Baby Favourites

Becoming a parent is a huge learning curve. There are so many products on the market and so many opinions on what you should and shouldn't do. After having 2 children, I've learned a lot about the things you need and the things you can pass on. Lately, I've had a few friends and colleagues ask about my experience with some of the baby things we used so I figured it would be easiest to blog about it all!

I should start by saying, we were/are minimalists when it comes to the 'stuff.' I even had a few people comment about how there was 'nothing' on our baby registry- we pretty much stuck to just the cloth diapers we wanted! So here is the stuff we loved, passed on and things we would have changed! (Also, I have no affiliation with any of the products or companies- just one holistic Momma's experience!)

Diapering

• Diapers: We went with AppleCheeks cloth diapers. Complete disclosure, I probably didn't research cloth diapers as much as I would now, knowing what I know about the differences- I pretty much chose these because they were cute and Canadian made. However, I can't say enough great things about them! I also have a few friends who went with them too, after more research and great recommendations. They all love them as well. I think we got lucky, because even now, I would still pick these hands down! They are great for not leaking, have elastic on every side, and can be used with the inserts on top of the cover or in the cover sleeve. We stick with on top of the cover so you can often get more than one diaper change out of the cover. We also got two-layer Rayon from Bamboo liners, I don't think they had the three-layer (back in photo with green trim) at the time we registered but have gotten them since. I find the three-layers better. My son is also a 'heavy wetter' so I will use a two and three-ply in the cover and no leaks. (This topic is kind of huge, so, watch for a continuation post with more details- how many we bought, washing, savings, etc).

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• Boosters: We also got a few AppleCheeks boosters at the start- not really worth it. They absorb, but nothing amazing, and we were getting a lot of leaking overnight. Our kids slept through the night relatively quickly and the last thing you want to do is wake a sleeping baby, so we needed a better solution. We were recommended a booster set at a baby store- Thirsties Stay Dry Duo Inserts. These things are worth their weight in gold! I combine this duo insert with a three-layer insert in between and I've got a baby without leaks even after a 12 hour sleep! Again, we got the size 1 and size 2 but I find the 2's fit with both size covers and obviously absorb more.
• Disposable Liners: Like the rest, we originally went with AppleCheeks disposable liners, they were great! But the local baby store didn't carry AppleCheeks and we were out, so I went with what they carried- Bummis. I do find I like the Bummis slightly better. They come in 2 sizes as well, but like the rest, I find the size 2 better- you can't go wrong with more coverage! These make cloth diapering a breeze- just toss the liner with all the solids and you're good to go. Though these are flushable, we just toss them in the garbage since it's more convenient to keep a trash can near the changing area vs transporting it to the bathroom for flushing.
• Detergent: With my first- I was intense about the detergent, we only used Tiny Bubbles for both our diapers and all her clothing. After 2 years of cloth diapering, I relaxed and started using my homemade detergent with the diapers with no issues. Since then we've switched our detergent from my homemade to Nellie's Natural (with a Costco membership it's cheaper than homemade)! I use it for everything even the diapers and it works great. I do attribute the great washing results mostly on our washer and dryer (LG) which has specific settings for cloth diapers (Sanitary and Antimicrobial) which keeps our diapers in tip top shape! We first had top loaders and I found I needed to strip the diapers all the time! But since getting the LG front loaders, we never have to strip them and there is zero smell!

• Bum Cream: I've used a few different ones. However, with the homemade wipes, I don't deal with too many issues but I have found a few creams that quickly clear up any bit of redness that does happen. My favourite has been Thorne's Manuka Honey Cream. I recently got a tube of Honest Company Healing Balm from a friend which I have also found pretty good.
• Disposable Diapers: We kept some of these on hand for emergencies (like forgetting to throw them in the wash and running out- oops, keeping in the car and diaper bag, etc). Because we used these very infrequently (we'd go through a a bag every couple months or so), we just bought whatever was convenient. Almost a year into my second child's cloth diapering and we now don't even keep disposables at all (and not since about 6 mos old), it has become such a habit.

