Surviving The First Two Months – tools I have been using to make things a little easier for me.

 

This should have been a post about the first six weeks but here we are. Amelia is two months old and I can still hardly believe it. Where on earth has time gone? Wasn’t she just born yesterday?

I compiled a list of things that are either “must-haves” or “nice-to-haves” with a newborn. I genuinely adore these products and you would have seen it on my Instastories many times. These items really made things easier for me and I hope they can make things easier for you!

Pure Beginnings Wet Wipes and Bum Cream

We adore pure beginnings and their lovely range. Their wet wipes smell amazing and so does the bum cream! The wet wipes come out one at a time (it irritates me when they come out in clumps) and they don’t tear – a BIG plus for me. And they are bio-degradable, how awesome is that? The boys use it too and it can just be flushed.

Mustela Range Including The Cradle Cap Cream

We are currently using the sensitive range of Mustela products and it works so well for us. Their products are enriched with Avocado oil and they smell divine too. Their cleansing water is my all-time favorite and I use it daily to clean up any milk residue or poop-explosions when I cannot bath her immediately. Their cradle cap cream seemed to work for Amelia so a big thumbs up for that too!

Physiogel and SBR for acne

Amelia suffered from baby acne – as most babies do. This combo seemed to relieve the redness and softened her skin. I mixed the two together and applied three times a day. You can purchase it at any DisChem (I haven’t seen Physiogel anywhere else.)

Ko Coon Merino Wool Nesting Pod 3-in-1 (pod + cot bumper + nesting cushion)

Amelia can not sleep without feeling like she is being held – and that’s exactly the reason we adore our nest from KoCoon! Amelia feels snug and can sleep a little longer without realizing she is not in my arms. Mama needs a shower you know 😉 Or coffee. Or both.

LoveToDream Swaddle

Ahh – the swaddle of dreams! Arms up, the way they like it. I could not swaddle any of my kids and it sucks, but this helped me so much. Amelia knows its bedtime when I put her in it and she takes 6 hour stretches EASY! No waking herself up with her hands and getting in some much-needed sleep.

DummyClip bunny

Or any dummy clip in fact – but the bunny plushie is our favorite. We received this from WeeLoveBabyBoutique but it’s made by JellyCat. We have owned JellyCat plushies since James’ baby days so it’s already a firm favorite in our house. And, plus, this plushie is very easy to find when you are scrambling to grab that dummy!

Jeankelly Backpack

Backpack baby bags work better for us because I don’t have to carry it in my hands or on my shoulder where it slips off. This goes on my back and it stays there. Even the hubster loves it and doesn’t mind wearing it on his back. It’s big and spacious and has compartments for anything you might need. Definitely a firm favorite in our household!

Burp cloths

You NEED these. We love ours from Baba Collection and Little One baby has some adorable ones too. Keep them close by, especially reflux babies!

Shnuggle bath

I can’t rave about this bath enough. Perfect height (if you get the stand too), babies sit comfortably, you have both hands to wash the baby with and it’s waterwise! Because it’s so compact, you do not need a lot of water to fill it. The stand folds up and the bath gets put in our shower when we aren’t using it. She is so happy in content in it – I seriously cannot recommend this product enough!

Spaas Compactum

The compactum that has it all. It is spacious, it is beautiful and it does not even look like a normal baby compactum. This baby fits right in with our room and the Nook we created for Amelia. The drawers are quite deep and there’s 6 of them! The slide open with ease and my favorite part? NO handles. (Because somehow I always bruise myself by walking against drawer handles..)

Banimal Nightlight

Oh, this nightlight just makes things SO much easier. It has settings for the light so you can really dim it and keep it on all night. This is ideal for breastfeeding as you need to see what you doing and if you are latching right. Best part? It’s a diffuser too. I started my Essential Oils journey and I love diffusing some DoTerra Serenity at night to keep the room calm and peaceful. This night light also plays music or white noise and gets controlled by an app on your phone. Pretty neat huh?

Tommee Tippee Simplee Sangenic Bin

THE most affordable bin I have seen on the baby market. Since babies poop about a million times a day (well it feels like it), you need a bin that can control the odor when you throw a bunch of nappies in it, because who takes out the bin after each nappy? This bin controls the smell extremely well, it’s anti-bacterial and it’s very easy to use – no fancy do’s and dont’s. The bin itself is small and compact so it’s a real space saver too. One baby must have I cannot do without!

Diaper caddy

I saw the idea of a diaper caddy on Pinterest and found the most perfect one on Takealot, only to see a couple local brands sell them too. I keep wipes, nappies, bum cream, cleansing water, extra outfit, socks, and a burp cloth in it. It travels throughout the house and it has really made my life easier. The one in the image below I got from Maybe Baby and I know Baby Couture sells them as well.

I wanted to make a list of things that make my breastfeeding journey easier but that can wait for another post otherwise this one is going to be way too long. What was your must haves? Did I miss something? Let me know!