I figured it would be helpful to create a Mama + Mini series. I wanted to be able to document things that Rilynn and I love. Today I am bringing you our favorite must haves from our first month!
Mama: Bosom Baby Nursing Pillow //
Lansinoh Disposable Nursing Pads // Pump In Style Breastpump // Milkmaid Tea // Tender Care Lanolin
So it's probably no surprise that all of these items center around feeding. That is literally all I feel like I am ever doing. I spend hours upon hours breastfeeding every day. The Bosom Baby pillow is the best maternity/nursing pillow you could buy. I used it throughout my pregnancy to sleep and it has been a lifesaver while breastfeeding. It is very large and sits much higher than a Boppy. It has helped with my back pain from constantly holding Rilynn up while I feed her. I fell in love with these disposable nursing pads. I used washable ones the first few days because they were softer on my nipples, but shortly after my milk came in I was soaking through them constantly. These are awesome because they keep me dry and hold a ton of milk. My breastpump is amazing. It helped when I was engorged and now I am able to pump when Rilynn sleeps for 4+ hours. The tea has definitely helped my milk production when I use it faithfully. The taste isn't awesome, so I may switch to capsules. I do think this tea works though. Lastly, this lanolin is so much better than the lanolin they gave me at the hospital. It goes on smoothly and I haven't gotten dry or cracked nipples.
Mini: Snugabunny Rock N' Play // Aden + Anais Bamboo Swaddle Blankets // Satsuma Mittens // Ubbi Diaper Pail // Dr. Brown's Wide Neck Newborn Bottles // Paci-Plushies Elephant // OXO Wipes Dispenser // Microwave Steam Sterilizer // Sleep Pillow App
These are the things that little miss Rilynn could not have lived without. We didn't register for the Rock N' Play. We quickly discovered that Rilynn couldn't sleep on her back because of issues with reflux. I promptly ordered this on Amazon after a ton of you suggested it and it is now the best item we own for her. She loves it. She sleeps for up to 5 hours at a time in it. And she hasn't had a single incident with spitting up since we purchased it. These swaddle blankets are our favorite. I own the plain ones and the bamboo ones. The bamboo ones are ten times softer than the others and I wish I would have only purchased bamboo. They are huge blankets and make swaddling easy. Mittens are a must have for newborns. We own two sets. Even though these are a little pricey, they stay on and are very soft. Rilynn scratches her face when she doesn't wear them, so these really are essential for us. This diaper pail is great. You can use your own kitchen bags and there is NO smell in our nursery. We only empty it once a week. I am so glad we went with this purchase. The Dr. Brown bottles have proven to work wonderfully for Rilynn. She has not had excess gas and hasn't had any nipple confusion. I highly recommend getting a Paci-Plushies pacifier animal. We have two WubbaNubs as well. The issue with the Wubbanubs is that you cannot change the pacifier. Paci-Plushies lets you choose any pacifier and switch it out or disconnect the pacifier to wash the animal. Rilynn loves Soothie pacifiers, so the Wubbanubs still work for now, but one of them is already out of commission after Marcy bit into one of the pacifiers and I cannot change it out. My brother in law is the one that pushed us to register for the wipes dispenser. He promised that even though it seemed unnecessary, that we would thank him later. This thing is awesome. I wish I had one in every room that we do diaper changes. I seriously recommend it! We actually received the sterilizer and I took it back because I thought we wouldn't need it. Then I went and re-purchased it. I use this 5-10 times a day. It makes sterilizing bottles and breastpump parts extremely easy. Lastly, you NEED this app. they have a free version (which I tried first) but the paid version has so many more options. This is a white noise app. Rilynn really likes the "fans" noise options. Once we started using this at night, Rilynn sleeps 3-5 hours at a time. I also sleep a thousand times better. I was waking up every couple of minutes when Rilynn would make noises, so this helped me tune out all the little snorts and grunts she was making. It has a timer on it, so I set it to 12 hours and plug it into our Jawbone Speakers. For those of you with babies who love the vacuum or hairdryer but you can't sleep with those appliances running, this is the app for you!! This is the second best thing (next to the Rock N' Play) that has helped all of us to sleep better.
Here are a few pictures of us using and enjoying some of these items!
wubbanub
mittens
swaddle
diaper pail & wipes dispenser
bottles
wubbanub
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