10 Must Have Baby Products

Disclosure: There are affiliate links present in this post. 

Three of my friends are having babies soon. Their bellies are round and their baby is near. I’ve been thinking about them a lot. I wish I could take them out to coffee so I could share my wisdom with them.

When you are creating a baby registery, it is easy to get overwhelmed. Especially if you’re a soon to be first time parent. There are literally one billion baby products out there and all of them  claim to be the best. As a mother of two, I have gone through a ton of different products. This list is the best of the best. This is not a sponsored post, although affiliate links are present.

If having a baby isn’t in your future, why not save this list for later? You’ll look like a rock star when you show up to a baby shower with one of these gifts!

1. Hands down, the product that has been the most useful to us has another purpose. We have logged hours and hours on a yoga ball. Babies love the up and down movement bouncing on one brings. You can also use it for assisted tummy time!

2. Gripe Water.   Gripe water is a natural colic remedy and basically magic potion. When Malone was born, he was super fussy and seemed generally uncomfortable in his own skin. Gripe water helped ease his gas and stomach discomfort. Trust me with this one, you won’t regret it.

3. The Wonder Weeks Book. In addition to a baby’s body growing, their mind grows too. There are 10 developmental leaps that happens in within a baby’s first 20 months of life. This book is great because it gives a bit of a warning as to when a leap is coming, what to expect as it happens, and how your baby will be changed on the other side. Spoiler alert- every time my kids are in the middle of a developmental leap, their sleep tanks.

4. Paladin Rash Cream. My Nana is the first person who turned me on to this product. She ran a home daycare for over 30 years and swore that this was the best of the best. It is affordable and made out of ingredients I can pronounce. Michael uses it to heal his chaffed thighs from running, we’ve used it to clear up diaper rashes, and I’ve even used it as chap stick!

5. Adan and Anais swaddling blankets. These are gigantic and dreamy. The muslin cotton is breathable and soft. In the first days, babies love to be swaddled and it is hard to find a blanket big enough to do the job. These are huge and perfect for wrapping “baby burritos.” They are expensive but worth every cent.

6. Rock & Play. Okay, so this one might be on your registry list already. Lola slept here exclusively for about the first four months of her life. It wasn’t invented yet when Malone was born, otherwise he likely would have too. I love that the baby sleeps at an incline. Also, it is small. If you have a space real estate problem like do in our apartment, this is for you! It folds up very easily. We’ve taken it to a friend’s house instead of lugging our pack and play around!

7. A baby wearing device, and I don’t mean a Baby Bjorn. I have a Sakura Bloom Ring Sling, an Ergo, a Moby Wrap, and a Baby Hawk Mei Tai. Most of these are left over from Malone. In terms of function, I love them all for different reasons. From a developmental point of view, there are a million and one reasons why you should wear your baby. I’ll give you just one. You can conquer the world with two hands while you wear your baby (you can also make dinner). 

8. Fisher Price Seahorse. I don’t know what it is about this product, but it is magical. It is delightfully simple, the stomach glows and lullabies play. Malone stared at it as he drifted off to sleep almost every night. He’s almost five and he still wants his seahorse when he’s upset. I had hoped to be able to pass it down to Lola, but he demanded that she have her own. She loves it just as much as her big brother does.

9. The idea behind the Nosefrida makes me a bit squeamish. The Nosefrida is a snot sucker that really works. Insert part A into baby’s nose, insert part B into your mouth, and suck. I know, I know. It SOUNDS GROSS. But there is a handy snot barrier filter that is bulletproof. I’ve used it on Lola now for almost six months and a bugger has never made its way into my mouth (or even close for that matter). What I love about the Nosefrida is that it gets so much more mucus out than a traditional bulb.

10. Here is a secret about babies. There are few things in life they love more than kicking off their socks. Malone was born in the summertime, so going sock free wasn’t that big of deal since it was so warm. Lola was born just as summer was ending and for the life of me I COULD NOT keep socks on her until I get her a pair of Robeez Crib Shoes.  They are made of a nice soft leather and have elastic around the heel. They stay on! And as a bonus, they are great for early walkers because the soft soled leather helps baby feel the ground beneath them.

Bonus! I had the chance to review the Oribel PortaPlay Activity Center and it is just the neatest product ever! This center grows with your child from baby days into preschool because it converts into an art table! On top of that, the legs fold flat for easy storage or transportation and the table top wipes clean!

Time to chat! What other products did you find useful when your babies were little? What would you gift a new mother?