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When I first decided I wanted to write a post on items that simplify life with baby, I thought I’d be able to quickly put together a post, publish, and be done with it. But then I thought to myself that it would be a good idea to solicit input from a few friends just to make sure I had included all of the “must haves.” And to be perfectly honest, I guess I just assumed everyone would think just like me (ha ha) and come up with a similar list of items.
I asked five friends what their top 4-5 recommended products would be for simplifying life with baby (not toddler), and I mentioned that the items didn’t necessarily have to be marketed as baby items, per se.
How I Came Up With the Final List of Baby Items
The diversity of everyone’s responses (including my husband’s) absolutely shocked me! After tallying everyone’s responses, I realized very few things overlapped my original list. So then I thought I should ask five more people to see if I could come up with an even more objective list. After tallying everyone’s responses in a spreadsheet (so much for my quick and simple post), I came up with a list of criteria before selecting the final 12 items below.
In order to make the cut for this list, the item must simplify some task or process by making it easier, faster, cheaper, less stressful, require less clean-up, offer versatility (practical) or make baby happier. Transitioning to life with a baby, whether it’s your first or fourth time, is always difficult, so investing in products that truly simplify life is essential.
This list only includes baby, not toddler items, and I did not include furniture or other non-negotiable needs, such as a car seat or crib. I have also avoided products that are dependent on baby or mom’s preferences, such as pacifiers or swings. Pacifiers are life savers, but they are completely useless if your baby rejects them. I also chose products that baby needs year-round instead of seasonal items or things you would only use in certain climates.
So now that you’ve got an idea of how and why I came up with these 12 life-simplifying, and in many cases, life-saving items, let’s get to it!
#1 Sleep Sack Swaddle or other similar swaddling type of sleeper
In my informal little survey, this was the number one most recommended item to simplify life with baby, and I would have to agree that these are a must-have, especially for the first several months! Halo makes plain sleep sacks as well, but the Sleep Sack Swaddles are ideal in the early months because it makes swaddling SO MUCH easier, and it’s much harder for baby to get out of it.
They are safe for sleeping because baby’s arms are tucked inside, but it’s nice to have the option to leave the arms out as they get older. These are so versatile, and you can purchase them in cotton or fleece, depending on the season. Sleep is hard enough to come by, but if you want your best chance at getting sleep, you absolutely need to invest in some of these!
#2 Nursing Pillow
Nursing a baby, especially in the first few weeks is incredibly exhausting. Using a nursing pillow such as a Boppy or a My Brest Friend can make a world of difference and give your arms a bit of a break from supporting baby’s weight while you nurse. Boppy Nursing Pillow and Positioners are also great for propping baby when giving a bottle or as an alternative to tummy time on the floor.
You can buy them with a design printed on them, but I recommend buying the bare naked version and then buying a slipcover, which comes off easily when you need to wash it. Since you will be nursing frequently, you’ll also want to buy a spare slipcover for when one of them is in the wash. All four of my kids had reflux, so I was constantly having to wash mine. A spare slipcover was a must-have to simplify life with baby every time!
When nursing twins, I used a Twin My Brest Friend Nursing Pillow, and I found that to be helpful when they were little, but once they got a little bigger, I switched over to the Twin Z Pillow, which also is extremely versatile. I have only used the single My Brest Friend Nursing Pillow while in the hospital, so I can’t speak extensively about them, but I have heard many people swear by them.
#3 Video Monitor (or an Audio Monitor at a minimum)
A baby monitor is an absolute must, even if you live in a small space. An audio baby monitor will suffice, but if you can afford a video monitor, I promise it will make your life easier. We lived in a tiny condo when our son was born, but when he was upstairs in his bed with the door closed, and we were in the kitchen doing dishes, we would have had no idea he was crying if he didn’t have a monitor.
When we found out we were expecting twins, I convinced my hubby we needed to upgrade our 7-year old audio monitor to a video monitor. I wanted to be able to tell which baby was crying and know what was going on without having to open the door and risk being spotted. We have a Motorola COMFORT50 video monitor, which I would highly recommend for the quality you get and the price you pay. While I don’t think it’s necessary, if you want one with more bells and whistles, such as wi-fi capability, multiple cameras, and rotating lenses, you will have to pay a lot more.
#4 Frame Stroller
I didn’t know about frame strollers when my son was born in 2011, so we just bought a Graco Travel System (car seat and matching stroller), which I thought was great at the time, but now that I have been enlightened, I absolutely recommend a frame stroller, hands-down, no contest. Talk about a product that will absolutely simplify life with baby! Wow! You simply lift your car seat out of the base in your car and snap it right into the stroller.
