A Guide and Links to Must-Have New Mom Baby Products
As a new mom, I tried to read all the books and blogs before my baby arrived to make sure I was prepared with “all the things”. After all, once that little bundle of joy arrives, trips to Target or the local shopping center are just not as convenient in those early weeks. Thank goodness we live in a world of Amazon Prime. I cannot tell you how many late night feeding sessions led to piles of packages two days later!
After feeling a bit overwhelmed with information and conflicting opinions, I decided to try just about every carrier, swaddle, bootie and brand myself. And you know what I discovered? At the end of the day, it was my close mom friends that ended up saving the day with their recommendations. It turns out that when you’re searching for miscellaneous baby items on Amazon you’re often going to end up with options where the manufacturer paid for a ton of advertising to show up in search, not necessarily the superior product. If a product is really that good it might not necessarily turn up first in results because it sells itself through word of mouth.
In an effort to save some future moms the headache and money (babies are expensive!), I have compiled a list of my favorite do-or-die items that helped me survive in those early days.
I am in no way affiliated with any of these brands, I just know that they are high quality and superior to anything else that I tried out there and I’ll leave the reasons why at the bottom of this post.
When you’re running on fumes, it’s easy to spend a ton of money on baby items, and I’ll admit some of the items on my list are on the pricier side, but trust me they will pay themselves off in their indestructibility and utility alone.
I’ll cut to the chase now, because chances are if you’re reading this you want an efficient path to these life changing products that will help you through the “fourth trimester”. :)
Baby Bjorn Infant Carrier - I was generously gifted an Ergo, Baby K’tan, and traditional sling before my baby was born. The Ergo required a separate infant insert, the Baby K’tan was quite a few steps to get on and the sling just felt awkward with such a wobbly gummy infant. Every option required multiple steps, and sometimes extra people to get the baby in, safely and securely. My mom friend Lucy told me she tried six infant carriers and the Baby Bjorn was by far the best. Instead of weird clips behind your neck, the Bjorn has very intuitive snaps. Best of all, drumroll please... You can nurse in it! I can’t tell you how many moms are blown away when I tell them that my baby is breastfeeding in the Bjorn and I’m completely hands free! This is my #1 pick and I would buy it ten times again. The only downside is that it does pull on your neck a bit so as my baby has gotten bigger, my back and neck have definitely noticed the load.
Zutano Baby Booties - Babies are notorious for losing one sock or one bootie. These are the BEST booties and come in so many whimsical colors and options. Note that there are a bunch of copycat options available on Amazon out there and they are absolutely not as good and will fall off, so make sure you’re getting the real Zutanos!
L'oved Baby Organic Pajamas - Ok, I know spending $28 on pajamas that your baby will outgrow in a few months seems ridiculous, but these are the best high quality organic goods out there. So soft and comfortable for that sensitive baby skin! I traded in all of the cheap onesies I had accumulated and just bought 3-4 sets of these and my baby spends nights and even some days living in these organic baby pajamas.
Snuggle Me Organic Pillow - Don’t freak out about the price, you can almost always find this Snuggle Me pillow on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist for much cheaper and just wash the cover. I didn’t understand why this pillow was so expensive until my baby was born and would freak out every time I tried to put him down to sleep. If you have a newborn that wants to be held all the time like my little guy, this pillow is a life changer. It will bring you a few hours of precious sleep by making your baby feel tight and secure like he or she is back in the womb. Puppies and older children love to squeeze into it too. :)
Lulujo Muslin Cotton Swaddle Blanket - I played Goldilocks with swaddles and I found this brand to be the right size swaddle blanket and perfect thickness. The cherry on top was that they also have the cutest patterns to go along with function. I never feel like I have enough swaddles! These blankets double as great nursing covers, emergency diapers, burp cloths and spit up cleaners too.
Velcro Swaddle Blanket - Babies are escape artists when it comes to being swaddled and I read in some sleep book that the babies that fight the swaddle the most are the ones that need it the most. I tried one week of letting my baby go unswaddled because he seemed to always break free and that was disastrous. I then tried these swaddles over the Lulujo Cotton swaddles (so double swaddle) and we miraculously started getting sleep at night. Post to come on how to double swaddle.
Owlet Smart Sock Heart Rate Monitor - For anxious first time moms like myself, this Owlet Smart Sock monitors your baby’s breathing and heart rate and alerts you if either measurement goes above or below a baseline that signals an alarm. Sometimes you can’t always tell if that peaceful infant is still breathing or not, and this monitor will bring you peace of mind and sleep! I haven’t had mine go off yet *knock on wood*, but my friend who suggested this product said hers has only gone off once when her daughter was having a complete melt-down temper tantrum and likely having trouble breathing because of it.
Boudreaux's Butt Paste - Diaper rash is something to avoid at all costs. We travelled a bunch when baby was young and would slather this stuff on with changing temps and climates. Also, before six months infants aren’t supposed to wear sunscreen so just put some of this stuff on their face and body. The active ingredient is Zinc Oxide if you’re going to be spending time in the sun and great for protecting their skin from harmful UV rays! My husband also used butt paste as his main form of skin protection on our most recent ski trip and didn’t burn at all, plus had a GREAT story to tell on all the chair lifts. :)
NoseFrida Nasal Aspirator - Hopefully your baby is super healthy, but when that first cold hits it’s so scary and sad! The NoseFrida is a great safe way to help them breathe more easily through their nasal passages. It’s kind of silly how much my baby loves having his snot sucked with this device. I think his first giggles were induced while using the NoseFrida when he caught his first cold at 3 months old.
Hope you enjoy these products as much as I have! Leave a comment below if you have any other life saving products and/or sleep helping tips for those early weeks!
Author: Emily Yang
Grey's Cowbell specialises in lactation cookies, lactation muffins and lactation drinks as well as other products. Our primary focus is to provide a superior product that yields a highly effective result. Our cookies, muffins and bottled drinks help breastfeeding mothers dramatically increase and sustain their breast milk supply.