Putting registries together can be just plain stressful. For instance, try scanning 50+ items at Target, only to have the scanner battery die and save nothing to your registry. Or, scanning tons of items at Babies R Us, and realizing it doubled everything on your registry. In both situations, once I realized it wasn't that big of a deal and could easily be fixed, I was fine, but at first, I was so stressed. "I don't remember everything we scanned...how can we make sure we get it again?!" Luckily, Matt has a great memory for that type of stuff and got everything back for us :)
I've started putting together lists of our favorite baby items for different categories: sleeping, bathing, eating, etc. and why we like them! Hopefully, this will be helpful to any new moms who aren't 100% sure of what's necessary or why you might need something :) Also, I know not everything works the same for everyone or every baby, but this is what's worked for us!
1. Boon Lawn Drying Rack: This drying rack is so nice to have! We also have the Boon Patch drying rack in our window sill right over the kitchen sink.
2. Boon Twig: This sits on the lawn drying rack and is super convenient to make more space for storage! We use the twigs (we have 2) to hang pacis, teething rings and bottle tops.
3. Boon Stem: This also sits on the lawn drying rack. We have 1 of these, and use it to store bottle tops.
4. Munchkin Baby Bottle Brush: If you use bottles, get yourself one of these brushes now. They're a life saver for cleaning bottles and they last a while. We used one for about 6 months before we had to replace it.
5. Munchkin Formula Dispenser: This is awesome! It has three divided sections for you to put pre-measured formula in. It's awesome for on-the-go or traveling! We have 2, and we always use both on trips. Once we've reached our destination, hotel room, etc., it's so easy to just keep those filled up, rather than carrying around the whole container of formula.
6. Enfamil Newborn Formula Ready to Use: This is the formula we started with, as it's what the hospital provided to us. These ready to use bottles were SO convenient once we got home, too! When Marshall was just eating 2 ounces, these were so convenient, especially in the middle of the night when it saved time to make a bottle (not that it takes a long time anyway). We did use some of the Infant Formula in ready-to-use form, but not as often.
7. Enfamil Infant Formula Powder: Lucky for us, we didn't have to try multiple brands of formula to find what worked best for Marshall. We're still using Enfamil for him. At some point or another, I ended up putting my information on an Enfamil mailing list, which is great, because they send us rebate checks for the formula! If you don't get them, go ahead and sign up for their mailings. Target also runs sales on formula ALL the time. They'll have buy 2 or 3 boxes/containers of formula, and you receive a Target gift card on your next purchase. Use these sales, in addition to the rebate checks, and any store coupons you may have (we get these often, too!), and you can really get a great deal!
8. Gerber Rice Cereal: We introduced rice cereal around 3 or 4 months. We started adding it to just to his bottle before bed, and it helped fill him up to sleep through the night (yay!). After a couple months, we started adding it twice a day. I'll either put it in his first bottle when he wakes up, or I'll add it to his baby food during the day.
9. Gerber 1st Foods: We have only bought a few of the Gerber 1st foods. First, be bought a starter pack from Target, that contained several small portions of apples, bananas and pears. Then, we tried peas and sweet potatoes. Ever since then, I've been making all of Marshall's food myself. It's super easy to do, and more cost efficient in my opinion.
10. Gerber Graduates Puffs and Yogurt Melts: Marshall LOVES these! He could sit and eat puffs all day if you let him! At first we just fed them to him ourselves, because he hadn't totally figured out grabbing things, but he quickly learned how to once he realized it was something he could eat! ha! It's so funny to watch him grab for more, because 9 times out of 10, he has one stuck to his hand that he thinks made it to his mouth but never did... The yogurt melts are just as good (the peach ones are my favorite, haha!). They're definitely a little stickier and messier, but Marshall enjoys them, so we'll keep getting them ;)
11. NUK 5 ounce bottles: These are the first bottles Marshall used, and he was great with them, since they're the same brand as the pacis we first gave him (more on those in a later post). We love the NUK brand of just about everything.
12. NUK 10 ounce bottles: This summer, Marshall finally graduated from the 5 oz bottles to the 10 oz ones! He's so cute when he eats, because he'll lay down and feed himself with these bottles. He could hold the smaller bottles, but it's much easier for him to hold these. I love it because once he's done eating, he's created a game for himself with his bottles--after eating, he'll flip over onto his stomach, push the bottle across the floor and crawl to chase it. He will do this for the longest time, all over the den and kitchen. It's hilarious!
13. Munchkin Deluxe Dishwasher Basket: We used this when we were still using the 5 ounce bottles, because you can fit 3 bottles & tops in it. If we were getting ready to run the dishwasher, it was convenient to just find a little more space on the top rack to get a few bottles washed.