The best part is the actual frame is incredibly light and folds up very small, so it easily fits in the back of your car, even if you are limited on trunk space. (The travel system strollers function the same way, but they are not nearly as compact or light.)
We purchased the Baby Trend Universal Double Snap-N-Go Stroller Frame for our twins, and honestly, I don’t know how we would have survived without it. Baby Trend also sells a single version of the Snap-N-Go Stroller, and I have a friend who is currently loving the Chicco version, but it’s a little more expensive.
We live in Minnesota, and our twins were born toward the beginning of winter, so it was incredibly helpful to be able to leave them bundled up in their car seats in order to walk across a parking lot. The only downside is that once they outgrow infant car seats, this stroller is essentially useless, however, I’m not foreseeing any problem reselling it on Craigslist, and it really wasn’t very expensive, especially compared to many strollers.
#5 Secondary Changing Table/Diaper Changing Area
This may seem like a luxury or a non-essential thing to have, but I’m telling you it’s worth the extra money. After a few weeks of changing 20+ diapers a day with our twins (and doing the majority of them on a mat on the floor), we decided it would be rather helpful to have a second changing table on the first floor of our house.
We bought a white Graco Changing Table and put it in our kids’ play room. I know I keep saying this, but man, it was a game changer! You don’t realize how much more pleasant it is to stand during a diaper change until you have to change 20 or more diapers in a day. Plus, having extra space to store diaper boxes and wipes is ultra-convenient as well. And we use the extra space for storing toys since we don’t need all of the space on both shelves for diaper supplies.
Even if you have a small home, there is likely a second location that would make sense to have supplies set up for diaper changes. It doesn’t have to be a changing table. It could just be an extra mat, a stash of diapers, some wipes, trash bags, and sanitizer. Either way, it makes things much easier on you when you have a second option of where to change your baby.
#6 Space Saver High Chair
I have absolutely no idea why I was against these in the first place, so instead I registered for a traditional (a.k.a. large and bulky) high chair. When we moved into a house that had a very small eating area, we were forced to downsize to a Fisher Price Space Saver High Chair, and I couldn’t have been happier with the forced change.
These space saving high chairs are incredibly practical. They easily attach to a chair, which means they can be removed just as easily, making them ideal for travel. They obviously take up less space, as their name implies, and they are much cheaper than traditional high chairs. Also, in most cases, you can remove the tray and pull the chair right up to your table, so it’s a good transition to having your toddler eating off the table with you.
#7 Plastic Bibs
Perhaps one of my favorite items to give as a gift (because I know how much they simplify life with baby) is plastic bibs. And allow me to clarify, I am only recommending these bibs for eating, not as a solution for spit-up or drooling. These plastic bibs are perfect for when baby starts eating solids.
Let’s be honest. Baby food is messy, and babies are even messier. I did not discover these until my son was about 18 months old, and man I was missing out! They are simple to clean because you can run them under water and use your dish wand or whatever, and they dry instantly if you wipe them with a towel.
There are other plastic bibs out there that are less rigid, but those tend to have crevices where the food can get stuck and you can’t get them completely clean. Case in point – my son LOVED cottage cheese when he was little, and we would scrub his bibs after each meal, but inevitably they would get moldy because we couldn’t adequately clean them, and they weren’t drying completely. We also had to have several spares on-hand to use while the others were drying.
The other thing I love about them is the drip catcher at the bottom. We have actually put food in there when we’ve been in the car so baby can easily reach it and feed themselves. The Tommee Tippee ones are great for when you’re on the go because you can roll them up and stick them in your diaper bag.
#8 Sound Machine/Projector
This one might also sound like more of a luxury than a legitimate need, but I’m telling you once your baby finally falls asleep, you’ll want to do everything in your power to keep them that way. The last thing you want is your baby waking up to some unnecessary noise in the house or outside, especially after you’ve spent half an hour rocking them to sleep. I mean, is there anything more frustrating than that?! Honestly, the cheapest solution for this can sometimes simply be turning on your bathroom exhaust fan and letting it run to provide some constant white noise, but that only works if your baby’s room is relatively close to the bathroom.
Ideally, you will want to purchase a sound machine that also has a projector, which serves as a night light, and the rotating images can come in handy when you have an older baby or toddler who needs a distraction while trying to fall asleep. We have the Munchkin Nursery Projector & Sound System, which has plenty of different sounds/lullabies, as well as three different slides for the projector, and you can set a timer or just let it run.
