In my first year of being mother to two, I discovered that I had many preconcieved notions about what I needed for my baby. There were many things that I scoffed at when I had my son that I wished I had had. Having these things for my daughter (baby #2) made life sooooo much easier. These are not in order of importance, just the order I thought of them.
#1. Baby monitor- I did cosleeping with my son. Even if I had chosen to have him sleep in a crib, I would have had the crib in our room. Babies who sleep in another room from their parents have to cry longer and harder to get the parents awake and in their room to attend to their nighttime needs. If a baby is attended to faster, it doesn't have to wake up as much and is therefore easier to get back to sleep. With cosleeping, I was getting 10 hrs of sleep a night. I have no idea what the tired mother thing is all about because I never had to do that. As a result, I never bought a baby monitor. It was quite by accident that I ended up getting one. We went to a New Year's Eve party before my daughter was born, and my son came with us. It was at the house of my husband's boss. I knew that my son wouldn't make it to midnight, and at the time I was in my third trimester. I knew I probably wouldn't make it to midnight either. I bought a baby monitor that was on clearance at Target a couple days before New Years. I thought that I would get our son to bed in one of the guest rooms during the party and keep the monitor with me after he fell asleep.
As it turns out, the monitor isn't just for the night time. I have used it many times this past year. After my daughter started to stand up, I couldn't let her sleep in the cosleeper any more in case she would wake up and climb out. So I would let her take naps in our queen sized bed. I kept the monitor close to her so I could hear the minute she woke up. She would immediately reach for the monitor upon waking and I'd hear this loud rasping breath in the reciever. She would put it in her mouth and the volume of her grabbing it and chewing on it was unmistakable. I would be able to shut the bedroom door and vaccuum the house, or play with my son and not have to keep quiet. I am now a huge fan of baby monitors and see their value now. It goes way beyond having a crib in another room.
#2. Rear-Seat Mirror- I don't know why I didn't get one of these with my son. It would have made car trips way more tolerable. When he was itty bitty, I would worry about him crying too hard in the back seat. I would worry that I couln't hear him when he slept. Everything was a question mark while I was driving. With my daughter, I could see if she was asleep or not, whether the sun was in her face and I needed to reach behind and adjust the sun shade, or whether or not she needed a new toy because she'd thrown hers down. The biggest realization about the usefulness of this product came as soon as we brought her home from the hospital. She was 7 weeks premature and had to go home on oxygen. I was so terribly worried for her being on oxygen. I could just look in the rear-view mirror and see her sleeping soundly and know she was okay.
#3. Changing Table- Some moms out there might consider this a no-brainer. But for me, some guy who worked with my husband and me when I was expecting our son told us that it was a waste of money to get a changing table. " You can just lay down a blanket and change them on the floor." I thought I was so clever not getting a changing table. As it turns out, changing a wriggling, poop-filled diaper and keeping it off the carpet is a chore. Even with a blanket, it's a hassle. Then I had to always keep a wipes container, diapers, even an extra outfit stocked in every room in the house, just so I wouldn't have to carry my baby around with a dirty diaper. With my daughter, I found a good changing table on craigslist for $20.00. I bought a changing pad at Target as well as two identical fuzzy pink pad covers (that way I could wash one if I got poo all over it and still have the table ready to go.) I used small baskets I already had to store her diapers, and clothes in on the lower shelves of the table. Everything was in arm's reach, life was awesome with baby #2 because changing wasn't the hassle that it was with baby #1. My son hated getting his diaper changed, my daughter loved it. I am convinced it's because it became familiar to her. She would be in the same spot every time and knew what it was. She could sign the word "change" at three months, no joke!
#4. Wipes Warmer- This item goes right along with the changing table. I think it also contributed to my daugther's enjoyment and my son's dislike of the changing process. I think that if I had had one of these when I was changing my son, he would not have cried so much. It's just a kind thing to do for your child. Don't make them shudder every time their diaper comes off.
#5. Cosleeper- I mostly used this as a port-a-crib for my daughter before she started to stand up. It made life so easy. She would fall asleep nursing and I would carry her over to the cosleeper and lay her in there. Then I'd wheel the cosleeper to the bathroom and take a shower. I could watch her a know she was okay. Now that she is bigger we can hook the cosleeper up to our bed and I can be right next to her at night, but still have enough room for us to sleep in bed.
#6-10 will come in my next post, for now I need to mediate between the kids. She wants to play with his cars and he won't share :) Until next time, Happy Parenting!
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