All the Baby Things Reviewed

When we were first registering for baby items I remember telling my husband that I wanted to keep it minimal.  I didn’t want our house run over by every contraption for the baby when we didn’t even know if she would like said item or not.  I researched reviews of a few items that I knew I wanted and left it at that.  Fast forward to having a seven month old who loves contraptions.  All the things basically have found a home in our house and some have even duplicated to my mother’s house.  Some are the greatest, some are not.

By far the #1 item we purchased for Cora after she was born was the Disney Baby Finding Nemo Sea of Activities Jumper.  We learned early on that Cora is all about the jumping so that is why we went this route and not with a stationary saucer. This has plenty to keep her entertained and she will stay in it all day if we let her. She also has a Baby Einstein one at my mom’s that we are able to hang some of her favorite toys from.  And to make sure we have all of our bases covered she has this Wild Life Adventure one at daycare.  All equally awesome and I highly recommend.

Swings were one of the things I probably read more reviews on than anything when I was pregnant.  I really wanted to find the one that would work the best for us.  Probably because Rebecca was such a swing baby I thought it was the most important.  This was also something we purchased before Cora was born. We purchased this one because I thought the dual use for a bouncer was perfect, would eliminate the need for purchasing a bouncer and save space.  I can say we never use this as a bouncer. It is very bulky and heavy to do so.  In fact, we ended up buying a separate bouncer.  Otherwise she loves the swinging aspect and it gets the job done.

Cora ended up getting this Nemo bouncer as a Christmas gift from the Grandparents.  Basically we have a large master bathroom and we leave it in there but it is super light and easy to move from room to room if need be.  When I get ready or take a shower, she chills in there.  It is small enough to not be in the way and is a safe place for her to be contained.

As I mentioned Cora loves to bounce. You hold her, she will just jump on your lap.  She doesn’t believe in sitting.  We had registered for and were given this Graco jumper from Target as a baby shower gift.  This is something she loves but I will purchase a new one if we have a second kiddo.  I hate how the one strap comes down behind her head.  It also makes getting her in and out a nightmare.  I know they have some that the straps stay to the sides only.

We registered for and were given this Busy Baby 3-in-1 play mat for a baby shower gift.  I figured cheaper and simple was fine but that wasn’t the case.  While she loved playing with this one, she could hulk it over on herself.  I often turned around and she had the whole thing flipped over on herself or wrapped around her.  She has one at daycare that is much more sturdy that I would look into for a second kiddo.  Also, this is something that really is so short lived as something that they use.

Some people told us to wait on purchasing a high chair until after she was born since we wouldn’t need one for quite some time and could use a bumbo seat instead. (Never really used the bumbo.)  We did register for this Graco one and she was already using it by month 4.  We bought a second one to keep at my Mom’s.  It has different reclining positions, is easy to clean, easy to maneuver around the kitchen, 5 point harness to keep her contained and she seems to love it.

The most stressful thing, that a lot of people ask about, is a baby carrier.  I bought and returned a ton.  Where we live, a stroller is not an option so I need to strap the baby to me and ended up with the basic Baby Bjorn.  While I don’t think this is a bad product, I don’t think it works for me.  I’m 5’2” and weigh 109 lbs.  This basically doesn’t tighten far enough down for me, remains loose and kills my back.  I need to just go find a store that allows you to try these on and find something that works better. You know, what everyone said to do from the start:) Do you have one of these you can’t live without that I should try?

I know I previously wrote about our fun while trying to find a good car seat/stroller combo.  I will say I am 100% happy with our decision with this purchase.  The stroller is super easy to get in and out of my pick up, even with one hand.  It is easy enough to maneuver around as well and I don’t feel like I’m trying to drive a tank through crowds.  If you think you are going to need loads of room to store things underneath, don’t purchase this one.  There is enough space for my purse and not much more!

At the end of the day, your kiddo is going to be the lover or hater of a lot of the products you purchase. It is a guessing game on some items so don’t stress out when registering.  Best advice-keep receipts and hoard those gift cards! You can always return some of it and use those gift cards on items once you get to know your baby better!

What were your items you just couldn’t live without and what was the biggest waste of money you purchased?