Monday, March 10, 2014

Favorite Baby Products: Newborn Edition (Part II)

Posted by Tina / 8 comments » / Baby, Favorites, Personal, Product Reviews

1. Ergo Baby Carrier: I didn’t include this on my original post because we hadn’t really used it yet at that point. But now that we have, we know that Peyton LOVES it (which makes us love it too). I can put her in it and go for a 20 minute walk and without fail she is sleeping by the time I get back to the house. Secret Weapon! It’s super convenient (you can roll it up and throw it in your diaper bag or back seat of your car) and really comfortable to wear. Plus it’s a life saver for solo grocery shopping trips… Peyton’s car seat doesn’t securely rest in the front part of the shopping cart so I had to either put it in the big part of the shopping cart which took up all the space OR wait for hubs to be able to go with me so one of us could push her in the stroller and the other could push the cart. Obnoxious. Once I discovered that she loves the Ergo, I put her in it and have myself an empty cart and a hands free shopping experience. I pull the little shade over her and she’s out like a light by the time I finish. LOVE. Also, Hubby can wear this Baby Carrier comfortably (Side note: Nothing hotter that your hubby baby-wearing… Le Sigh.)!

2. Nosefrida Snot Sucker: I was totally grossed out when my sister in-law first told me about this product! You SUCK THE SNOT OUT OF THE BABY’S NOSE???? Yes. Yes you do. A few weeks into Peyton’s life I was FED. UP. with trying to get those boogies outta her nose using that stupid bulb syringe that they provide at the hospital. She hated it. I hated it. It just didn’t work. So I ordered this snot sucker that people were raving about. And you know what? It works SOOOO good. Plus it’s not as gross as I imagined… there is actually a filter so you don’t get any boogies anywhere near your mouth! (If this isn’t enough to convince you that you need the Snot Sucker - check out this post about how MOLD grows on the inside of those bulb syringes! GROSS & unsafe for the little peanut!)

3. Tommee Tippee Travel Bottle and Food Warmer: Awesome for on the go bottle warming. Peyton loves her bottles warm (it’a a little tough to get her to eat on the go unless the milk is warm). We took her first road trip to Orlando and I knew she’d need to eat on our way so I bought this in hopes that it would work. It seemed good in theory: You fill the canteen with boiling water and then when you are ready to warm the bottle, you pour some of the hot water into the lid part and stick the bottle in it until its to desired temperature. But would it actually keep the water warm enough for it to work? My conclusion: YES! It was fantastic! I warmed her bottle more than three hours after filling the canister and it was still PIPING hot. Like “be careful, it’ll burn you” kinda hot! Her bottle was warm in just a couple minutes! This is my secret weapon for going out during the day! I highly recommend it!

4. Oxo On-The-Go Drying Rack with Bottle Brush: Another AWESOME travel product. The brush breaks apart and it all folds up into a neat little case. Can fit nicely into a suitcase and makes scrubbing and drying bottles while on vacation easy as pie. Love it. Perfect for our frequent trips to Orlando to visit hubs’ family.

5. Oxo Bottle Brush: after loving the travel brush set so much, I was in the market for a new bottle scrubber for day to day use. Most bottle brushes have a small parts scrubber inside the handle that can be accessed by unscrewing the handle. The problem is, the one I had kept untwisting at the handle and getting stuck in the bottles while I was trying to scrub them out (absolutely annoying!!!).  I love that the OXO one has a little lever that you have to press in order to unscrew said attachment. No more scrubber heads getting stuck in the bottles! SCORE! Love this one.

6. Oxo Perfect Pull Wipes Dispenser: Peyton has had her fare share of BLOW. OUTS. After being fed up with my wipes getting stuck in their cheapo generic plastic containers while trying to do dammage control on the “situation”, I bought this in hopes that it would be the solution to my problem (“Perfect Pull” is a mightly fine claim after all). You know what? I’m totally pleased with my purchase! It has a nice wide opening and somehow dispenses my wipes flawlessly (one-handed, no less!).  OXO has done it again. I have to say, I’ve loved every one of their baby products that I’ve tried thus far.

