Tuesday, December 13, 2011

On the First Day of Christmas...

My true love gave to me----a list of my top 25 favorite baby things...

Matt and I were talking last night about all our friends we know that are having babies and things that we would recommend that are MUST haves for the little nuggets. He said that we should make a list of “must haves” for the first month so that when anybody asks, we could gladly share it with them. Take what you want (like always)-these are just things that the Clem family cherishes most with a newborn around.

20. Oxi-Clean-A must have for any baby. This stuff gets all the poop stains out of any of Noah’s clothes in one wash, and eliminates any smell if you let the clothes sit in a bucket with oxi-clean and water if you’re in between laundry loads.


19. A&D-This stuff is great, we’ve never had a problem with diaper rash and it seems better for his little bum since it’s more of an ointment, rather than a cream/lotion. Plus when Noah was just a wee little newborn, his terror screams during changing could be halted with one whiff of A&D. He loved it.


18. Sleep sack-These little sleep sacks are great because they keep Noah super warm, they don’t have legs/feet on them so he can kick and move around, and best of all they have zippers so you have easy access for a dirty diaper.


17. Bathtub-Most people just bathe babies in a sink or some plastic bin, but Ashley Baker gave us a legit bathtub and it is great. It has a little drain on the bottom, a built in seat so Noah can recline in it and an elastic sling to hold him in there. The sling’s adjustable and hooks onto the edges of the tub so you can control how far he is in the water. Not a 100% necessity, but bathing will never be this easy without it.

16. Burp Cloths-A must have for any baby. Matt likes to take the bib and flip it up on his shoulder, but when a big spit up comes only burp cloths protect your shirt against the avalanche of white goo.


15. Cloth Diapers (for boys)-We don’t use these as diapers, but to put over Noah’s jingle bells whenever he’s being changed. Since we’ started using these, neither of us have been peed on and they seem to be just the right size to put on him without being in his face or him pulling it away.


14. No Kick Socks-Any socks without elastic to keep on baby’s foot are completely worthless. We did not know this and bought 6 pairs of socks before Noah was born that didn’t have elastic and they work better as mittens.


13. Pampers w/Line-These diapers have a yellow line that turns blue when the diaper gets wet. These are great because there isn’t any guesswork needed to see if someone peed their pants. I will say they probably sell about twice as many because the line seems to always be blue…



 
12. Backpack Diaper Bag-It’s nice to have a hands-free bag when you’re carrying a baby or a car seat. It also has two bottle holders on the side that are insulated that keep your bottles warm. It may not be the cutest thing, but it gets the jobdone. Matt also told me if I didn’t get a bag that was some sort of backpack that he would never carry it. He still doesn’t like to carry this thing often, but when he is lugging all my tons of baby supplies around, he likes having at least one bag he can sling over his shoulder.
11. Tommee Tippee Bibs-We have probably 30 different bibs, but these are definitely the best. They have a big puffy ring around the collar which prevents any milk from rolling down into Noah’s neck and getting crusty. He doesn’t really enjoy when we take a normal bib and try to dig in there for lost milk, so having this soft cushion to press in his neck crevice is awesome.


10. Onesies w/Zippers-Most onesies you find have buttons all the way down the front to both feet and when little dude is going crazy kicking, wiggling or just getting annoyed, it is super frustrating trying to snap all these buttons up and then realizing you’ve snapped all the wrong buttons together. Whenever Noah sleeps, we make sure that he’s in a sack or a onesie that has a zipper. Easy access, quick changing and it’s over quick for the little one.

9. Bestever Baby Mat (Giraffe)-We’ve named this little guy “Herbert the Giraffe” and Noah loves to hang out on Herbert. This is where Noah slept (not in our room) for the first several weeks of his life and we knew he was comfortable and safe.

8. Dekor Diaper Pail-That’s right people, we went against all convention wisdom and did not get a “Diaper Genie,” rather we got the Dekor Diaper Pail and it is amazing. I can’t knock the Diaper Genie, but we read better reviews for this one and the refill bags were a little bit cheaper. Our tiny apartment would smell terrible if it weren’t for this thing, and it is extremely easy to change out the bags. The best part is that the refill bag is just one continuous bag, not like a trash bag, so you can just pull it as far or short as you need, cut it and tie it off for the next round of poo bombs.


7. Bottle Sterilizer-We didn’t even register for one of these and Matt’s mom got it for us; boy are we glad she did. It saves so much time just washing bottles out and tossing them in this thing. It’s also great to throw pacifiers, straws or any other random item we need sanitized in there. It also barely uses any water at all and doesn’t require a lot of maintenance to keep it clean.


6. Glider-Babies love to be rocked and it’s the most comfortable chair in the house. The gliding ottoman is crucial as well. Literally if we didn’t have this chair I don’t know what we’d do.


5. Car Seat/Stroller System-You wouldn’t think something like this would be that important, but when you go anywhere, it is so convenient to have a car seat that drops right into the stroller without having to move Noah at all.


4. Little Tummies- this is a miracle worker. Any sign of stomach ache- we give Noah a drop of this and he is almost instantly feeling better. The tears stop and the smiles come.




3. Dr. Brown's Slow Flow Bottles- these have helped with all the colic type symptoms Noah would get after chugging a bottle. This boy loves to eat and eats at a rapid pace. These bottles help slow down the flow so that he isn't gulping ounces at a time. We really recommend the 8 oz. size. He eats about 3-5 ounces a bottle, so the small ones juts don't do.

2. Swaddle blankets- Noah cannot sleep for long periods of time without them. We at first would just try to put him down with nothing, but when he would get startled, he'd lift his hands and wake himself up. With swaddling, he sleeps so much better. Praise the Lord! We actually had a four and a half hour sleep time followed by a 3 hour sleep time last night. I really give swaddling most of the credit.


1. Soothies- Thank you Whitney McNab. She gave us four of these and they are by far his favorite pacifier. We strategically place them around the house, so we can grab them when fussypants makes an appearance. These are the type they give out at the hospital, and they SERIOUSLY are miracle workers.



Peace, Love & Consumer Reports,

Natalie


 

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