Like most new parents, we’ve experimented with a plethora of products. Some have been major fails, some have been amazing and most are what they’re intended to be — functional.

Swings

We had a swing that I think Landon would have liked if we hadn’t accidentally turned it on what we called the “pukerator” setting. It took awhile to warm up and move, which we didn’t realize, so we turned it on the highest setting and walked away. He wouldn’t tolerate it after that.

We did, however, have some friends who loaned us their MamaRoo. I thought it was a gimmick of a device — an overpriced gizmo with really good marketing. During my last night in West Penn, however, Landon would not sleep and the nurse brought a MamaRoo in and he calmed down. We also needed to use one after his surgery in July to calm him. Having a MamaRoo in our own home helped immensely with naptimes and even calming him down before bed.

Diapers, wipes and pails

We’ve used several brands of diapers and, right now, Huggies are my favorite. (Costco’s Kirkland brand are the exact same thing but without the Disney characters. I read they’re even manufactured in the same factory as Huggies.)

We used Pampers for several months at the beginning, in part because West Penn used Pampers and also because we were gifted a case of newborn diapers. Although they did a great job keeping the contents contained, they all had a strange perfume smell to them. Diapers don’t need to be scented with strange chemicals.

We also used diapers from Aldi and Target and didn’t care for either. Although they kept the contents in, they felt thin, scratchy and uncomfortable. Honest brand diapers were respectable enough. Seventh Generations diapers were awful and didn’t contain liquids or solids.

I also used Amazon’s Mama Bear brand of diapers a few times and liked them in size 1 but not in size 3. Landon is a long baby and those diapers aren’t as long as Huggies.

Although I didn’t care for Target’s wipes, I do like Aldi wipes, as well as Huggies, Pampers and Seventh Generation. When I run out, I’ll likely try Costco Kirkland wipes.

Diaper disposal is another big deal! Although someone told me that diaper pails do nothing to contain the smell, this person clearly had never been in a room with dirty diapers that are merely bagged and, let’s face it, taking the entire trash can out every time a dirty one goes in there isn’t practical. That can be a half dozen times a day! A diaper pail is a must.

We started out with this Creative Baby pail and although the design was appealing it was terribly made and dirty diapers and wipes got stuck. We tossed it and replaced it with this Baby Trend pail. My only complaint is that it isn’t slightly bigger. I also like it can fit a standard trash bag and that it doesn’t require pushing a dirty diaper through an icky hole like Diaper Genie-type pails do.

Bottles and cups

With Landon’s prematurity and the resulting eating difficulties, bottles were a major source of grief for me for a long time. I know we tried Comotomo, Avent, Medela, Playtex and a few others I don’t recall. Our amazing occupational therapist encouraged us to try Dr. Brown’s, which I’d been resisting because of the extra parts, and that ultimately turned out to be the right one.

And here’s the thing when you have a child with eating difficulties: Cleaning out a straw is not a big deal when you’ve spent months and months dealing with serious suck-swallow-breathe coordination struggles.

Our OT also has taught me that sippy cups do nothing developmentally. They require using the same muscles sucking out a bottle does, so straw cups are the way to go for development. We started off using a therapeutic honey bear straw cup we could squeeze. Landon can now suck himself and sometimes drinks out of that straw, which doesn’t require a lot of suck power, and also is working with a Munchkin weighted straw cup. That straw is incredibly tough to clean, though, so we’re now gravitating toward the Nuk Everlast Straw sippy cup.

I also really love the Munchkin spoons for feeding him.

Big gear: Strollers, car seats, high chairs, pack ‘n plays

I looooove our stroller. Just love it. After a lot of research and a few trips to Babies R Us and Target to test push strollers, we decided on the Baby Jogger City Premier. It has a simple adapter connection that we could fit our Graco SnugRide 35 car seat in it and now that Landon is bigger the seat that comes with the stroller is great. It can face me or face outward, has a huge sun visor with two peek-a-boo windows with magnetic closures. It pushes very smoothly, has durable tires, has a telescoping handle and the storage capacity is impressive.

I’d originally wanted the Baby Jogger City Mini but the storage basket was so small it couldn’t even fit a diaper bag in it.

Landon recently transitioned to a Graco convertible car seat, which we’ve been pleased with so far but the strap can be really tough to get tight enough.

We started out with a hand-me-down Graco high chair. I don’t know what model it was, but my biggest complaint was it was impossible to truly clean. Babies are messy when they eat so it was a real problem. We upgraded to the Graco Blossom high chair and so far have been very happy. My favorite feature is that it’ll grow with Landon. It’s great right now as a high chair either on stand or strapped to a kitchen chair, but it can convert into a booster seat and small stool.

Landon sleeps and naps in his crib upstairs, but at first he slept in a pack ‘n play just steps away from our bed. We had the Graco Snuggle Suite for him and it folds and transports easily and included a vibrating bouncy seat and a clip-on changing table for when he was little.

The little things

The little things truly do make the biggest difference. Humidifier? Yes! We just got the FridaBaby humidifier, diffuser and nightlight in one. And speaking of FridaBaby, the company also makes the best snot sucker — it’s so much easier than the old school bulbs.

Landon also used his jungle play mat since the first day he came home. At first he couldn’t even reach the dangling animal toys, but it wasn’t long before he learned if he batted them and pulled on them, the parrot on top would make music and change colors. It was also a reliably clean surface to use for tummy time. At 11 months old, he still sometimes plays with the toys on it.

He also loves any toy that spins or makes music. The Baby Einstein toy in the picture on the right that lights and plays classical music was the best tool for tummy time. He was so entranced by the lights and music it was wonderful motivation for him to work to lift his head!

His ExerSaucer was a saving grace for us for months during meal time and when we needed easy entertainment for him. It’s not nearly the panacea it once was, but every now and then we luck out and he’ll play well for a few minutes in it. He doesn’t like to be contained anymore!