Whilst I
was pregnant I spent a lot of time
trawling through pages and pages of blogs in the search of some guidance on
what to buy for our tiny little baby. I mean,
how do you know where to start?
There are several hundred brands of bottles,
prams, nappies, wipes, you name it, they sell it! So how do you know what the
right product is for you?
Here are our favorite products that made
parenting just that little bit easier!
Tommee Tippee
Perfect Prep Machine
This
product is probably Chris and I’s favorite baby purchase (and there have been a lot!) After one night of tedious
bottle making with fresh, boiling water and a tiny, hungry, screaming newborn
baby we bought the Perfect Prep Machine and haven’t looked back since. We certainly
couldn’t be without it now, and even take it with us when we visit Chris’s
parents for the weekend!
The prep
machine allows you to quickly prepare a fresh bottle of milk in under two
minutes, and within the current formula feeding guidelines so you know that you’ll
always be giving your baby a safe bottle. The prep machine releases a “hot shot”
of water that kills any bacteria that may be in the formula power, and then
tops the bottle up with warm temperature water – perfect for our little one’s
sensitive mouths. It allows you to make bottles between 4oz and 11oz so we will
definitely get our moneys use out of it.
We
bought the machine in the limited edition black colour, available from Amazon.
It is very stylish, almost a coffee machine for babies! It seamlessly fits in
kitchen appliances due to its colour but we currently have it set up in
Florence’s nursery for ease during night feeds.
The
Tommee Tippee Perfect Prep Machine is an ingenious creation that takes away the
troubles of feeding on demand, and one that every bottle feeding parent should
own.
Tommee Tippee Perfect Prep Machine - Amazon - £74.99
Tommee Tippee Milk
Feeding Bibs
If I had
known about these bibs before Florence was born then I wouldn’t have bought any
other! The padded roll neck design means that any milk or sick is quickly
absorbed into the bib before it reaches the baby’s skin or clothes, and the Velcro
fastening ensures a snug fit around the baby’s neck. The material is super-soft
and durable, and they wash and iron excellently. I have already bought another two packs
of these bibs and will certainly buy more when the time comes.
Tranquil Turtle
Chris
really wanted to buy Florence a product that projected stars (or something
similar) onto the ceiling, and when we saw the Tranquil Turtle in Mamas and
Papas it was a must buy. The turtle has two musical settings; an underwater sound and a wave/white noise
sound, both of which are incredibly relaxing for babies and adults alike! The
turtle also projects gentle waves onto the ceiling, turning any nursery into a peaceful
underwater scene. Florence absolutely loves this product and it really helps
her to peacefully fall asleep at night. It has taught Florence how to differentiate
between day time and night time – we use the Turtle during her last feed before
bed time and then for each night feed, but never during the day. This way she
understands that when the turtle is being used it is time for bed, and when it
isn’t being used it is time for play. The Tranquil Turtle is also a great
sensory toy because of the light projection. Florence really opens her eyes to
look at the wave pattern and tends to stare at it for the entire 23 minute timer
cycle. We have used this product from birth to create a relaxing night time
environment for Florence.
Muslins
These
are an absolute baby must have. As many as you can get your hands on – buy buy
buy!!! We use these for absolutely everything; burping, mopping up sick, laying
in the moses basket if Florence is sicky, laying on public changing units, and
to shade Florence from the sun. You can usually buy large multipacks of muslins
from places such as Mother Care, Tescos, Primark. It really doesn’t matter on
the colour and design, just stock up because they really are a parenting life
saver and you can never have too many!
Vests
A little
like Muslins – you can never have too many, especially when your baby has a
habit of wee’ing every time you take their nappy off!!! I wouldn’t even be able
to tell you how many vests Florence has, and I certainly didn’t stick to the
whole “7 sleepsuits and 7 vests” rule, I mean, who even wrote that anyway?! Apart
from vests that came as part of an outfit most of Florence’s vests are plain
white. This makes it easier to wash them altogether without putting loads of
different washes on. One thing I have learnt since Florence was born is to keep
everything simple to make life easier! Florence’s vests are from the Tesco
clothing brand, F&F. They are super cheap at £2.75 for a 3 pack but please
don’t be put off by price – they are well made, very soft, and they wash and
iron beautifully each time (yes, I do iron all of her clothes...!!!) When the
time comes to put Florence in 0-3 clothes I will certainly be stocking up on
F&F vests.
