Unusual but useful baby items
I've been meaning to write a bit about the fun I've had shopping for baby stuff, and the things that I've found to be useful or not useful. Hopefully I'll write enough to turn it into a series on baby gear.
In no particular order, here is a running list of unusual baby items that I've found to be quite useful. These would be great ideas for baby shower gifts if you don't want to get the typical clothes, blankets, or diapers.
Hulabye Diaper Changing Helper
This looks like the most ridiculously useless baby item. I know, I thought so too once upon a time. And then Baby E started rolling over during diaper changes and thing got crazy. Ever try to keep a squirming baby from rolling over or dipping their flailing feet into their own horror-filled diaper? You laugh, but then the sh!t goes everywhere and you don't even know what to do so you just stand there staring in shock and wondering why you signed up for this in the first place. Anyway, the extra step of putting baby into a change-pad-vest seems like more work, so I don't use it all the time. Sometimes Baby E is content to lie immobile and uncomplainingly while I clean her up. But other times, when she acts like I'm about to smear molten lava on her bum, this thing seriously saves me.
Highlights Hello Magazine for babies 0-2
When I was little, I got a subscription to Highlights magazine and I really liked it. When Baby E was a couple of months old, I came across the magazine again, and I saw that they had one called Highlights Hello, specially for babies. I immediately got a subscription, and the first one came about 2-3 months later, which felt like a long time (but E was only 2 months then, so it's not like she needed it right away). This magazine is so so awesome!! Let me list the ways:
Safety 1st Baby Nail Clipper with LED Light
Again you laugh and think, WTF with the useless stuff. But again, I'm telling you: best idea ever. I had no idea that babies had razor-sharp talons. They're thin and tiny and will scratch the crap out of themselves and you. I don't really care if the baby scratches me, but when she wakes up in the morning and there are bloody scratches on her FACE, I freak out! We started by filing her nails with a glass file, but that took too long. So we started clipping them, but by then, she was more alert and made it clear she was NOT HAVING ANY OF THIS. I figured out that we had to do it while she was nursing or sleeping. Ever try clipping something less than 5mm across and 1mm wide in the dark? Especially when it's immediately attached to a delicate baby who will scream and bleed profusely if you nick them? So yeah, get these clippers. Bonus: when the baby is older, the light will fascinate them long enough to trim at least 2 nails. Then the flailing begins and nothing will save you.
Nosefrida Snot Sucker
Hahahahaha! Most aptly named baby tool, and one of the most useful. Babies get stuffy noses and don't know how to blow them. How do you get the snot out? When I was pregnant, my sisters-in-law would tell me stories about how they had to suck out the snot with their mouths. Uh, excuse me? I'm NOT doing that. And those bulb things don't work. With this, you put the blue tube to your baby's nostril and then suck with all your might, and out flies the grossest clumps of snot and mucus you've ever seen. Actually, I should note here that the snot and mucus will probably not be flying out - rather, it will get stuck at the entrance to the nose, and you still need to go in with a q-tip. But at least it's visible, and you're not inserting a q-tip deeper than 1mm.
Flexibath Folding Bathtub
A baby bathtub is one of those things that you just expect to take up tons of room, is awkward to store, and weirdly shaped or bulking. Yes, this tub is several of these things, but the best thing about it is that it folds up! So instead of this giant round weird thing, you have a medium-sized, somewhat flattish thing which can slip more easily into a nook or cranny. I traveled with this, brought it to the in-laws, and even plopped the baby in there a couple of times when I needed her to be contained.
In no particular order, here is a running list of unusual baby items that I've found to be quite useful. These would be great ideas for baby shower gifts if you don't want to get the typical clothes, blankets, or diapers.
Hulabye Diaper Changing Helper
This looks like the most ridiculously useless baby item. I know, I thought so too once upon a time. And then Baby E started rolling over during diaper changes and thing got crazy. Ever try to keep a squirming baby from rolling over or dipping their flailing feet into their own horror-filled diaper? You laugh, but then the sh!t goes everywhere and you don't even know what to do so you just stand there staring in shock and wondering why you signed up for this in the first place. Anyway, the extra step of putting baby into a change-pad-vest seems like more work, so I don't use it all the time. Sometimes Baby E is content to lie immobile and uncomplainingly while I clean her up. But other times, when she acts like I'm about to smear molten lava on her bum, this thing seriously saves me.
Highlights Hello Magazine for babies 0-2
When I was little, I got a subscription to Highlights magazine and I really liked it. When Baby E was a couple of months old, I came across the magazine again, and I saw that they had one called Highlights Hello, specially for babies. I immediately got a subscription, and the first one came about 2-3 months later, which felt like a long time (but E was only 2 months then, so it's not like she needed it right away). This magazine is so so awesome!! Let me list the ways:
- the magazines are small enough for babies to hold independently
- fun, colourful illustrations and simple text
- each "story" also has some notes for the parent on how to incorporate extra activities - for example, a poem about daddy making pancakes also turns into a counting exercise or a way to identify family members.
- the paper isn't really paper, it's kind of a stiff glossy stock. E has gummed and chewed it and it doesn't disintegrate
- the pages are sewn together, not stapled, so there's no risk of having it fall apart. E sometimes chews the stitches while they come loose, the magazine stays intact
- cheaper than board books
Safety 1st Baby Nail Clipper with LED Light
Again you laugh and think, WTF with the useless stuff. But again, I'm telling you: best idea ever. I had no idea that babies had razor-sharp talons. They're thin and tiny and will scratch the crap out of themselves and you. I don't really care if the baby scratches me, but when she wakes up in the morning and there are bloody scratches on her FACE, I freak out! We started by filing her nails with a glass file, but that took too long. So we started clipping them, but by then, she was more alert and made it clear she was NOT HAVING ANY OF THIS. I figured out that we had to do it while she was nursing or sleeping. Ever try clipping something less than 5mm across and 1mm wide in the dark? Especially when it's immediately attached to a delicate baby who will scream and bleed profusely if you nick them? So yeah, get these clippers. Bonus: when the baby is older, the light will fascinate them long enough to trim at least 2 nails. Then the flailing begins and nothing will save you.
Nosefrida Snot Sucker
Hahahahaha! Most aptly named baby tool, and one of the most useful. Babies get stuffy noses and don't know how to blow them. How do you get the snot out? When I was pregnant, my sisters-in-law would tell me stories about how they had to suck out the snot with their mouths. Uh, excuse me? I'm NOT doing that. And those bulb things don't work. With this, you put the blue tube to your baby's nostril and then suck with all your might, and out flies the grossest clumps of snot and mucus you've ever seen. Actually, I should note here that the snot and mucus will probably not be flying out - rather, it will get stuck at the entrance to the nose, and you still need to go in with a q-tip. But at least it's visible, and you're not inserting a q-tip deeper than 1mm.
Flexibath Folding Bathtub
A baby bathtub is one of those things that you just expect to take up tons of room, is awkward to store, and weirdly shaped or bulking. Yes, this tub is several of these things, but the best thing about it is that it folds up! So instead of this giant round weird thing, you have a medium-sized, somewhat flattish thing which can slip more easily into a nook or cranny. I traveled with this, brought it to the in-laws, and even plopped the baby in there a couple of times when I needed her to be contained.