Best Baby Products

A good friend of mine is expecting her first child. She asked me what baby products I thought were worth the money and what was practical, as she is starting a registry. I told her I was happy to oblige.

I can be quite opinionated so watch out. I love practicality, functionality, and simplicity. I like things that are pretty, but if they are useless and don't make my life easier or bring me some sort of joy then they are history. Remember we are talking about "things" here. haha. I live in a beautiful but small cottage. Okay it's a raised Ranch but it is beautiful and small and I can call it a cottage if I want to.

While pregnant with my first child I was overwhelmed with all the stuff/junk they say you need. Who are "They" anyways? I live far away from my mommy (we call her Gamma) so she wasn't here to tell me all this junk was silly and unnecessary. I like being prepared and wanted to be a good mommy, So I totally bought into it. Well I didn't actually buy much of anything I got gifts and hand me downs lots and lots of hand me down equipment, and thought I needed it all. I swear these baby equip manufacturers take advantage of new mommies and the people that love them. I am so glad I got rid of most of that junk. It took a while for me to realize what was a need and what was literally cramping my style.

I will start with baby bath tubs. Waste of money, eats up space. I used mine once. Then I realized you could do the same thing in the sink, or even right on a changing pad with a towel to give them a sponge bath in the beginning, you know when you aren't supposed to get their crusty belly button wet. Eeeew. *Squirm* But my favorite thing to do was bring them in the shower. Oh amazing. I would wear a tank top to help with the slippery baby. So ditch the tub. I love these, I think they are totally worth it. We got some for Lily and again for Eden. And It's one of my favorite goodies to add to my shower gifts. Great for frozen fruit while they are teething. My girls loved them.

We also made our own baby food, We just mashed up whatever we were eating for dinner and you really only need a fork to do that.

Another favorite of mine were these. They were the only way I could keep shoes on Lily or Eden's feet, or socks for that matter. These were so comfy on their little piggies. Their feet are so flexible, they weren't meant to be in rigid shoes @ such a young age. Robeez are great but crazy expensive Target had some awesome knock-offs. I even put them through the wash and layed them out to dry. And they still looked great. Or you could go with traditional moccasins. My sister got us some and they were a hit.

Changing tables, why bother, use a dresser with a changing pad on top, or use a blanket on the floor, especially good if you have a wiggler.

Now for Wipey warmers. Okay if you want to set your house on fire get a wipey warmer. I was given one as a hand me down. Now granted I can be a bit flaky, but what new mom isn't with lack of sleep etc. So I forgot to replenish the water in the wipey warmer. And soon enough the smoke alarms were going off. To the garbage it went. Also I think a cold wet wipe is only gonna make them stronger in the end. It's quite refreshing actually :) We keep some in the bathroom, for lasting freshness ;) *giggle*

I make my own disposable wipes. I also use cloth wipes, they sell expensive ones online but I just used the ridiculous little baby facecloths you get for my wipes, waste not want not right?! Then I just toss them right in the wash with the cloth diapers. I used our regular face cloths for washing up in the tub.

And lastly I am a baby wearer, and I have back problems. (Not a good mix) I've had scoliosis since I was a kid. So I do better with a Mei Tai Carrier than one of those the side slings. I know some women love them, and yes they are stylish, but lots of my friends who criticised my not so fancy but very practical "Eden Carrier" have gone out and bought themselves one after having back problems from wearing their babies lopsided in those other sling things. So there! Excuse me while I wipe the Smug Smile off my face. Wow I am in rare form tonight. I get fresh late @ night.

I love this "FreeHand Mei Tai Baby Carrier" But the basic pattern for a Mei Tai is quite simple you could make one yourself.

Well ladies in reality we are quite spoiled these days, but that can also be a burden, cause our homes get overloaded with stuff and we carry huge diaper bags full of more stuff. You can always tell a new mommy by the size of her diaper bag. lol

I like to think of what my Wise Mother says a lot. What do you think they did back in the day before they had all these contraptions. People have been raising babies for thousands of years. Or think of women in tribal communities in other countries.

