My Personal Top 6 Baby Products

when my husband and i found out that we were expecting a child, one of the first things that crossed our minds was what items do we need to buy?

there are millions of baby products and some are darn expensive!  i didn’t know if expensive items were ‘really’ worth it and i questioned my husband quite often as he wanted the best/most expensive things for our baby.

now that i’ve used some of the baby products for a year, i have opinions on some of the things we purchased or didn’t purchase.

here are my favourite items that we owned/used for our baby girl;

1.  cetaphil and eucerin baby aquaphor

my baby had the worst baby acne at around 2 months and we took her to see our doctor.  our family doctor was on maternity leave, so the nurse, who was covering for our doctor suggested using cetaphil and vaseline.  i wasn’t too keen about using vaseline on my girl’s face, so i researched and was introduced to a product called aquaphor.  it was magic!  after 3-4 times of using these products, our girl’s baby acne were gone.  she has a great skin now, but they tend to get very dry (just like me), so i still use them daily.  as far as i know, these products work well on any types of skin trouble for babies, including eczema.  oh, i also use cetaphil for my face as well.

2.  baby swing

we had fisher-price’s my little lamb dreamy motion cradle swing and for the first two months, it was a life saver for me and my husband.  i didn’t have much support around me and my husband went back to work after 2 weeks.  thanks to the swing, i was able to get a break, take showers, etc while i took care of my baby alone.  i would only put my girl on the swing for 10-15 min max, just enough time for me to take a shower.  we also had the bouncing chair, but our girl didn’t like it much in the beginning and started to like it when she was a bit older (3-4 months).

3.  baby bjorn’s travel crib/playpen

if you like to travel with your baby, it is a must have.  we absolutely loved it and still do.  you can use it at home when your baby is creeping (before walking stage) or learning to stand up holding on to things.  it’s also useful when your baby crawls everywhere and you need to contain him or her for a short period of time.  we looked into other playpens but none could compare with this one.  it folds really small and it weighs much less than any other playpen.  product dimensions – 7.2 x 24 x 19 inches ; 7.5 pounds.  it’s really light, great for travelling.  we took it with us when we went to mexico and it helped us so much.  our girl played and slept in this playpen while we spent the day by the pool.

click video to see more info.

4.  umbrella stroller – peg perego si lightweight stroller

one of our first baby product purchases was a stroller.  we initially got an uppababy vista (2010 model) and it was a good stroller.  the only thing was that it was super heavy.  it folded easily, drove super smooth and was durable, but it took quite some effort whenever i had to lift it and put into my car.  when my girl got a bit older, around 9 months, we looked into different types of umbrella strollers.  after much research, we decided on the peg perego si lightweight stroller (orange colour) and i love it and use it until this day.  it’s super light, but holds so much weight.  it drives well and has everything i can ask for.  the only bad thing i could think of is the cup holder because it doesn’t hold more than couple of pounds, so if you use a heavy travelling mug, it’s not going to work.  i personally like this stroller much better than the vista and it’s 5 times cheaper.  oh, you can also clip on a carseat so, you can use it before 9 months as well.  one of the best features are the huge canopy and also the full recline for the seat.  it’s great for travelling as well.

5.  brestfriend

breastfeeding isn’t the easiest thing to do, especially for new moms.  i needed all the help i can get, so i invested on this breastfeeding pillow and i got great use out of it for 3-4 months (before my girl got too big).  i put this on like a belt, hence my husband called it my championship belt, whenever i breastfed.  the only bad thing was that i was very dependent on it, so carrying it around was difficult.

6.  beaba multiportion freezer tray

when your baby starts solid food, it’s an exciting time for new moms.  it sure was for me.  i had purchased a beaba babycook baby food maker and used it quite a bit (from 5 months to 8 months).  it was very easy to make different types of solids, especially easy to mix meat, veggies and fruits.  but more than the baby food maker itself, i found that the freezer tray made things much easier for me!  i would make a batch, freeze it in this tray and when frozen, pop it out and store it in a ziploc bag.  i especially like beaba’s freezer tray because for my girl, each portion was perfect.

there are other items that i liked and found it useful as well (but didn’t make it to my top 6).  bouncing chair, waterproof/water absorbing bibs (cloth outside, drool absorbing material inside), baby carrier (didn’t use it much, but very useful at times), baby bjorn plastic bib (solid food stage) were some of the things that i found useful.

some of the stuff that i didn’t find it very useful were a baby monitor, reusable breast pads and crib mattress protector/cover.  for baby monitor, i didn’t really need it because we co-slept with our baby.

i also want to say that these are my personal top six items.  since every baby is unique and each parenting style and need is different, not everyone will need or like the same types of baby products.  ultimately, you will just have to try and find out for yourself, what works for you and your baby.

i would also like to take this time to say thank you to my husband, the research king, who found and purchased all these items for me and our daughter.  in all honesty, i didn’t even know these products existed, if it wasn’t for him.  babe, this one is for you!