First time parents have it hard when it comes to baby gear. We are fortunate to have so many choices when it comes to what to purchase for our wee little ones. Unfortunately, with the abundance of choice also comes a great deal of confusion for first time parents. After raising three babies and reviewing hundreds of baby gear items over the last 7 years, I’m here to give you the low-down on what no one tells you about baby gear must-haves.
I’ve partnered with The Baby Cubby to tell you just a bit more about all these baby gear must-haves you’ll need when your little bundle of joy arrives.
About The Baby Cubby:
The Baby Cubby is for every parent out there who has ever felt overwhelmed or discouraged about becoming a parent. Our Baby Cubby team is made up of parents who have been there. We know what it’s like and we are passionate about encouraging, inspiring, and reminding parents how amazing they are and how important their role is.The way we do that is by finding the best and safest baby gear and providing it to parents in a fun shopping experience where we do things like test strollers on our stroller track, price match everyday – even amazon, offer free shipping nationwide at BabyCubby.com and actively engage with parents via social media and our cubby community blog to discuss some of those hard topics of parenting.
You can read a little bit more about what we’re passionate about and why we do what we do on our about us page here – http://www.babycubby.com/about-us/
What No One Tells You About Baby Gear Must-Haves
1. Different Babies Prefer Different Bottles.
This is particularly true if you’re both breast and bottle feeding. Breastfed babies will often reject narrow bottle nipples in favor of wider and more flexible bottle nipples like the Comotomo Natural Feel bottle at The Baby Cubby.
If your baby is choking or gagging while trying to eat, first make sure the nipple flow is appropriate for your baby’s age (slow flow for newborns up to about three months), next try a different brand or style of bottle.
2. If you plan on wearing your baby, make sure you have a “structured carrier”.
Regardless of whether you plan on having a “wrap”, a “sling”, a “ring sling”, a “mei tai”, I highly recommend additionally having a structured carrier. A structured baby carrier, like the Ergobaby Four Position 360 Carrier at The Baby Cubby can easily be shared between caregivers.
The ease of use and wide range of weight limits make a structured carrier a wise choice for new parents. While baby’s primary caregiver will probably quickly get the hang of some of the more complicated baby-wearing gear, you’re going to want something your spouse, nanny, babysitter, etc., can slip on and adjust quickly without getting frustrated. And when dealing with a baby 60 seconds can be the difference between a calm baby and a screaming, frustrated baby.
Our youngest is 4 years old and can still take advantage of his Ergobaby carrier when we go on many-mile family hikes.
3. What they don’t tell you about the diaper pail…
By now most of you know I’m a huge proponent of cloth diapering. Whether you chose cloth diapers or disposable diapers, the diaper pail you use could have a big impact on the smell of your home. Plastic diaper pails absorb odors and leave a lingering smell. And let’s be honest here, no one wants home, sweet home to smell like poopy diapers. Opt instead for a stink-free diaper pail like the stainless steel Ubbi Diaper Pail at The Baby Cubby.
The Ubbi Diaper Pail can accommodate both regular disposable garbage bags and reusable cloth diaper pail liners.
4. Sink baths are the way to go.
No one wants to be bent over the side of the bathtub bathing a slippery infant who has the tendency to slide precariously every which way in their little water-filled baby tub. Nor do they want the scenes that often played out in my kitchen with an infant tub, exuberant baby, and water sloshing indiscriminately all over the kitchen counters and floors.
Sink baths are back, and they’re better than ever! There are some pretty cool new baby baths that fit right in your kitchen or bathroom sink. Baby baths like the Puj Flyte at The Baby Cubby are designed to cradle your baby for a comfortable and secure bath.
As an added bonus the Puj Flyte is both compact and flexible which makes it great for travel and easy storage.
5. Feeding is a messy affair. Opt for the easiest to clean.
As your baby gets older–which they are quick to do–solid food feeding will happen on a regular basis. Believe me when I say that the number one thing to look for in a high chair or booster is the ease with which you can clean it. You’re going to be cleaning that thing several times a day. The last thing you want is to be scraping mashed food from tiny nooks and crevices in a cloth padded high chair multiple times a day.
No matter what feeding style you choose, an easy to clean high chair will be a godsend at the end of an exhausting day. The Boon Flair high chair is at the apex of amazing high chairs. It is ridiculously easy to clean and has a cool pneumatic lift that allows you to adjust the high chair to the perfect height.
6. You’re going to love the swing, but despise the batteries.
So opt for a swing that you can plug in. I can’t emphasize this enough. We bought our swing before they made swings that plugged in. I thought we were getting a great deal on our swing. Little did I know we would spend literally hundreds of dollars on batteries (just for the swing) over the years for our three kiddos.
Thankfully, most popular baby swings like the 4Moms MamaRoo plug in to save you some much needed $$ while also providing you an extra set of arms when you just need to get something done or just need a bit of shut eye.
Now You’re all set for baby!
Now that you’re armed with these helpful tips about Baby Gear Must-Haves, you’re ready to go shopping!
The Baby Cubby wants to make sure your shopping experience is as pleasant as possible. Because of that, they always price match–even Amazon!–so you can be confident you’re getting a great deal.
You’ll get Free Shipping everyday at BabyCubby.com when you purchase $49 or more. And, who doesn’t purchase over $49 of gear when they’re shopping for baby…just saying.
The Baby Cubby has an amazing Baby Registry program. They offer tons of perks like a 10% discount on your remaining registry items when you close out your registry, a Multiples Discount if you’re having twins, triplets, or more!, gift cards when you share on social media, and more!
About Amy @ Oh So Savvy Mom
