1| The bag. My mom gave me the Petunia Picklebottom City Carryall for Mother's Day when I was first expecting. I worried that it wasn't gender-neutral enough, but she said that I'd generally be the one carrying it. That I loved it what was mattered. Thanks, Mom :)
2| Blankets. Aden and Anais classic swaddle blankets are one of those "every mom" recommendations (as in, every mom I know recommends them), and I can see why. They're large and lightweight, and we use them all the time, for everything from burp cloths to nursing blankets to carseat covers.
3| Change of clothes. We've found that Baby Gap clothes fit our guy well and hold up nicely in the wash. I'd love to add this sweet striped romper to the mix for summer.
4| Toys for teething. Sophie the Giraffe is another "every mom" recommendation, and I have to say she's managed to live up to the hype. Her skinny legs and neck make her easy to grip, and Caleb loves chomping on the nose and ears. Plus, she squeaks! The Winkel is a winner for similar reasons -- it was actually the first toy Caleb ever grasped all by himself.
5| Diapers. We decided to go the cloth diapering route, and we couldn't be more pleased! Bum Genius pocket diapers are all we use these days.
6| Wipes. Since we're already doing diaper laundry, we generally use flannel wipes and wet them with a spray bottle. But for on-the-go and bigger messes, we like these Burt's Bees Baby Bee wipes.
7| Wet bag. A must for cloth diapering while out and about. We have two medium size Planet Wise wet bags that we rotate, as well a larger one from Kanga Care (not pictured) for longer trips. (Although, I confess, I co-opted that one for my sweaty yoga clothes post-Bikram. It works beautifully!)
8| Rash cream. Caleb hasn't had any major or lasting rashes so far, but for slight redness and irritation, Bordeaux's Butt Paste usually clears it up within hours.
9| Stay-on slippers. A friend gave us these cute Robeez, and the elastic makes them dang near impossible to kick off! And when the shoes stay on, the socks stay on. Plus, I like ensuring our winter baby's tootsies stay extra warm.
10| Lanolin. Not quite the must-have it once was, but this stuff absolutely saved me in the early days of nursing. I came down with double mastitis in my second week postpartum, and this was about the only "comfort" I had!
Next up: The ins and outs of our diapering system. It may seem silly, but deciding whether or not to cloth diaper felt really overwhelming initially (should we go through with it? How will it work? So many options! What do we choose? etc). I liked reading up on what's worked for people personally, so in the next roundup I'll put all my research to use and share the system that's ultimately worked for us :)
--
PS - My first series on favorite things.
