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On to month two! You probably already saw the one month must-haves from me and from Cris. If you're registering or shopping for a new little one – and, trust me, you will be shopping, because 99% of the stuff you get will not be off your registry – here are my recommendations to get you through month two.
In case it's at all confusing, I mean four to eight weeks, not weeks eight – twelve. Trust me, there's a huge difference.
These are the items I'd recommend adding to a registry. Like I said before, unless you are blessed with unlimited storage space and endless people who want to shower you with gifts, you'll want to keep your registry to the first few months. Otherwise, you'll be trying to dig up that something-or-other that's likely buried somewhere “safe”, which means you totally lost it.
Green Sprouts Waterproof Bibs: I ended up getting two of these packs – the first before we had the baby, and the second after we started bottle feeding, because we were going through several a day, and I didn't want to have to do laundry every three hours.
I've been around several kids with soaked through bibs in my lifetime. I don't really see the point of the cutesy fabric ones that end up sopping wet and get the kid's clothes wet anyway.
These are soft terry but have a waterproof layer inside the two layers of fabric, so they absorb A LOT of milk, drool, and spit up without anything going through. They say to hang dry them, but I have honestly never had a problem with throwing them in the dryer on low, and I wash them every other day.
Mesh Laundry Bags and Wet Bags: Not the most exciting, for sure. However, when you have your first blowout, it's nice to have the wet bag on hand – you can throw the soiled clothes in there so they don't stain anything else in the hamper, and then dump the clothes and the bag in the wash.
As for the mesh bags, I use them for bibs and anything else with velcro so there are no snags on the other stuff in the laundry, and for baby socks, because apparently washers and dryers can actually eat them. For real.
Inexpensive Cotton Sleepers: Once I got a little more time in between diaper changes, I dressed our little one in light cotton sleepers almost daily. They're still sleeping a lot at this point, and I've found the lightweight cotton ones to be the right amount of clothing for layering under swaddle blankets. I also chuck one in the diaper bag for wardrobe malfunctions.
I personally prefer the zipper ones over the ones with snaps, as they're a bit quicker and easier to deal with when you're half asleep. I also said “inexpensive” because these will get peed, pooped, drooled and puked on, so don't spend more than you have to. These are reasonably soft and will last as long as your baby will fit in them – so, a week.
I think the Gerber animal themed ones in green, blue, yellow, and brown are all neutral enough in case you don't know the gender or want to save clothes for a future little one. Trust me, you will get a metric ton of pink or blue clothes as soon as everyone knows what you're having.
Oxo Tot On-The-Go Drying Rack: We are currently in a very small apartment with zero counter space. This drying rack has been a lifesaver. It's big enough to hold 3-4 small bottles and all their parts, or a set of pump parts, or a bunch of pacifiers. It comes with a brush that works well. You can fold it all up if you want it out of the way, and it's easy to pack up and throw in a diaper bag.
Sound Machine: I don't know how much it helps the baby, but since she's still in our room, it really helps US sleep. The white noise gets pretty loud on this one and drowns out the (asshole) cats as they tear down the hallway and bang on the door. It has all sorts of features I haven't used… we pretty much leave the white noise on all day long.
Please note that these things have a limited lifespan. Unless you go up to the $50+ range, all of these machines seem to crap out after some time. We already returned one and had no problem getting a replacement, but it's something to keep in mind. This type is sold at Walmart, if it dies and you can't wait for a new one to be shipped.
Oxo Tot Flip-In Hamper: I like that you can just chuck the clothes at the hamper. You can wipe it down easily. It's light and easy to carry to the washing machine. It comes in a couple cute color combinations. The cat loves jumping in it. What's not to love?
Leachco Safer Bather Bath Pad: We have no room for an infant tub in the apartment. NONE. So, I looked for alternatives.
You can use this pad in the regular bathtub. It soaks up some of the bath water, so it stays warm during the bath. It has a little more longevity than an infant tub, since your child can't really grow out of it. If you're short on space, you can just hang it up to dry on the wall of your tub or shower with one of those 3M Command Bath Hooks. And, it's inexpensive. Perfect.
Graco Travel Lite Crib with Stages: I like the Pack and Play/Travel Crib concept. Problem is, they're HUGE. The new ones have bassinets and changers and all this stuff on them…where do you store that when you're not using it? And, seriously, these things have to weigh like 60 lbs, so how many times will you really pack the thing up?
We were looking for something in between the Rock N Play and the full sized crib so we could still keep the baby in our room with us. The Travel Lite Crib ended up being perfect. It's 20% smaller than the typical travel cribs, so it fits well in our bedroom. If you want to take it somewhere, it packs up into a bag that's about the size of a large camp chair.
I got this on Craigslist for $50, so if you're looking to save money, this is definitely something you can try to get used. It cleaned up really easily with that 2AM Miracle Cleaner.
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