Must-have baby gear by length of use (18months+)
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So here are things that we bought when he was born and we still use today. Some of these we knew we’d use for a while, but others I didn’t think I needed and then found out it makes my life so much easier, and wish I got sooner!
Plate and Open Cup
Sakura Bloom Baby Carriers: Ring Sling / Scout / Onbuhimo
Change Pad and Wipes Case
Video Monitor: the one we have / the one I wish I got
Sound Machine + Ok to wake light: the one we have / new model
Eating Stuff: High chair, apron, and plate/utensils
High chair is something I did NOT invest in, and I sort of regret it because I hate ours. I kind of wish that invested in a good one (Stokke Tripp Trapp is a cult favorite, although it’s kind of ridiculous) or just went with a super simple one. The IKEA one is amazing from what I hear. The reason I hate ours is it has a fabric cover (it gets so gross), it has so many like slits and openings and little nooks and crannies because it “converts” (food gets in every corner and is a bitch to clean), and is SO. FUCKING. HUGE. Hate it. Don’t do that.
This baby apron (perfeclty named Bapron) is the only bib/apron that Lu would put on. It’s soft, ties in the back instead of on his neck so it’s comfy, and you can wash it in the sink and hang to dry and it’ll be dry in like 30 minutes. Amazing. Babies are so messy when they eat, so it’s either he’s naked or wearing a Bapron at meals, or I have to plan on changing his clothes. Even now.
Eating gear wise I like this ezpz Mini plate because it stays in place (he flips over other plates) and taught him to use this open cup also from ezpz like 4 months ish, because I guess it’s good for their brain development to learn the cup? He also never took a bottle anyway so it made the transition from this to straw cups really easy.
Play mat
A surprisingly important thing that I kept using from baby to now, especially if you have hardwood. I have this random one from Amazon which works really great downstairs in our living room because you can configure it to go around our sectional. We also have this one from Skip Hop for his room, and it’s really soft and nice. Even if you have carpet I think it’s nice to have one of these because they fall a lot, and also spill a lot, so having a surface that you can wipe off will save you.
Changing Pad
Steven fought me ’til the very end over this Keekaroo Peanut saying it was dumb, but I am so glad I told him to fuck off. We still use this all the time and it makes the disgusting task of changing diapers a little more tolerable because he’s comfier on it vs. on the floor. You’ll use it for a long time. Get it.
Sakura Bloom Baby Carrier
Before you look at the price on the website and freak out, hear me out when I say these things are worth its weight in gold. They have three types of carriers, I have all three and also a ring sling in two different fabrics, and use them all the time. While the Solly Wrap from the 3 month list is great for the newborn stage and then not thereafter, I used these at varying stages and still use them today because my Lu is super needy and wants to be carried when he’s fussy and I need hands to do stuff. To break down the styles they offer, Ring Sling is great for quick up/down and for newborns, this is what I use most often. It does require some learning and getting used to, but once you figure it out it’s super easy. Scout is the style that’s most comparable to the other baby carriers on the market like the super famous Babybjörn and the like, but with no buckles. It’s the most versatile since you can carry front or back, and carry up to 35lb. Onbuhimo is what I call my chore carrier because it is combines the ease of Ring Sling but in a back carry, and I wear him in this when I’m trying to get stuff done.
If I was to recommend just one carrier, I’d say the Scout because this is the one Steven likes best too and so we both use it (I use the Ring Sling the most). There are lots of fabric choices, but linen is a good bet and you can’t go wrong with it. Second choice for me would be a Simple Silk Ring Sling, which is my favorite. And if you fall in love with baby carrying and want more, an Onbuhimo is a great one to have in your adventure stash.
Change Pad and Wipes Case
I didn’t get this Logan + Lenora Change Pad ’til later and I regret it because the change pad that came with my diaper bag was so fucking bulky and I hated it, it took up so much space in the bag and it was awful. This is slim, packs great, and has a magnetic closure.
Same thing with a wipes case, I was just using some random one I got for free and then received one as a gift that was slimmer, and it makes such a huge difference. The one I have I can’t find online, but this one from Amazon is pretty close.
Video Monitor
I can’t find the Summer Infant monitor that we got and it’s probably just outdated, but this one seems to be in the same price range (but now you get two cameras! That’s cool) Ours just recently stopped working though, so we just got this LBtech one. I liked that you could buy additional cameras in case we have more kids or need more monitoring, and there was a review that specifically referenced Summer Infant saying this one they liked better. The battery life is SO MUCH BETTER and I really like it. I can’t speak for the newer Summer Infant model though, and we did like it at the time so you really can’t go wrong with either.
I will say though if I had a newborn again I would totally try to go with the Nanit. It logs all their sleep and the way they thrashed around, which I manually entered into a separate app and forgot to do it all the time. Ain’t nobody got time for that. You will use a video monitor for a long time, so don’t be scared to invest in it.
Sound Machine + Ok to wake light
I preface this first by saying Lu is a shitty sleeper. And I don’t know if it’s because the white noice machine isn’t working, but I do really like the look and functionality of the one we have, which is Hatch Baby Rest. They also have a more upgraded version called Rest+ that I haven’t tried but it looks cool, and has additional functionality for not that much more so worth looking into. He does not yet abide to the ok to wake light, but I’m now finally sort of explaining to him the difference in light color and when it’s time to wake up. Since kids can’t tell time for a while, this clear indication is supposedly how you teach them rise time. So we’ll see, and either way I would use it for a long time so I thought it was worth the buy.
Thermometer
He only got a fever a few times, but the few times he did I was such a fucking mess that having an accurate, reliable thermometer is really key. This Braun one is the second one I got, the first one was garbage, and this one I hate less. It’s just kind of tough to measure temperature accurately in general it seems, which is insane because there are AI out there designing our future, but whatever.
