SMART PURCHASES FOR BABIES
By: Ekta Dalmia
Tags: Mom Blog, Baby Shopping, Toddlers, Baby

I have always believed in smart buying. When I say smart, I mean weighing all the options and making an informed decision. As a new mom, walking into a store full of baby goodies is no doubt exhilarating but at the same time extremely overwhelming. Of course, your impulse is screaming,” I want this and this and ohhh this!” AND to top it all, you want the best of everything available out there for your little one. Who wouldn’t!

Now, I did not make an extensive list of items for my little guy beforehand. Surely, I knew that I should first focus on a few important and costly purchases, one of which is a ‘ stroller ‘. Without exaggeration- my husband and I must have visited every store selling strollers and asked about every feature of every stroller before we picked the one that worked best for us.

NOTE: Some of the following products may not be available as they were purchased a long time ago. In that case, I have provided alternative options with similar features.

STROLLER

Wehave the BABY JOGGER CITY VERSA GT (NOW CITY SELECT)

Before I tell you how much we love this stroller, I think it is important to mention that even though the City Versa GT has been discontinued (for no other reason except that they have newer and more innovative strollers available) it does not fall short of all the amazing features. This purchase was made almost 5 years ago and still works like a beast! An almost identical product is their Baby Jogger City Select. At the time, we did consider this option as well as it had everything similar to the City Versa GT except that it had the added feature of becoming a double stroller. Since our focus then was to take it one child at a time, we settled with the Versa. Here are some decision-worthy featureswhich I would like to share with you:

CO-SLEEPING BED

We have the Summer Infant by Your Side Sleeper

One of the reasons why I loved co-sleeping with my little one was this great bed that came in so handy for the first few months of his being. My husband swears that I am very grouchy when woken up from my precious sleep, so imagine my excitement when I learnt that this bed with its perfect size and space could be beside me all night which means not having to wake up to walk over to the crib, pick him up and feed him. I could do it while I sat on my bed half asleep. Now don’t get me wrong, I do not mean I gave more importance to sleep over my crying baby at night but if I could feed him whilst being comfortable then why not, right?!

This brings me to Summer Infant Your Side Sleeper. First off, we did not invest in a crib until he was about 5 months old because I absolutely loved having my baby beside me all night. Not only could I lean over and place my hand over his chest while sleeping but I could whisper sweet songs to help him sleep. Having that physical connection kept my boy so calm. I could also wake up, feed him instantly and place him back down when done. It helped my sleep which meant it kept me sane. This co-sleeping bed also helped because my son was a little colicky for the first few months so he woke up a lot at night screaming bloody murder. Second best purchase so far!

Some of the features I love:

Safe Perfect size Comfortable bedding and can fit a baby size pillow (if needed) Mesh lining for breathability and clear view of the baby Accessible Affordable

BABY SWING

We have the GRACO GLIDER LX GLIDING SWING

Graco Duet Sway Swing (similar) (Canada)

We invested in a baby swing and a co-sleeping bed before we bought a crib. As I mentioned earlier, my little one had trouble falling off to sleep at night due to his colic. He wanted to be held constantly, to be walked around before he could fall asleep (thanks hubby), wanted that constant swinging motion. This is when we decided to look into baby swings. We wanted one which did not occupy a lot of space and also which mimicked the natural rocking motion. This is what we loved about our swing:

HUMIDIFIER

This swing made it so much easier to put our son to sleep especially on days when I was extremely sleep deprived. I would highly recommend it as it is easy to be moved around the house when you need to cook, clean, eat, work or even watch some TV. To sum it up, this swing really helped us get through those first few months and were pleased to see that it did not become a reason why he continued to need the rocking motion because let’s face it- even when they outgrow the swing they will always crave a mother’s touch.

We have the CRANE-MONKEY COOL MIST HUMIDIFIER

Living in Canada we sure breathe in dry air most of the year around particularly in the flu season. Having a humidifier is so important to keep the air moist. Till date, we use this humidifier and we sure see the results. (especially when fighting that 10th cold and cough of the season!) We chose this style of humidifier just because it looks so adorable! It’s also a perfect size for the bedroom. What we love about it:

I cannot tell you how much this humidifier has been helping us. This is a must-buy!

PLAYTEX DIAPER GENIE

All I can say is that I wish we had invested in this marvel of a creation from day one of diaper changes! At first, we used a regular bin as a cost-effective option (because who wants to spend on a special bin for soiled diapers, right?) BUT came to realize fairly quickly that this diaper genie was made for a purpose and that we would use it till our guy was out of diapers (& we did). Here are some of its features:

BABY BOTTLES

You will thank me !

Playtex Baby Nurser Bottle with Disposable Drop-Ins Liners (USA)

We used the PLAYTEX NURSER AND DROP-INS LINERS

We were thrilled with this purchase! As I have mentioned a few times in my earlier posts, my son had colic for the first few months. We spent some time looking into the kind of bottle that would help and came across the Playtex baby bottles. They have helped him tremendously! These bottles promote more natural breathing, easy switch between breast & bottle and the liners help with air-free feeding to help reduce colic. Here are some features that we love:

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These were some of our best purchases. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!