I thought it'd be fun to do a round-up of our favorite gear. Links are in the captions.
First I'll start out with the bigger things...
Car seat/Stroller
We bought the Graco Click Connect - Modes in the grey color scheme pictured. I LOVE that the car seat and stroller base can be put together so many ways, especially being able to just use the stroller frame and pumpkin seat for lightweight strolling. It's pretty easy to use (before we got it I'd go to Baby's R Us and take it all apart and put it together the different ways... I felt like I was in a commercial for it). It's lightweight so I can haul it in and out of the trunk easily. And now that we bought Hazel her next car seat we get to use the actual stroller insert and it is very versatile too with many recline and foot rest positions. Forward facing... parent facing... so many options!
My one complaint is that the car seat straps did not come with coverings and we have to be careful not to pinch Hazel's neck when tightening the straps. Even then, she gets red marks from them frequently.
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| Graco Click Connect Modes |
High chair
We wanted simple, lightweight, and easy to clean and move. This checks every box! And the BEST price tag you can imagine for a highchair.
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| Ikea |
Carrier
Ergo 360 - Let's hear it for baby wearing! It SAVED our sanity sometimes when she was a newborn. When nothing seemed to keep her happy, we could put her in the Ergo and she'd nap (as long as we were constantly moving). Also, putting your car seat in the cart while grocery shopping leaves no room for groceries, so we always wore her while grocery shopping!
We had the newborn insert when she was small, which made her a cute little baby taco. Now that she is bigger she uses it without the insert and the 360 feature allows her to face inward or outward! She likes to see the world. I've used other carriers as well including wraps and ring slings... I like them for short periods, but the Ergo is the most comfortable if you will be wearing it a lot. The waist support helps take off a lot of the weight from your shoulders.
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| Ergo 360 |
Swaddles
In the first few weeks of hazel's life she didn't wear many clothes. Mostly, she was in her diaper wrapped up in muslin swaddle blankets. These blankets are the best!! The are large and super lightweight and I used them for everything! I swaddled her with them, I covered the car seat on walks with them to keep the sun out of her eyes, I used them as nursing covers, drool rags, you name it. Pretty sure if you had a nice patterned one, it'd make a nice scarf too!
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| Aden & Anais |
When I pulled this little swaddle out to see the brand it almost made me weep, because I can't believe she ever fit in it. Hazel's was tan and she just looked like a little bean when she was in it. It's thin fabric that really snuggles them without being too much lie a straight jacket. This was probably our very favorite swaddle for sleeping in the early days. Also, love the double up/down zipper for nighttime diaper changes!
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| Summer Infant |
We had this suit in pink. Even when Hazel was in the womb she always snuggled her hand up next to her cheek. She'd usually sneak it out o whatever swaddle she was in, so when we put her in this, it was easy for her to get that hand right where she liked it. We called this her squirrel suit since it was pretty goofy.
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| Love to Dream |
DropCam which is now called a NestCam or something...
The nice thing about this camera versus other video monitors is that this is through the wifi, so you don't need another device to view it, it's linked right to our phones instead. AND if one of us is away from the house, we can still pull it up and see what's going on. There's a speaker that the person on the other end can use too. It's kinda creepy, but also awesome.
The down side is that someone somewhere within the Nest company (or potential hackers) have a lot of footage of us in our underwear...
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| Drop Cam / Nest Cam |
Drying Rack
This baby is in CONSTANT use. Our bottles and a lot of Hazel's things ARE dishwasher safe, but tend to get filmy in there, and are on too frequent turn-around to make the dishwasher practical. This is great for all the little annoying breast pump parts that constantly need to be washed and dried. AND it's cute on the counter. There's even an all white one for the super minimalist, no color type of people.
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| Boon |
Baby Gym
Most toys are kind of take it or leave it for us. She likes them, but she'd be just as happy with an empty water bottle or some other random thing. However, in those first few months, before she could really play with much she really enjoyed laying in her baby gym. We had a different one that was a hand-me-down, but there are tons of them available.
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| Baby B. Wonders |
Shoes
First off, why are baby shoes so darn expensive? I can buy shoes for myself from Payless for less than I can spend on good shoes for Hazel, but then again I'm a pretty big cheapskate.
For her first summer she never wore shoes or socks. Barefoot all the time!! But once the cold weather moved in she needed some foot coverings, and socks never stayed on her feet. Our friend and neighbor introduced us to these (which I've mentioned before). They are cozy and stay on well with snaps, and they're pretty cute.
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| Zutano |
Now that she's walking, we got her some soft soled crib shoes. They are soft enough she can feel the ground to help her balance, but sturdy enough to wear outside (although the bottoms will get stained!) and they stay on very well (this is a big deal for baby shoes)! The only downside is that they are kindof ugly. I wanted some nice neutral ones, but had a hard time finding any so we went with the ones pictured below. Although, now that I was looking for a link to those I DID find some cuter ones and also some gold mocs similar to the ones we have from Old Navy. I might try some of this brand's sandals for this summer.
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| Robeez |
EDIT - P.S. I didn't do any price shopping when grabbing these links... if you actually want to buy any of these I recommend shopping around. Some of the prices seemed higher than what we paid.
I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things, like this sippy cup, so maybe I'll do some more of these posts and include some of the other products that make our lives simpler as Hazel ages.
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