My Baby Favorites...

I have friends who are either pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or will be pregnant in the next 5 years. So I thought I would share what some of my favorite items I have that I use daily with Aspen.



The first item is Munchkin brand and can be found at Target. It is a great way to clean bottles in the dishwsher by making it easy to keep everything together, and even has space for straws or in my case the center air filters off of the Dr. Brown's bottle I use. I think it was only 6 dollars and well worth the money.

The second is a great car seat toy. It plays music, has a rattle and creates something fun to look at. Aspen is not normally a big fan of her car seat but you start the music on this and she quiets right down and stares at the flashing cheeks of the flower. This is also found at Target and cost 15 dollars.

The third one is a car seat cover. Especially if your baby is going to be little in winter. It has proven a great use to us with this bitter cold winter. It has a flap that is able to come up when you are inside and want to see baby, and it goes down when outside to protect babies face from the snow and cold temperatures.

This next one is a travel system. Ours us a little different. We have one made by Eddie Bauer. It makes a great when ou want to go on a walk or are going to the mall. The car seat fits right inside it. It has a place to store your diaper bag underneath. And it even has cup holders...I LOVE IT! You can get travel systems at numerous places and they all vary in price.

This on is what is called a temporal scanner. It can be found at Target for around 30 dollars. It is a thermometer that is very accurate. I got after numerous failed attempts at getting Aspen's temperature. I don't like the idea of sticking a thermometer in her butt, and she hated when I would put the thermometer under her arm. So her pediatrician recommended this one and said that it is a very accurate way to get her temperature without making her uncomfortable. So I picked one up and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Taking her temp has become so easy. It is so worth the money.

This is called the Soothe and Glow Seahorse. We got it at a baby shower but I have seen them available at Target as well. We never really thought to use it until she was almost a 2 months old and she was having a night where she was "inconsolable." I saw it sitting in her room and decided to give it a try. I pushed the belly and it started playing soft music while it's belly glowed. She was dead asleep in a matter of minutes. I was amazed. It still works wonders for us. When she is tired and cranky we lay her down with it or put it on the tray of the swing with her and turn it on and she goes out rather quickly. The music plays for about 4 or 5 minutes. A few times we have had to push the belly one ore time before she is out. But she loves it and even will grab grab onto it in a hugging manner sometimes when she is next to it. We named it "Sammy" for her. They also have the seahorse available in pink. We like that we got the blue one though because we will be able to use it for the next baby even if it's a boy without feeling the guilt of a little boy having a bunch of pink stuff!:)

This diaper bag is Carter's brand. It can be found at Babies R Us for 40 dollars and it is amazing. I originally had a different diaper bag that I thought would be great. But quickly learned it did not have enough room for all the stuff I needed and wanted to carry in it. A friend had this diaper bag and I adored how much room there was in it and it is very cute. So I went and picked it up and have discovered that it is well worth the money. It carries everything and I even have a little extra room sometimes.

Ok...so Aspen is not using her highchair yet. But this high chair was given to us by friends that decided they are done having kids. And we adore it. It fits in beautifully with out kitchen and isn't as gaudy as a lot of the high chairs out there. It's not very often that you can find decent wood high chairs. I have seen these high chairs on amazon.com but I am not sure what their price was and I am not sure what store they could be found in. I do know that Target doesn't carry this kind of highchair though.

Ah...and the infamous Dr. Brown's bottle. I will NEVER use anything else for any of our future kids. They have a few extra parts than other bottles but using the munchkin dishwasher bottle part holder that was number one on my list makes everything a cinch to wash. They reduce the amount of gas that Aspen gets and I have never had any issues with these bottles. Aspen prefers these over other bottles as well. We tried Playtex Ventaire bottles once and she didn't like those at all. Dr. Brown's bottle can be found at Target, Babies R Us, Bakers, Wal Mart, etc. Target sells them in 3 packs for 13 dollars...btu we have resorted to getting them from Baker's. At Baker's you can buy a three pack for 7 dollars.

Carter's Sleepers like the one above are must haves. They have them in heavy fleece for winter and in light cotton for warmer months and they are so cute. You can find them pretty cheap at Target and they are great for days that you don't feel like dressing the baby in a regular outfit or when you are hanging around the hosue. They also have snap buttons in th elegs which make the diaper changing very easy.

Last but not least it the Butt Paste. Which is my opinion and experience with Aspen is the best thing for her diaper rashes. It is a cream that is sensitive enough on baby skin that you can use some every day as a "preventative" measure against diaper rash. Since we started using it she has had no diaper rashes. You can find the size tube in this picture for about 4 dollars at Target and I am not sure what the price would be at Babies R Us.

Thanks for reading and I hope I gave you some good ideas to keep in mind for your baby.