Here's my list:
1. Mirrors for in the car! This is one of my FAVORITE favorites. It's SO nice to be able to see Jaxon in the back seat while I'm driving. I can tell if he's sleeping, getting into trouble, etc..and you can make faces at them :) I love it.
This one is for when the baby is rear facing.
The one below is for when they go forward facing - it attaches to your rear view mirror. We are using this one right now (I think ours might be a little bit different - I'm not sure if this one actually attaches to the rear view mirror). Jaxon often looks at me in the mirror and I'm always checking him out :)
2. Car Seat Bunting Bag - this is a MUST for the colder weather. I LOVED this thing. I didn't have to put a coat on Jaxon the entire winter because it. I just put a warm shirt on him, tuck a warm blanket inside, and zip up the cover. When you come inside and the baby is sleeping....all you have to do is unzip the cover and viola! the baby can stay asleep. And we all know how important it is to keep our babies sleeping as long as possible ;)
***if you look for one of these to buy - I would suggest that you get the kind that doesn't wrap around the bottom of the car seat. My friend had one of those and it wasn't as cozy and warm and as soon as the baby's legs got longer, it wouldn't fit anymore. The brand that I have is Gagou Tagou. ***
3. Nursing Cover! You can get these online....or I can possibly make & sell you one if you're interested. The top has boning in it so that it stays open for you to see the baby. It also has an adjustable strap to go around your neck.
4. Leather slippers. I'm sure most of you have used or at least heard of these before. They are AMAZING. They are seriously the only thing that would stay on Jaxon's feet. The most well-known brand is Robeez....but I recently found a company called Lil Jo's that makes them in Canada - and they are only $22.99. The ones pictured below are Lil Jo's.
5. Teething Tablets. These are tiny little homeopathic tablets that dissolve on the baby's tongue. They help take the edge off teething and they really seem to work well to calm Jaxon when his teeth are really bothering him. For us, they haven't necessarily replaced Motrin or Tylenol when teething is really bad, but they kick in fast and do the trick when he just needs to be distracted from the pain or to buy us time until the Motrin kicks in. You can get them at WalMart in the States (I haven't seen them in the Cdn WalMarts) or at a health food store. Jaxon loves taking them.
6. A wipeable, flexible, durable bib with a pocket that has snaps! (This brand is a Dex Dura-Bib). I didn't really use this until Jax started eating finger foods...and now it's the ONLY bib I use. And you only need 1. It's great. It catches everything, and all you have to do is wipe it off and it's ready for the next meal. And the snaps on the pocket make it very easy to get all the junk out of it - all you do is undo the snaps and the pocket unfolds, making it all flat. Thanks Amy for giving this to us!!!
...maybe this will give you an idea why I love it so much :)
It's helped me "let go" of the desire to feed Jaxon just so there would be less mess....now I don't really care (although he still gets food in his hair but oh well...) and he's actually feeding himself really well now, with way less mess.
Every time I take the tray off his highchair to clean him up, Jax loves to peek inside the pocket to see what kind of goodies are in there :o)
7. (Somewhat) Spillproof Snack Cup - This thing is one of my MAJOR favorites. It has been a life-saver for us numerous times. The lid has slits in it so that your toddler can stick his hand in, grab a few Cheerios, and pull it back out without dumping the whole cup of Cheerios everywhere. This is an essential in my purse whenever we go anywhere. Great for the car, shopping cart, church, and stroller (to name a few).
It took Jax a couple days to figure out how to get the Cheerios out, but he eventually got it and he quickly became a pro.
It IS still possible for Cheerios to go flying (like when Jax was trying to figure out how to use it and ended up holding one of the slit things open and shaking it upside-down) but really - it still gets 5 stars from me.
You can find these at WalMart for under $4.
And of course - some of the more normal things like:
- Wireless baby monitor (so you can take it outside with you while baby is napping)
- Car Seat/Stroller combo (where the car seat snaps into the stroller - very handy for transferring from the car to stroller, or for walks in the winter, or for taking a sleeping baby inside).
- Double-sided flannel blankets for swaddling (Jax slept way better swaddled from the time he was born until he started standing up in his crib).
