Veruca’s Best Baby Products

A coworker who recently had a baby asked what it was that I couldn’t live without as far as baby products go. And I couldn’t think of just one. Things have gotten so much easier since Evan was a baby because of some very cool developments. So here, in no particular order, are my five faves.

What is the best thing ever? Boogie Wipes are the best thing ever. When you have kids with colds, that is. I had never heard of these! And I was perusing the wares at BRU the other day and they were 2 packs for $6, and I thought to myself, “Self, what is that?” And I picked them off the shelf and looked. Saline wipes? (Saline loosens dried boogers, y’all!) Grape scented? Really? And I thought about those times when you are sick and your nose is raw from tissues, and if it sucks for adults, imagine what it must be like for a teensy baby who doesn’t get it. And so I bought them. And gone are the days when Zach screams when I wipe his nose. Incidentally, there is nothing grosser (more gross? IDK the correct way there…) than either snot dripping from a nose. Or crusted boogers. I cannot stand that. And I am an RT and deal with snot for a living, peeps. Amazing.

The next on my list are Tommee Tippee formula dispensers. Okay, it is no mystery that Zach has been getting small amounts of formula each day to supplement breastmilk. And I choose to use the formula when we go out instead of at home. This way I never have to worry about my precious breastmilk spoiling and going to waste. He’s gonna get the formula anyway, so it might as well be when it is convenient for me. And when you mix it ahead of time, it also has a shelf-life. And it is expensive. So then you have to either lug around a big can and bottled water  and the clean bottle. And then I found these. These are used with the Tomme Tippee Closer-to-Nature bottles we have been using ever since Zach started having issues latching on at 4 months old. And so you fill the clean bottle with your water and measure the powdered formula into the dispenser, which sits down in the bottle before you screw on the nipple and ring. And that’s it. When you need to make the bottle while out and about, you just remove the cap and empty the contents into the water and shake. Awesome.

All Hail the Almighty Bumbo. A baby seat for before they can sit on their own. A place for quick snacks and play and more. How did we ever live without these things? There is also the snap-on tray sold separately, but we never bothered with it. I could have saved myself money by buying it instead of a complete space-saving highchair. My only complaint was that I could never find a blue one and thus we have purple. I love that it is so simply, that it travels easily, that it wipes clean. Zach sat in his for his first solids. Now? They have a recall on them. Because morons are putting their chil’rens on tables and such in them and the kiddos are falling to their doom. Morons ruin it for anyone. What else could be dangerous about a solid piece of coated foam rubber? Alas, the recall doesn’t involve taking them off of the market, but rather warning labels to afix to your seat. Idiots, I tellya.

The Graco Pack’N’Play. This is the exact model we have. Complete with a changing table, the Newborn Napper, which is really a bassinet that comes complete with a vibrating module. There is also a night light, music and nature sounds. Zach slept in his for the first 3 months. We would swaddle him and off to dreamland he would go. Then, under all of that fanciness, there is a shallow section. And below that, a deeper one for the baby who is sitting up, pulling up, and cruising. Love love love this.

And OMG, this: The Summer Infant SwaddleMe. Without this, Zach would never have slept. And I love that, when my chunkster got too big, they had the next size up, too, instead of just assuming only newborns need to be swaddled. The only thing was that the bigger size was a little more difficult to find and there weren’t as many cute colors and patterns. But this saved us.