Baby Essentials

Back when Joel was born I did a post about baby "stuff". It included the things I wouldn't want to live without. It wasn't a very detailed list, and having Abby got me thinking it might be fun to do the list again and maybe do it every couple of weeks depending on the stuff I'm using a ton at the time. Last week a sorority sister of mine asked me for some baby advice so Heather (no I'm not talking about myself in the third person) this post is for you!

Pretty much all Abby does right now is eat, sleep and empty her bladder. She has decided to only poop every couple of days but when she does, OH MY HEAVENS they are HUGE!! She hasn't pooped since Thursday, we are in for it!! When I was in high school and college I babysat for a lady who had five boys. She always used Luvs diapers, I'm thinking that is where my "love" affair with them started.

Luvs smell so good (pre-baby bottom), they work well (if my baby leaks it's typically just because I need to go up a size) and they are CHEAP! I buy them at BJ's wholesale or often I order them on Amazon! We have Amazon prime, we pay $75 a year to get free two day shipping on anything sold directly by Amazon. I order them and 2 days later they are on my doorstep! Perfect for new Moms or Moms like me with a TON of kids.

So far Abby has been a fabulous nurser. That girl came out rooting. I do supplement her at night. I nurse her at 10pm and then offer her a 2 oz. bottle. When she wakes at 4am I nurse again and give her another bottle. If you are going to be bottle feeding I have found the best nipples are the nipples they give you at the hospital for the pre-made formula. I'm not sure why they don't sell these in stores! They are super easy for your baby to get formula out of. I took about 10 home with me from the hospital. I'm not sure why they say, "for single use only", we wash them and use them over and over. You can always tell when they go bad they get kind of sticky, if you squeeze it together and it sticks to itself toss it!

One of the reasons I have enjoyed nursing has been because I've found awesome nursing camis at Target. I couldn't live without these things. I cannot stand nursing bras. They make me itch like crazy and I hate the feeling of "feeling" my bra all the time. They don't offer a ton of support but they do come in a ton of colors online and they have black, white and grey in the store. So far I've bought four and wear them constantly. I wear them with these:

Lansinoh nursing pads are wonderful. I don't know if they had these with Sam. Maybe I was too cheap to buy them, but no joke I used the washable kind. They were MISERABLE!! I think after a couple of weeks I did find some sort of disposable but they weren't as good as the Lansinoh ones! I go thru a lot of these. At least 4 a day. My sorority sister Heather was asking me how to prevent sore, cracked nipples. Unfortunately there is no perfect solution. I always want to slap the nursing specialists who tells you "if you are nursing correctly it won't hurt". I'm calling a huge FIB on that one. Nursing hurts, it's inevitable. I have found that it hurts less with every baby but it still hurts. My advice, change your nursing pads often, and use lanolin a lot! OH ~ and on a side note, these nursing pads are also on Amazon for cheaper then you can buy them at Target!!

Now to sleeping, Abby's favorite thing to do! I can't imagine living without this:

It's a Halo SleepSack Swaddle. I love, love, love this thing. We use it constantly. I wish I had known to swaddle Sam. He was kind of a fussy baby and I think it would have really helped. Greg became an expert swaddler with our other boys. This SleepSack makes it super simple to swaddle them. I put Abby in the sleep sack, hold her arms by her side and then velcro the flaps across her. So simple and it puts her right to sleep, plus I know she is warm and cozy. If you are new Mom, add this to your registry!

Abby also sleeps really well in our swing (only during the day, she sleeps in her crib at night)! I don't know how anyone could live without a swing. I love the one we have because of the way it swings in two directions. We also have a more basic swing that PLUGS IN!! No more waisted batteries. I have been told that you can get a swing that swings two directions and plugs in, my idea of heaven!!

Well, that's all I have time for today...I want to tell you about my car seat cover and my favorite infant socks, but I need to take pictures first. Stay tuned!!