Can we do a baby products faves and fails?

lb1117 · February 2014

It seems so overwhelming at this point with all the stuff we apparently "need". Already mom's or those with infant experience, what are some of your favorite baby products and what are some that just didn't work for you and why?

botanicalbliss · February 2014

No real fails over here. We didn't end up using the boppy much, and G wasn't a huge fan of the swing. Anything specific you are wondering if you need or not?

emw1023 · February 2014

We didn't bother to get a bottle or wipe warmer. They seemed to be unnecessary purchases in my opinion.

lb1117 · February 2014

@botanicalbliss - yeah, I am not getting a boppy at this point. I can't see myself using it AT ALL.

@emw1023 - I did getting a bottle warmer since we are EFFing and I am hoping to have premade bottles in the fridge at some point, I'm sure.

I am wondering if the Dr. Brown's formula pitcher is worth it?

botanicalbliss · February 2014

Yeah, I don't think a Boppy is necessary. We barely used ours. We did get a bottle warmer. It's faster than a bowl of warm water. Since you're EFFing, I'd get one.

One thing I didn't realize I would need so many of was burp cloths. I had a bunch of prefold CDs I had planned to use as dipes, but they became burp cloths instead. Best thing ever!

smbenevides1989 · February 2014

I used the boppy to have Lexi lay on the couch with me when she was really small, so I used that a lot for sitting and laying purposes.

I loved the swing, it helped me get her to sleep when she wouldn't nap. She also loved the sheep.

I didn't use the play mat a lot. I'm planning on just using a blanket and some toys unless someone gives one to me.

I did not use a wipe warmer, and I used the microwave when I needed a bottle warmed, or if I wasn't near a microwave, I would use a hot cup of water. I also FF and premade a pitcher full (I used a regular pitcher with a top) and kept it in the fridge. In the summer, I bought a freezer pack to place 2 bottles in. It worked nicely for a few hours. It was my best friend in the summer.

caseyandlizzie · February 2014

I didn't start using the Boppy until W was almost 3 months and we use it all the time now. It's great for tummy timy for him since he didn't tolerate being flat on his stomach so well.

We adore the Aden and Anais muslin swaddle blankets. They're so soft and we use them every, single day.

SwaddleMe, Miracle Blanket, and any kind of Halo/Sleep Sack have been huge misses for us. He HATES having his arms and legs confined, so those just went into a pile of things to donate to my pregnant friend.

I bought California Baby bodywash/shampoo and lotion in the calming scent, which I thought would be wonderful, but 1) It caused him to break out, and 2) The smell made me nauseous

I made myself a nursing cover, and its been useless since W likes to move around so much during nursing sessions, and hates being covered up.

The Sofie giraffe has been so great! He LOVES her and is something I can see him chewing on and playing with through teething.

Also, the Gentle Giraffe/Sleep Sheep is wonderful! He gets super wound up before bed time, and I'll turn on the Giraffe and strap it onto my belt loop while I rockwalk him to get him to relax.

Pajamas with ZIPPERS are so much better than those with snaps. The snaps just take so much time during MOTN diaper changes, especially when you are exhausted and your coordination isn't so much there.

caseyandlizzie · February 2014

Also, we never really used receiving blankets for their intended purpose, instead, those became our burp cloths.

The swing is also another one of those things that W hated up until he was about 2 1/2 months, but he loves it now.

alexisanna44 · February 2014

I pretty much hate anything for baby that's embroidered/embellished. Like washcloths or burp cloths with cute things sewn on.....fucking stupid. They're cute, but they don't do the job they're supposed to do.

I have no experience, but I've heard wonderful things about the Dr. Brown's formula pitcher.

Nothing really stands out as a must have or a huge fail. Lucy was an easy baby.

Oh wait......... LOVE my Ergo. (hate the sling that I couldn't make work)

emw1023 · February 2014

I will ech a lot of what @caseyandlizzie said:

LOVE Aden and Anais blankets .... we have about 10 of them!!!

Sophie the giraffe is a God-send and K loves her!!! She didn't start using her much up until a few weeks ago, but now that we are teething hard core, it's a staple!

Sleepers with zippers are like the best thing ever created!

caseyandlizzie · February 2014

Oh! Also, Huggies diapers were the suck! No matter what we did, he ended up somehow peeing out of them. We're Pampers fans now, and have no intention of switching.

alexisanna44 · February 2014

Oh, DH and I both prefer gowns for newborn night diaper changes. They made everything super easy.

smbenevides1989 · February 2014

I used the receiving blankets under her fitted bed sheet as a protector for wet spots and to keep the cold mattress from her.

