Things You Didnt Know You Needed for a Baby
All The Gear, No Idea is a regular series from HuffPost Finds where we feature product recommendations for parents, by parents. Whether yous're shopping for a car seat for the outset time or don't know what tech to buy your teen, nosotros've got you covered with shopping guides, reviews and the latest deals.
We all know that becoming a parent for the first time ways a whole new shopping experience - from car seats to prams to cots and Moses baskets. Only what about the stuff you didn't even realise you needed?
My friends and I have a useful list that nosotros send circular to each other, each time someone announces they're pregnant. It'due south full of 'never knew I needed that' items; acting both as a guide to the nigh obscure parenting essentials. I couldn't take got through the early on years of parenthood without it.
And I'1000 here to make your life every bit a parent easier too, by imparting what I learned on the job. Forget gadgets and gimmicks: here's what you actually, actually need.
Sophie La Giraffe Teether Toy, John Lewis, £11.99
I had no idea of the true importance of Sophie when a close friend gave me one as a 'new infant' present. I smiled at it, thought, "oh, that'due south sweetness", noted that information technology squeaked quite loudly, and casually placed it on top of the growing pile. What I should have washed is carefully saturday Sophie on a plush velvet absorber, bowed to her and hung diamonds effectually her cervix - for Sophie is a queen. Seriously. Once you lot know how good she is, there'southward no way you tin can fail to notice her ubiquitous presence. Sophie, made in France, is the teether to beat all other teethers. She's soft and flexible and 100% natural rubber. Your babe will dear chewing her to pieces. End of story. You can also buy a teething band version with two handles your baby can grip easily. We had both.
Sock Ons, Tu by Sainsbury's, £four
If there'southward one truism virtually babies, information technology's that they cannot - they merely cannot - go on their socks on. Yous'll put on a pair, plow effectually for half a second to grab something, and ane or both socks volition take been wriggled off and disappeared. This goes for babies who have merely only learned to clamber, babies who can walk, and babies who can't do anything but lay down in one place and gurgle contentedly at the ceiling. If you're out and about with your babe in a pram or baby carrier, forget it. You'll be coming home sock-less. It's just a fact. Until... Sock Ons. All hail the magic of a Sock On - they're inexpensive, stretchy, made of nylon and elastane and fit over the babe's pes to keep their socks firmly in identify. Never lose a sock - or your sanity - again. You're welcome.
Universal Cup Holder, Mamas and Papas, £nineteen
What's the one thing every new parent needs? That'due south correct. Coffee. But if yous want to exist able to acquit your precious cargo (and yes - nosotros hateful infant and a flat white) safely at the same fourth dimension, you lot're going to need one of these: a universal loving cup holder, that clips to the handles of your pram or pushchair. I've lost far also many good coffees sloshing over the plastic lid while steering 1-handed - and this solves that problem perfectly. Many individual pram and pushchair brands practice their own versions, such as the Bugaboo Cup Holder, only for one that suits all pushchairs, give the Universal Cup Holder a try.
Auto Mirror For Rear Facing Seats, Jojo Maman Bebe, £12
I had no idea how much I would come up to rely on a motorcar mirror when my children were pocket-size and nonetheless in rear-facing machine seats. If you're driving lone, it can be pretty anxiety-inducing non to know whether they're okay back there. Yous can't see their faces in your windscreen mirror, and I found myself having to pull over several times during a long car journeying merely to check if they were asleep and even so breathing. Until a friend who has 4 children gave me one of these: a car mirror for rear-facing seats. Hallelujah! It straps to the headrest of the back seat, and you can angle it and then information technology gives you a articulate picture of your baby's confront when you lot wait in your own mirror. And one time baby grows into a toddler and moves into a forward-facing motorcar seat, you tin can strap the mirror to the seat in front of them, and so they tin can watch themselves while you bulldoze. Better than TV.
Fisher-Price Roarin' Rainforest Jumperoo, Argos, £80
1 affair I swiftly learned when I became a parent: you lot volition exercise anything for a few minutes of peace and a sit down with a loving cup of tea. Anything. Even having an enormous plastic rainforest bouncer toy in the middle of your living room. The Jumperoo isn't cheap (then keep an eye on local 'sell and swap' Facebook customs groups, which is where I got mine), but it's a worthy investment. Information technology's suitable from 6 months - every bit long as your baby can elevator its head up unassisted - up to a weight of 11.3kg (25lbs). The manufacturers advise an upper limit of twenty minutes per session, which is a solid 20 minutes of sitting-down time. Don't you lot cartel do anything boring, similar the washing upwards. But sit and relax and watch your baby go wild. You've earned information technology.
