Loving Lately - 5 Newborn Essentials

Lucas just turned three months old and we have officially graduated out of the newborn stage and into infancy.  There are so many helpful things out there for babies, but I thought I would share the 5 things that we couldn't have survived without. 

1. Babywearing Wrap:

 

The biggest challenge of having a new baby is the lack of sleep.  Getting your baby to sleep moves to the very top of your to-do list.  I am not exaggerating when I saw that I would do anything to help him sleep.  Babywearing is great so that you can at least have your hands free and I highly recommend investing in some sort of wrap.  I have the sleepy wrap (now called the boba wrap) from when Jake was a baby.  Lucas spent A LOT of time in the wrap during the day.

2. Swaddlers:

 

Babywearing is all well and good during the day, but it is not something I want to be doing at night.  At night, I want to sleep.  With Jake we took the newborn care class and learned how to use a blanket to swaddle but when you are waking up multiple times a night to nurse and change diapers, you don't want to be messing with that.  Invest in some swaddlers.  We have a ton of these, I found the organic ones to be a little bit bigger and stretchier.  Ergo just came out with a swaddler that is supposed to help prevent the potential hip problems so if we were starting over right now, I would invest in some of those.

3. Sound Machine:

White noise helps babies sleep.  They are used to a bunch of noise from in utero so keeping that up once they are born helps them sleep.  Added to that, it helps to cover up the other noises of everyday life with a 5 year old so that your baby is able to actually stay asleep once you have gotten them down.  We have this cheap one from Bed, Bath, and Beyond (using a 20% off coupon of course).  We also bought this one because it can run on batteries if needed so it is great for travel.  Jake still sleeps with a sound machine at night.  We bought both of these when Jake was a baby and have never had to replace them.  I can't recommend this highly enough!

4. Pacifiers:

Jake never really liked a pacifier but Lucas does.  We have them everywhere.  I keep them in every room, his car seat, a spare one in each diaper bag.  Lucas would spend all day latched on if I would let him but I have no intention of being a human pacifier so when he falls asleep or is done eating, I just slip a pacifier in his mouth.  He likes the ones they give you in the hospital.  Find one your baby likes and stock up.

5. Luna Lullaby Bosom Baby Nursing Pillow:

With Jake I had the Boppy and the My Breast Friend.  This time around my sister recommended the Bosom Baby.  It is amazing!  It is super puffy so it actually keeps your baby up high where you need them to be.  This means less hunching over and hurting your back.  It also is great for when big brothers or cousins want to hold the baby.