It's been a long while since I last posted on this blog. Things have changed drastically within the last couple of years and I just get busier and busier that I kinda abandoned my beloved blog. If you've been following me on my IG and youtube, you've probably known by now that I just recently welcome my baby. Milie. She's now 9.5 months old and life is completely different with a baby around. As a new mom, it can get overwhelming at times, especially during the newborn days.
The first couple of months were a blur. We did anything we could to survive the lack of sleep and constant crying. We were dealing with something new and as much as we'd prepared before hand, it felt that it wasn't enough. However, things get better. I love waking up in the morning and see her smile =)
Below are the things we have found useful so far. I've broken them down into several different categories that make sense to me. They don't necessarily need to be the same exact thing, but I hope this could give clearer idea on what you might need especially during the newborn days.
Feeding
UPANG
We are breastfeeding and bottle-feeding Milie at the moment. My friend introduced this Korean UV sanitizer to me. It can sanitize almost anything, not just baby items. I didn't see any US review on youtube, but a lot of people in Indonesia use it. This has been the best purchase for its practicality and ease of use. One thing I want to add, I was under the impression that I had to sanitize all the feeding equipments, e.g. bottles, pump, every single feeding. I imagined the horror to boil them in water several times a day and it catalyzed the decision for this purchase. Later on, I read through the CDC website that it is not necessary to sanitize every feeding but it recommends to do it about once a week or so. I've posted an in-depth review on my channel. You can watch it here.
Baby bottles
These are probably obvious to you, but I didn't know there are so many different ones out there. I was fortunate enough to be gifted a lot of different brands that I could decide on my favorite. I said my favorite because Milie fortunately takes any bottle given to her. Hallelujah! I use the basic bottle from Medela because that's the brand of my breast pump. I just find it convenient to not having to change bottles after I pump. However, I have to say my favorite is the Philip Avent bottles.
Zojirushi Water Boiler and Heater
This is another best purchase that we have made for bottle-feeding. I know there are a lot of types of bottle warmers out there, but everything basically does the same thing. They heat water to heat a bottle. It takes too long for us and we find it such a hassle to navigate the bottle warmer every feeding. This doesn't only boil water, but it keeps the water hot at specific temperature as long as it's plugged in. Every time we bottle feed Milie, we just dispense some water (we keep ours at 175 degree, above that the bottle gets too hot if put in too long) into a stainless-steel cup (so the water stays hot longer) and put a bottle from the fridge inside for about 7-10 minutes. It also gives us easy access to hot water for tea and coffee.
Haakaa & Nursing Pads
I realize not all moms would experience the same thing, but when I first started producing milk, I would leak very often. I leak on one boob when Milie is feeding from the other. I leak while watching TV. I woke up with my top soaking wet. Ever since then, I learn to always wearing nursing pads and using Haakaa while I nurse. I don't leak as much now that my milk is regulated, but these two were must-haves for me. I ended up getting two Haakaa pumpms, one is the 5 oz with suction cup at the bottom (newer model) and lid, and the other is the 4oz with no suction cup and no lid. I have to say I feel different quality between the two. The newer model latches more securely compared to the older model. I find my self keep repositioning the suction everytime I use the older model.
Bibs
Bibs always come in handy especially once Milie starts drooling excessively at around 2 months. It decreases after couple of months for us. I don't think she's teething yet at the moment. Once the drool starts to subside at around 5 months (at least for us), bibs are essential once we start introducing her to solid food. I'm planning to post more about this in a future post/video!
Baby Spoons
Once we've started solid foods, this spoon comes in handy. We love the material, it's smooth and flexible enough to feed Milie.
If you decide to make you own baby food, this comes really handy. I prefer glass jars over plastic and you can freeze these as well. Plus I really love the muted soft colors of the lids!
Sleep
We have problem with reflux in the early newborn days. I didn't realize how unstable a newborn's digestive system is. We have followed the guidance from the NICU nurses to always burp her and keep her upright for at least 15 minutes after every feeding. However, we still found her throw up, spit up, sometimes through her nose, and she was always in pain every feeding. She HATED it when we laid her down. She would kick and scream every time we laid her down, even when we were changing her diapers. We had to prop her head a little to make her feel more comfortable. I browsed through countless Amazon products until I found this that looked promising. The first time we put her down on this, she just sat there quietly next to us. It was the best feeling ever. Now, I'm not saying that this will stop babies from crying, but it sure did help with the reflux problem. After burping and keeping her upright, we put her down on this for several minutes longer before laying her flat. Sometimes, we still found her spit up through her nose. We would move her back again to the Evolur Sleep and she would take a nap there. She's taken countless of naps and sleeps on this thing ever since. Now that she is over 3 months old, her reflux is much better and very minimal spit up. She doesn't hate laying down anymore. We don't use it as much as we used to now, but it was truly a life saver for us.
Baby Carrier/Wrap
I was pretty much clueless in how to getting a baby to sleep. The only way I knew how was to rocking her to sleep. When she was just a newborn, I use a baby wrap pretty much all of the time to get her to stop crying. I feel like it was the only way I could get her to calm down so I could do other things. To this day, I prefer to carry her when I can, e.g. during our walks, instead of putting her in her stroller. Our friend handed me her ergobaby carrier. I tried using it with the newborn insert, but I feel it was still too big and lack of neck support at the time. I opted for baby carrier, but now I use the carrier more often.
Yoga Ball
In addition to carrying her around, a yoga ball was our go-to in putting her to sleep. We bought it in preparation of labor, but we barely used it then. Who knew it'd come in handy to put babies to sleep? I spent a good chunk of my time on the ball bouncing while holding Milie to put her to sleep. She's past that now, but this helps calm her down instantly!
Sound Machine
We find sound machine really helps to draw out the noisy sound if you are sharing a room with your baby. It doesn't necessarily help our baby to fall asleep, but I really think it helps to create a more soothing environment, especially during the newborn days. We also love the Hatch+ since it doubles as a night light and also has an easy-to-read clock. We got it for free when we purchased our nursing chair, otherwise we probably would've gone with the less expensive version.
Clothing
While clothing pretty much are not the top priority when it comes to taking care of babies, I do have my preference. It really doesn't matter to me to have organic cotton, etc. I just like practical things, especially when I need to open and close several times a day for diaper change/spit up/poop explosion, etc.
- Uniqlo - I like the open-front bodysuits, especially for newborn days since their neck is still not strong enough. Open-front clothes also better for babies that still have the umbilical chord attached to minimize contact.
- Old Navy - I love their pjs/onesies because it comes with foldover mittens, which means no additional mittens necessary! Also, the best feature is the zipper zips from the bottom-up, instead of the other way around which makes diaper changing more comfortable for the baby. With the regular zipper that zips down, baby's top part is always exposed during diaper change which can get pretty cold especially at night/dawn.
- Walmart, TJ Maxx, Ross - I always find good PJs, and other essentials like bibs and hats at these stores at a much more affordable price.
Dock-A-Tot - There's a whole debate about this product and how safe it's actually for sleeping. I'm not going to dig deep into that, but I just want to say Milie has spent countless hours sleeping in this. I believe the enclosure helps comfort her
- Portable Jumper - This basically serves the same purpose with the Jumperoo I mentioned above, but it's much more light weight and it can be easily carried from my living room to the bedroom or kitchen, etc. I resisted to buy this at first, but I can't say I regretted the purchase since it has been really helpful to have a second one even though it's absolutely not necessary.
What other things you use for your baby that I miss? Any recommendations are welcome!
