Anyways... I can't believe my little Nugget is one month old already. What's even more difficult to believe is that Andy and I survived the first 4 weeks as first-time parents! I realized very early on that while I had spent months researching pregnancy symptoms, indicators of labor, birth pain relief options, birthing methods, etc, I had completely failed to research what life would be like once we actually had an outside baby. I knew that newborns go through tons of diapers, cry a fair amount, and sleep most of the day, but that was pretty much the extent of my newborn-baby-knowledge. Being the planner that I am, I don't actually know how I allowed this lack of preparation to happen. Fail.
Looking back on the first month with our little girl, there are a few things that have made our life just a little bit easier. I'll be the first to tell you (because I am convinced new parents try to seem invincible and no one actually says this out loud) - the first 2 weeks with a newborn are HARD. Well, actually the first 4 days were smooth sailing. We brought her home and she slept about 20 hours each day, only waking up to feed and get changed occasionally. But after day 5 exhaustion set in. Our cute little Nugget was waking up every 60-90 minutes at night to eat.
Once we hit week 3 with Charlotte, we really hit our stride. We all figured each other out and Andy and I became her baby whisperers - "oh that cry means gas", "she's clearly hungry now", etc. Our confidence as parents improved, and our little Nugget began sleeping in longer stretches (it's amazing how 4 hours of consecutive sleep makes me feel like Wonder Woman). While a lot of this can be credited to Charlotte's developmental advances with age, there were a few products that pretty much saved our sanity in the first month. While these may not work for everyone [let's be honest, every baby and family situation is SO different] these are the things that worked wonders for us. We aren't experts, so these are just based on our humble opinions and experiences. I hope they help some other desperate, new, sleep-deprived parents to get through the first few weeks.
Our 15 must-have products for month 1:
1. Fisher-Price My Little Lamb Rock n Play This item is listed first, and for a very good reason. This RnP is the one product that single-handedly saved my sanity (I'm not exaggerating). The first 3 weeks consisted of my little angel Charlotte waking up fussy and crying every 60-90 minutes. Needless to say, this was very tiring for Mommy. The newborn napper in her Pack n Play didn't seem to do the trick for her anymore, and after about 2 weeks of nearly sleepless nights I finally caved and bought this RnP. The first night she slept in two FOUR HOUR stretches. Like.... 4 hours straight....twice!!! I was so excited that I woke Andy up, then I had a tough time falling back asleep after (very similar to my reaction when I was little and couldn't sleep the night after we got home from Disney World). If you are a new parent and struggling to get sleep, buy this RnP right now. Go. Buy it. Use it. Thank me later. Sure, in a perfect world I'd put Charlotte in her crib and she'd sleep for hours straight, but until that happens, the RnP is my best friend.
2. Avent 0-3 month Soothies According to her pediatrician, Charlotte is a "grazer" - basically she acts like she wants to eat very frequently, but falls sound asleep 3 minutes in. Technically this is called "non-nutritive sucking" because it's not really a meal, it's just for comfort. Well, as much as I love to comfort my baby, I'd prefer to not be a human pacifier at 3 am. Enter the Soothies. We don't use these a ton, but when our sweet little babe is being particularly fussy we pop one of these in and it's instant relief for her. I think we have one of these in every room right now, just in case. Final perk? Pacifiers have been shown to reduce the risk of SIDS... win win!
3. Halo Sleep Sack Micro-Fleece Swaddle Charlotte has been swaddled since day one in the hospital... and those people are experts! We even had one doctor swaddle her with a built-in hoodie using just a regular old blanket. It's pretty much baby origami! We got really good at it using the A+A blankets, but I was nervous that they just weren't warm enough anymore. We tried out this sleep sack with built in swaddle and it's fabulous. SO easy to figure out, very warm and cozy, and wonderful for middle of the night changes because it zips right up for easy access.
4. Chicco Keyfit 30 Carseat in Romantic This car seat was one of the items I spent the most time researching before baby. We ended up with this one because of the high safety ratings, ease of cleaning, and reasonable price (have you seen the prices of some of infant car seats?! Yikes!). Because you aren't supposed to use warm bulky clothing in the car seat, the included foot muff is also very warm and convenient for the winter months. And I love the neutral colors, though the "Romantic" color is very hard to find.
5. Gerber Newborn Onesies with Mitten Cuffs Charlotte was lucky enough to be gifted tons of beautiful newborn outfits - she will be one well-dressed little girl! The problem? They were all MASSIVE on her because she was only 5 pounds 10 ounces. These onesies were the only clothes that fit her for about 2 weeks, which meant that she pretty much lived in them day and night. The other great thing about these onesies are the little mitten fold-over cuffs so she can't scratch her face.
6. Bose Sound Dock and iPod Ok you don't need a super fancy sound dock and iPod, but what I do recommend is some way to play white noise when baby sleeps. We have a Sleep Sheep which also plays white noise, but it only plays for 45 minutes, after which Charlotte woke up. We downloaded the SleepPillow app for an old iPod we had, and play it loudly all night using our sound dock (Charlotte's favorite is the rain sound). The first night we used the white noise, it worked beautifully in two ways: first, Charlotte fussed less. Second: it allowed me to block out some of the little noises she makes so I was able to sleep better as well. Find a way to play white noise... it's great!
Left to right, starting at the top:
7. Graco Pack n Play in Bermuda. Since Charlotte is sleeping in our room for now, this is baby-central upstairs. All diaper changes happen here, and for now we are storing current-sized clothes under the newborn napper. Heads-up: as of the time we registered for this item, it was the only Graco PnP that had a supported changing station. All of the other changers were flimsy and baby would roll when placed there. Was it our number one color choice? Not really. But it's sturdy and we love it.
8. Diaper Pail. In the world of diaper pails, this one is pretty basic, and that's why it's so great. Forget specialized bags or scented re-fill things. This sturdy diaper pail uses a standard trash bag, so we can use what we already have. It really traps the diapery goodness in the pail and is very easy to use. Skip the Genie thing and get this one.
9. Munchkin Wipe Warmer. We didn't think we needed a wipe warmer, but we got this as a gift and Charlotte sure appreciates it! Life as a newborn can be tough enough, why not spoil them with a warm wipe?! I'm so glad we have this!
10. Pre-fold cloth diapers. We aren't cloth diapering, but these pre-folds are great as burp rags! Forget the pretty, fancy burp rags and go for these. Super absorbent, and cheap!
11. Boudreaux's Butt Paste. Very thick and effective diaper rash cream. We are using it at the first sign of redness and it's wonderful!
12. Huggies Natural Care Baby Wipes. Best. Wipes. Ever. Just get these wipes. They get the job done!
14. Crane Drop Cool Mist Humidifier. Because she was born in fall, it was inevitable that the heat would be on for the first months of her life. And because the heat was on, the air got very dry - this humidifier was a lifesaver to keep her skin from drying out, and also to help her nasal passages stay nice and clear. Plus it's adorable, and the cool mist kind of freaks Andy out!
15. Chicco Keyfit Caddy Stroller Until she is big enough to go into her City Mini stroller, this lightweight caddy is perfect for quick trips to the store or pediatrician. Her Chicco carseat clips right in so I don't need to wake a sleeping baby. There's lots of storage underneath, and it folds very flat to fit in the trunk of our sedan. I've used this countless times already!
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