Whew! What a ride it has been already. Motherhood is absolutely the hardest, most challenging, yet the most rewarding, exciting, humbling job I have ever had. I have learned so much about myself and what I am capable of in the past 2 weeks than I have in the 28 years I’ve been alive! I will have a post on how breastfeeding, sleeping and adjusting to life with Sam has been soon… once you read that you will understand why it’s been almost 2 weeks since I’ve blogged!
I wanted to share the products we couldn’t have survived without during the first two weeks. If you will, they were “sanity savers.”
For Baby
Sleep Sheep (White noise maker)
- Attention! If you are pregnant and did not register for or receive one of these GO GET IT RIGHT NOW! This little sheep is a miracle worker. We have the larger version which Sam sleeps with at night and we have the smaller travel size which we wouldn’t dare leave the house without. At 2am, this has been invaluable in getting Sam relaxed and back to sleep.
Muslin blankets
- Love these blankets. They are large and perfect for swaddling a baby. You can really get a good, tight swaddle with these. They are made of a very breathable fabric so they are perfect for summer babies, especially at night. The typical cotton blankets we have used but mainly just around the house to cover Sam when he is in the swing or to lay Sam on. They don’t swaddle him very well because, well, he’s just too big!
Snug a Bunny Bouncer
- This is where Sam naps the majority of the day. He absolutely loves this thing and we don’t even have batteries in it yet! This has also come in handy during meal time for us. Sam is just as snug as a bug in this and we can usually guarantee ourselves enough time to finish lunch or dinner while he’s sitting content. It’s so easy to move this from one room to another and it’s the perfect height for your foot to give a few bounces 🙂
Glider/Recliner
- For whatever reason, we didn’t utilize this until the second week. Not sure why we didn’t use it sooner but it’s perfect for those late night feedings, as I’m able to rock him right back to sleep while he’s nursing. Plus, its super comfy and much better than sitting on the couch or in bed to nurse.
Pacifier
- I originally wanted to wait until at least 4 weeks before introducing a pacifier but Sam had other plans. This boy came out wanting to suck. One of the first pictures we have of him is him sucking his thumb. So on the 3rd night of his life at 1 am, we introduced a pacifier. We couldn’t get him to fall back to sleep, I tried nursing him again and all he wanted to do was “comfort suck.” Turns out I don’t want to be used as a human pacifier. So we gave it to him and it was lights out within 2 minutes. I made a promise to myself that I won’t ever use the pacifier for my benefit (delay feedings, quiet baby, etc) but only for Sam’s. We only give him the pacifier when I know he’s trying to get himself back to sleep. I rarely give it to him during the day when he’s napping. So far it hasn’t proven to be any issue with breast-feeding. However, now that he’s 3 weeks old, he doesn’t really want anything to do with the pacifier. It’s amazing how quickly their preferences change!
Aquaphor
- Awesome. Sam’s little hiney was getting a bit red and aquaphor cleared it up within a day. We now use a little bit with each diaper change just as a precautionary measure.
For Mom
Lanolin Oil
- Holy nipples. Enough said.
Medela Soft Shells
- Give the girls some air! Love these as they let your nipples just be. No scratchy pads or bra touching them or getting the lanolin oil all over everything. Another plus is that they are very discreet and you can’t tell I have them on under my clothes. However, be careful because they do cause a warm, moist environment if your breasts leak (which they will). This is what Thrush thrives on.
Belly Band/Abdominal binder
- Not going to lie, at first I purchased this for purely cosmetic reasons. It claims to get to your abdomen shrunk back to size much faster. While in recovery, I was talking to a nurse about using one after a c-section and she highly recommended it. She also notified me that I could request one from the nurse on the post partum floor! Hello! Free belly band! I highly recommend every mother getting one of these because it has SAVED my back. Right after delivery everything is so…. loosey goosey and everything jiggling around just made me almost queasy. I am actually more comfortable with the binder on than not. Plus, for being 3 weeks post partum, I think it’s done it’s job shrinking me back to size a little quicker than not using one. Definitely worth the money.
My Brest Friend
- For me, the boppy just wasn’t enough support for my over 10lb baby. I saw a lactation consultant a couple of weeks ago and used this product during my appointment with her. It was much firmer and supported Sam better than the boppy. I really like the back support it provides as well. Even with a small baby, I think this kicks the boppy’s butt for breast-feeding.
Products I didn’t care for or that we never used
Nipple shield
- I couldn’t get Sam to latch properly on these for the life of me. In the end I decided they were causing more harm than good because he couldn’t latch correctly. Waste of money in my opinion.
Swaddle Me blankets
- We never used these. These are the blankets that have velcro and are solely for swaddling a baby. We just use the muslin blankets for swaddling. Also, at our newborn class, the instructor recommended not using these as they can be too tight and too restrictive on the baby’s respiratory system. So they freaked me out a bit.
Boudreaux’s Butt Paste
- Didn’t care for this product. Also, Aquaphore is awesome. So for me there’s really no reason for any other product.
So there ya have it! These are the products that have made life a little bit easier for us! I am really excited to write a post about breast-feeding, which I am hoping to have up by the end of the week. That has been a roller coaster ride.
Have a great day!
Hello Belly Goodbye Feet 