I used the baby carrier only a few times. H used it more than i did, but Lexi was so small in it.

I also bought Lexi a newborn/0-3 mo winter jacket that made her look like a teddy bear. It was too bulky in the carseat and a PITA to keep her in. We just donated it and kept her warm with hats, gloves, 2 blankets on her and a blanket that covered the car seat when getting in and out of the house/car/store.

caseyandlizzie · February 2014

alexisanna44 said:

Oh, DH and I both prefer gowns for newborn night diaper changes. They made everything super easy.

YES!

sgautschi · February 2014

LOVE:

-K'Tan: Most used baby item for sure. I wear her around the house, in restaurants, grocery shopping, you name it. And there are SO many ways to wear her in it.

-Rock'n'Play: She loves that thing, and it is an easy place to set her down for a minute so I can get something done.

-Kick'n'Play: She just loves playing with it. And I recently added a few hanging stroller toys to it to mix things up, she's so excited about it.

-FP Seahorse or Snuggle Monkey: She prefers the monkey, but they are both the same concept. Those almost always do the trick to calm her down.

-Sophie the Giraffe: She loves it. Best teether we have.

-Huggies Wipes: I've used Pampers (hate the smell) and Target brand (hate how stretchy they are) and Huggies Natural Care are my favorite.

-Pampers Swaddlers: We've used Huggies, but they fit so low and weird, swaddlers are way better.

-Plain White onesies (Long and Short Sleeve): Great for layering!!

-Lots of soft warm blankets!!!

-Receiving blankets: They can be burp rags, light weight sun shade over the car seat, you can lay them under baby while they are playing to catch the spit up, they can be changing pad covers. So many uses.

HATE:

-Swing: She hates it. A lot of babies love them though.

-Swaddles: She hates those too and I had a bunch of them. I wish I woul've just gotten blankets instead so I could've just used those for other things. I do like the sleep sacks though now that she's bigger.

-Pampers or Target Wipes

-Shoes for babies: They don't fit right and they are pointless, but for some reason people love buying them for you.

lb1117 · February 2014

madeline10L said:

caseyandlizzie said:

Oh! Also, Huggies diapers were the suck! No matter what we did, he ended up somehow peeing out of them. We're Pampers fans now, and have no intention of switching.

Pampers user here too. We've had no issues with them so far!

This is good to know. I returned a bunch of the huggies from my shower, mostly because they seemed scented and made me sick. I returned them for Pampers Sensitive Swaddlers.

sgautschi · February 2014

I actually prefer sleepers with buttons when they're little (unless the zipper ones zip from the bottom, otherwise you have to practically undress them to change a diaper.

carcrashheart · February 2014

yes, the pitcher is worth it. get it. we pre made 5-7 bottles every night at bedtime and left the remaining in the pitcher.

skip the bottle warmer. we were using room temp water and mixing bottles as needed at first and it got him used to room temp/warm bottles. that's fine, except sometimes all we had access to was cold water and he would flip out. after a couple of months or so he began taking bottles out of the fridge or room temp. i wish i had just started him on cold bottles like others had suggested.

LO hated being swaddled so i'm glad we didn't receive or waste money on AA blankets. we bought one later on but it was only used for a month or so. his receiving blankets have turned in to his lovies. the good thing is that he isn't specific to just one so as long as he has one he's good. he chews on the tags. yet he does not like taggie blankets. thank god we had so many receiving blankets. i still may buy more to start washing and breaking in for when these start biting the dust.

FP seahorse was great in his one week honeymoon phase. he didn't care after that. it's in a basket upstairs.

he still sleeps with his sleep sheep and loves it. now he pushes the buttons himself througout the night lol.

light up and musical crib toy. he loves it. it keeps him occupied some mornings. he plays with it at night (turns it on and off). he was excited when he became mobile and could reach it himself instead of it turning off with no way of turning it back on.

we didn't have a swing. we did have a car seat frame swing and loved it. he went through a phase where he needed to be asleep to leave the house so that he would stay asleep. so i would put him in the seat and in the swing until he was asleep. then it was a phase that he was awake but would come home asleep, so i could put him in there and let him sleep a bit longer.

bibs. especially if they're a spitter. he went through 3+ bibs/day. AA burpy bibs were our favorite burp clothes. now i use them as bibs.

hand mittens for NB's are ridiculous and unneccessary. he never went that crazy scratching his face and when he did it was NBD. it heals quickly. the mittens fell right off so they were worthless to me.

we didn't purchase fancy soaps. we now use target brand. shrug.

he slept in sleep sacks until summer. not halo sacks. just regular, carters, sleep sacks. they were great when it was cold in his room.

