You may or may not spend the next three months hugging your current best friend, Mr Toilet or you might sail through it with that enviable glow that the people at Mac would pay millions to replicate in a bottle and charge you £30 for the privilege. I however, did neither but rather with both pregnancies spent the first three months utterly exhausted (pah! Exhaustion! Back then I didn't even know the meaning!) with a glow that more resembled the first onset of flu, you know, super clammy and red faced constantly stripping off as if you're sunning yourself on a Caribbean island but far less glamorous. Your three month scan comes and holy cow, what is that? OMG. Crap. That's a baby. A real life baby that's growing in me and it's coming in six months time.
Well, for me, the realisation that I had a teenie tiny human being coming to stay with us forever was daunting enough. That was until I went to John Lewis. Their beautiful baby department in Kingston Upon Thames is filled with the most beautiful baby items, from gorgeous clothing in itty bitty sizes that you can't ever imagine your baby being able to fit in to items like nasal aspirators. "I'm sorry what?". Nasal aspirators. Also known amongst professionals as bogie suckers, a product that sooner or later you'll be wondering how you ever lived without it! It was that very bogie sucker that got me thinking. With all these baby products on sale which are the must have items that if you had to recommend one product that you could not have lived without during your baby's first year what would it have been?
The internet is flooded with suggestions as to items that pretty much imply that if you do not purchase them you're baby will grow up with separation anxiety, socially backward with more issues than Vogue. It's pony. All of it.
I took to my Facebook account to ask this question....
Apart from the usual jokey suggestions there were some good suggestions and even some suggestions that that come at very reasonable prices. I then asked my NCT group. A close group of girlfriends that have come to be more like family since I met them nearly four years ago. They are the first people I turn to at times of stress, kiddy help or just a rant. The one thing came true was that a number of products had been mentioned numerous times so here I give you part one of my take on the must have items to survive your first year of parenthood.
Ok here we go...
A sling or baby carrier and a good one at that. Whether you chose to go down the baby wearing route or just want a standard conventional baby carrier then there is bound to be one out the for you!
Second time around I opted for two. One sling and a carrier. This is because last time around I got super fed up re-adjusting the carrier each time Tom had used it. My lovely NCT invested in an NCT Close Caboo Carrier which I adored using in the early weeks. I loved having Hector so close to me and there was something quite special about it.
Ok, so it's not the easiest thing to get on at first, and I will admit it took me numerous times following a youtube clip before I had truly mastered it.
I also upgraded my Baby Bjorn to the newer version of my older carrier. This time around I went for Miracle Baby Carrier the which upon a bit of investigation decided would fit comfier for me and my giant babies and this was kindly given to me by one of my super mum friends Nicki. Super quick and easy to clip baby into and the dads love wearing it too!
 |
| Tom modelling the Baby Bjorn Miracle Carrier |
Second up, is a video monitor. I had the worst couple of weeks when I first put Charlie into his own room running in every time I heard a sqwark or movement, that was until I invested in a video baby monitor. This time around I've purchased a second monitor as I still use the other one with Charlie. During the Asda baby event I managed to bag a Tommee Tippee Closer To Nature Video Monitor half price at just £90. These baby events are great as they usually discount loads of top end products and normally Amazon follow suit.
 |
| Tommee Tippee Closer To Nature Baby Video Monitor - £180.00 |
Next we have the new version of a good old faithful and one that I discovered this time around. Wet wipes. But not any old wet wipes. Water Wipes. Like traditional baby wipes these are made with 99.9% pure water and just a smidge of fruit extract which makes them just as good as the boiled water and cotton wool that we have previously been encouraged by midwives to use. These were even recommended to me in hospital by the midwives. They are not cheap at roughly at £2.20 per pack but trust me even if you buy just one pack you won't look back.
 |
| Water Wipes, £2.20 approx per pack |
Ah, one of my favourites and one that my friend Emily from Blog Me Beautiful renamed "the circle of neglect" and once you've owned one you'll know just where she is coming from. Mums and Dads I give you Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo. Trust me this circle will save your life and save you from the brink of insanity when it's too early and not socially acceptable to turn to wine at 3.30pm on a Tuesday.
Inevitably during your little munchkins first year they will come down with a bug of some sort, or if you're really unlucky the sodding rotavirus. That lovely bug struck our household twice in one month (never underestimate the strength of your wife when she's fighting you to the loo let me tell you!) Well, with sickness and generally teething and all the other fun and games that accompany your little ones first year you will have to take their temperature on more than one occasion and joking aside it is so important to have a good thermometer and one you can rely on. I opted for one that I my doctor and local A&E use. The Braun Thermoscan is not cheap at £79.99 but for me its a product I would be fearful not to have in my home. Super easy to use and really quick to pop in baby's ear when they are sleeping.
 |
| Braun Thermoscan - £79.99 from all good retailers |
Part two coming soon, but in the meantime if there are any items that you simply could not have lived without and feel we need to add to the list, why not email me your suggestions at thissurreymummy@hotmail.com !
Love,
This Surrey Mummy x
No comments
Post a Comment