I know not everybody who reads this blog has a baby. But chances are you might know someone who does or will have a baby. Here are three things that I did not know I really needed the first three months of baby life but once I had them I could not be without them.
1) Sleepywrap: Jude pretty much lived in this thing the first few weeks after I bought it. I was tired, I was having a hard time getting him to sleep much and I was feeling like I could not take care of anyone but Jude. After searching for ways to get my little guy to sleep I found this and thought- hey, I could actually use two hands to do things if I had this. I received it two days after ordering (wow- super quick shipping!) and put it to use right away. After one day I was sold. Jude fell asleep quite often in it but I was able to do things. I still use it now because he is a BIG little guy and I can't carry him around all day. I recommended it to a friend also and she loves it to for her little guy. I have to say it was one of the best things I purchased and for $40 it was so worth it!
2) White noise app for iPhone: Same thing here. This was pretty much a last ditch effort to get this little guy to sleep. I downloaded the free app and I still use it to this day when we are out and about and if he is having a hard time getting to sleep. I also have white noise going in his room when he takes naps and at night. He just sleeps better with it. I've had great luck using it when at a friends house. I can put him in his carrier when he is sleepy, turn on some white noise (he likes the fan sound best) and he goes right to sleep.
3) Homemade baby wipes: I received these as a gift from a friend at my baby shower. At the time Jude was getting diaper rashes on and off and I had stopped using baby wipes all together and was wetting down wash cloths instead. The wash cloths really helped out so I stopped using baby wipes. Then my friend gave me these.
See that Rubbermaid container back there? Those are my wipes.
See this orange container? These are my other wipes. It probably looks like I am making this more complicated than it should be. But it really isn't much work especially now that I have a routine down.
The taller container holds half of a roll of papertowel. I started out just using this when I was using disposable diapers. However, once I moved to cloth diapers I was interested in using cloth wipes too. This is because when changing diapers we all have a tendency to throw the wipe in with the diaper. So what happens is you end up washing disposable wipes. After my friend gave me the homemade baby wipes I thought- hey, I could do this with wash cloths. And I did. And I like it. I actually like both for different reasons. But first I'll show you how to make them. These make a great gift for baby showers (I know first hand). For mine I received the container with a set of wipes already made, a bottle of baby wash and a bottle of baby oil. The container had a cute little ribbon and label on it and she included the recipe.
First, cut a roll of paper towel in half. This is the best knife I have for the job- but I envision one that has smaller grooves would work best.
See, my knife leaves it all fuzzy on the bottom- but no biggie.
Next, boil some water for five minutes. Measure out 1-3/4 cup. Add in 1 tablespoon of baby oil and 2 tablespoons of baby wash. Mix it up pretty good.
Pour it in the bottom of your container.
Core out one of the halves of paper towel and insert it into your container. Then pull up the center piece as a starter. Put the lid on and let it sit for two hours before using.
The nice thing about these are you can play with the amounts of baby oil and baby wash until you get a consistency you like. I used a little less of each at first since Jude seems to have sensitive skin. At first I did place the paper towel in without coring it. What happens then is the core gets soft and is easier to pull out- but I also noticed it absorbed some of the mixture so my wipes were a bit more dry. You could add a bit more of the mixture to compensate for this I suppose.
I used the same mixture for my cloth wipes. For these I bought some baby wash cloths. I really wanted just some plain white ones- or even cream or lighter colored but I could not find any around here. So I settled with blue ones. I guess I just really wanted something without dyes- but I washed them several times before using them and haven't really had any problems. For these I just roll them up and pour the mixture on top and around the edges, put the lid on and they are ready to go. I use a little less water- I found 1 1/2 cups worked best.
I really like the cloth wipes best and I tend to gravitate to using those first- but it's nice having the other ones there as a back up in case I don't have time to prep the cloth wipes. I seem to have to make the cloth wipes every two days and the disposable ones twice a month- maybe if even. I also use the disposable wipes to wipe up my hands or anything else.
Bonus- if you use them soon after you make them they are nice and warm :)
Did you ever try the moby wrap? I need one.... oh...and do you use regular soap or organic? I'm making the switch to cloth....real soon. thanks for the wipe idea!!!
Posted by: veronica | July 19, 2010 at 07:53 PM
The Moby wrap and the Sleepy Wrap seem to be the same thing. I told my friend about the Sleepy Wrap and she found the Moby Wrap in a store near her so she ended up getting that one. She loves it and from what I can tell there is not a difference. I am just using Johnsons and Johnsons for the baby wash. That is the kind my friend gave me and I recently needed to buy another and I thought about going the organic route- but it really was a lot more pricier for a lot less product. Plus he seemed to be doing good with the Johnson & Johnson (plus it just has that familiar baby smell to it that I like).
Posted by: Kaitlin Sheaffer | July 20, 2010 at 06:48 PM
Sounds...good. I just wondered if his booty was picky. lol My Noah needs non dyes, super sensitive stuff. I love J&J's smell. mmmm too bad picky booties won't allow that. lol
I made a Moby wrap. You are totally right. OMG...Noah loves being that close to me. I actually got things done around here. YAY!!
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Posted by: Josh Healy | July 24, 2010 at 04:10 AM