I have lots of friends having babies these days, and several of them have asked "okay, so what have you loved that might not have been on my registry list or that I might not have thought to get?" Of course you need the standard clothes, swaddling blankets, car seat, etc but we have found a few other gadgets and items (mostly through trial and error as we have gotten to know our little guy and what he likes and doesn't like!) that have been huge life savers for us. Some may think some of these items seem "superfluous" or unnecessary, and perhaps for your family and baby that's true. But here are some things I have been grateful for almost every day we've had them--maybe don't get these right away, but down the road you may want to try some of these for yourself.
The Baby Book by the Sears' By far this is hands down my favorite baby book. I love this book, and wish I had read more of it before Aidan was born. It's big, but it covers EVERYTHING you might need to know for their first two years--including some on child birth, lots on feeding, sleeping, first aid (including tylenol doses--something they don't print on the baby tylenol bottles), and then chapters on development month by month. They include a lot of fun ideas on how to play with babies of each age, tips for dads, and I feel like they approach things in a fairly realistic manner. This is one of the first books I've read where I don't feel guilty for some choice I make as a mom. They do have a strong attachment parenting bent, but as I'm learning more and venturing more into the world of parenting I have found that I line up more with the attachment style of parenting anyways, so this book has fit me well. If I had to recommend one baby resource book, this would be it (because it covers everything in one place!)
The Sleepy Wrap This was my favorite wrap when Aidan was a newborn, but I was so intimidated by using it I didn't try it until he was almost 2 months old. Big mistake! I wish I'd learned how to use this way earlier! It's a really long piece of fabric that you wrap around you in various configurations to create a pouch for baby to ride in. It's SUPER soft and stretchy and comfortable, and Aidan liked this one better than my other carriers. He's too big for it now, but when we have our next baby I'll be using this WAY more than I did with him because we truly loved it.
The Woombie Okay this one we found out of desperation. I truly think it was a 3 AM google find! Our little one NEEDS to be swaddled to sleep. He wiggles and wiggles and his little arms and legs move constantly, which wakes him up the minute you lay him down. Only problem is that pretty soon he got too strong and too big for swaddle blankets. He wiggled out of even the tightest swaddle right away and we spent literally all night getting up and down re-swaddling him so he could go back to sleep. After several nights of getting up every hour to re-swaddle I started googling to see what other solutions were out there. Enter The Woombie. I watched the demo videos and then paid a ridiculous amount of money to get this overnighted to me because I wasn't going to spend one more night reswaddling this kid if I could help it. It's a zip up swaddle pod that lets him actually move a bit but his little arms and legs can't flail about and wake him up. There are a variety of styles, and we have the "summer" woombie which is lighter fabric (which lets him move more) and the woombie convertible which has snap on sleeve openings, so when we start transitioning him to sleeping with arms out we can do one at a time easily. We love the woombie, I cannot sing it's praise enough because I haven't had to reswaddle him at 3 AM once in a month!
The Fisher Price Rock and Play Sleeper This is another one we discovered out of desperation. Our little guy was just diagnosed with reflux, which is a super common baby issue, and accounts in part for his terrible sleep. Since we learned this was an issue, we tried everything--letting him sleep in the bouncer, in the swing, elevating his crib mattress, wedging him in different positions with rolled blankets, propping him against a hot water bottle to give him the illusion of being held by a warm body, letting him sleep in bed with me (which is still probably his favorite spot to be honest), and nothing worked. This kid still woke up every 45 minutes all night long. Every night. That's a lot of lost sleep for both him and us! I remembered a friend had raved about this little portable sleeper when her baby was little, and I had no idea if it would help but I figured I'd ask if we could borrow it. Once she heard he had reflux she insisted we come get it ASAP--apparently in the Amazon reviews of it a ton of parents of reflux kids raved about this sleeper. That night we brought it home, set it up next to my side of the bed, and put our sleeping babe in it. THREE HOURS later he woke up to eat and I was SHOCKED when I saw what time it was. Since then we have consistently gotten 2-3 hour stretches of sleep out of him in this little bed (which for him is AWESOME), probably because of the steep angle it keeps him at (sleeping more upright is more comfortable for babies with reflux) and because it helps him feel like he's being held by the steep sides. I love this product, and if you happen to end up with a reflux baby who won't sleep, I couldn't recommend this highly enough!
