Moms Unfiltered

When we had to make our baby registry we had absolutely NO IDEA where to begin or what we needed/wanted so I’ve decided to make a list of things we used that we liked and things we didn’t like. AS USUAL HERE’S THE DISCLOSURE: What worked for us or what was on our “had to have” list may be on your “didn’t like” list. These are things that worked for us and as we state in almost every post like this—what worked for us may not have worked for you! This is just a list for people looking for suggestions!

Useful

Dock-A-Tot

You big, beautiful, expensive chunk of fabric. I was up in the air with this. I read Facebook comments on other people’s posts about whether or not they should buy one. I read reviews. I even read any instances where children have suffocated in them. I read everything and decided it wasn’t for us. We already stressed enough about SIDS and the possibility of Cora suffocating in her sleep. Hard pass—- until day 3 or 4 of absolutely no sleep. The bassinet we bought was too big and didn’t hold her the way she should have been. She drowned in her crib. So we held her in our makeshift throne of pillows. All night long. It didn’t take us long to cave. Naturally during a blizzard. God bless Danny and his mom for driving an hour through a snow storm to Fargo because it could NOT wait. It fit perfectly in the bassinet next to our bed and she fit PERFECTLY in it so we didn’t worry about her suffocating— that is until she could start flipping over- then we graduated to the crib. You can call me a bad mom for letting her sleep in it for the first 6 months— it be that way sometimes. 10/10 the best purchase we made.

Nose Frida

I gagged when I heard about this. The amount of trust that goes into a small piece of plastic that is going to stop snot rockets from shooting into the back of your throat while you physically suck them out of your child’s nose was enough to make me want to vomit. I’ll be 100% honest when I say I never used it personally. I made Danny do the dirty work. This bad boy got the job done when our kid was miserable during colds or regular nostril upkeep that I didn’t know was a thing in the first place.

Dr. Brown’s Formula Mixing Pitcher

Calling all bottle feeding mamas! This was the Holy Grail for us! For a measly $10.99 on Amazon we were able to take the stress and hassle out of making individual bottles during the night time (and day time) by using a pitcher. We still followed how long it was good for once the formula was mixed (check your formula canister for ‘use by’ time frames). Once the pitcher was made up we wrote on the top with a dry erase marker the time it was made and made sure to throw it out once it hit the mark and usually we had ZERO waste.

Swings

If you had or have a baby that likes to constantly be rocked and cradled like ours— then get one—hell, get 2. Kids grow heavier and arms grow tired- and even though we should “cherish when our kids want to be held because one day we will pick them up and put the down for the last time (or however the depressing quote goes)– shit gets old sometimes! We were lucky that Cora loved the swing. It was something we were confident strapping her into and walking away to do small tasks around the house.

Sleep Sacks and Swaddles

Being that they recommend not allowing blankets in bassinets or cribs for the first how ever long we worried that Cora would get cold at night. Especially because we like to keep the house a solid 69 degrees at night. Sleep sacks were great and dueled as pajamas/swaddle/blanket all in one. I know they tend to be pretty expensive since they are such a hot topic BUT we have found that even the basic ones that didn’t have the fancy swaddle straps and just zipped up like a potato sack worked just as well. I’m sure I’ve said this often but when all else failed when trying to console our screaming infant– “fussy babies get the swaddle.”

Useless

Wipe Warmer

Something I 100% thought was a must as a parent. No one likes a cold wipe on the tush in the middle of a nap and who could blame them. Got one- never used it- mostly because it was the last thing on my mind and I never remembered it until the wipe hit the rump and Cora’s eyes would get wide with shock. Usually if I was sitting on the floor to change her diaper I would tuck the wipe behind my knee or give it the good ole **huuuh huuh* of hot breath to warm it up. It works the same AND I didn’t have an ugly looking warmer sitting out– because ew cluster.

Bumbo Seat

I wanted this one to work out so bad. I thought about how convenient it would be to have her in a seat that you could literally relocate to ANY part of the house at any given time. Want to do the dishes but your kid must be able to see you at all times so they don’t freak out? Cool! Sit on this thrown of lies I was told you would love. Family gathering? What a perfect centerpiece for the table so everyone can watch you sit and scream! She hated it no matter what stage of growth we tried to use it.

Diaper Genie

I have this thing I like to do. It’s called “over stuffing the garbage and convincing myself that there is still plenty of room to stuff more in it so I don’t have to take it out right away” syndrome. I imagine that would be the same thought process for a swamp ass diaper garbage and therefore a NUR for me.

Baby Detergents and Dish Soap

It’s not that these didn’t work– it was just an unnecessary added expense when the soaps that we use for our clothes and dishes worked just fine. I was in the thought process that I wanted to protect her delicate skin and make sure that everything was clean. Truth is it didn’t really make any difference for us- that’s not to say that it wouldn’t be beneficial to someone who has a kid with skin issues or allergies, it just didn’t do anything special to justify adding it to the grocery list.

As soon as we found out we were pregnant we IMMEDIATELY hopped on the internet to find the latest and greatest products to start stocking up. We wanted nothing but the most high tech, highly recommended products to ensure that our baby had the best and most reliable things she needed at whatever cost. Honestly a lot of the things we thought we needed we never really used. Don’t worry about all the fancy, name brand stuff—we have found that some of the off brand products or even hand-made ideas off Pinterest worked just as well. It’s all trial and error, but it certainly doesn’t have to break the bank!

Taylor