A Few Of My Favorite Things

There are a few things that I have loved, loved, loved since having Will. I know that each baby is different and some of these things will not be useful to you or your particular situation. But I loved reading posts like these before Will was born and got some useful suggestions from them. Enjoy!

1) Waffle-weave receiving blankets.

They have these at the hospital, which is probably my first big advice. Take everything from the hospital that you can. Trust me, you're getting billed for it anyway. I took everything from the receiving blankets, to those bulb-like nose destuffers, to the receiving blankets. I will admit this here - I even took a nursing gown with the front ties and wear it almost every night that it is clean! But back to the blankets. The waffle-weave ones are just the greatest. They are a good size for nice, tight swaddling and seem to have a bit of stretch to them to get the snuggest swaddle. If you don't want to be a hospital thief, then you can find these at JC Penn.ey's.

2) Soothies

If you are breastfeeding, Soothies are amazing for those first couple of weeks. I put mine in the freezer and it was heaven to put them on my sore nipples. I am not really using them anymore, but they were awesome in the beginning. I found mine at Fre.d Mey.er, but I think they have them at pretty much any drugstore.

3) These One.sies.

Yes, I know, there are a lot of One.sies out there, but these take the cake. They are made by Ger.ber have arms and cover their little fingernails and protect from scratches. They also have only two buttons at the crotch, which may not seem like a big deal, but it is. They are fabulous. They also make them that snap to the side so that you don't have to pull them over their head. Those are nice, too, but I like these because they don't ride up. At night, all Will wears are these and a swaddle blanket. We got ours at Tar.get.

4) These pants.

The ones that I use are made by Car.ter's. I got them as hand-me-downs and remember thinking, why would I need so many of these? Well, pair them with the above Onesies, and you have a great outfit for bedtime or daytime. If you are like me, you will be forever playing the "is my baby too warm/cold" game and this makes it easy to slip them on and off as you see fit. They are also easy for diaper changes, better than snaps. I have seen them at Tar.get for less money than at this link for Ma.cy's.

5) This Hoot.er Hider.

I just got this lovely item this week. It has to be my new favorite thing. I know, you can use a blanket, but trust me when I tell you that you will be forever readjusting the blanket and worried about slippage. Also, even the lightest blanket gets warm when you have a little baby snuggled up next to you. This is great because it stays put and the best part is that it has wire in the top which creates a little "window" so you can peak down and make sure that the baby is latched on. This also frees your hands to adjust as necessary. It even has a pocket for breast pads! Love. It. I got mine at Tar.get online with free shipping.

6) These diapers.

Actually, this advice came from the lovely Farah in a post rather similar to this one. She recommended these diapers and I love them. They are more expensive, I am not going to lie, but we have had no blowouts with these (and have with others), he seems more comfortable in these for longer, and they have a yellow stripe on the front that turns green when it is wet. This is especially convenient for those early days when they want you to count wet diapers. Our hospital also used these and the nurse was the one who threw them in our bag to take home (see, they encouraged my theiving). I have found them at any major store.

So, that's just a few of my current favorite things. I am sure that I will have more in the days and weeks to come!