7. JJ Cole Diaper Changing Clutch: I decided to make a little diaper changing station in my living room for quick changes throughout the day (AWESOME tip, by the way… especially if you have a 2 story home - put one one each floor!). I got a small basket and filled it with diapers, wipes, baby powder, and Butt Paste. I started out just using the changing pad that came with my diaper bag and then just transfered it back and forth when I needed to go out. After a few times of forgetting to put it back before heading out the door, I knew I needed to get one specifically for said changing station. I picked this one up one day and fell in love. It’s HUGE but folds up so flat and small. Like I’ve already mentioned before… we’ve had a few blow-out situations with Peyton and wished we had used larger changing pad (if you know what I mean!). This one gets the job done… and then some! The liner is a vinyl type material that just wipes clean with an antibacterial wipe! I loved it so much that I ditched the one that came with my diaper bag and got a second one of these! It’s fits much better in my bag and will actually fit Peyton on it as she grows!

8. Praise Baby DVD’s: Peyton LOVES these. They are a similar concept to the Baby Einstein series, but these are set to Praise and Worship music. Peyton loves music… but especially Praise and Worship music. We walk into church and she can be throwing an absolute FIT in the car and the second the music starts she calms down and falls asleep. I sang in the band at my church throughout my entire pregnancy and quickly figured out that Praise and Worship music is now soothing to Miss. P on the outside of my womb. I’m convinced that all that singing (plus daddy playing his Percussion instruments) has turned my baby into a lover of music! (YAY!) These DVD’s are awesome! We only have the Sleepy Time Lullabies one and can’t wait to add some of the others to our collection.

9. Logitech UE Mini Boom (Portable Bluetooth Speaker): This may not strike you as a “baby” product but I cannot tell you how CLUTCH this piece of equipment has been for us with this baby! I initially bought it because when I upgraded to the iPhone 5s and my old logitech speaker was no longer compatible (the connectors where totally different). I was so upset because I loved my old logitech speaker… the sound was pretty great (and crisp) and that is TOUGH to find in a portable speaker. Anyhow, I wanted to be able to play music from my phone while in the hospital so I stuck with Logitech from previous experience and ordered this weeks before my delivery hoping that the reviews were accurate. This thing is TINY… but it packs quite a punch. Don’t get me wrong, it’s no Bose speaker, but at the price point and portability, it’s about as good as you are gonna get! I LOVE this thing. I used it in the hospital after Peyton was born to play Christmas music (P was born on December 19th) . It really helped me calm down with the constant flow of in and out traffic (I had quite a bit of anxiety when P first arrived). Then with breast feeding, I would go in my room to feed Peyton since people were always over, so I’d turn on my playlist and it would calm me (and Peyton) down enough to get a good latch and stay relaxed throughout. And now I still use it ALL. THE. TIME. Bath time, for lulling her to sleep with lullabies, when company is over and I want to play something softly in the background, and just to calm Peyton down in general. Like I mentioned before… this kid LOVES music. She will be flipping out, and the only thing that will calm her down is blasting my Praise and Worship playlist. This Mini Boom has seriously been such a life saver. It’s totally worth the $89.99 price tag.

10. Wubba Nub’s: I know I kind of mentioned these when talking about the Philips Avent Paci’s… but now that Peyton is a little bigger, we LOVE these Wubba Nub’s and thought they deserved their own mention! Peyton has THREE. A lamb, a pink dog, and a duck. The lamb and pink dog are my favorite for bedtime because they have a bigger body. It’s easy to prop them up using the legs and body to keep the paci part in her mouth long enough for her to put herself to sleep at bedtime and nap time. The duck is much smaller and I like that one for in the car (I can tuck the body part into her harness without it loosening the tightness of the harness… then when it falls out of her mouth, I can reach back and find it with ease), and it’s also great for in the Ergo (the body of the duck allows me to keep her paci in place without smothering her).

11. Boppy (I prefer mine with the plush cover): I’m not sure where my brain was at when I forgot this one in my last post. I’ve been using this thing since day 1 and STILL love it to this day. It was awesome for breast feeding, and I still love it even now that I’m bottle feeding. It’s a total back saver. I use it to prop Peyton up in so I can read her books and talk to her face to face with a little incline.

And there you have it… My favorite baby products: Newborn Edition (Part II)… Check out the First Installment if you missed it!!

I’ll be back with an Infant edition (or 2) at some point since my baby with officially be in the “Infant” category in less than 2 weeks (somebody please hand me a tissue!!!!).

Note: this is NOT a sponsored post. These are products that I ACTUALLY love and use with my baby!

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