Homemade Bum Wipes

• Bum Wipes: These are tricky, even the 'organic' ones have not so great ingredients, usually alcohol and/or preservatives, and are not cheap. I quickly switched to homemade wipes, you get to control all the ingredients, are way cheaper and super easy to make! Since switching to homemade, I've had two kids who have been virtually bum rash free!

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LifeFactory bottles with all the caps and adult water bottle.

Feeding

• Bottles: We used Lifefactory bottles- glass bottles with a silicone sleeve. I love these! The silicone sleeve really does protect from breaking- they have been tossed off a high chair more than once and all in tact! I try to use as little plastic as possible since even the 'BPA Free' plastic leaches endocrine disruptors, you can read more about that here. Since we breastfed, we got a minimal amount of bottles- 3 small (4oz), 3 large (9oz), which worked perfectly. The other thing I love about these bottles is that they sell different lids- both sippy cup and solid caps- so that you can keep on using them even past the bottle feeding stage.

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Lunchbot stainless steel plate.

• Solids Supplies: We used a great stainless steel plate, bowl and mini mug set that we love by Lunchbots- no plastic and unbreakable. The only downside is that hot foods, like soup, transfer and make the bowl hot too, so we tend to just use ikea bowls for hot foods (I don't really care if they break). For spoons we found great silicone covered stainless steel spoons by OXO.

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Caden 17 days old.

Transporting

Carriers/Babywearing: I love babywearing! It is by far my favourite way to transport my kidlets! We did get a stroller and my husband calls it our most expensive dust collector...although I still think a stroller is a necessary item. I have used a few different carriers and I find each has their pros and cons.

• Wrap Carrier: We didn't drop money on a commercial warp, instead a good friend and my ND doula gifted me a homemade one! They are very easy
  to DIY and there are a tonne of instructions online. I loved this wrap when my babies were first born. It works well for small babies, it keeps them close, snug and supported. There is a bit of a learning curve with tying it tight enough but there is no minimum size so you can use it right away. However, as they got bigger, I found it less ideal.
  

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Hanging out in the sling at St Jacobs.

• Sling Carrier: I happened to pick mine up when I was checking out a local baby store- they were discontinuing carrying the line so, they were 50% off! Score! The sling is a Z'fina and it's a Canadian brand. I love this sling, super quick and easy to throw on and put baby into- great for on the go and easy to toss into a bag. It does require the child to be a bit bigger and sturdier and I'd say able to sit up ideally. Though you are technically 'hands free,' it is a less supportive carrier so I find I like to keep a hand on my child while wearing it, at least until they were/are more developed and sturdy themselves.
  

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Lily 3 years old, 30ish pounds in the back carry.

Structured Carrier: We originally registered for and got a Baby Bjorn. I did not like it. I found it was very hard on my back and I don't think I ever really wore it. My husband used it a handful of times and that was it. I also read a bunch of reviews (after we got it of course) about how it can be very hard on baby's hips which turned me off as well. However, when my second was born I got a bit more pushed to get a structured carrier. I knew trying to wrangle a 3 year old and manage a newborn was not going to be an easy feat, especially with our weekly visits to St Jacob's Farmer's Market. I looked into a few different ones and ended up going with the Ergo. My butterball son was born pretty big, so I wasn't sure whether we needed the infant insert. Thankfully we waited until after he was born to purchase it and I was able to take him and the carrier to my favourite baby store (Snuggle Bugz) to 'pre' test out the infant insert. Sure enough, there was no getting our fatty baby into it. I love this carrier! I have used it with both my kids- my 3 year old as a backpack and my infant in the side and front carry. It isn't the best carrier for small infants as it requires their legs to be spread pretty wide (for hip support) and I found it wasn't until about 5/6 mos that my son really started fitting it well. You can rig it to work before then but it's not really ideal. The infant insert would also help, as long as your infant isn't too big for it. 

