Nearly five weeks ago, I had our daughter, Nora. It’s been a joy, but extremely challenging. In search of an answer to our cranky daughters cries, I decided to check out the “top 3 baby things you couldn’t live without” thread.
The number one contender was a Boppy Pillow. My review? In the beginning, it wasn’t much help. My daughter, who at her smallest was just 6lbs, 12oz., seemed to slip right through. Now, though? At nearly five weeks [color]and over 9lbs, 7 oz, it’s a life saver. As she gets heavier, it gets harder and harder to hold her during feedings. She’s a dawdler and feedings can take 45 minutes to an hour at times, so after awhile, she gets heavy. Beyond just helping out with support under my arm, it’s a life saver in times like last night (er, this morning?) when I was feeding her at 4 am. It was another long feeding. I had gone through all the informercials and had settled on ABC’s middle of the night news. And, I fell asleep. The Boppy Pillow made sure that my daughter didn’t fall. When I awoke at 5:30, she was sleeping soundly.
The number two item people couldn’t live without was a pacifier. With my cranky baby, I would love for her to take a pacifier. It would make outings so much easier. But when she’s with me, she’s pacified by nursing only. Of course, with others, she’s more than happy take one. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law each have no problems giving her a pacifier. Once in a while, she’ll take it from me, but it’s usually a short lived situation.
Finally, the item rated number three was the Swaddle Me Blankets. We didn’t receive any of these, and thus, haven’t had the opportunity to rate them.
So, if those were the things people couldn’t live without, what were some things they wished they’d passed on?
Ironically, the number two item people couldn’t live without also happened to be the number one item people could have passed on: the pacifier.
In more irony, the number two item people could have passed on was the number on item people couldn’t live without: the boppy.
The third item that people could have passed on was the wipe warmer. I have to agree, we have not used ours at all.
So, looking at these two threads didn’t help me too much with my cranky baby. It just confirmed to me that what works for one, doesn’t necessarily work for the next person.
What does one need to buy ahead of the birth to survive motherhood? You’ll need a car seat for sure – that’s a requirement nearly everywhere. Beyond that, I’d say don’t buy too much (or at least not opened and assembled) until after the baby is home.
There’ll be some things you can’t use, and some things you just don’t use. I always thought that I wouldn’t need a swing. I can tell you that our papasan swing is a favorite in our house.
But the bouncy chair? Well, we wouldn’t know as we were advised against wearing it due to the apnea monitor that our daughter is on – but, it’s all set up and ready to go! And that’s just it, each baby will have their own unique set of likes and dislikes, you sort of just have to figure it out on your own.
