Hello friends, My little man is now 12 months old. We recently celebrated his one-year-old birthday. I felt this is a great time to share a detailed list of the top essential items I used and love during his first year. The top essential items essentials for baby’s first year has been categorized into sleeping, feeding, seat, diaper, bath, and transport
Top essential items for baby’s first year
Top items for Sleeping
We did a combination of co-sleeping and using a bassinet for the first six months. Then he transitioned to a baby crib after six months. If you have had an opportunity to read my post on a sleep-training. You already know how much of sound machine enthusiast I am. We currently use the Hatch baby rest and I highly recommend it. The boppy pillow is also great for breastfeeding and practicing tummy time. We also used a humidifier quite often during the first year, it helps keep the air in the room moist.
Top Feeding items
We currently use the madela and Dr brown’s bottles. I used the madela for my oldest 5 years ago. Introduced the Dr. Brown bottles with the baby. The Dr brown bottles are well vented and help prevent colic. For bottle cleaning my favorite brand is the baby organics. I used it five years ago and reused it again with the baby. We also loved using the Avent baby warmer. It kept the bottle at a set temperature without it getting too hot.
We transitioned to formula at 10 months. After days of extensive research, I found the Happy Baby Formula. It has been a great experience thus far. The only downside it is only sold at Kroger and target in my area. Most items in the Happy baby brand is a hit in our household. He loves their teething wafers, semisolids, and rice cakes. There are various bottle drying racks in the market, This one by oxo and the brush is the best in my opinion. I have gifted it to so many moms, and that’s a testament to how good it is.
Seating
I am not a big fan of high chairs. I find them too bulky and they occupy lots of space. We have used the booster seat, that can be strapped onto a dining chair. The booster seats occupy less room and can be used until a child weighs over 50 lbs. the brand of infant seat we use it is by fisher price.
Top Diapering Essentials
My favorite diaper brand is the Huggies brand used it for both babies. For both kids, the only time they developed a diaper rash was when we tried using a different brand. For wipes, I also used both the pampers and Huggies sensitive water wipes. It is important to stay away from wipes with fragrance if your baby has sensitive skin. To prevent diaper rash I alternated between Aquaphor healing ointment and earth mama diaper balm.
Top items for Bathing
For both kids, I used the Mustela lotion and cleanser, due to their sensitive skin and your proponent for baby acne. This is a product I will recommend if your baby’s skin has any of those issues. The Angelcare tub is lightweight and fits in most sinks and tubs. For congestion and cold. I used the nose Frieda and turned on Vicks mini filter free Humidifier.
Top items for breastfeeding
For breastfeeding pumps, I am only familiar with two brands. Which are Madela and spectrum? In terms of size, the Madela is smaller and easier to travel with. While the spectrum pumps faster and stronger, for work or while on errands and you need to pump my favorite is the Madela manual pump. The price point is affordable and it works great. The lasinoh disposable breast pads are great to prevent leaks. I also like that it is disposable, which I believe is more hygienic incompasrison to the cloth breast pads. For breast milk storage, I will also recommend Lasinoh breast storage bags. They are long and narrow, which helps when storing breast milk. To prevent sore nipples and cracks my two favorite products are the Madela nipple cream and the earth mama nipple butter.
Top items for transportation
Stroller: We contemplated getting a double stroller but decided against that at the last minute. Which I consider it a great decision because we have been doing ok without it so far. We used the Britax stroller for both boys. We have had our current stroller for five years and we have never had any issues with it thus far. It is lightweight and folds up using one hand.
Carseat: We chose to not keep the Britax 360 for the baby and bought this one by maxi-cosi. It is lightweight and breathable, which means it does not overheat the baby. An essential living in texas.
Baby carrier: The Ergo 360 is also another item we have used for both boys. It is comfortable and can be used in different positions. Things very useful when needing your hands free to do chores around the house or while traveling.
Diaper Bag: I used the same diaper bag for both boys. They are both four years apart in age, which is a testament to how durable these bags are. The Jujubee BFF range can be carried has a backpack or messenger style.
I hope this extensive list will serve as a reference for moms and future moms. That might be going through the overwhelming process of shopping for baby products.