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Our son was born at 8 lbs 10.5 oz and at 6 weeks was 13 lbs 7 oz and 23.5in- size wise too big to fit in the insert but development wise (hip range of motion and neck support) still needed the extra support. Because of this, I would recommend waiting on the insert until baby is born to make sure you can use it/need it. I find it super comfortable to use, even with my daughter who is about 32 lbs. My son loves it and has no problem falling asleep in it and it is amazingly easy to discreetly nurse while wearing it! We do have the original carrier which is only a 3 position carrier- back, side and front (facing you), however, since we got it, Ergo has come out with a 360 carrier which has the 3 positions plus a front carry facing out. I think if they had released the 360, I would have splurged on it but I haven't researched it enough or tried it to say for sure.

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We also got the organic bamboo teether covers (the white covers in the photo above) since our son is like a beaver, but I wouldn't have needed them with my daughter. And another really cool thing about the Ergo is that they make kid size doll Ergo carriers! My daughter LOVES being just like Mommy!

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Just lounging in the Snuggle Nest!

Sleeping

• Co-Sleeping: We are a co-sleeping, bed sharing family! There is a lot of fear put into parents about co-sleeping, however, the studies do show that if you remove all other risk factors (overheating, improper sheets, alcohol, etc.) there is no difference between sleep surfaces. However, my husband still didn't feel super comfortable having a newborn in our bed and I was a little nervous too (more because of all the fear), so we invested in a Baby Delight Snuggle Nest. Hard plastic sides pretty much ensure you aren't going to roll onto it and they are perforated so that airflow isn't impeded. It has a separate little mattress with a snug fitting sheet cover. There is also a little battery operated light on the top edge which is very convenient when you need a bit of light during night feedings. It's not quite as convenient for nursing as having baby right on the mattress next to you, but I found that when they are tiny newborns I felt a lot more at ease and it was still super convenient. As my daughter grew and became less 'fragile' we moved her right in the bed. My son, I found was born pretty big and didn't fit the snuggle nest that well, nor did he really like it (he is a Mama's boy and needs to touch you) so we tried but didn't really end up using more than a handful of times for him. He was also my second, so the whole first time parent anxiety wasn't there, but if he had been as little as my daughter, I would have definitely used it consistently again.
  

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• Mattress: We splurged on our crib mattress. We got a Natura Crib Mattress along with a wool mattress cover. One of the reasons we went with this company is because they were manufactured here in the KW area, however, they have since closed their factory in Cambridge. Either way, I am very pleased with this mattress and that it is a green option. Our King mattress is also Natura. The mattress was very important to me since babies spend sooo much time on it with their faces right against it, especially with all the research showing children's exposure to flame retardants.
• Swaddles: I love, love our Aiden and Anais swaddles. Swaddling helped both our kids sleep better and longer. This tends to be my go to gift for baby showers because often they aren't on the registry and you don't know how invaluable they are until after you have baby!

Extras

• Baby Monitor: We went with a video monitor right away. I can not stress how wonderful the video monitor is. There are times when baby is making noise and you aren't sure if they are awake or just making noise in their sleep and if they are still asleep and you go in to check on them and wake them...good luck. Being able to watch baby wriggle, sleep, make noise, etc. is invaluable! We started with a Summer Infant monitor which worked well but it did not stand the baby test- it was dropped and the charging prong on the monitor broke off and without being able to charge it- it EATS batteries. So we upgraded to the Motorola video camera and display. The night vision wasn't very good and I was rather disappointed but other than that it worked well. Well, that one suffered the same fate as the Summer Infant. Thankfully we got the extended warranty through Best Buy and got a replacement! Score! AND I realized the first one was a dud- the night vision was amazing on the new one! However, recently this one stopped working- this time the power cord started to fray and the camera wouldn't always turn on. So back to Best Buy with extended warranty. 

Planning his escape- night vision.

