As a mother of two boys, I realized my first son was indeed my guinea pig. We really had no clue what we were doing but thank God we survived! Through my journey, I have learned so much, I thought I should share just a tiny bit. Below are my top eight baby essentials for 0-6-month-olds. They made my life a lot easier!
1. LED breastfeeding light
If you choose to breastfeed and are co-sleeping with your baby this lamp is a game-changer. I know you may be thinking, “what’s wrong with the bedside lamp?” Well, no bedside lamp can compete with this LED light. Its brightness is extremely deemed yet very effective. It is bright enough for you to pick up the baby and shove his/her mouth unto your nipple, bright enough to change a diaper, yet dim enough for the baby to fall right back asleep, while at the same time not waking up your partner. Miracle right? I know. Definitely my number one baby essential Thanks to my sister/friend Cennet who got it for me. Below is a picture of what it looks like. You can find it in any baby shop I guess.
2. Pacifier chain
My second baby essential is a chain for a pacifier. The debates on whether pacifiers are good or bad for children abound, and are ongoing. My advice, do your research. I did mine. My conclusion, God bless whoever invented pacifiers. Life-saving little items! Funny enough not all children want to be constantly sucking on something. But if your child chooses to, you want to have a chain that holds it, while you attach the other end of the chain to his/her clothing.
With my first son, I didn’t have a chain at first. We were out one day and his pacifier fell on the floor, in a public place. I had no means of sterilizing it there and then. I remember trying to mellow down a screaming baby as I headed to the next shop to get a new one, which I still had to sterilize before giving him. Get you a chain if your baby uses pacifiers. If they spit it out, it falls on them and stays there. And also, make sure to always carry extras of everything, pacifiers especially. Screaming babies are the worst! I have two.
3. Peepee teepee
Here is the most interesting of all baby essentials if you are having a boy. A boy who loves showering you with peepee blessings every time you open his diapers to change him. If you are at home, you can always slip into another attire if you have been blessed with urine, but what if you are in public? We understand motherhood is messy but you do not want to go around with a wet dress if you can help it, do you? Get a peepee teepee. It is some sort of cap you thrust on the baby’s wee-wee the instant you take his diaper out. What’s great is they are washable. You can find affordable ones on Amazon and here’s what they look like. Shout to Aunty Anjoh who got this for us.
4. Huge hooded towel
Having a towel with a hood to dry your baby’s hair is great, but having one huge enough so the baby grows into is even better. A lot of new mothers settle for small hooded towels because the babies are tiny. Guess what? That baby grows! Then you have to replace the towels. To be cost-effective, get a huge one from the get-go. I was not thinking much about this until a friend complained to me her three-year-old daughter had outgrown all her hooded towels. I would recommend the ones from Ikea. My four-year son has been using his since birth and I am positive they will take him well into to his teens before we retire them. Some baby essentials are meant to be used for lots of years.
5. Baby food steamer/blender
I know I said the LED breastfeeding lamp was the most essential of all baby essentials, that only counts for newborn babies. Once they start eating solids, a steamer/blender is your best friend. I didn’t know about this with my first son, now I understand what the Bible means when it says we perish for lack of knowledge. Shout out to my friend Maria, mother extraordinary for suggesting I get this. Boy does it make life easy!! Especially if you want to make your children’s meals fresh and from scratch. Instead of steaming food in a pot while watching it, for fear it might get burnt or something of that sort, you put the food in the steamer and go give the baby a bath or do whatever chore you have to do. Fifteen minutes later the food is all cooked, you turn into the same processor and bam! Food is ready. Another perk is, it is extremely easy to wash and dry. Many baby shops have these, I got mine from Amazon (someone may think this is a sponsored post, it isn’t my dear! They are indeed the everything store ). Find a picture below.
6.Bibs with sleeves
Some children are just hyperactive even during meal times. These are the ones who keep rotating their heads and will not stop rubbing their hands on their messy faces, eventually taking those hands to other parts of their body. So much so that food is smeared right up to their hair. Changing clothes often is already given when it comes to babies. If your baby is a messy eater, having a bib which extends right to the baby’s wrist is an item you want to get ASAP. The baby may look like he/she is heading for surgery right before they eat but it will save you from any extra washing. Here’s a picture of what I got, as well as the Amazon link, if you are based in Germany.
7. Suitcase organizer
I know as soon as it is safe to travel again, we will all go nuts jumping on planes and trains. Being an organized traveller requires some specific skills. Travelling with babies is a whole different ball game. I cannot emphasize enough how much these organizers will make your life easier. Instead of turning your suitcase up site down looking for a onesie, tights, socks, shorts, etc, every bath time, you take out all the organizers which have already compartmentalized all baby items and toss in the closet once you get to your destination. Anytime you need anything, you go to a specific organizer. While a mother without an organizer will spend a good thirty minutes or more trying to bathe and dress her baby, you’d be in and out in ten, and smiling all the way! This should rank top on the list of baby essentials for a travelling mother! Once more, I got mine from Amazon.
8. Baby travel bed/playpen
When I first saw this baby essential, we called it Chi Chi’s bed. A bunch of us met in the UK visiting my brother. The house was cramped up! While we struggled with sleeping arrangements, one-year-old Chi Chi was good to go. Her parents had come all the way from Dortmund with her bed! Of course, we got one as soon as we had a baby and knew we’d be visiting and crashing at friends homes. We rarely do hotels in Europe, as long as you have a friend in the city you are visiting, there’s is a great chance they have many airbeds in their storage. What is unlikely, is that they will have a baby bed- you want to bring along your baby’s bed. However, this has served more like a playpen. The moment your child gets to that age where it feels like you are experiencing tornado attacks daily, you want to have a decent place to confine them for some time in the day while you do something constructive. Ours is easy to mount and dismount and very portable as well. Unfortunately, I cannot remember where we got it from but it looks something like this-
There are a lot more items newborn babies need. And there is always the tendency to go overboard with shopping especially if it is your first baby. If you already bought these baby essentials, great job! They will serve you I promise. Be sure to let me know in the comments what other essentials made your life easy as a mother.