In the past months we have had friends who are expecting their first child and we frequently get asked what the top baby items are that we couldn’t do without. After rattling it off a few times, I thought I would share here in case you want to learn from our experience. Everyone is unique of course, so take take ’em or leave ’em.  It’s funny, I wrote out my list and then asked David his. Besides number six, every single one was the same!

1. Electric Kettle: This may sound like an odd choice, but not only are Electric Kettles great for coffee (which you will need A LOT of those first few months) but, you can use the piping hot water to sanitize your bottles, nipples, spoons and cups, which you will be doing A LOT of too. We found this saves us from having to get one of those pricey, bulky steamers and once we are done with bottles we can go back to using it the way we always did.
2. La-Z-Boy: you will be spending copious amounts of time sitting and rocking and playing and feeding and more and more and more rocking so make sure this is where you splurge. We didn’t go bananas on a lot of items honestly but this was definitenly an investment that has a huge return. Oddly enough, we went with a brand that I was surprised I liked so much: La-Z-Boy. Seriously. They don’t make the one we have anymore, but this one is closest to ours. We have it in the color Brown Sugar and it’s very modern looking – not the old granny kind that you are thinking in your head. Like I said, the chair is a splurge, but you will be so happy you have one you won’t know what you ever did without it.
3. Skip-Hop Pronto! Changing Station: I remember the first time I changed Lila “in the field” and had to use this wonderful product. I was astonished that the public restroom didn’t have a Koala Bear changing station. You will come to find that a ton of places you use to frequent do not have these, which is why the Pronto! is so critical to bring with you everywhere you go. Also, be sure you have an extra onesie inside the pocket because blow-outs can happen anywhere, at anytime. I feel like I should add a Mwahahahaha at the end of that sentence.
4. Joovy Room 2 and Exersaucer: I put these two as one since they are for the same purpose. By the end of her fourth month Lila was no longer a motionless blob but a crawling, rolling fireball that if you put her down for one moment and turned around she was g.o.n.e. gone. While I like to supervise as much as I can, there are times when you need them in a secure place to take care of something in the house. Joovy, or as we playfully call it “baby prison,” and the Exersaucer are blessings for those “oh crap” moments. If I’m trying to get a workout in downstairs, I pop in my 20 minute Jillian Michaels (see #7) and place Lila in the Exersaucer so we can both get our workout on. I feel great after the workout and so does she! Let me mention though that I only let Lila stay in her Exersaucer for 20 minutes total and the Joovy is for a five minute errand break that I just can’t do holding her (plus, it’s great when we visit the grandparents). There has been a lot of studies saying leaving children under one in the Exersaucer for long periods of time can impede standing and walking and besides, I just like being with her so much that I don’t like to leave her alone that often!

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