Baby Must Haves and Tilly Update

It's finally Friday.. yay! Friday is definitely a bit different now, as I am not counting down until the end of my work week (that never ends now, sigh), but to Lance's.  Now the weekend is almost here for our little family to all get to hang out and enjoy a few days together relaxing.  This also equals extra help for Mommy and 2 days I get to spend more than 10 seconds in the shower.. oh, the little things.

I thought I would make a little list of some of my random top baby items I have come to have on my MUST have list. I know these might not work or be musts for everyone, but they definitely are in this house!


1. Fisher Price Rock N Play - ((here at Walmart))

 

 

 

 

Now, I had heard of this and even had a few people mention it to me, but since we already owned what seemed like every baby gadget crammed in our tiny house, I was reluctant to buy one.  As I mentioned before, Tilly had reflux so it's very hard to ever lay her on her back.  I was having to constantly hold her up for 30+ minutes after eating, and even then she would constantly spit up in her sleep and grunt and gurgle all night.  Let's say neither of us were getting much sleep.  One day I was texting with my fellow mommy friend, Amber, and she mentioned this to me.  I told her the same, I wasn't sure we needed something else, and kind of forgot about it.  Well that night missy puked EVERYWHERE and I was at my wits end.  I woke up, read some reviews, got on Walmart.com, and ordered this thing ASAP.  Let me tell you.. that has been the best purchase of my life! haha Thank you Amber for putting this back in my head.  Tilly now sleeps for 5-5 1/2 hours her first stretch of the night, and then around 3-4 after her middle of the night feeding.  No more grunting, puking, or awake Mommy and baby. I can feed her and hold her long enough for her to fall asleep (maybe 2 minutes in the middle of the night) and plop her butt right back in that thing.  She pretty much lives in this right now, and as that might not be ideal.. happy baby equals happy house.  If your baby has reflux and you don't have this.. RUN, not walk.. and get this.  There are a ton of different versions. I got the Deluxe since it had a nice little pillow and vibrated, but I'm sure the ones a little cheaper work just as well.

 

 

2.  Sound Machine - ((here at Target))

 

 

 

Now there are many expensive machines out there, but this one is $25 at Target and works great.  It's a sound machine, and also projects images up on the ceiling (there are 3 different image wheels to switch out). They are a bit creepy, but I don't think she cares! haha When Tilly is fussy or cranky, I also have an app on my phone that I crank the ocean noise at FULL volume by her head and she literally goes into a silent trance.  It's amazing and hilarious at the same thing.  We sleep with this thing on full blast ocean, and creepy fish on our ceiling every night.  The light part is mainly just for me now, as it's soft enough to not bother her, and helps me be able to look over and see her while she sleeps.  Sound machines (and apps on your phone for on the go) are a MUST with babies. Trust me.

 

 



3. Changing Pad Liners - ((here at Target))

 

 

 

 

You have your cute changing pad cover and what you don't want to be doing is pulling that thing off and washing it 3 times a day, what you DO want is this nice little liner to place on top that you just throw in the hamper.  Your baby WILL pee and/or poop outside their diaper most likely once a day while changing them.  It may not actually come out then, but it will somehow get on that liner.  You will be thankful to have these.  Get a few packs, you'll need them unless you want to do laundry a million times. (wait, that'll happen anyways, but still get a few! haha)


4. Baby Drops -- ((Gribe, Gas,  at Target and Soothe at Walgreens))

 

These drops are our nice little friends. 

 

Gripe Water- First, with Tilly and her reflux, she gets the hiccups A LOT (almost every time she lays flat) and this makes it where you can just hear the liquid coming up each time.  The gripe water stops the hiccups almost immediately and stops the awful process and noise.  It's an all natural drop, so it is also supposed to help calm their little tummies.  50% say it works, 50% say it doesn't.. all I know is it stops her hiccups and that makes this mommy happy.

 

Gas Drops- These don't need much of a description.  With her being on formula now, she gets pretty gassy, so if we can tell it's making her fussy and bothering her, we will give her some of these to help the pain.

 

Gerber Soothe Drops-  As I was reading on my baby app message board one day all these moms with night time fussy babies, I kept seeing these drops mentioned and how great they were.  I called Lance one day after she had a rough night before and told him he had to stop and get these because I had to know if they work. Wellllll I didn't know this TINY little bottle was $35.. oops.  But he knew I would kill him if he came home without them, so $35 later we had this little bottle in our hands ready for a miracle.  Now I'm not sure if it's just time going on and her getting used to the formula or these drops, but the past week or so, she has been much calmer and so much happier.  You just give 5 drops a night and it's supposed to help their digestive system balance out, which equals a happy baby.

 

I don't give her all these drops every day all day, so no one freak out.  She gets her soothe drops at night, her gripe water (again, all natural) for bad hiccups, and we really don't give the gas drops much at all.  This is what works for US, so again, it may not work for you and your baby.

 

 

5. Beringer White Zif.. this one's for Mommy! :)

 

 

 

I hope this little post can help another mommy or mommy-to-be when things get rough.  I think sometimes women, especially moms, can be so judgemental and hard on each other. It's not always easy, and every little bit of advice and encouragement can go a long way!!

 

Update on Tilly-  As I mentioned before, she has been doing MUCH better.  Between getting a routine, used to drinking formula, some drops, and patience.. she is much happier, hardly fusses, and is sleeping great at night.  She still naps a lot through out the morning and early afternoon, and is awake pretty much from 5pm until bedtime.  She is starting to make eye contact now and smiles all the time.. now actually at you and not just into space! haha  It's the sweetest thing when she wakes up and I go stand over her to pick her up and she just super grins up at me! :) We had our first trip out this weekend to Walmart and she did great until around produce.  By then she was hungry and mad.. but with a little help from the pacifier, we all made it out alive!  I have been practicing wearing her in a wrap around the house, so I can start wearing her when we go out. She literally passes out the second she's in it, I just have to get it tight enough to feel like I am supporting her in it enough.  We also had our first mommy daughter day out with a Stay at Home Moms Concord group I found online. It was a lot of fun and I think I will end up joining the group so we can have a few social outings a month.  Overall things are going great and this little chunk is eating more and more each day.  She seems to grow daily, and while that makes me happy.. also a little sad.  Her spitting up has gotten MUCH better on formula.  She still has the reflux and can't lay flat, but we are hardly having to change outfits through out the day now, and we all smell a lot better! :)

 

 

A few pics from our latest adventures! 

 

 

  Have a great weekend!!!