Nosefrida Nasal Aspirator, Amazon, £6.43
Babies can't accident their nose when they have a cold. Worse nevertheless, if they're breast or bottle fed exclusively, information technology becomes very difficult for them to feed when their little noses are blocked. Cue: a hungry, ill baby who cannot settle or slumber. Information technology might be 1 of the grossest realities of parenting, but y'all will suck out your kid's snot when this happens. Yous volition be so desperate for sleep that if at that place's anything stopping your baby from endmost their eyes - fifty-fifty bogeys - y'all will accept them on. That'due south not to say this isn't divisive, of course. I've had full-calibration wars with other parents who call back this is going as well far. Only hear me out: you don't have to suck bogeys straight with your mouth. I hateful, you can, just I use i of these – a nasal aspirator. It has a little plastic tube you suck, with the other end placed at your child's nostril. A piece of foam stops the snot from going into your mouth and down your pharynx. If a better or more satisfying invention exists, I practise non know what it is. It will change your life.
TOMY First Years Starlight Dream Bear witness Musical Lite Projector, Amazon, £13.39
A friend bought one of these for my daughter when she was a baby... she's now turning eight, and she'south STILL USING Information technology. Every unmarried night, when she turns her light off to become to slumber, she puts her star on. I have i for my son, too - he'southward iii and the same rules use. Each star has a 5 or ten minute playback setting, and projects a cute scene of flowers and bugs and rainbows upwardly onto the ceiling. When nosotros go abroad on vacation or to see relatives, nosotros take them with us. I would never have dreamed that one small baby souvenir would give u.s.a. years (literally) of utilise, but this has. I couldn't parent without it.
Chicco Next To Me Magic Bedside Crib, John Lewis, £239
With my first infant I used a Moses basket - I liked the 'traditional' expect and feel of it and loved the way it stood on a stand in my sleeping room. Until... I realised my girl didn't really similar to slumber much. I would find myself feeding or rocking her for 45 minutes until she closed her eyes, but every time I put her downward in the Moses basket she would wake straight back up again. And then a friend recommended a co-sleeper: a special cot that straps to the side of the bed, with a detachable side separating your baby's sleeping infinite from your own. It meant I could pull my girl towards me to breastfeed her, and then pop her back into her ain condom space, all without waking her. It inverse everything, because information technology gave me the confidence to let myself go and go a good nighttime'southward sleep. And when I had my son a few years later, I did the aforementioned with him, too.
Angelcare Soft-Touch Bathroom Back up Babe Seat, Boots, £27.99
I tried all sorts of bath seats: from a 'Tum Tub' (top tip: for a cheaper version, try a standard £ane plastic saucepan from Halfords or B&Q) to a plain Ikea baby bath - but the Hardenberg Angelcare soft-touch seat was the best of the bunch for my children. Information technology feels really safety and sturdy, and the textured angled seating area is soft and comfortable. It as well has a water level indicator for optimal safe in the bath. I liked it so much that I passed information technology on to relatives - my children's cousins take both used it (and loved information technology), besides.
Bright Starts Zig Zag Zebra Vibrating Bouncer Chair, Amazon, £25.99
It'southward of import to be able to motility your baby around so he or she doesn't go bored, so I used to have a piddling routine going - 'tummy time' on a play mat on the flooring, so a bounce in the Jumperoo, then some time in the bouncer chair, and (hopefully) a nap, before we'd begin the routine all over again. If you get one similar this, with a gentle vibrating role, information technology might fifty-fifty send your baby off to sleep while they're in it - which ways you are sorted. This has a removable toy-bar, with ii hanging toys included. Hours of fun (and a little rest for mummy or daddy). I also found a bouncer chair the perfect solution for keeping an middle on my babe while I took a shower, because you can bring it into the bathroom with you and proceed infant rubber - but occupied. The but element to be aware of is when they start getting bigger, or more mobile (and trying to escape). Afterwards the age of half-dozen or seven months, mine began pitching themselves frontward and could accept fallen headfirst out of it. Just until and then, it was a lifesaver.
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Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/10-essentials-you-didnt-know-youd-need-when-you-became-a-parent_uk_5e0099e3e4b0843d35fe9e29
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