These Are the Baby and Child Products You Actually Need, According to the Mommyish Readers and Staff
The minute you are expecting a child, the world will rise up to try to sell you things. Diaper genies. Wipe warmers. Carriers. Strollers. White noise machines. It’s a little overwhelming. Do you really need the $5,000 crib? What about these socks that monitor your baby’s vital signs in its sleep? To find out what people actually use (hint: not the wipe warmer) we surveyed the readers and staff of Mommyish, and here are the items that they swear you really, honestly, actually need.
This one is first on the list, because I am ride-or-die for the Nose Frida. I know it’s gross, but buy it anyway. On the day you need it, you will be glad you have it.
If you’re going to use pacifiers, why not use a pacifier with a giraffe on the end? I don’t know who had the idea of putting a stuffed animal on the end of a pacifier, but it’s brilliant. The animal makes it less likely that the pacifier will just vanish into the ether, and it also means the baby will be able to put the pacifier back in its own mouth. Trust us, that’s a big benefit.
Babies inexplicably like to fling their arms out in their sleep and wake themselves up. Prevent them from doing that by swaddling them. Sure, you can use a big cloth, but these velcro versions are way easy. (This only works if your kid will stand being swaddled, though. I could get my baby into one if she was completely asleep and floppy, but if she was even a little bit awake she would look at me like, “WTF?!” and then wake herself up by trying to jackknife her way out of it.)
5. The Munchkin Miracle 360 Sippy Cup
This genius invention looks like a real cup and works like a real cup, but it won’t spill. It’s great for teaching kids to use cups.
Apparently babies will actually sleep if you put them in these. They’re at a slight incline so it’s comfortable for the baby. I’m furious I didn’t know they existed until my kid was 2.
7. Netflix
If you are waiting on a baby, leave yourself some good, long-running shows on Netflix or Hulu to watch. (Personally, I can’t wait to watch The Crown.) You’re going to be marathoning TV shows night and day for months on end. I don’t know how I would have survived the newborn phase without The Good Wife and Scandal.
Anything else? Let us know in the comments!
