Newborn Essentials

The sea of baby products are overwhelming. At least for me anyway.  There are the things I’d never heard of like the bumbo, there are my shamelessly wasteful designer purchases like the juicy couture binky or the stylized Small Paul beanie. {Sigh} It’s amazing how much one little person needs.  As I speed out of newborn months (0-3), I want to pay tribute to my favorite products.

BEST CLOTHING BASIC

Gerber “Mitten-cuff” onesies

Truly glorious.  Especially if you have a winter baby, keeps them toasty.  Light weight breathable cotton with fold-over-hand protective sleeves helped this nervous mom during the early weeks when I was too chickensh*t  to cut his little nails with nail clippers.  Little did I know how sought after these garments were. It became a quest. I was obsessed. Onesies…M.I.T.T.E.N. C.U.F.F.S…O.n.e.s.i.e.s { 8-I <–my low-budget zombie animation } I was driving around like a crazy woman looking for these things.  Ahh-h the lengths one will go for the one they love. Stock up when you find these.

BEST AVANT-GARDE NUTRITIONAL PRODUCT

BioGaia Probiotics

Probiotic means “for life.”  Probiotics are health fortifying, natural active cultures loaded with Lactobacillus for a healthy tummy immune system. This liquid form is expensive versus the powder probiotics.  Powder probiotics however, have a tendency to change the consistency of formula or breast milk by becoming too thick when added.  Liquid on the other hand blends nicely and does not affect the consistency or taste.  My little guy had a very sensitive tummy in the early months of his life.  When I needed to supplement with formula from time-to-time I added a few drops to help aid digestion. Product shipping is interesting, probiotics arrive chilled in a mini-cooler to protect the integrity of the live cultures.

MY FAVORITE DESIGNER ITEM

Juicy Couture Binkies made in Germany, BPA Free. Luxury splurge, but I love them.

MY FAVORITE NURSERY FURNITURE ITEM

My investigative Virgo nature took hold as we set up our nursery.  Survey after survey parents affirmed that changing tables really weren’t all the practical. After searching on the web for some stylish alternatives I settled on an IKEA dresser.  This furniture piece is so versatile and serves great as a diaper changing station, as well as dresser for blankets and clothes.  Love it!

MY FAVORITE BOTTLES

Dr. Brown’s nature flow colic reducing bottle.  Tried many variations of green BPA free bottles.  Dr. Browns bottle reduced air and had a sturdy nipple.  Advent is also another great bottle.

MY FAVORITE ITEM I DIDN’T KNOW I NEEDED

Munchkin wipe warmer.  Would you want a cold wipe?  Probably not. And during the late night early morning diaper changes this little luxury will be clutch for not giving baby a rude awakening.

MY FAVORITE PERSONAL GROOMING PRODUCTS

Erba Organics Shampoo and Body Wash

ALL of California Baby’s Products

MY FAVORITE TECHNOLOGY GADGET

Mama-Roo this baby bouncer/rocker is amazing AND it allows you to plug-in your iPod for tunes, does it get any better than that?  No stress on the batteries, this baby plugs in cutting down on the waste and cost of batteries.

MY FAVORITE BABY MONITOR

Summer makes great baby monitors. Period.

FAVORITE PLAY TIME GYM

Skip Hop, loved the Owl nature theme.  Still going strong after 5 months.  Great quality. Oh, and Mason Kardashian has one if your into that pop culture thing.

FAVORITE PERSONAL BABY CARRIER

Baby Bjorn worked for me, though I hear more and more mom’s prefer the ergo.  My Bjorn was a hand-me-down from a friend and it worked just fine.

FAVORITE RUNNING STROLLER

BOB revolution.  This stroller is sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet.  And I never thought I would say that about a stroller. Never. Easy to maneuver.  Great for running. Has shock absorbers to give the little one a cushy ride.  This stroller is totally worth the cost.  You can also buy an attachment to fit the infant car seat into the stroller for the wee early months.

VITAMINS

Carlson Baby Vitamin D Drops are very helpful for breastfeeding moms, since Vitamin D is essential and not supplied through the breast milk.  If you use a bottle, drop one of these 400 I.U. daily. Doesn’t change the taste or consistency of the milk.

MEDICINAL

My baby had colic. (not fun) I tried everything under the sun to help him through this period.  Gripe waters, mylicon gas drops, colic calm, ahh, my eyes begin to blur just thinking about it. Colic calm hands down worked the best.  I will forewarn the color is a little off-putting (dark blue).  But it worked.

LOCAL REGISTRY TIP

Baby News in Santa Rosa is a locally owned store that has an amazing selection to fulfill your baby needs. One thing that I found to be very cool, is that you receive a gift certificate after the baby is born.  If your registry purchases total $500, you receive a $50 gift certificate, if your registry purchases total $1000, you receive a $100 gift certificate.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.  You can also manage your registry online and the staff gives you tremendous service!