5 Things On Thursday

With our new arrival on it's way I've been slowly gathering all the things we need to make him or her comfortable in our family. It's been over 5 years since I was last pregnant and I'm amazed at how many new baby products are out there! Since I pretty much sold or gave away EVERYTHING we had (except for the crib, diapers and clothes), I pretty much started from scratch. Over the past few months I have been slowly adding to our gear and supplies and today I thought I share with you my top 5 items that I think I NEED to have. Please feel free to add your own "must haves" in the comments section. I'd love to hear what else is out there!

1. Wubbanub

6 years ago when my first daughter was born you could only find these in the NICU. It was one of my go-to baby shower gifts. Now you find them pretty much everywhere and most babies have one or two. They are great because not only does it give the baby something to hold onto, but they are much harder to lose than regular pacifiers. 

2. Miracle Blanket

I'm a HUGE fan of swaddling your infant. Both my girls were great sleepers early on and they were both swaddled until they were about 6 months old and started rolling all over the crib. I know there are tons of different swaddling blankets out there, but in my opinion this is the best blanket out there. Before I tried it I thought it was pretty brazen of them to call it a "miracle" but it truly lives up to its name. I call it a baby straight jacket, it is almost impossible for infants to break out of this baby! It's definitely more expensive than the swaddlers you find in the store, but personally I don't think you can put a price on a good nights sleep!

3. Sling/Pouch/Carrier/Wrap

I L-O-V-E, love baby wearing! My oldest pretty much lived in her sling. She didn't like to be too far from her mommy and the sling allowed her to be near me and gave me the freedom to use my arms. There are so many more options today, there are wraps, pouches and back carriers. Some you can even nurse while wearing! When they get a little bit older I like the Beco Baby Carrier carrier (I've heard Ergo is good too). They are soft carriers that allow you to carry your child on your back. I used by Beco A LOT during meal preparation. You can make dinner and have your little one close by too. It really cut down on all the tears (mine and the baby's) during the "witching hour."

4. Cloth Diapers

We started cloth diapers with my youngest when she was about 4 months old because she was having a pretty bad skin reaction to disposable. At the time the hubby was not really excited about the move to cloth (and truthfully he's not too excited to use them again), but when I made a very pretty spread sheet showing him how much money they would save us (especially if you use them for more than one child) he couldn't really disagree that they were the way to go. There are so many different options out there, AIO (all in ones), prefolds, pocket, one-size...I could go on and on! I have a little of everything and definitely have my favorites. There are so many cute prints and designs you have to be careful or you end up spending all the money you are saving!

5. Medela Micro-Steam Bags

These bags are AW-SOME! They disinfect your breast bumps pieces, bottles and pacifiers in the microwave in less than 3 minutes. Each box has 5 bags and each bag can be used 20 times giving you 100 uses in each box! 

Those are my top 5. What are the baby items you can't live without? Shout 'em out I don't want to miss something!