::I’m pregnant – what now? pt. 4::

What about the obvious stuff?

There are some everyday-type items all new parents should have for their house/nursery/baby. Here they are!

–Baby monitor: Something simple like this dual receiver monitor works great. I originally wanted an Angelcare monitor (the kind that sounds an alarm as soon as your baby skips a breath). They were discontinued at the time I registered, and I’m kind of thankful, although they are back in production now. I’ve heard from friends that the alarm sounded falsely more than anything.

–Disposable diapers: President’s Choice brand are fine and worked well for both my kids. But I do tend to lean toward Pampers (seems to catch the poop best). But if you are thinking of cloth diapering…

–Cloth diapers: Comfy Rumps, which are from the Lower Mainland! I ordered the starter pack and haven’t looked back. Honestly, it sounds like a lot of work, but it saves SO MUCH money. Plus, they’re super cute, and cheaper than any other cloth diaper on the market. However, many moms I know swear by FuzziBunz, gDiapers, and Little Tree Hugger (also a Canadian brand).

–dishwasher baskets: great if you’re bottle feeding, and once baby starts drinking from sippy cups (as young as 4 months)

–bottle sterilizer: use this instead of boiling bottle nipples all the time. Man, I despise boiling nipples. (Does that sound weird to anyone else…?)

–Bink Link pacifier clip. So cute. Yes, you could get the cheap ones from Walmart. But why not make a statement?

–Diaper Genie and refills: Ok, this contraption is supposed to cut down on diaper stench. We have the older model, which is less “fancy.” As Kevin at Dadcentric says, “You literally stuff a crappy nappy into it, which is lined with diaper shrink wrap, rotate the top and repeat. You do this until you can stuff the container no more, a limitation that depends completely on one’s upper-body strength, aversion to handling Dirty Diaper Sausage and competence at resetting the shrink wrap cartridge.” The bonus of this older model is its ability to create a dirty diaper sausage, always a fun item to try to stuff into your garbage can! But seriously, even though some parents dislike the product itself, I find it extremely convenient to have in baby’s room. And I do NOT find the smell offensive, since you twist off each nappy and only smell the scented liners when opening the lid. That said, any sort of lined, odour-masking diaper pail for the nursery will do.

–Low-wattage lamp for baby’s room (7 watts): I didn’t learn this until I had baby O, but to save him from “really” waking up during midnight feeds, I put a 7 watt bulb in his lamp so that if he needed a diaper change, I could see what I was doing, but the dim light would let him stay drowsy. Eventually, I decided not to change his diaper at all if he hadn’t pooped and he began sleeping through the night much sooner (bonus tip for you moms).

–Diaper cream (in our house, we call it “butt sauce”): hands down, Penaten and Sudocrem work the best (both available at Walmart/Superstore). But if you are using cloth diapers, or prefer a more “all-natural” approach, I LOVE Grandma El’s ointment. Wait for it to come available on hippobargains.com or babysteals.com, though. It’s pricey. Anything by Arbonne is also great, if you know a consultant.

–Wipes: the best wipes for your money are definitely the Kirkland brand from Costco. Unscented and not too fluffy. We love them and go through them like crazy, especially with a sticky toddler, too.

–Robeez: the BEST slippers for babies. Kids wear these into toddlerhood and they’re the best for keeping on socks (also a Vancouver company). Easy to buy 2^nd hand at the swap meet, and readily available on the deal websites for half price. Sign up on the Robeez website for their sale emails, too.

*I left out an item on the previous post: Infant Vicks Vapor Rub (called BabyRub) is a great thing to have when baby is stuffy or has a cold. It’s not as potent as the adult kind: it’s non-medicated and contains aloe vera, eucalyptus, rosemary, and lavender. Perfect for helping baby sleep and breathe at the same time.

Up next: part 5 – How to keep your baby from getting bored