Becoming a new parent is one of the most amazing things you can ever experience…
It’s also one of the most exhausting, frustrating, and challenging jobs you’ll ever have. The first few months with any baby can easily test your boundaries, test your marriage, and quite frankly, test your sanity. But, there are some very helpful tools that have proven time and time again to be absolute lifesavers in those moments when you just want the crying to stop!
Now this list goes beyond the typical pacifiers and snot suckers, because you can find those on any new baby list. This is a list of things you may not know about and things that made all the difference for us when we first had our little boy.
1. Gripe Water
If you’ve never heard of gripe water, you’re not alone. I had never heard of it either, but it is one of the most amazing concoctions that has ever been created…in my opinion. It’s an organic liquid supplement that is made from organic ginger and organic fennel. When your baby has an upset stomach or is “griping,” you can give them about a teaspoon by syringe or on a small spoon and it instantly calms them down.
It worked amazingly well for our little boy and we have used it since he was about a month old and still use it today. Really, it can be used by anyone of any age, if you follow the correct dosage instructions. And it’s completely natural! What isn’t there to love about that? It is a little bit more expensive than typical baby gas products, but trust me, it is WELL worth it and one bottle usually lasts for at least a few months. Now this will obviously differ depending on how often you use it, but it does seem to last quite a while.
Even better, when you buy a bottle, they typically come with additional coupons for more gripe water inside or their other products, which we’ve used and loved as well. Click the link below to check it out.
2. Swaddle Blankets WITH Velcro
So many people use swaddle blankets. I mean it’s one of the first things they show you how to use in the hospital before you bring your new bundle of joy home. But there is a very important distinction that you should know when it comes to which blankets you should buy. I will say we didn’t use these at first, we only used regular swaddle blankets and our son was small enough that we were able to wrap him tight enough with the regular ones that it didn’t seem to matter at first. However, after a few weeks, we needed to introduce these amazing blankets.
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was just another evening at home, but neither my husband nor I could get our son to stop crying. He was fussy and upset and nothing would calm him. We tried everything and finally my husband found these little velcro sacks we had inherited from my sister. When she had given them to us, we didn’t really know what they were or that we would come to love them so much!
We slipped him into one of the blankets and closed up the velcro and literally it was like magic! He INSTANTLY stopped crying! He didn’t even fall asleep right away, he just laid there in his bassinet, calm. Almost to the point that we thought something might be wrong. When we realized that it had worked, we just looked at each other and started laughing.
From that day on, we put him in those every night and he slept THE ENTIRE WAY THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! EVERY night! It was amazing! He slept so soundly in them and we got so much more sleep and got so much more done during the day while he was napping.
I recommend getting at least 2 or 3 because you definitely want to have a back-up if your baby throws up on it or has a poop explosion in the middle of the night and you want to go back to sleep before you have a chance to wash it.
REMEMBER: These are only recommended for babies that cannot roll over yet, because you are tying down their arms. If your baby is not able to hold it’s head up and can roll over, you have to stop swaddling their arms because it does become a safety risk, but until then, it’s an absolute lifesaver!
3. Angelcare Movement and Sound Monitor
Once you finally get your baby to sleep, there’s nothing worse than the constant worry that they’re going to roll over or not be able to breathe in the middle of the night. Alleviate this fear with the Angelcare monitor system. It finally allows you to have peace of mind and actually fall asleep at night. It has a pad that you put under your baby’s mattress and it monitors even the slightest movement, like that of your child breathing. If it doesn’t sense that movement for 20 seconds, it will set off an alarm that sounds on the monitor on your end and the baby’s end, if you want, and wakes you up so you can check on them.
We were honestly surprised how well it worked. At first, we thought it would go off accidentally if he rolled off the pad because the surface area is not that big, but it was incredibly accurate! We only had the alarm go off a few times by mistake when he had rolled to the very edge of his crib and was completely off the mat, but you can set it so that it only goes off on the monitor alerting you to check on them.
It can also be used as a regular monitor, with a ton of great features, like a nightlight, sound monitor, thermometer for your nursery, and more! It is a little pricier, but makes a great baby registry gift and would be worth it just to have peace of mind anyway.
