Stuff we use all the time

I thought it might be a good idea to start a list of all the things that are necessary for the first couple of months with a new baby. We are not sure whether or not we will have more kids and if we do, we intend to wait for a little while before having the next one. Needless to say, my memory is not what it once was, so this list is mostly for me. I will be updating it over the next couple of weeks as we run into different things that we can't live without...

My favorite thing of the moment - Gerber bunny slippers. Because her feet were so cold all the time, we really appreciate having something to keep them warm.

My favorite diapers - Pampers Swaddlers. This time I used one big box of Newborn size before moving up to size 1. She was born at 8 lbs, 4 oz and got back there by the end of her second week.

My favorite wipes (I had to hunt around to find a link) are the Target brand unscented wipes. We just buy the refills - there is really no need to buy the dispensers. We have one dispenser that we got originally, but we also just use the refills. They are in the kind of package that makes them easy to access and we buy them in this big box so we can have packs all over the house.

By far, we love the Diaper Champ way more than the Diaper Genie. We have both because I originally thought the Genie would be better, but the Champ uses regular kitchen garbage bags which makes it way easier because we have a ton of them and you don't have to go looking for the Genie refills. I will say that we like having two because we spend our days on one side of the house and our nights on the other, so it is nice to have a diaper pail in both locations.

My favorite bottles -Born Free. We have used these with both our babies. I don't use the sterilizer or the bottle brush, we use the dishwasher. We do use a drying rack because it is a convenient way to keep them on the counter and available and my bottles never come out of the dishwasher dry. We also use a dishwasher basket inside the dishwasher to hold the nipples and vents.

My favorite bibs are these organic cotton ones from Bumkins. The terry cloth is the best for absorbing drips. I also like terry for burp cloths and the ones from Gerber are my go to - I have them stashed everywhere.

My favorite swaddler at night is the Kiddopatamus. We find this keeps her snug and warm and calm at night. She definitely sleeps easier in it.

When our babies need to suck to soothe, we love the Soothies pacifiers.

We think a lot about keeping our babies warm, so when we go out, we use the JJ Cole Infant Bundle Me in the car seat. There are two versions and we have both - a heavier one for winter and a lighter one for spring and fall.

On the subject of strollers - we originally bought a Graco Quattro tour system - meaning the car seat and the stroller. We love the car seat - we hardly ever use the stroller. It is heavy - which makes it inconvenient to haul in and out of the car. We finally broke down and bought a light stroller - a Maclaren - which we love. They have recently all been recalled for a retrofit to cover up the hinges, but we have not had any problems with ours.

Now that we have two babies, instead of getting a double stroller, I've been using the Bjorn. I love being able to carry the baby this way and it makes it easier than trying to get both kids in a stroller. I put Thomas in the Maclaren and Charlotte in the Bjorn and away we go.

We are using the Graco infant car seat/carrier for Charlotte. With Thomas, we used to put him in the carrier for naps (he liked it because it was tight and cozy). Thomas moved up to a normal car seat at about 6 months when he got too heavy for the carrier. We got a Britax Marathon which works both rear facing and front facing. These are expensive, but you can get them on a good deal if you watch for one.

I'll keep adding to this list as I think of more things :)