While I would recommend it, my only complaint is that we’ve started having some trouble with keeping the volume at the same level. It occasionally will fade and then randomly return to the previous volume it was set to.
#9 Dyson Stick Vacuum
Definitely not marketed as a baby product per se, but I can’t even say enough good things about the Dyson Stick Vacuum in just a couple of paragraphs! It has been an absolute game changer for our family in helping us to simplify life with baby. We just purchased ours a little over a year ago, so we did not have it when our two older kids were babies, but it has made keeping the floor clean so much more manageable with the twins.
Since it’s cordless, you can quickly and easily vacuum the table and kitchen area in less than five minutes. I’ll save all my detailed thoughts for a future post, but this vacuum has been a tremendous help, especially when I have two babies (now toddlers) dropping twice as much food from their high chairs and then twice the chance of one of them finding a “snack” on the floor to put in their mouth later on.
We have the Dyson V6 Absolute Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner in Red, but if I were buying one right now, I would go with the V8 model.
#10 Muslin Blankets
To be perfectly honest, I did not have muslin blankets on my original list, but I had several friends recommend these for the same reason – versatility. If you’re looking for something simple and practical to simplify your life with baby, make sure to purchase or register for some muslin blankets. For swaddling, these are definitely the best, and they are incredibly soft. They are also great for use as a nursing cover, burp cloth, car seat blanket, for tummy time, or even as a “lovey” later on when baby is older. And they are so easy to clean because you just throw them in the washing machine. Sometimes less is more, and that’s what you get with these.
#11 Baby Gates/Play Yard
Unless you have a full-time grandma living with you or some sort of fairy, then there will come a time when you’re going to need to put your baby down somewhere and actually cook dinner, throw laundry in the washing machine, or even just go to the bathroom! But seriously, having a way to safely contain your baby is of paramount importance, especially if you don’t like using a baby carrier 100% of the time. (I know I know, I’m in the minority of moms who actually don’t like using the carriers.)
A portable play yard works well for this if you don’t have a play area to block off with gates. As a bonus, you can use it for baby to sleep in when you travel, making it a super practical purchase. We have also used ours in our basement to safely contain the babies while we work out. Whether you go with a gate or a portable play yard, I can promise you it greatly simplify life with baby.
Blocking Off the Stairs
If you have stairs, you will need to buy baby gates for the bottom and the top, so you don’t have to constantly repurpose bar stools or other random items to block the stairs. I can’t even tell you how much simpler it was once we finally put a gate at the bottom of our stairs. I had such peace of mind knowing it was blocked, and then I didn’t have to stop and start working on dinner a million times to get one of the babies away from the stairs.
The type you buy is somewhat dependent on the type of stairs, orientation, and floor you have, but we have a Regalo gate, and it has been working well for us. Our 4-year old can open it easily, which is extremely helpful, so we don’t have to open it every time she wants to go up or come down.
#12 Remote Start for Your Vehicle
Last but not least, I strongly recommend having a remote start installed on your vehicle if you can afford it. (And to save big, just join Best Buy’s Deal of the Day and wait for it to come up as one of the deals.) When we were living in Texas, our poor son would just be absolutely drenched in sweat when he was in his car seat, rear facing away from the air conditioning vents. Summer in Texas (which is like half the year) means it takes a long time for your car to cool off, and when baby is facing away from the vents, they are just not getting any of the cool air in their car seat, making for a miserable ride.
Sure, you can go turn your car on ten minutes before leaving to go somewhere, but will you always remember to do that? No, not if you have a baby. Your brain is too full as it is. Just a few months after getting the remote start installed on our car, we found out we were moving to Minnesota. God knew what was in our future because guess what we needed in the winter to warm up our car ten minutes before leaving to go somewhere? Yes, God indeed has a sense of humor sometimes…
Live and Learn…
You know the expression “live and learn?” Well, it couldn’t be more applicable here. As I was writing this post, I realized that only one of these twelve products were things that I actually registered for and had on-hand when my first child was born. Everything else we discovered as we’ve been going along on this parenting journey.
Anyway, taking care of a baby is seriously hard work, and it’s not for the faint of heart. Finding ways to simplify life with a baby can help lighten the load, and I genuinely hope you’ve found some helpful tips and products here because I seriously believe life is better simplified! I’m happy to elaborate or answer any additional questions I may have sparked in your mind. Simply leave a comment below or feel free to email me at nicole@pursuitofsimple.com.
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