RNP was a life saver.

moby didn't work because he didn't like being confined and unable to move. the beco carrier was much better.

gerber flat cloth diapers make good burp cloths (though we didn't use them). they do not make good cloth diapers.

pee pee tee pee's are worthless pieces of fabric.

we still use our boppy to this day. he drinks a bottle while reading bedtime stories in it. there was a time when we didn't use it. but it was used for a long time to prop our arms while holding him for hours on end. that and couch pillows.

fuzzy blankets. we learned around 5 weeks old that they calmed him down to help him sleep. we wrapped him in them for bed similar to a swaddle.

he only liked gumdrop pacifiers. and he only liked paci's until about 4 months old. he has refused them since. we have a jar of expensive paci's that he refused to use.

he still rarely wears a coat. i'm glad his current coat and 2T coat were consignment half off purchases.

car seat cover. it was so helpful to not only keep him warm but to keep him in the dark to help him sleep while out.

NotMrsSmith11 · February 2014

We love the formula pitcher. In addition to the convenience of having it all made and ready to pour, it mixes the formula very smoothly, which was good for us because A had reflux. He takes bottles out of the fridge, so no warmer for us. No wipe warmer either. We loved newborn gowns when he was teeny for MOTN changes. We had several of the Gerber brand ones, they are inexpensive at Target or Wal-Mart. We have rarely used the boppy for anything other than nursing, so I am not sure that is a must-have for EFF. Swaddle me's were completely necessary for us in the beginning. We used the swing daily, but even more important I think was the bouncy chair, since we could move it from room to room. A RNP might serve the same purpose, but we did not have one of those. We used Pampers in the beginning but now we are in Up & Up and I have not noticed a difference.

lindsayandjamie · February 2014

Homemedics sound machine. Plugs in, is loud and has 6 sounds. It can also be set with a timer or to play all night. I credit this to helping him STTN.

The A&A bamboo swaddlers. He didn't like being swaddeled but I loved them for covering the car seat from the sun, as a nursing cover, to lay him on if he needed a change in public, as a cover for the shopping cart, and he still uses one as a lovey for evey nap and at bedtime.

A carrier. I recommend getting a stretchy one for newborn and a soft structured one. So helpful. I used to mow the lawn with H in the Moby (old school push mower), and he loved it. The neighbours also called me hard core.

spin25 · February 2014

@caseyandlizzie is reading my mind with some of this. Three of the first five Huggies diapers we used leaked so we went back to pampers. (Well, the only five we used.) The boppy is great for tummy time but I wouldn't expect to use it for bottle feeding. A&A muslin blankets are great. Sleepers with zippers--yes, yes, yes, especially for you ladies with carpal tunnel. the numbness in my fingertips wasn't totally gone until 5-6 weeks postpartum and snaps are unnecessarily difficult when dealing with that. We also love the RNP and bouncy seat.

KatieKim0815 · February 2014

Must have
Aden and anais swaddling blankets
A good pump
Some sort of downstairs change area even if it is just a caddy and a blanket to put baby on ( running up and down stairs gets old!!!)
A space saver high chair
Sterilizer ( I pump but this is key!)
Avent bottles - all my babies loved them

Not needed:
Bedding sets ( we had one w my first now we only buy sheets)
Clothes ( obv a need but not in a crazy quantity - return excessive amounts of onesies etc!!)
Bottle warmer
Brest feeding cover ( just used A&A swaddling blanket)
Bouncer ( we use swing)
Bumbo
Activity mat ( it was good but used for a seriously short time)

pb&fluff · February 2014

We used the Rock n play and while we loved it at the time, we felt like it made the crib transition more difficult (probably more for us than him). We won't be using it for the next one, but Graco makes one that is more bassinet like and less of an incline, so we'll probably go with that.

We didn't use the boppy at all at the beginning, but when he was learning to sit up, it was a big help. Later, we used it to prop him up so he could drink his morning bottle while I got us ready to go.

