Our Most Used Baby Gear / 2014
I have three kids ages three and under, and with 95% of our belongings in storage until we find a house here in Atlanta, I've come to really appreciate the things that our family uses the most. I thought I'd take a break from my incessant Redfin hunting to show you the products that our family has used most over the last three years:
1 / BOON FLAIR CHAIR. Still going strong after daily use and abuse. Not only have my kids used it for every single meal, my friends' kids have used it, too. This high chair cannot be beat. Adorable blast from the past here in our original review.
2 / BABY SIGNING TIME. We love that Jude was able to sign for things before he could talk. Caroline is a late talker and her gibberish is difficult to decipher, but when we ask her to use her signs when we're having trouble understanding her, it's been super convenient. I still use the signs with Jude. For instance, I can tap on the window of the playground at Chick-fil-a and sign "SHOES" or "STOP. FOOD." and I'm not one of those crazy moms yelling at her kid through the glass.
3 / MUNCHKIN ARM & HAMMER DIAPER PAIL. When we're not moving or traveling, for the most part, we cloth diaper. However, Jude's nightly pull-up or the disposables the girls use when we're out and about go in here.
4 / CLOUD B TWILIGHT TURTLE. Jude uses this thing every single night. We bring it with us on vacation or when we put Jude down to sleep at our friends' houses. Even when he's in a strange bed, he's been able to sleep just fine so long as his turtle has come along.
5 / SKIP HOP ZOO BACKPACK. I have one of these for each kid. Our first one, the bee, is now Lucy's and it's held up remarkably well. Having three backpacks vs. one giant diaper bag has proven to be necessary when dropping the kids off at three different classrooms at church or Mothers Day Out.
6 / KIDCO GO-POD. Pretty much a tailgate chair for babies, this thing has been so handy. It goes with us to parks, and Lucy currently uses it in my mother-in-law's dining room while we're eating (since she's not yet eating and can't sit up on her own, yet).
7 / BUMBO. When Lucy is sick of tummy time and tired of standing in the Go-Pod, she sits up in the Bumbo. I love putting her in this and pushing it up to a window so she can look outside. You're only supposed to use this on floors, yadda yadda, but we've gotten good use of it at restaurants in the booth. Please don't call the Bumbo police.
8 / MUNCHKIN NURSERY PROJECTOR & SOUND SYSTEM. We did Happiest Baby on the Block for Jude and Caroline, and this is Caroline's white noise machine of choice. The projector is incredibly cute, but I only use that feature occasionally (mainly when traveling, if she won't quiet and settle down easily). The sound machine is so great that I can't sleep without it (piped through the monitor).
9 / 4MOMS BREEZE PLAYARD. There are two of these in our family now. One is ours and the other is at my Mother-in-Law's house. Lucy has been sleeping in one nightly for about a month now, and Caroline will be sleeping in one from now until when we get our new house. Every time I set it up and take it down, I marvel at how easy it is. I just don't understand why all baby gear isn't this easy! Original review here.
10 / FIRST YEARS BABY MONITOR. There are no bells or whistles on this thing. No temperature control, no talkback feature, no video. It's a simple sound monitor that does its job. I have a video monitor, too, but used it exactly zero times. This no frills monitor is more my speed and affordable enough to have one in each kid room (one for the girls and one for Jude). I can hear if someone is crying and I can hear if someone is misbehaving (usually when it's dead silent).
If you know a pregnant person or are wondering what gift to get any new babies in your life, these are truly gifts that people will use a lot over a long period of time. Highly recommended over a pack of newborn sized onsies the kid will grow out of in like .5 seconds.