4. Luvs Diapers
This one might seem a big obvious, but Luvs diapers really should be on the list of lifesavers for new parents. Let me start by saying that in the hospital, we were supplied with Pampers Swaddlers diapers and they worked well for the first few weeks. After a while though, in the “poop explosion” phase, we started noticing that every time we put Pampers on him, he had a poop explosion and it was EVERYWHERE! All over him, all over us, and not pleasant for anyone.
Luckily, for our baby shower, we had gotten a few different brands, which ended up being a great way to try out other options. We also tried Huggies diapers and I would say overall, they were probably our second pick. But nothing worked as well as Luvs. Not only did they contain his poop explosions, but they also kept him dry all night, which is a big part of getting your child to sleep through the night.
To this day, we still use Luvs diapers and will continue to with our other children.
5. Pacifier Wipes/Clips
In my opinion, pacifiers themselves should really be on this list, but I’ll let you make your own mind up about whether your child will use one. If they do, then you don’t want to go without at least a couple pacifier clips and pacifier wipes. They have been an absolute lifesaver when we are out and about, especially while running errands or eating out.
There are many types of pacifier clips, but you have to make sure that the one you get works with the pacifiers you use. For those of you that use the Philips Avent soothie pacifiers, like we do, that can be difficult to find. Most clips will have a piece of velcro that works with pacifiers that have a ring on the outside, but the soothie pacifiers don’t have that ring and thus, have nothing to clip onto.
The best one I have found is made by CAMIRUS. It’s got a loop at one end instead of a velcro strip (which tends to wear out quickly anyway), and a durable metal clip on the other end that holds better than any other ones I’ve used. The soothie pacifiers have a hole in the rim that you can put the loop through. As an added bonus, the loop doesn’t hold moisture like the other velcro ones we’ve used when baby slobbers all over it, making the attached ribbon, quite frankly, pretty gross. And the modern designs are great for either sex and neutral enough to match a variety of outfits.
Now the pacifier wipes are a great back-up and crucial when you’re out and about and can’t get to a sink to wash your baby’s pacifier if it falls on the ground in not-so-clean areas. We loved the Nuby All-Natural Pacifier and Teether Wipes. They come in a small pack that fits well in your diaper bag and seals well to prevent them from drying out. They are also naturally flavored vanilla milk, which our son seemed to love.
6. Burt’s Bees Baby 100% Natural Diaper Rash Ointment
This stuff works like a dream! It’s the absolute best product I have ever found for any type of diaper rash or irritation. We’ve used it on a variety of rashes and it seriously clears it up by the next diaper change. Plus, it’s all natural! If you’ve read my 7 Top Apps for Healthy Living post, then you’ve heard about the Think Dirty app. On the Think Dirty app, this diaper ointment is rated a 3, as are most of the Burt’s Bees Baby products, which is great to know they are natural and safe to use on your baby.
It’s also a very thick paste, so it stays where you put it. It always seems to calm our son down if he’s got a sore bottom.
7. Burt’s Bees Baby 100% Natural Multipurpose Ointment
Last but certainly not least is the Burt’s Bees Baby Multipurpose Ointment. It’s great for the rest of your baby’s rashes and reactions elsewhere on their body. It works just as well as the diaper rash ointment and is just as natural, also receiving a 3 rating from Think Dirty.
We’ve used it for so many things, including slobber rashes, those little bumps baby’s can get on the backs of their arms, and many other unidentifiable rashes. It clears them up very quickly and seems to soothe our son’s skin as well. And a little goes a long way. We received one 7.5 oz. container at our baby shower and are still using the same container over a year later, which makes it a great investment. Nothing else we’ve tried works as well or is really as natural either. It’s definitely a new parent’s lifesaver.
Well, there you have it, the top 7 new parent lifesavers that will make your first year much easier and much more enjoyable as a parent, and that’s what it’s really all about. Of course we love our children, but the pains of new parenthood can be very taxing on even the most patient people and having a few helpful tools in your corner never hurt anyone.
Feel free to comment below if you have any other helpful tools you use or lifesavers you couldn’t live without when raising your beautiful bundles of joy!
Disclaimer…This post contains affiliate links, which means that I may be compensated for products bought through these links. But no worries, I would never recommend a product that I don’t use and love myself!