Five Useful Items for Baby’s First Year

In honor of A.C.’s first birthday last week, I thought I would share a list of some of my most used items from my first year of motherhood. I will be spreading these out over the next 2 weeks of posts, so stay tuned for more next week.   I purposely chose items for this list that I did not purchase or receive, prior to giving birth.   These are things that are not on most suggested registry lists, and were not obvious to me until I was in the thick of motherhood.  For those of you first time mothers about to give birth, this list is for you.  I hope you find these things as useful as we have!

 

1. Dock A Tot:

I can’t say enough about this product.  I know it seems pricey, but for us it has been worth every penny.  The Dock a Tot is a cozy little bed for the baby to sleep, relax or play in, literally anywhere.  I have used this in every room in my house and it has traveled with us on several occasions.  The Dock a Tot comes in 2 sizes, the one pictured here is the larger, which is called the grande.  We began using our grande size around 6 months, even though they say it is for 9+ months, because A.C. had another brand of co-sleeper that he outgrew around 5 months and we needed something to replace it.  If I had it to do over, I would have purchased the smaller size at birth and graduated to the larger size later.

We call our Dock a Tot A.C.’s boat in our family because we joke that when he can’t sleep, he sails his boat on into our room at night.  This is pretty accurate.  When we moved him out of our room at 6 months, this became a life saver for those difficult nights where we just couldn’t get him to sleep in his own room.  We can comfortably put him in the dock between us in our king sized bed, and he goes right to sleep.  Most importantly, so do his dad and I!  There is something about the dock that makes babies feel safe and secure.  My fiance and I have often said we wish they made this for adults because it looks so comfy.  A.C. has also sailed his boat to our vacation home, his grandparents house, and a few vacation destinations.  It is a little  familiar piece from home that really helps when A.C. is in strange places.  The dock travels nicely as checked luggage, and they make a travel bag for it as well.  As you can see below in the picture below, our family does not travel light, but the dock comes with us no matter what!  Below are some photos of different ways and locations we have used our Dock a Tot,  along with a link to the website for more information and a small discount.

 

2. Summer Infant Cart Cover (Click to Shop)

One of the things I avoided for the first few months of motherhood was taking the baby to the grocery store.  Grocery shopping is one of my more hated household chores, so the thought of keeping track of an infant at the same time was just too much for me.  I relied heavily on Amazon Now to deliver my groceries, until I found the Summer Infant Cart Cover.  There are several grocery cart covers on the market, but none seem to be as cushy or have as much coverage as this one.  The thing I liked the most about this cover is that there is an  insert that comes with it to help the baby sit up and stay put.  Because of this, once A.C. was starting to sit up with a little assistance, he could easily ride in the cart.  This opened a whole new world for us because he loved the stimulation of the store and the ability to interact with other shoppers.  A.C. makes me like shopping more now because I see how much he enjoys it, and he can comfortably and safely ride in cart because of this wonderful gadget.

 

3. Battery Operated Nail File (Click to Shop)

One of the more nerve racking things a new mom has to do to care for her newborn is to trim their nails. This is important because babies grow nails quickly and they scratch themselves from practically the moment they come out of the womb.   I personally did not want A.C. to wear mittens 24/7 because I felt it was important for him to be able to use his hands to explore and feel the world.  That meant that when he was very tiny, I had to start trimming his nails.  I was terrified of clippers and little emery boards just weren’t doing the trick.  Then I found this wonderful gadget on Amazon and suddenly mittens or scratching were no longer my only options.  The little round emery board attaches at the top and spins to file down those baby nails with no risk of injury.  There is even a very fine file to use from 0-3 months.  A.C. did not mind this nail trimming gadget at all until he was about 9 months.  Now we use clippers and this file just to make them less sharp, but it is a bit more of a struggle now.   Regardless, this little gadget has been a great one for us in the first year.

 

4. Babyganics Hand and Face Wipes (Click to Shop)

5. Reusable Cloths (Click to Shop)

Items 4 and 5 are both all about cleanup.  The Babyganics face and hand wipes are something I have on hand at all times.  I buy them both in larger 100 packs to keep next to the high chair, and in smaller packs of 40 to keep in the diaper bag.  These wipes are extra gentle, fragrance free, and contain none of the bad stuff.  They are not only safe for hands and face, but they are extra sturdy for cleaning up after a messy meal.

The reusable cloths have also been a great purchase.  I bought a pack of 30 that we have washed and reused for a year and they are still great.  I bought all kinds of bibs and fancy burp clothes for bottle feeding and we never really used them.  I always have these cloths on hand for cleanup during bottle feeding instead, usually it rests under the his chin to catch the milk from going into the neck.  This was especially an issue early on because A.C. had the cutest little neck folds for milk to collect.  These are also great to have in the diaper bag for quick cleanup of both drink and drool on the go.

I know there are a million baby item lists out there on blogs, but I hope this one has a few new items you new and future moms hadn’t thought of before.    I would love to hear your feedback and comments.  Stay tuned for five more items to come next week!

 

 

 

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