Cellular Blankets
I wish I had listened when somebody told me
that no amount of blankets is enough! We bought two of these small cellular
blankets from Mothercare before Florence was born, and 2 days after she was
born I went out to buy even more! They have so many uses such as; layering at
nap time, keeping warm in the car seat and pram, swaddling and laying on cold
public changing units. She also has heavier blankets but these smaller ones are
so handy to have, I always keep an extra in my changing bag!
Pampers New Baby
Choosing
what brand of nappy to buy was probably the thing that I found the most
confusing.
There
are so many types to decide from...popular
brands such as Pampers and Huggies, and supermarket brands. There’s also the
sizing issue to figure out. Do I chose size 1 or size 2?
After comparing
different brands of nappies Chris and I decided to choose Pampers New Baby. They
have features such as an ‘absorb-away’ layer which draws the moisture away from
your baby’s skin to keep them dry, a navel shaped fit designed to sit
comfortably around your baby’s belly button, and a wetness indicator which was
the winning factor for us. When your baby has a wet nappy, the wetness
indicator changes colour from yellow to blue, making it easy to identify when to
change your baby, especially useful during those night feeds when your baby is
screaming for their milk!
The cheapest place we have found to purchase Pamper
New Baby Nappies is Amazon. We actually have an Amazon Family Prime account
which makes a months worth of nappies £23 – an absolute bargain!!!
Regarding
size, we originally bought Size 1 to start us off with. Florence was only 6lb
10oz when she was born and we found that Size 1 absolutely swamped her so Chris
went and bought her some micro baby nappies (bless!) Florence moved into Size 1
nappies at around 1 week old. We started putting Florence into size 2 nappies this week, she is now 8 weeks olds and weighs a little over 10lbs,
We have
found these nappies very reliable. They have only leaked once and that was due
to a very explosive nappy. Touch wood,
Florence hasn’t suffered from any Nappy Rash.
Maxi-Cosi FamilyFix Car Seat Base
This
product may seem expensive but it is worth its weight in gold. It makes car
journeys so much easier. Goodbye to the days of trying to install the car seat
using the seat belt, struggling to make the seat belt stretch over the car seat
whilst dealing with the freezing cold weather
and a tiny baby. This base is compatible with our car seat, the Maxi-Cosi
Pebble.
The
reason Chris and I chose this base over the others that are available is due to
its light and sound safety feature that rules out any incorrect fitting. The
base has three lights that should be lit green to symbolise the correct
installation: the first is to show that the arms are connected to the IsoFix
points correctly, the second is to show that the leg of the base is touching
the floor of the car, and the third is to show that the car seat is clipped in
correctly. If part of the installation isn’t correct the base with display a
red light and beep to notify you. The second reason we chose the Maxi-Cosi
Family Fix base is because it is compatible with the next group of Maxi-Cosi
car seats, meaning we shouldn’t have to purchase another base as Florence
grows.
This is
a 2 in 1 monitor as it can detect your baby’s movement and sound. I can’t
comment on this product as a whole because we haven’t set up the under mattress
sensory pad because Florence is in our bedroom. The full colour screen displays
the room temperature, a sound bar and the battery level. The most useful
feature that we have found with this monitor is the nightlight on the Nursery
Unit. It provides a soft light to allow us to check on Florence and change her
nappy during the night without disturbing her too much.
The
monitor is easy to set up and provides us with peace of mind when we aren’t in
the bedroom whilst Florence sleeps.
Tommee Tippee Sangenic Nappy
Disposal System
There’s
nothing worse dirty nappies laying around the house waiting for the next weekly
bin collection day. Nappy bags are useful when you’re out of the house, but in
my opinion they don’t lock in the smell very well. The Tommee Tippee Sangenic
Nappy Disposal System allows you to conveniently and hygienically dispose of
nappies whilst remaining odour, germs, and mess free. The unit is small,
compact, and easy to you. You simply pop the used nappy into the disposal
system and twist the handle to seal the film, ready for the next use. The
downfall to the unit being small is that it only holds around 28 nappies which
isn’t many in the life of a newborn!
I agree with all of these!! Especially the monitor and the car seat base! great list xxx
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