Let me be the first to admit, that I am not the best at research when it comes to buying things. Mostly because I can be pretty impatient and prefer to be decisive.  I’d rather just have three options, decide, and be done with it.  Meanwhile, Morgan is the king of research.  Before he buys anything, he takes approximately 83453 years and looks at literally all of the options.  More times than not in search of a good deal.  I often remind him that the time he spent searching adds up to more than the $2 he saved, but I digress.

I also care about how things look (because #aesthetic) and Morgan is basically the most practical person I know and could care less about anything other than function.

Needless to say, our approaches at creating a registry of stuff that Reese would need once she arrived were a little different.  That’s called balance, right?

Regardless of our different approaches, we knew that we wanted only the things that we would actually use.  I hate clutter and while I would by no means classify myself as a minimalist, it really bothers me to have extra stuff just because.

When we sat down to create our registry, we took feedback from friends, Morgan’s extensive research tendencies, and the few trusted blogs I perused of the “top things” you need for your registry.  All in all, I think that we did a pretty good job of not adding too much stuff, but also having things we really needed.

A couple of weeks ago, when people asked questions about life with Reese, this topic was one of the most asked questions.  What are your favorite baby products so far? I figured I would share them here, with a little bit about how we use them.

These are our favorites, in no particular order:

PS. If you see something you like, you can shop it and support my blog by using the affiliate links throughout this post.

 

Britax Car Seat

Remember Morgan’s research skills? Yeah, this was one of the things that he was responsible for taking care of.  We went to Buy Buy Baby and after figuring that any option would be pretty good and safe, this one was the most practical for us.  It was light, easy to use, and had great safety ratings.  We go out a lot and Reese loves being in the car (thankfully!!), so we knew this was an item we needed to love. In this seat, she’s comfortable and safe.  The whole thing is also super simple to install (the base, too!).  My favorite part though? It clicks right into our stroller! Bonus!

Britax Stroller System

This was our first major baby purchase and I can still remember feeling like “uh, did we just buy a stroller!?” Haha! I. Love. This. Thing.

We ended up getting a great deal on it from Craigslist, which meant it came with all the bells and whistles, including some we won’t use for a while.

Here’s the gist:

The stroller is super compact and easy to fold up.  It fits into our trunk with ease and like I said before, the car seat itself just clicks right in.  The tires are also big enough that if we’re “off-roading” a bit, it’s still super comfortable for Reese. 

Bonus: when she’s bigger, we can also switch things around and make it so that not only can we add a bigger front-facing seat, but we can add a second one too!  The only “extra” that we for sure haven’t used is the bassinet option.  This is more because of a practicality standpoint for us. Where we live, we have to drive somewhere to go for a walk, so it hasn’t gotten any use.  It came as a package deal though, so it wasn’t an extra expense.  I would keep your usage in mind if you’re thinking about purchasing it as an extra.

Rock n’ Play

This was our saving grace at the beginning, when Reese was sleeping in our room.  The fact that it would help her get rocked to sleep was amazing and at first she slept in it so much better than the bassinet. (Though, admittedly, I think she would have slept better in the bassinet had I known how to swaddle her better, lol.)  The gentle rocking helped her get back to sleep if she woke up herself, instead of us always having to help her. Now she sleeps great in her crib and is learning to put herself back to sleep anyways, but we still use the rock n’ play for naps or as a safe place to lay her when we’re getting stuff done.

Video Monitor

At the top of our priority list was a video monitor that would reach out in our yard. We wanted to be able to keep an eye on her even as we worked on things outside.  This one was definitely pricier than we thought we would want, but at the same time it’s definitely been worth it.  It’s easy to use, connected through our Wi-Fi, and the camera quality makes it nice to see her and know if she’s simply fussing or if she needs tending to.

Solly Baby Wrap

Truth be told, when I saw these online and on Instagram, I wondered if this was just an item that people like because it’s cute.  I wasn’t sure how practical it would be or if I would actually use it.  Friends of mine swore by it, and everyone online did too.  Well, you can officially call me a believer ;)

This thing is PERFECT for taking Reese out in public when there’s a while to walk around.  It keeps people from getting too close in her personal space because she’s literally attached to me. #GermRepellent At home I use it too when she’s either unusually fussy or when I need to get some work/cleaning done that requires more than just one hand ;)

Our Rocking Chair

This was an item on the list that I obsessed over.  I feel like finding a rocking chair that’s both cute and practical is super difficult.  I love this one!! It has a tall back so in the middle of the night when I’m feeding her, I have a place to rest my head, and for me the armbar are a great height, too.  I do use a pillow for her to make sure that she has extra support and comfort, but it wouldn’t be necessary with this chair!

Miracle Swaddle

Of all of the swaddles we have, this one is by far my favorite for newborns.  The first five weeks or so, using this thing was amazing! It gets her wrapped up nice and tight and was really tough for her to break out of.  That made it so that she slept for a lot longer! Now, I will say that since she’s more active, it’s harder to keep her from breaking out of it by itself.  I think its because she’s still a little too small for it to be the perfect size.  Either way, it to me is still totally worth it, and I swaddle her in it for naps still because the top part stays pretty snug even if she works her way out of the bottom sack part.

So there you have it mamas! There’s a list of our favorite things that we’ve actually used with our newborn! Mamas-to-be, is there something that I missed that you were wondering about? Feel free to ask below!