Before I had my daughter, I was always looking up different things to buy to make both her and our lives easier! I thought I needed to spend tons of money on anything & everything for her. I saw so many influencers and bloggers talking about things like the Snuggle Me Lounger, and the Snoo bassinet (i’m not even going to link this one because it’s STUPIDLY expensive). Naturally, seeing that they were also first time mamas, I thought that I too needed the stuff they were sharing. In reality, you and your baby most likely won’t be using those so called “baby must haves” 99% of the time. Not to mention, why spend that kind of money on things that they will quickly grow out of.

Since I have gotten a few messages about baby items lately, I figured I would share some of our most used items, all from Amazon (get that two day prime shipping girl 😜), and all fairly affordable.

1.) Hatch Baby Rest sound machine & nightlight

The price of this may seem pretty scary to some, but we have used this ever since we brought Remi home. It’s worth every penny if it means that your baby (and yourself) will get a good nights sleep! Everything can be controlled from the machine itself, but you can also download the hatch rest app, and it will allow you to completely customize everything! There are different sounds, like white noise, which we use, rain, birds, and many more. Plus, you can change the color of the nightlight and control the brightness and volume. We have our machine on a schedule. It turns on every night at 9, and it turns off every morning at 8. We love this mainly because it drowns out any loud noise, such as your husband and his buddy gaming, haha. Remi rarely wakes up when this thing is on.

2.) Infant Optics baby monitor

I researched lots and lots of different baby monitors, and even purchased one to use, before I found the Infant Optics. Ultimately, I decided to go with this one, and here’s why: 1.) It doesn’t connect to wi-fi, so it’s extremely secure! I previously had the Lollipop camera, and I was always scared someone was going to hack it and watch my child! There’s a lot of weirdos out there y’all! 2.) You can view and keep an eye on your baby on a separate monitor, rather than on your phone. I wanted to be able to continuously check in on her and on a phone, that’s really hard to do, especially when you’re on the phone or your phone is always dying, like mine, haha. This camera can be mounted or it can sit flat on a table/shelf. It comes with two different lens’ and the charging cable. You can also purchase more cameras individually, if you have multiple kids in different rooms, that you want to keep an eye on!

3.) Boon Nursh bottles

We recently discovered these bottles, and I’m so bummed we didn’t start using them sooner! We use to use the Phillips Avent bottles, which worked good, but Remi would occasionally take in air. That would cause her to be extra fussy, and not be able to sleep as much. Since switching to these bottles, she isn’t as fussy and is able to sleep much better! The reason being that these bottles have a silicone insert, that shrinks/collapses with every drink that your baby takes. They are made to prevent the extra air intake, which is so stinkin cool! You can store them in the freezer or even microwave the insert, making it quicker to warm a bottle if you prefer the microwave warming method. We use the 8 oz bottles, but they have smaller ounces for your little one too.

4.) Bibs brand pacifiers

These are the only pacifiers that Remi will take, and has taken since she was a newborn! They are supposed to be the best pacifier to give your baby if they are breastfed. In my opinion, all pacifiers do the same, haha, but for some reason, Remi won’t take any other. We tried a few different kinds when she was a newborn, but these were the apparent winner! Every baby is different of course, but I found these to have great reviews, and they are easy for exclusively breastfed babies to use, without getting confused,

5.) Fawn Design Look-alike diaper bag

Have you ever heard of Fawn Design? Their bags are bea-u-tiful, but crazy expensive. I loved the leather look, but I couldn’t pay almost $200 for a diaper bag. Those things are meant to get dirty, and have milk and other food spilt inside them, so dropping tons of cash on a bag that I knew would get dirty, was out of the question for me. I knew I wanted a backpack style bag and if I could find one fake leather then that was an extra bonus. So, I browsed for a fake leather one of Amazon one day, and was so excited when I found this one! It looks JUST like the fawn design bag, but for a much reasonable price. It also has two insulated pockets to keep milk warm, way more storage room, and comes with a portable changing pad, as well as stroller straps. I have the army green bag, but couldn’t find that color option. The brown leather was my next color choice!

6.) Ingenuity 3-in-1 highchair

This high chair is genius! Anytime you can find something for a baby, that has multiple uses, buy. it. I never realized how fast kids really do outgrow things! Rather then wasting money on different high chairs, this one has 3 different uses, for different ages! A good investment, that grows with your child. Plus, it’s easy to clean and the tray is dishwasher safe. Literally music to my ears. 😜

7.) Boppy Pillow

This was a lifesaver after having a C-section. Usually, the hospital sends you home with a tiny heart pillow to keep pressed against your incision for comfort, but that little thing wasn’t enough for me. Every time I was sitting down, I had this pillow wrapped around me, where the incision was. It also made breastfeeding a little easier to adjust to, since it helps position your baby, so that you both are comfortable! As your child gets older, you can prop them up against this, and it helps support them as they learn to sit up.

8.) Car seat & nursing cover

Not only can this be used over your child’s car seat, it also serves as a nursing cover. As a breastfeeding mama, I preferred being covered when I was around others, so this thing was a life saver for me! It’s super stretchy and easy to use.

9.) Pacifier Clips

I didn’t really think we’d use these as much as we do! When Remi was little, this wasn’t something that was necessary, but now that she’s older and always dropping things, we use these all the time. They easily clip onto your child’s clothes, and loops through their pacifier or teething toy. Trust me, you’ll save yourself from constantly having to pick up a paci, haha.

10.) Burt’s Bees Multi-purpose ointment

As far as body care goes, we use Aveeno or Hello Bello. But this stuff takes the cake for any kind of scratch, bite, rash, or after bath lotion, you name it! We typically use this for diaper rashes, drool rashes, and scratches, that Remi accidentally gives herself from time to time! It’s 100% natural, and never breaks her out.

I hope this blog post helped all you mamas, and soon-to-be mamas out there! Like I said before, every baby is different, but these are just a few items that we love and use!

Thanks for reading!