I'm often asked by a new mother what my favorite must have items are for a new baby so I thought I would compile a little list of what we found useful in our home. Keep in mind these are the items that worked well for us and might not be necessary in your home.


1. The itzbeen timer worked beautifully for me. It's basically 4 timers you can set and reset when you are nursing or feeding your child, change a diaper, give medicine, take medicine for yourself, sleep patterns and such. It has a slider to help you remember what side  you last nursed on. It has a nightlight at the top you can press when you need to check on baby or walk down the dark hall. All in all this was a handy little gadget.

Itzbeen timer
2. I know I said this is a list of items that worked best in our home but I'm gonna be honest with this one...I believe this is the ONLY swaddle blanket that works miracles. There's just something about it. I can almost promise you that your little ninja infant cannot break out of this swaddle if done correctly.

The Miracle Blanket

3. We started off with a travel system and found that we were very limited with the terrain it could cover with ease. I also used a jogger when I ran at the park and found that having two strollers in tow was a bit much. We felt like we were limited by both until we found the Bob Revolution. The front wheel swivels, which is helpful when just walking around, you can then lock the wheel in place for running. It also has an Infant car seat adapter attachment so you can use it as a travel system as well as a jogger. It's extremely light weight and pushes with ease,as in one finger can control it. They have a remarkable warranty and they stand behind their product and the materials used.
It's a bit pricey but if your active and plan on having a few babies I would say it's worth the investment. When we bought it we decided to go ahead and buy the double stroller ....good thing :)

Bob Revolution




4. We did a lot of research and found that Britax consistently held first place in safety standards. We chose this seat that can be installed rear facing as well as forward facing. It's definitely on the bulky side and I'd be hesitant to say this is the best model for a sedan but it works in our mid-size SUV.
When we purchase again I know we will go with Britax but we might buy one without the side-impact protection for space reasons.
Oh...btw...when Little Miss falls asleep her head has never slumped forward in this seat.

Britax car seat

5. This was a miracle worker. It swings side to side or back and forth. Little Miss couldn't keep her eyes open longer than 5 seconds when we placed her in this swing. Many meals were made in the early days while she took a little nap in this swing. When she got bigger she loved to watch a Baby Einstein video while swinging.
Craddle Swing

6. This rice bag was a charmer as well. When Little Miss got cranky in the evenings due to gas this warm bag of rice seemed to soothe her little ache.

Belly Bag

7. Rice bag + Gripe Water = Happy Baby

Gripe Water
8. This cd is very soothing to the ears of a baby. We still have it in our cd player in the car and it instantly calms her down when she is tired and we are traveling. Matt and I found ourselves playing it even when we didn't have a baby in the car.

Praise Baby Collection


 9. We appreciated the peace of mind a video monitor provides. We loved being able to check on her from our bed. We live in an old house with creaky floors and loud doors so we are very likely to wake a sleeping baby when we check on them often. I also enjoyed being able to be outside working in the flower beds and being able to check on her.
Our camera went out about a year after we had it, I called the company and they sent me a brand new one...no questions asked.
*Piece of advice- keep the box to everything! Like with this monitor, I no longer had the receipt but I had the box stored in the closet and that's what helped me to get a new one. It seems as though many products break before they should and if you keep the box you are much more likely to get a replacement than without. 

Video Monitor


10. We didn't have a  Moby wrap but I'm feeling like I need one. Any Moby wrap users have an opinion you would like to share?
Moby Wrap