Five weeks and a list

Scarlett turns five weeks old today! As this milestone neared, I got to thinking about what baby gear we use and wouldn't want to live without. Although items such as the lovely crib we bought will come in handy soon, for now Scarlett is sleeping in a Pack N Play in our room. And although disposable nursing pads may be popular with many moms, I prefer the washable kind. Shall I go on?

Graco Pack N Play
As mentioned above, the Pack N Play is in our bedroom and it's where currently Scarlett sleeps at night. It has a changing table attached to it and little compartments we use for diapers, hand sanitizer and pacifiers. It's looks good, too. We got the 'Graham' color from BabyCenter. My aunt Kiki gave it to us - thanks Keek!

Boppy
I don't need to sing the praises of the Boppy because it seems that every mom I know has used one. But I will. I have the Boppy with the super soft pink fleecy cover. It's wonderful for breast feeding. The end.

SwaddleMe from Kiddopotamus
For the first few days after we brought Scarlett home Brandon and I swaddled her in receiving blankets. It worked for a while and then our sweet little girl turned into Houdini. I swear she could break out of a straight jacket. Thankfully we started using the SwaddleMe and it works great ... most of the time. Scarlett does get a hand free once in a while, after all she is a professional magician. The SwaddleMe also helps Scarlett relax. She's an active baby and her hands and legs are going all the time, so the SwaddleMe helps her calm down a lot. We also tried the Miracle Blanket, but it didn't work as well and it's complicated.

The Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp
Speaking of swaddling, I think this book is essential for every new parent. It suggests using some basic techniques to calm a newborn baby. So far Scarlett is easily soothed by the swaddling, shushing, rocking and sucking the author writes about. I like that it doesn't bully parents into using the method like other baby books do. Those books scare me. Our pediatrician recently recommended the DVD, which we bought but haven't watched yet. According to him, it's much better than the book.

Fisher Price Cradle Swing
Scarlett has fallen asleep a few times in this swing and stayed asleep for a couple hours. She loves the rocking motion. It's good for us because we can only rock for so long before we start to get dizzy.

Glider
Speaking of rocking, we purchased a glider/rocker from Babies R Us before Scarlett was born. I felt like kind of a sucker for buying it because I didn't know if we would really use it, but it's proven to be a very smart purchase. I bet I'm in that thing at least a half a dozen times a day. It's so great to feed Scarlett in and then rock her to sleep. Although it couldn't pass as a regular chair like those thousand dollar modern gliders, it's soft and cozy and we love it.

New Native Sling
We were handed down a New Native sling from my brother Dan and his wife Deb. It's more of a pouch than a sling, but the company calls it a sling so I will, too. Unfortunately, it was too small for Brandon and too big for me, but we loved the idea of it so much that I bought a larger size for Brandon. He loves it and Scarlett does, too. We have a different sling with rings that we bought a while ago, but it's so hard to figure out and there is just so much fabric. The New Native sling is good because it just goes over your head and it's ready for baby insertion.

Viva Paper Towels
Little babies have delicate skin, so or the first month we were told not to use wipes on Scarlett. Her pediatrician suggested using Viva paper towels and they've worked great. They're super thick, durable and soft. We cut them into squares (four per piece), wet them and stored them in a plastic container near the Pack 'N Play.

Munchkin disposable multiuse pads
We put these handy things on the Pack N Play changing table because you never know when a certain someone will decide to pee or poop while her diaper is being changed.

Medela Pump In Style
Once a day I pump so that Brandon can take a night feeding. I tried using a hand pump, but that thing took forever. Thankfully, my sister-in-law Jen gave me her Medela Pump In Style breast pump which was given to her by our sister-in-law Deb (the thing has seen a lot of boobs). It's easy to set up and gets the job done fast. It's annoying that I can't use my hands for the whole time I'm pumping, but I just put a movie on and plop myself down on the couch and it's not so bad.

Fisher Price Monitor
I wasn't sure we would need a monitor because Scarlett sleeps in our room at night, but during the day when she's napping it's nice to be able to leave the room. I'm sure there are a lot of good monitors out there, but we like this one because it has red lights that light up when there's a noise. The louder the noise the more lights illuminate so we can tell if she's talking in her sleep or crying out because she's waking up.

Gerber Organic Cotton Diapers
We use these to wipe drool, spit up and the occasional booger. They're super soft and absorbent. Much better than the burp rags.

Nightgowns
I thought that putting Scarlett into a nightgown before bed would be the beginnings of establishing a nighttime routine. Little did we know that it would also make our nighttime diaper changes easier and faster - no more snaps! We used to put Scarlett in a onesie at night, not realizing how hard it is to snap and unsnap in the dim light of the bedroom. Live and learn!


So, that's it for now. Brandon just commented yesterday on the wonders of the Diaper Genie, so I'm sure we'll discover more things we wouldn't want to live without very soon. Stay tuned!