Baby items: can live without | can't live without

Thursday, June 8, 2017

Over the past 3ish months of keeping a newborn alive and happy, there are items we could not have lived without. On the other hand, there are plenty of items we bought that I haven't used as much as I thought I would. I thought it may be helpful for new moms or soon-to-be moms to see what we loved and didn't love. Obviously this list will be different for everyone, but I'm all about hearing opinions on different products and experiences from moms who have already been through it!

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Can't live without...

For $75, this was worth every penny. I knew this was absolutely necessary to get after seeing how much my sister used it with her two babies. Vivian slept in this beside our bed for 11 weeks, until we transitioned her into her crib. She also napped in this frequently. It has them propped up just a little which was perfect because she was spitting up a lot and I was terrified she was going to choke on it. It makes them feel super snuggled and comfy. Best money ever spent!

MAM pacifier
Vivian isn't crazy about a paci, but these are the ones she prefers when she does want one. These tend to stay in her mouth better than the others we tried.


Vivian loves her bouncy seat. She loves looking at the little animals that hang over her head and she especially loves the vibration and music that the seat can play. It doesn't bounce itself but once they start kicking around, it will bounce and keep them content. Absolutely worth the $60!


In every ultrasound I had, Vivi had her hands up by her face and when she was born that's how she wanted her hands! That resulted in her hating being swaddled. No matter how tight we swaddled her, she would cry and squirm and her hands would be out the top in .5 seconds. Then my friend Lindsey Thorne told me about these arm up swaddles and Vivi absolutely loved it. It allowed her to have her hands by her face and feel cozy but also kept her tight and swaddled.


I don't think I've ever heard of a single baby that didn't like a swing. We got ours second hand from a friend for $15 but it is totally worth the $150! 

This little gadget has been the best purchase! It might look tacky on her beautiful crib but who cares when it entertains her and puts her to sleep. I turn this on for every nap and she loves staring at it and the music helps her fall asleep. Kind of pricey at $45 but the best money spent, I promise!
I was hesitant about registering for this but we have used it more than any other baby gear we have. We lay her on it every morning after she wakes up and it keeps her occupied forever! She kicks and swats at the little hanging animals and it is also perfect for tummy time. Absolutely need one of these!
Can live without... 

Wipe warmer
The best advice I ever received was "start out like you're gonna hold out". Aka make your baby as low maintenance as possible and you will thank yourself later. If you have warm wipes at home, your baby is going to expect warm wipes when you are out and about. I promise your baby isn't going to die if they get their cute hiney cleaned with wipes that aren't warm.
Bottle warmer
Again, "start out like you're gonna hold out". This goes along with the wipes warmer... if you start out warming bottles up, they will expect it when you're on the go. When I stopped breastfeeding I realized that it is SO much easier to mix formula with room temperature bottled nursery water rather than warming a bottle up and surprise! she didn't mind room temperature milk at all! The only situation I think a bottle warmer may be necessary is if you're breastfeeding and need to warm up pumped milk. But again, for us this was definitely something that was not needed.

If you have a swing, you absolutely don't need this. For $250, I do not think it is worth the money. Yes it looks "cool" but it barely even moves! I didn't buy one of these but I used a friends' and Vivi did not like it. She preferred a swing.


Soothie pacifier
For some reason Vivi could not keep these in her mouth. They would shoot out whenever she tried to suck on them. I know so many babies who love this paci but it didn't work for us.
I know every baby is different but these are just the things that worked for us! Please let me know if you have specific questions!

9 comments :

  1. I couldn't agree more with all of this! Except the swing.. would you believe neither one of my boys loved the swing. We tried them all (except the one you linked. Maybe that's the ticket!). We had the mamaroo and I don't know a single baby that has liked it haha. I really could have written this post! We have the bottle warmer but I only used it Bc I pumped and he wouldn't drink cold milk. I think one thing I'd add to a must have list is the baby brezza formula pro. It made making bottles so so easy! you're looking like a pro and it's only been 3 months!

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  2. I am with you on the majority of this! Walker was obsessed with the Soothie and we did the Dr. Brown's warmer with Walker (but just warmed water in the bottles for Knox) but everything else, including the wipe warmer, was the same over here! You're doing a great job, mama!

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  3. We were given the Rock N Play and the Mamaroo last weekend and I'm interested to see which one she ends up liking! So much trial and error for baby products!

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  4. Love this list! None of my kids liked the Momaroo but were obsessed with the swing!! We also loved the Rock N Play and both kids slept next to our bed in that. Now they are even better, because they vibrate and rock on their own!!

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  5. Hadley is STILL obsessed with playing with the sea dreams soother! And next time I'm going with a true swing instead of the Mamaroo - she just never loved it. Well honestly she just never loved being set down in anything, I had to hold her 24/7 so that was probably the problem there lol.

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  6. Good to know what works and what doesn't. I've heard the SAME thing about keeping a low maintenance baby.

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  7. I originally had a wipe warmer on my registry, but then the more I thought about it, the stupider I thought they were lol. And honestly, the Mamaroo creeps me out--it looks like a spaceship! I have registered for a swing that has a detachable bouncer, and I'm hoping our little gal will love it!

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  8. Just made some notes to my "must buy list"!

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  9. The perfect list, every baby item is great, I have already recorded them.

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