Of course every baby (and Mom) is different, but these made my life so much easier!
1. Rock n Play- We tried having him sleep in a flat bassinet beside our bed (room sharing is something I strongly believe in!) but little Oliver was not a fan of sleeping totally flat on his back. I was concerned about the Rock n Play because of it's slight incline so we spoke with our pediatrician first who said the Rock n Play was perfectly safe to sleep in.
It's made roomsharing so much easier for all of us! Oliver sleeps soundly in it- it's easy to move from room to room and if he gets fussy I just gently rock it with my foot. I LOVE the rock n play and am unsure if any of us would have gotten sleep with out it!
This is the exact model we have- it's battery operated and surprisingly the batteries have lasted the entire month.
2. Snuza Hero- Anyone who knows me knows I have terrible anxiety. In the hospital without any monitoring on Ollie I did not sleep unless my husband was awake watching him. The snuza has helped me sleep at night. It's a tiny little device that clips onto the diaper and measures babies movements- if he stops having belly breaths for 15 seconds it vibrates to try to wake the baby up and reestablish breathing. If it continues without movement for another 5 seconds (20 total) it sounds an alarm to alert you so you can intervene.
Of course if it falls off you will have false alarms but for me I'd way rather a false alarm than not know if something were wrong with my sweet boy. To help prevent false alarms I fold the top of the diaper down to make it thicker and clip it on.
When his little umbilical cord hadn't fallen off yet we simply placed it to the side of his belly button to prevent any irritation to that area. We've never had a problem with it. Seeing that little green light blinking helps me sleep soundly knowing I would know if anything went wrong!
3. Zen Swaddle- Swaddling is so important for your little one- it reduces SIDS by eliminating any loose blankets in bed and helps stop their startle reflex which can jerk them awake. We started with the SwaddleMe wrap which was awesome because it made it so easy to swaddle and unswaddle when changing him at 2 am in straight mom zombie (aka mombie) mode.
My bestie told me about the Zen Swaddle and I looked it up and ordered it immediately. It's a swaddle wrap that is VERY lightly weighted to mimic being held. It's helped extend his sleep so much-We get 7 hour stretches at night.
They have two different models- we ordered the classic which is a lighter material. They also have a premium which is more expensive and a thicker (warmer) material. Anything to extend sleep is worth it to me!
4. Dr Browns Formula Pitcher-I tried really hard to exclusively breast feed- like made myself crazy trying. Unfortunately I had a breast reduction and just wasn't able to express enough milk for my little man. We saw a lactation consultant and he was only getting 10 cc's from my breast. That's NOTHING. So we definitely needed to supplement with formula. I'm grateful with a lot of hard work I'm now able to express at least 3 oz a day.
We used ready to feed formula for the first 4 weeks exclusively but it's REALLY expensive. Powdered formula is a lot more manageable although it is NOT sterile and their are some new guidelines from the CDC on how to prepare your formula (you can check them out here)
Doing this one bottle at a time would be SO annoying- this pitcher makes it so much more convenient to make his bottles. Every night I heat up the water- pour it into the pitcher add my powder and we make 24 oz. at a time. I then pour it into 7 bottles for the next day and all we need to do is grab a bottle, warm it and move on!
It's amazing how easy this whole process is and how quickly it goes- also there are NO bubbles with this mixer. It's PERFECT every time!
5. Soothe Shirt-Baby wearing is amazing and there are SO many different wraps and carriers. The easiest and most convenient for me has been the Soothe Shirt. My bestie had a baby before me and she let me borrow her shirt. I am in love! When I'm not wearing him it's still a cute tank top and no one could ever tell it's actually a baby carrier.
It's made my life so much easier- I carry him with me in stores, out for walks and just doing chores in the house. I strongly recommend adding this to your wardrobe for your little ones first few months.
6. Women- Now here is something that can't be bought. But seriously women- specifically other moms were so vital to surviving this past month. It's amazing how babies bring people together. Women I haven't spoken to since college have become some of my biggest confidants and I can thank Facebook for this. They've commiserated with me when i've been so depleted I felt I couldn't go on; they've offered suggestions on things from feeding to diaper changes and most of all they've just been an ear to hear me when I felt alone and isolated.
It takes a village to raise a child- I've heard it said many times and truly believe it to be the truth now. So if you're new to this parenting thing and feel alone, message me. You're not alone and I would love to join your village.
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