Favorite Baby Things

We cleaned out our basement finally. . . which is the first time we have done this since moving into our house.  We are getting duct work added to our house which means that we needed to have a way to walk through our basement without tripping.  Makes sense.

We have soo much baby stuff that we have already outgrown or out-developed.  It's crazy how quickly those little buggers rock through phases. onward and upward.  I have quite a few expectant friends who have asked for product recommendations and frankly I don't have many. . . we aren't picky about too many things, but I do have a few. ..

My first recommendation is Baby Bargains by Alan and Denise Fields.  Buy. This. Book.  Before doing anything.  Buy. This. Book.  I don't get much more emphatic than that folks.  They also have a blog that rocks.

Going to the baby aisle for the first time is a little bit like visiting Japan if you don't speak Japanese.  Right.  As a consumer and someone who is pretty interested in merchandising in general, I found it to be entirely overwhelming.  It's all labeled with such similar claims and promises and if you don't buy the most expensive baby stimulator, jumper, dohicky, rattle your kid won't go to college.  You wouldn't want to do that to your baby, would you? Prepare to be guilted. Baby Bargains really helps you come to your senses and make educated, thoughtful purchases.  Like buying things used!  Think of it as a road map for navigating these new aisles at Target.


We did purchase many things through Craiglslist and garage sales but we did find that we had preference for some things. . . Here are some of my favorites.

Pacifier clips.  James is modeling one below.  We never left the house without it.  We don't use one anymore because James covets his pacifier to such a degree that he never loses it if he happens upon one.  He sometimes wanders around the house with three in his hands and one in his mouth.  No need for the leash anymore but for the first few months you wouldn't see a photo of him that didn't have one of these leashes featured.  

Photo by Greg Benz

SwaddleMe  This is the perfect example of how there is a whole baby world that exists that you don't even realize. . . who knew there were these things. We got one of these at the hospital. They rock. Get two.

Bouncy, rocky chairs.  Here is a great chance to save money. Everyone you know has one or two of these in their basement. . . borrow them.  kids only use these for a few months but during those few months they are the best thing.  We had four of them, all borrowed.  We thought of them as baby docking stations.  Need to take a shower? no problem.  Need to make dinner? No problem.  Just dock the baby and go!




Disposable Wipes. When shopping for a diaper bag there are all sorts of little gadgets and containers that come with some of the bags. Skip that stuff. Just get smaller packs.


Happiest Baby on the Block.  You need to see this before coming home from the hospital. SO helpful. It's a book too but the video is more helpful-- you need to shh louder than you thought and you need to bop the baby more than sway the baby.  It helps to see your pal Karp walk  you through it.  This saved our butts.