Turns out, it's all wifi these days! We couldn't even get the camera we had. So I got a D-Link wifi baby camera to test out- I wasn't prepared to go wifi and I had a toddler and 6 mos old so I grabbed what I could and brought it home. As I waited for my warranty gift card to arrive so I could return and re-buy my camera, I thought about what I wanted to do- baby monitor cameras are over double the price of regular wifi cameras and essentially do the same job. The baby monitor camera has the added feature of 2-way speakers aka you can talk to baby through the camera and you can play music through the camera. Both the Summer Infant and Motorola sets had these features and we NEVER used them. Talking to your baby when they are trying to sleep is game over. Both the regular and baby wifi cameras have similar display quality, night vision, motion detection/notification, sound, recording function and picture function. But the regular camera is about a third of the price of the baby camera. 

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Inseparable- day vision.

So we decided to go with a regular D-Link wifi camera- 2 actually, one for my son's room and one for my daughter's, and they are perfect! You operate both using a downloadable app and as an added bonus compared to the camera/handheld display type, you can access the camera from anywhere! I can check my kids from work if I want to right from my iphone! I love these cameras! Even once our kids are too old for monitors we can transition these to their intended security camera purpose. The one downside of wifi vs the traditional set is they aren't as portable. You can't really take it with you on a trip without needing to set up the camera all over again on a new network and you can't pan with these, the cameras are fixed and have to be moved manually. Even with these limitations, for me wifi benefits surpass the down sides.

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• Car Seat: We originally got a Britax car seat (for our second seat, not newborn), which was fine. However, I discovered the Diono...I wish I had known about it before I purchased the Britax. I LOVE our DionoRXT. Stainless steel and aluminum framed gives it an incredible safety rating, slim designed so you can fit 3 across, foldable for easy transport. Trying to sit between the Britax and Diono was tight to say the least. However, sitting between two Diono's is a huge difference. And when it comes to nursing on the road, I struggled to lean over the Britax and allow my kids to nurse while in the seat because of the bulky sides. However, the Diono has no high sides which makes nursing a breeze, dare I say enjoyable. It's way less bulky so it makes even just putting them in and out of the seat vastly easier. The seat also has a weight limit of 110lbs! This seat will literally last you the life of your child's car seat years (it transitions to a booster as well)!

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• Playpen: I am an anti-playpen person, it feels a bit too cage-like to me, so we did not get this. However, there are times when you need baby to be contained- like when you have to use the washroom or shower. So we do have other items. We got a swing which I loved- baby loved to rock and sleep in it, it gives you a place to put them down, it's portable so you can move it to keep an eye on them, ours played music and had a mobile. I used that from about newborn to 4/5 mos or so. A bouncy chair would also serve this purpose but might not be as 'entertaining' for as long. Then we graduated to our exersaucer (or my fave name- The Circle of Neglect) around 5/6 mos. I love this little contraption. My son is ALL go! He never stops and he puts everything in his mouth! So when I need to shower, leave the room, use the washroom, in the circle he goes. It has toys and buttons and rattles to keep him entertained and I know he isn't getting into anything he shouldn't. It's perfect. For the most part, I let my children roam around which I find has helped them learn about things they can do/touch and things they can't much faster. It's more work for me at the beginning but a lot less in the long run.
• Bumboo: We were given this used from a friend who received two as hand-me-downs. I feel pretty 'meh' about this item. We used it maybe twice for each child. I don't see the point too much, if they can't sit yet, they can't sit. I'm glad I didn't spend money on it.
• Jolly Jumper: We avoided this as well mainly because of the research that suggests it can promote imbalanced muscles development- legs develop before core muscles which can affect developmental milestones. The exersaucer can also cause this, however, because I use it in a limited way as more 'containment', I am not concerned and both my children have hit their milestones as expected.

So, I think I've hit all the big items, at least I can't seem to think of anything else! I will be doing a continuation post on cloth diapering since it is such a huge topic and likely a toddler/preschool post since my daughter is now 3 and a half and there have been some things we have found that we love for this age group...so stay tuned! Hope you find it all helpful!

Disclaimer: Naturopathic Doctors strive to provide individualized health care. The information contained in these topics is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, it is provided for educational purposes only. This information shouldn’t take the place of seeing an ND for individualized health recommendations.