I do want to hear your feedback! These are just my opinions, so don't get mad if I dissed on a product you love. I know everyones situation is different. There are lots of other products out there that I didn't mention, Let me know some of the products you couldn't live with out. Or what products you thought were a waste of space.

Cleaning with the Basics

I love cleaning with the basics. Not all the expensive junk that just clutters up the place and is bad for the environment and your health. Plus I'm very rashy and allergic to everything and have handed that trait down to my children. Poor Kids!
This is what I have under my kitchen sink.
Paper towels,
Non Latex Gloves, Another allergy I have.
and a tote with the following chemicals:
Dish Soap, Ammonia, Baking soda, Vinegar & Bleach. That's it!
Lets start with Ammonia, I only use this to polish my jewelry, but my friend Andrea said it works great on floors.
Bleach-My hubby is immune deficient and sometimes I must disinfect with the tough stuff. I am very allergic to chlorine, so I am careful to wear gloves and open the windows. I use it mostly when the house has been contaminated by a sick member of the family or raw meat juice has dripped on the counter, you get the Idea. I also drop a 1/2 cup into our whirlpool after someone has taken a bath and run the jets and then drain the tub, to sterilize those nasty pipes. Works great! And of course bleach is wonderful for keeping my whites white.
Baking Soda-Whenever I clean the sinks, tub or shower in my house, all I use is an old rag and some baking soda. It gets rid of soap scum and gets them gleaming white again. For the toilets I will use baking soda and the brush, but for deep cleaning I use bleach. Gotta kill those germs. I put baking Soda in my laundry to freshen it. I run it through my coffee maker, dishwasher, you name it Baking Soda Rocks!
Vinegar- is great for getting the stink out of cloth diapers, and washing windows, and I also use it to wash my floors, countertops & cabinet doors.
Dish soap- the obvious-dishes, and it's great as a spot treatment for clothes stains.
I am sure I am forgetting some other great uses for these products. So write your ideas, I'd love to hear them.
I hope this has encouraged some of you to take inventory and get rid of all those nasty chemicals ( you don't really need) under the sink.
* Always Make sure you follow procedure for disposal. Yuck!
*And remember Never mix Ammonia and Bleach, the toxic fumes will Kill you!
Happy cleaning!

Cloth Diapers

Kevin and I decided to do cloth diapers for many reasons. To save money, They are good for the Environment, and most importantly because both our children had a sensitivity to paper diapers and developed a nasty scary rash that never occured when using cloth.
So here is what we learned from our experience.
We found that "Fuzzi Bunz" were the best. They have snaps. And the sizes were very adjustable. Other diapers used velcro. Although velcro was a cool invention, I hate it. It is annoying, sticks to everything, creates runs and pulls in fabric, and collects hair and lint, eventually making it not very sticky. Also The polar fleece lining of the "Fuzzi Bunz" is so soft against the skin. My daughters both prefered cloth over the crunchy paper anyday.
The downside of cloth is they are definately more work & I found that they tend to be a little bulky. So some of the girls pants didn't fit as well. (mostly just the trendy style pants) But dresses fixed that, and who doesn't love to see little girls sporting dresses. Stretchy pants/leggings or balloon pants & overalls worked fine.
For care of cloth diapers and other questions I liked this site. Baking soda and vinegar come to the rescue once again!
http://www.simplewondersdiapers.com/Diaper-care.htm
No one likes a smelly diaper bag. For Diapering on the go I really liked these "Wet Bags" by "Happy Tushies." They have some great fabric options, and they work great.
http://www.wildflowerdiapers.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=442&idproduct=2480
I haven't sewn our own cloth diapers yet, but if we have another little peanut, I would like to give it a shot.
http://littlefornow.com/pages/diaper-patterns.php
If you find any other great patterns or other ideas online be sure to let me know.