Ok, so I am not including the major things like: Crib, Diaper containment unit (although for what it is worth...our Diaper Genie Elite broke after 2 months and we now have a diaper champ), car seat and stroller since those are all rather personal choices.
1. Reusable Sterilizer bags - these things are GREAT! They come in a box of 10 at T@rget and you can reuse them up to 20 times. We use them A LOT! I also left one at each grandparent home so that there is one there at all times. It is SO easy...just put some water in it, throw your items in, and microwave for 2 minutes. Then you pull it out by the cool touch edge and pour the water out the drain and open the bag and VOILA! sterilized stuff. Seriously can't live without them.
2. YoBaby spoons: Ok, I got one of these as a freebie in a packet of coupons and free stuff. When we started solid foods and cereal, I went and bought some of the normal rubber tipped spoons. After using the YoBaby spoon once and one of the rubber tipped ones...I called the YoBaby people and begged them to send me more of these. Turns out you can buy them on their website. They come in lots of 10 for like $3.00. Seriously, they are AWESOME! They are kinda flat so they are really easy to get into baby's mouth, especially at the beginning when coordinating the "open mouth, insert food, close and swallow" is hard. Kevin and I both prefer them and at 10 for $3.oo, you can't beat them!
3. Mesh feeders - there are a lot of different varieties of these. We use them alot. When I am slicing the fruit to make Rory's baby food, I usually have some little slices of peaches or apples that are kinda skimpy and so I throw them in a ziplock and put them in the freezer and then pull them out when I am trying to entertain her. Also, when she was majorly teething, the frozen fruit helped with that, and she was getting a yummy snack. We also put some table food in them when we go out of course (warning, it can be messy), but I like giving her a good wholesome piece of fruit too. She loves them too!
4. Chicco Hook On Highchair - we keep this in the car and use it ALL THE TIME now that she is a free sitter. Also, Rory and I travel a lot so it is handy when we go somewhere for a night or 2 and I don't have to worry about a highchair. We get compliments on it everytime we use it. People are amazed! Also, have you looked at the nasty high chairs in restaurants? They are gross. This thing folds flat and slides under the seat or you can detach the arms and it has a carry bag that it fits in.
5. Baby legs - I have already told you that I like these. Enough said. After the 400th diaper change where you have unsnapped and resnapped 645 snaps, you will see the need. Also, 3am is no time to be messing with a bunch of snaps. The less you have to mess with on a sleepy baby at 3am, the better. And they are cute and come in all different patterns.
6. Bath seat - we had a baby tub...I hated it, Rory hated it, it is a pain in the tushie. I got this bath seat and it is great! It folds flat and travels well. Also, it has 2 different positions so it reclined more when she was itty-bitty and sits up more for her now. Again, I hated the baby tub...with a passion. The only drawback to this is, it requries a full tub of water, unless you use it in a very deep sink. It is worth it though.
7. Baby Swing - We have the Little Lamb swing and I couldn't be happier. It goes both side to side and front to back and worked great! Some babies don't like the swing, but Rory did and it was a life saver for us. She had acid reflux so it was helpful to keep her elevated after feeding her for a half hour in order to keep her from spitting up. We just recently quit using it, when she discovered that she could lean over the edge and watch the ground go by.
9. Avent Bottles - We use both the Playtex drop ins (which I love as well) but if I had discovered these earlier, we would have just used them. Avent is genious! All of their lines are interchangable. Since we use a sippy cup sometimes, it is helpful to be able to put a sippy cup lid with spout and a set of handles on a regular bottle. You can buy extra handles, which fit on the bottles, which makes it WAY easier for her to hold on to. They are pretty pricey, but they are worth it.
10. Quick Mix Pitcher-When making tons of bottles, it is helpful to have a pitcher. This pitcher has an agitator in it that you move up and down to mix the liquid. It really helps to get the lumps out, which you wouldn't think would be that big of a deal, but once you have had one get stuck in the nipple and you have to break and very hungry baby's rhythem, to unscrew the cap, dig out the clump and then replace the top at 2am, you begin to see that anything that you can do on the front end that makes it easier at 2am, it worth it. I got the smallest one that P@mpered Chef offers. Love it.
- Ok, so I left off the Bumbo, which was really helpful, but we only used it for a short period of time since Miss Bee figured out how to arch out of that pretty fast. We still use it some times, but not a lot.