White Noise Machine We learned before he was born that babies often like white noise (the sound of the hair dryer, vacuum, static, babbling water etc) because it mimics the sound of the womb. When Aidan was 2 days old we downloaded a white noise app onto my husband's iphone and were shocked to see how instantly it worked to quiet him and calm him (it still does today). We went to get a continuous white noise machine for his room (this is the style we got) and now he sleeps every night with the sound of either ocean waves or a babbling stream. We have LOUD upstairs neighbors and a fairly loud apartment complex and this has been a lifesaver--he already sleeps so little I didn't want his sleep interrupted by our noisy neighbors!) We travel with it and now that he's sleeping in our room for awhile we have it set up in there--and I'm learning I love sleeping with it, I sleep way better! So we may be getting another one when we move him back to his room!
Video Baby Monitor From day one we have had Aidan in his own bedroom. For the first 3 weeks my mom was in there on an air mattress so we didn't use a monitor, she kept an ear out for him and brought him to me when he needed to eat. But once she left we started using this and it has been SO helpful. I can see him to know if what I'm hearing is really him or needs my response, or if it's just him making noises in his sleep. I can watch him if he's in his crib playing, and it has saved many many trips running back and forth between my bed and his room in the middle of the night when I think I hear something. Now that we're working so much on his sleep and he's actually sleeping next to my bed we use this during nap time when he's in his own room and eventually we'll transition him back to his room at night. LOVE this, and am so glad we splurged on this one.
Rainforest Bouncer This has been a lifesaver. I have never been one of those moms who is okay just leaving my kid in a bouncer or swing for hours on end, even if he's happy. I think babies need way more interaction and play time on their backs, tummies, sitting on my lap etc BUT, every day during mom's shower and while I made dinner Aidan got to hang out in his bouncer because he was safe, happy, and contained. He still does even now that he's rolling and wiggling more (sometimes I just need him contained in one spot!) Now that he's eating oatmeal but isn't sitting up straight in a chair, this is his feeding spot too. It didn't work to solve our sleep problems with his reflux but it's been awesome for so many other things!
I think that's about it--those are our favorites that don't always show up on registry lists or on other people's lists. How bout you? What were your favorite baby products??
Baby Boy!! You are 5 months old! (well you will be in 3 days, but 20 of your family members are coming this week for your baptism this weekend--so something tells me Mommy won't be writing this later on, so it's being posted early!) For some reason this sounds so old to your Mommy--all of a sudden you are much more of a baby and less of an infant. It is amazing to me how much you grow and learn and change in just 4 short weeks--from blog post to blog post a LOT of life happens in your little world. Here are the highlights of your 5th month on earth...
You have started getting really interested in people's faces, and when I hold you up on my lap you try and grab for my nose and mouth with your little hands. Today you got your fingers in my mouth and started giggling like crazy--apparently that was hysterical to you! I have decided that your laugh really might be my favorite sound on the planet. You don't share your laugh with that many people, or that often, but when you do--oh my word! Little man your mommy melts into a little puddle in your hands. It is the sweetest sound ever. Your whole face lights up and your whole body wiggles with giggles. There's a quote from Peter Pan that says "when the first baby laughed for the very first time the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and that's where fairies come from." After hearing you laugh, I believe it. 
You roll around like crazy--you still aren't great at going from your tummy to your back, but boy if we ever put you on your back (like to change your diaper for instance!) you will immediately try to flip over to your tummy. Once there, you will flail your arms and legs and propel yourself around in a circle. I think you are so frustrated that you can't crawl or move forward--you'll often lay there paddling and yelling and I can tell you just want to go somewhere!
You and your daddy have had so much fun together lately! Daddy has been able to spend a bit more time playing with you, and you've been rewarding him with smiles, which I know he loves. Now on evenings when he's home he is in charge of bath time and it's so fun for me to be listening to you splashing around in there and hearing daddy talk to you and play with you. On weekend mornings you sit with him and he reads to you from the Psalms or from your Lulla Bible which you were given for a baby shower gift. He likes to take you over to the church office to show you off and let you flirt with all the ladies there :) Your daddy is so good with you and has started having so much fun playing with you!
I didn't think it was possible to love you any more than I did Mr. Aidan, but your Mommy is pretty darn head over heels in love with you. You amaze me every day and have brought so much joy to our lives. Happy 5 months little Bug!!
