Monday, March 17, 2014

baby goods - my top 5...

I've been promising to do a Baby Essentials type post for months now! These are of course so personal, and several other bloggers have recently published great lists (Blithely Unaware springs to mind). So I thought I would condense it down to my Top 5 most-loved, most-used baby purchases - and also my Top 5 money wasters (again, this is what we found, I'm sure plenty of our least used items are others' must haves, and vice versa).

 

The 5 Best:

 

1. A car capsule that clips onto your pram base:-
We chose the Maxi Cosi Titan capsule, which is compatible with our Bugaboo Bee. It has been so amazingly convenient to be able to transfer sleeping bebe from car to pram and back again, without ever waking her. So many other mums have commented on how great this system is, and how they wish they'd done this. There are many brands of capsule out there that are compatible with various prams on the market, so go with what suits you.
2. Skip Hop activity mat:-
Evelyn LOVES this, has from day one! Even now that she is crawling all over the shop, she will lay there and talk to the forest animals, or squeak the mat squeakers, or just chill out. A real life saver for morning showers! I love it because it's not garish and ugly like so many baby items! I will happily have it in my living room.


3. Angelcare bath seat:-
This is possibly my number one baby purchase, and cheap as chips! We have been using this in the bathtub since wee girl was about three weeks old and it's genius, genius I tell you! New parents, you need this! V baths Evie of an evening and he just sits happily in the tub with her sitting happily in the bath seat. It weighs next to nothing and it's comfortable because it's webbed and sort of soft, unlike a lot of other bath seats. It also has a great indicator mark on the side to fill the tub up to.



4. Love to Dream swaddles:-
I'm sure these make a lot of "top baby item" lists because they are truly fantastic, every new mum needs a stash of these! We tried several different swaddles on loan from my sister, but the kiddo far and away preferred the Love to Dream. We loved the lightweight version for summer. She has been in a LTD sleeping bag for months now and we similarly love them.


5. Ergo baby carrier:-
Quite simply essential - I have heard similar rave reviews about the Tula. Wee girl adores being in here when we go for a bush walk, especially if V is wearing her (being so tall I guess she gets a good view!) It's super easy to use and easy to adjust, and it breathes well, and the weight is carried on your hips to save your back, plus it's clearly extremely comfy for bub.
 
The 5 least useful:
 
1. Baby bathtub:-
See above comment on the bath seat. We used a baby bath for the first few weeks but it was so inconvenient to fill and empty, weighed a ton when full, and Evelyn never really seemed to like it. Not something I'd go for again.
2. Cloth nappies:-
I purchased these with the very BEST of intentions, when I was about 20 weeks pregnant. My sister used them exclusively, and I was all buoyed up on a wave of Eco-friendliness and nappy-superiority LOL They literally never got used. Last month I looked at them languishing in their drawer and finally accepted they were never going to be used, and sold the lot on eBay (for more than I paid for them, god bless an Ozsale bargain for initial purchase!) For some mums I'm sure these are fabulous, but for me, it was just never going to happen. I've made me peace with it.
 
 
3. Nursery night light:-
We have this cute little Oricom digital cat light, which has never really been used. The light disturbed Evie's sleep and ours, and I got so accustomed to seeing in the semi-dark, it's just never been used. I'm sure it will be great for her bedroom once she's a bit older, but if I had my time again I wouldn't bother.
 
4. Bouncy seat:-
We we're give a Fisher Price one that was fairly uggers, and Evie liked it fairly well, but nothing to write home about. And then she started rolling before 3 months of age and the thing was literally useless, she kept trying to flip out of it! Heart attack material. Not something I'd purchase, it's was big and ugly looking and she never really took to it.
 
5. Angelcare sight and sound movement monitor:-
I know so many people swear by this, and we thought it sounded like an absolute essential for bubs' safety, and our peace of mind. We used the video monitor from day one, and loved it, but didn't use the sensor pads because Evie was in her bassinet which was too small. Before she was ready to go into her cot, we read about the recall in UK and America due to infant strangulation with the sensor pad cords (we were actually amazed they weren't wireless to be honest!) So there was no way in hell they were going in with my baby girl. We returned this and bought a plain video monitor instead, which works just fine. Bub is in our room still at the moment anyway so we aren't really worried re the motion sensor pads.

So there you have it! Hope this is helpful to some. Any additions you would make to my lists?
xoxo

 

12 comments:

  1. I think so many items do depend on what the bub likes and us parents like to think we have a say but we don't really.
    I hired a capsule that connects to my Mountain Buggy, glad I didn't buy cause didn't end up using it that much. Bub is a car hater not lover.
    Love our Ergo. Love our baby bath tub, bub still uses it. It is a big one. Our adult bath tub is massive so filling it is a waste of water.
    Bouncers are a personal baby choice thing. Know some bubs that have loved them and some that have hated them. I got one second hand that had handles for me to move it around the house. Showers and washing was done thanks to it.
    I think second hand toys/baby stuff is a better/easier way to be eco friendly rather than cloth nappies. So much baby stuff isn't used or barely used and yet becomes land fill.

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    1. We were so lucky to receive so many items from family and friends, it turns out its useful to be one of the last the have a baby haha x

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  2. Agree 100% on the Maxi Cosi capsule & ours is set to get a workout again soon with the Donkey this time.
    I also love any zippered swaddle bag/pod for the little houdinis!
    X

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    1. Ooh the Donkey is cute! LOL what is it with Houdini newborns? x

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  3. Loved the Ergo baby carrier! Never got round to using the cloth nappies either. Disposables are so convenient! Also enjoyed having the baby visual monitor- although once it was on reserve power, showing a baby sleeping peacefully, when in fact the baby had woken and was grizzling, but the picture was frozen on the content sleeping bub from earlier!

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    1. Oh gosh that worries me! I'm always concerned its going to malfunction hahahaha x

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  4. I love this list! Thank you. Bub is due in 10 weeks and I'm still to buy so many of the essentials. I like the look of that angelcare bath seat - I might have to investigate whether it would fit in the baby bath we're borrowing. We're borrowing a bouncer as well - so time will tell if bub is a lover or a hater of the bouncer.

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    1. Oh how exciting not long to go now! The bath seat is definitely worth getting its brilliant x

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  5. Hello, I love your blog and have been reading it for quite a while now but always been too shy too comment.

    Thanks for doing this post. I'm about to have twins (yes twins!) in 4 weeks time, and any baby-related information is invaluable!

    Quick question for you - In addition to the car capsule that fits into the pram, did you also get a bassinet attachment for the pram? We can't seem to decide if need both.
    And with the video monitor - do you mind sharing which one you ended up getting. So many choices out there, it's driving us insane just reading the reviews and comparing the different models.

    Thanks,
    Aloma

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    1. Hi there, wow twins, how exciting! Not long at all to go now!
      We didn't get a bassinet attachment for our pram after much deliberating - we figured the car capsule would be enough. I'm glad we made that decision as we are still happily using the capsule for Evelyn, and she is happy now with the stroller style of her pram. I would say you don't need both.
      We got an Angelcare monitor still, just the video/sound one without the sensor mats, it's really good x

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  6. This isn't as relevant for me atm. But I'm keeping a mental note to come back to this when I have a bebe!

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