0 – 6 Months Baby Products – Must Haves! (Part 2)

So here is Part 2 of my newborn to six months must have baby items!

Cloth Diapers

I’m a huge cloth diaper fan.  I love cloth diapering.  I actually get confused when I use disposable diapers.  I love the extra padding on my little one’s butt, I love the adorable patterns, I love how I’m saving money, I love how I don’t have to run out and buy diapers last minute and I love how I am reducing wastage and garbage.

The only downside is that they are so cute you just want to get all the patterns!  I have about 26 now and I think it’s more than enough to last until he is potty trained.  Then I can use them on the next baby!  Imagine, 26 for two… or three babies!  Although, if I had a girl, I would really want to get some girlie patterns… hehe.

I can’t imagine not using cloth diapers.  I really can’t imagine my life without them.  I currently use three brands: Charlie Bananas, Bumkins and Little Angel’s Nappies.

My favorite brand is Charlie Banana.  They are so well made and I haven’t had any leakages or blow outs.   It is worth noting that I have had blow outs and leaks with disposable diapers.

A full stash of about 26 diapers like mine will probably set you back about S$500 but it’s worth it.   And I actually bought most of it using vouchers I received when Baby E was born.  So I have literally just spent S$200 on diapers. Just calculate how much you will spend on disposable diapers.  I think it’s about S$60 a month?  I am not sure.  So it’s a big upfront cost, but in the long run it’s cheaper.

If you are interested in how to use cloth diapers, suggest you check out ObbsandLala’s Cloth Diapering Vlogs – Seriously, when I bought my first few diapers, I didn’t know what to do with them until I watched her videos!

I will do a separate specific post on cloth diapers and how awesome they are and another one on how I wash my cloth diapers.

Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Puppy’s Crawl Along Ball

Now, if you are wondering why a lot of my must have items are toys – it’s because Baby E has a short attention span.  Some say it is a boy thing, I am not sure.  It is just him.  He needs to be constantly entertained.  He can’t stay still AT ALL.  I’ve seen so many baby girls that can just sit still, not him.  If you don’t talk to him, he will start to get cranky and demand that you do.   Seriously.  Talk about high maintenance!

So, with that in mind, it is unsurprising that Baby E was gifted this lovely gift.  It is really perfect for tummy time because Baby E loves reaching out to touch it and play with it.   The crawl along ball is heavy and rolls along when pushed.  The good thing about it is that it plays a different sound or song each time Baby E touches the puppy’s head and each time the crawl along ball goes rolling which further stimulates him.  He loves looking into the mirror as well.

I strongly recommend this item for tummy time, especially for babies who really don’t like being placed on their tummies!

Fisher-Price Newborn to Toddler Rocker

Honestly, I don’t work for Fisher-Price!  It’s just a coincidence that half of my must have items are from Fisher-Price!  Maybe it’s just because they know what babies need!  A friend actually gave me this as a hand-me-down.

We used it when Baby E was about three weeks old.  We padded it with pillows and he sat in there and cried out his colicky / grumpy period as we rocked him slowly.  Then when he got older, he would put him in there and give him a toy to chew or hold.  Now, he has his meals while sitting in there.  It really grows with the child and can be used at any stage of their development.

The vibration feature is nothing special.  It’s weird and is just like a vibrating massage chair.  It sometimes looks as though Baby E doesn’t even notice the difference with the vibration on and with it off.  I read that some babies are able to fall asleep with the vibration.  I am not sure about that.

So that’s it folks!  All my must have baby items!  As I only have six must have baby items, maybe you can share with me some of your favourite items??  There are so many out there and every baby is different.   Will be posting some unnecessary baby items next!

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0 – 6 Months Baby Products – Must Haves! (Part 1)

Since Baby E turned six months a few days ago, I will share six must have baby items and six unnecessary baby items.  I will share the first three must have baby items today.

To be honest, I didn’t know all these products even existed before Baby E was born!  I hope expectant mothers will find them useful!

I will first start with the items that I cannot imagine life without.

Quinny Zapp Xtra with Folding Seat

Love this pram! I love that the seat is reversible so that when the baby is small it can be parent facing.  Having a parent facing pram was one of my main criteria.  It’s so wonderful to push Baby E around for walks because he will laugh and giggle and look around the world with such wonder and amazement.  Something you won’t see when the seat is facing outwards.

The only problem is that the diaper bag basket is TINY.  You have to squish your diaper bag inside and then spend quite a while trying to pull it out.  So it’s not very practical.  Also, it is not the easiest pram to fold up.  We are now experts, but it did take a while to get the hang of it.  It’s practically impossible to fold it with one hand or with a baby on your hip, however, my amazing husband did manage it once!

The seat itself is very comfortable.  You can use a specific Quinny newborn inlay when your baby is born, but we were cheapskates and just got a cheap seat padding which worked for us.  When we put Baby E in at six weeks he loved it.  He would even fall asleep in it.

Fisher-Price 2-in-1 Musical Turtle Baby Gym

This was a Christmas gift from a friend.  I cannot say enough good things about it.  If your baby is like mine and needs CONSTANT ENTERTAINMENT then this baby gym will save your life.  Seriously, we used it when he was three months onwards and he can spend more than 30 minutes just playing with it.  The colourful toys that dangle down were just so attractive to him and could amuse him for hours.  I think the fact that all the dangling toys are at different heights intrigues him.  Perhaps??  This one actually has music, but we couldn’t get the battery cover open (it was screwed on real tight) so we just left it.  Oh and I love the mirror at the top, it adds to Baby E’s amusement.  Now that he can commando crawl and flip like a maniac he has found new uses for it, but still this toy gave me a few precious moments of sanity.

Edited: We have since figured out how to open the battery door and have put batteries in.  Baby E loves it even more now because when he pulls the dangling toy right at the top (which is a duck) music comes on.

Braun ThermoScan 5

This was an expensive purchase.  But well worth the price especially since fevers are scary.  At first I was a scrooge and purchased a cheap tongue / under arm thermometer but I had to hold it under Baby E’s armpit for at least a few minutes which proved impossible to do so.  Also, no doctor would take my armpit reading seriously.

The Braun thermometer measures the baby’s temperature in under three seconds.  All you do is hold it in his ear and then press the reading button and beep! the temperature is displayed on the screen. As I’m a hypochondriac, I use it on myself sometimes too!

Ok, that’s it for Part 1, stay tuned for Part 2 coming up soon! 🙂 What are your must have baby items??