We also went with Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive.

We have a sleep sheep, but don't use it. We got this and LOVE it. It has an optional timer, so we don't use it and are able to keep it on all night. http://www.buybuybaby.com/store/product/homedics-reg-soundspa-reg-sound-machine/1013630208

and we also got the travel version for when he needs to sleep somewhere other than daycare or home: http://www.buybuybaby.com/store/product/homedics-reg-mybaby-soundspa-reg-on-the-go/1040657134

I loved these for burp cloths. I felt the receiving blankets were too big. We bought a bunch of these. http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11306094&cp=2255957.2273443.2255981.3242137.3242139&f=PAD/Boy+Girl/Boys&f=PAD/Brand+Name+Secondary/Babies+R+Us&parentPage=search

We FF and just had a brita pitcher so water was at room temp. We didn't buy the formula pitcher, and just made our bottles as needed.

That's all I can think of for now.

Whippet8 · February 2014

omg get the pitcher! We did formula during the days from 8 months on and I'm still soooo glad we got it.

We really loved our moby and ergo, the rock n play (we just got a second one so we can keep one at my parent's house with this baby) and the bouncer.

caseyandlizzie · February 2014

I'll have to agree with the rock & play. W's been sleeping in it since he came home from the hospital and we've tried to get him to sleep in a co-sleeper a pack & play and his crib and he wigs out every. single. time. I really liked the convenience if the r&p, and it's been super easy to move from room to room and to throw in the car for when we stay the night at my moms, but getting him to sleep anywhere else has been a complete drag. He's getting so long that it's not going to be an option for much longer and he's going to have to sleep in his crib soon.

BackseatDriver · February 2014

Loved:
Rock N Play
Halo Sleep Sacks
Banana Teether (at 3+ months)
Freddie Firefly (first toy he interacted with)
Sassy Bugs Stroller Toys
Boba Wrap
Nursing supplies
High chair that reclines for infants
Glider
Changing pad and covers
Sheets
Mattress pad
Activity mat
Clevamama Towels
Whale tub
Nursing supplies

Fail:
Swing
PnP
Boppy
Swaddle wraps
Receiving blankets
Wubanub

pb&fluff · February 2014

caseyandlizzie said:

I'll have to agree with the rock & play. W's been sleeping in it since he came home from the hospital and we've tried to get him to sleep in a co-sleeper a pack & play and his crib and he wigs out every. single. time. I really liked the convenience if the r&p, and it's been super easy to move from room to room and to throw in the car for when we stay the night at my moms, but getting him to sleep anywhere else has been a complete drag. He's getting so long that it's not going to be an option for much longer and he's going to have to sleep in his crib soon.

Yeah, Parker would end up squinching himself down and flopping in there, so it was getting pretty bad. We tried putting him in the crib, but didn't want to do CIO, so we tried the swing, but that was as inclined as the RNP...it was bad. We eventually did CIO and crib transition at the same time at 8 months. It's been glorious ever since.

lb1117 · February 2014

We have a RnP. I am hoping he'll go right into his crib, but this seems like a decent option is he refuses. Plus, it's so light weight to take to someone's house or to move around the house if need be

caseyandlizzie · February 2014

pb&fluff said:

caseyandlizzie said:

I'll have to agree with the rock & play. W's been sleeping in it since he came home from the hospital and we've tried to get him to sleep in a co-sleeper a pack & play and his crib and he wigs out every. single. time. I really liked the convenience if the r&p, and it's been super easy to move from room to room and to throw in the car for when we stay the night at my moms, but getting him to sleep anywhere else has been a complete drag. He's getting so long that it's not going to be an option for much longer and he's going to have to sleep in his crib soon.

Yeah, Parker would end up squinching himself down and flopping in there, so it was getting pretty bad. We tried putting him in the crib, but didn't want to do CIO, so we tried the swing, but that was as inclined as the RNP...it was bad. We eventually did CIO and crib transition at the same time at 8 months. It's been glorious ever since.

This gives me hope!

fusionbride · February 2014

fave: NoseFrida, Armsreach mini cosleeper, clothe diapers as burp cloths, ergo, primo tub that can be used from infancy to age 2, activity gym

fails: sophie, swing, pacifiers

Can we do a baby products faves and fails?

Re: Can we do a baby products faves and fails?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards