New Moms Advice

Hey moms-to-be! Several of you have asked me to make a list of products/etc. that I would recommend so I finally decided to do it. Sorry for the delay, I've had my hands a little full. Here goes:


1. Baby Bjorn - was a must-have for Taylor! During weeks about 3-10 she only liked to be held, not laying on the ground or in her crib, not the swing or bouncer, ONLY held so this enabled me to hold her all day and get a few things done! Many times we found that she would immediately stop crying when we put her in there. Amazing!

2. Diaper Champ - unlike many other smelly poop container thingies this one allows you to use any generic bags to put in there rather than having to buy specific brand name bags (i.e. expensive!). This keeps the costs down and the nursery smelling baby fresh!

3. Gas Drops (Mylicon) - Let's face it, babies are just gassy. They don't know how to deal with it when they have gas bubbles in their tummy or even when they need to poop sometimes. The first time we gave Taylor some she immediately stopped crying. I think it was because she liked the taste, but I feel like these really work too.

4. Gowns with little mittens - These are great because the little mittens prevent them from scratching their faces at night. Sounds weird, but their nails are sharp and you just can never get them quite short enough. They have no control over their hands and they end up with scratches all over their face. Plus, with the gowns night time diaper changes can be super quick when there aren't all those snaps.

5. Fisher Price Sounds & Lights Monitor - this monitor is cool because not only can you hear her, but you can see the lights too. This is great because if you are watching a movie or have people over and wouldn't be able to hear over the noise you can still see the lights on the monitor.

6. TONS of burp rags (cloth diapers work well) - You can never have too many! Stick one in every room of the house because as surely as you need one it won't be there! At least that's what happens in our house... Put one on the changing table and if there's an accident you only have to wash the rag and not the cover.

7. Ultimate Crib Sheet - If you have ever changed the sheet on a crib mattress you know it's a pain in the you know what. This sheet just lays on top of the crib sheet and hooks on to the sides of the crib. If there's an accident (and there will be many), you just snap off the sheet and wash it. I wish I had two of these for when one is in the wash.

8. Homemade Wipees- Heather H. and our Hope Group gave us all the stuff to make our own wipes and save lots of money. I can email you the recipe if you want it.

9. Oxy Clean Spray - It's the magic potion to get out spit up and poop stains. Baby = lots of outfit changes and lots of laundry.

Oh, and a few things that nobody ever told us...

1. Childbearing is EMOTIONAL. That's normal. Your hormones are out of whack and that's okay. Cry. Let people baby you and your baby. Take it easy and know that this too shall pass.

2. In the beginning your baby will sleep all the time. Again, normal. After several weeks we found that she wanted to stay awake most of the day. I guess she just doesn't need naps anymore we said. WRONG! Little babies need like 16-20 hours of sleep per day. LAY HER DOWN! She might fuss for a few minutes but if she's been up for 2 hours, she is tired and fussing anyways and she WILL fall asleep.

3. Diapers are expensive and babies go through so many (8-10 per day!). When Taylor first arrived we thought we had plenty and then all of the sudden they vanished. One thing that I have figured out is that there are tons of coupons out there and if you catch them on sale AND use the coupon you can get Pampers for the same price as the store brand. Just buy a bunch all at once if you find a good sale.

Wow, I never thought I would be pondering these kinds of things on a daily basis... I guess that's what motherhood does to you.

Well, those are the main things that have made our life easier living with miss Taylor. By the way, some of the things I mentioned are just the things that have worked for her. All babies are different and this might give you some things to try. I have plenty more if you are interested.

Oh, and motherhood is so fun! I can't imagine life without my Taylor Joy.