Here are some of the baby products I would not have stayed sane without after my twins were born.
1) Fisher Price Rock and Play
Why?
Because they're awesome. They're basically mini-basinnets. They have a slight incline, which is great for reflux. They fold up, don't take up much space, and you can unfold them with one hand. They rock, vibrate, and sit right at couch level (ours was a splurge from pottery barn). They also have safety straps. These came in very handy when I had to feed both of them simultaneously (once they had sufficient neck control.) My babies hung out in these all the time when they were tiny.
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| Available at Target and most stores that sell baby stuff |
2) Snuza Hero Baby Monitor
Why?
I was diagnosed with postpartum anxiety shortly after my twins were born. When they came home from the NICU, I could not sleep because I was constantly standing over their co-sleeper making sure they were breathing. Without these, I would have never slept. These provided me invaluable peace of mind. I opted for these over the Angel Mat monitors, and I'm glad I did.
They're small and non-irritating to the baby. They clip onto the baby's diaper. If it doesn't sense any breathing for 15 seconds (short apnea spells can be normal in newborns,) it vibrates to rouse the baby. If, after five more seconds, it still doesn't sense movement, a loud, but not overly obnoxious alarm sounds off. It's loud enough to wake me and I'm a pretty heavy sleeper.
Life and sleep saver. Peace of mind-granted. We plan on using them until they're a year old.
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| Ordered online |
Here is the link from the website. My mother ordered two of them online for me. http://www.snuza.com/content.php?product=hero
3) Dr. Brown's Formula Mixing Pitcher
Mixing tons of bottles of formula every day is exhausting. Not to mention, the formula they were sent home from the NICU with, Similac NeoSure, takes an inordinate amount of shaking/stirring to mix. So, we got this thing and I'm SO glad we did. It has saved hours of work. Well worth the buy.
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| Got this at Babies R' Us |
4) Joovy Twin Roo Carseat Stroller
After poring over reviews and looking at many options for twin strollers, this is the one we went with. We looked at the snap and go frames, but our Graco carseats didn't actually "snap" onto them. That bothered me.
This frame is sturdy, folds easily, has cup-holders below baby level so if there's a spill it won't get on the baby, and is the best option we found. Get it.
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| Ordered online |
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The seats snap in sideways and it's awesome.
5) Aden & Anais Muslin (and Bamboo) Blankets
I bought a bunch of these and received several as gifts and had planned to use them to gracefully swaddle and cuddle the babies. While that was and still is one of their purposes, they also work well as burp cloths, shoulder cloths, wiping spittle off the floor and other surfaces, wiping spittle off of mommy/daddy/guests/baby, and for any other possible reason a moment calls for. Throw them in the wash, and they're good as new.
Note: The bamboo blankets are so soft, but very delicate and become less soft with time. They're probably less durable than the muslin blankets but are very luxurious.
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| Pack of 4 available at Target and other baby stores. |
6) HALO Sleep Sacks and Sleep Sack Swaddles
They keep the babies warm and the blankets don't get caught around their faces. I still use these. They come in different materials from cotton to fleece, depending on the weather. The flaps on the swaddles can be fastened over or under their arms. I stopped swaddling over their arms once the babies could roll from their backs to tummies because I wanted them to have free hands to push themselves back over.
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| Ordered online but available at stores |
There are many other things that I have found useful, but these were some absolute lifesavers.
