil grows and we start to transition to new products, I will keep you updated and put together some more items we can’t live without!
xoxo