Fable’s Favorite Things: Our Top 10 Baby Products for Months 0-3

My child will never really understand who Oprah is.

I mean, she’ll have heard of her, probably, but she’ll never know her the way I knew her – as a regular voice in my days growing up, as someone my mom and I laughed and cried with, as a silly but remarkably influential “grown up” in my life.  Say what you want – I’ll always have a soft spot for O.

Faby may never really get it, but she and Oprah will have one thing in common – Favorite Things Lists!  Oh man, we used to loooooove Oprah’s Favorite Things show – all that excitement and screaming and things we can’t afford and you get a car and you get a car and you get a car – pure TV awesomeness.  Granted, Fabes can’t give everyone all of these things (oh man, I wish), but she sure can list them.  We’ll be listing the first year in four parts (Fable’s Favorite Things 0-3 Months, 3-6 months, etc.), and then one list a year after that.  Click the pictures to link through to buy.

Important note: I certainly am not advocating buying all of these things brand new – baby stuff is wildly spendy.  Ask around!  Shop consignment stores!  Borrow from friends!  Work your networks, people.  Also, for the record, I have most definitely not received any stuff, money or otherwise, from any of these companies.  I’m writing these reviews out of the goodness of my little heart.  😉

So, without further ado, the best baby products we’ve found in the first three months, the things we can’t imagine life without, the greatest gadgets of our child rearing experience thus far:

Fable’s Favorite Things, 0-3 Months

(maybe mostly my favorite things, as she is a bit young for opinions just yet)

Fisher Price Rock n’ Play

If you get nothing else for your baby, get a Rock n’ Play.  Seriously.  Fable wouldn’t sleep anywhere but on my chest for the first few weeks, and I was a paranoid mess and hardly sleeping at all as a result.  This magic bassinet/rocker saved the day big time.  It’s cozy and comfy and, if you have hardwood floors or place it on a piece of wood or even cardboard, it will rock when the baby startles (which they do often) and magically soothe him or her back to sleep.  Priceless.

Swing (any swing, we have this one)

We have basically no space, so I fought against a swing for a long time.  Grandparents know best, it turns out.  They talked me into it and now I get to take normal length showers again.  If your kid likes to be in motion, just cave and get one – they make life a whole lot easier.  This one is more compact than some others, and a good price, and has some cute bells and whistles that aren’t necessary, but fun.  I was skeptical of the light show feature (sounded like the short track to overstimulation), but it’s actually just sweet, slow moving pictures and we use it every once in awhile.

Moby Wrap

If you plan to baby wear and you’re anything like me, you’ll probably want to have a few different baby carriers.  This one was my favorite and we used it exclusively for the first two months, and it’s now in the rotation with the other two (more on those later).  The Moby is great for newborns because the fabric is soft and stretchy, and I never worried about her circulation getting cut off or her face rubbing a rough fabric edge.  It is tricky to tie in the beginning, and it is a pain to put on/take off if you’re not at home – the ends hit the floor, so you don’t want to be wrestling into it in the parking lot.  I found that I liked to just put it on before leaving the house in the morning (or before NOT leaving – I hung out in this thing all the time) and wear it all day, baby or no baby, so I could put her in or take her out as needed.  Added bonus: this sucker makes you look like a samurai. Or at least, that’s what we tell ourselves.  I also watched YouTube videos about how to tie the darn thing while I was waiting for Fabes to hurry up and get born, and they were a huge help.

Dr. Brown’s Bottles

There are slow flow nipples and there are slow flow nipples, ya know what I mean?  Okay, well, regardless, we wound up needing bottles a lot more than we thought we would, and these were the only ones (we tried a few kinds) that seemed to legitimately flow slowly.  Faby goes from bottle to boob to bottle with no problem.  They are a bit of a drag to clean, but we don’t have a dishwasher, people, and we’re still alive.  You can do it.  We have both the glass and plastic versions – plastic ones are better for diaper bagging it, but they are also more likely to leak.  Choose your own adventure.  (this segment is going to be responsible for some creepy Google traffic, methinks)

Babylegs

Babylegs!  Babylegs!  We love them!  Sure, they’re cute, and sure, they are essentially one size fits everyone forever, but if that’s not enough for you, oh man, are they ever useful.  Here are just a few of the ways we use them: The normal way, as legwarmers, in place of pants when easy diaper access is needed.  Worn under socks-the socks stay on.  Worn over shoes-the shoes stay on.  Worn over shoes and pants, they eliminate the gap that happens when her legs are spread in the carrier and probably save her from frostbite (I’m so sure).  As chewing guards on the straps of our Ergo.  As impromptu arm warmers for mom.  As bottle cozies.  I could go on.  Buy them from the company website when they go on sale – they are discounted to, like, $6.

Timi & Leslie Diaper Bag

You have to spend a lot of time with your diaper bag.  Get one you love.  Seriously.  This one, I love.

Summer Infant Bath Sponge

Okay, so there are all kinds of exciting baby baths bouncing around out there.  Fable’s advice?  Skip’em.  This sponge is perfect – completely supports baby safely out of water from teeny tiny newborn to, I dunno, three year old who likes to lay down in the bath.  We bought a fancier bath, and then promptly stole this from Grandma when we tried it and Faby magically smiled and cooed through her bath (previous baths had been a splash sesh of unholy screaming awful oh dear God don’t make me go back there).  It also doubles as a changing pad if you travel (I know, right?)  Andplusalso it’s $9. Dude.  This.

Gerber Soothe

Oooo, not formula!  Get the pitchforks and tar!  Get her out of Portland!  Relax, villagers- you’ll be okay.  Should you have to use formula, this is a good one.  Spendier than some, cheaper than the hard stuff, and easy on Faby’s tiny intestines.  If you need help finding coupons for this madness, I will tell you all I know.  Formula is expensive, especially when you were planning to breastfeed.  More on that here.

Snap n Go Stroller

We use our stroller for basically two things: wandering around at the mall (no, really) and climbing mountains or other intense walking. We have a secondhand jogger we use for the latter, and for the former?  I’m pretty sure this is a better plan than a travel system.  It works with almost any carseat, it’s inexpensive, agile, small enough to fit in the trunk of my Ford Focus (and believe you me, others were not) and, most importantly, it’s super light.  Umbrella stroller light.  I can fold it or unfold it with one hand (I have been practicing, though.  Don’t expect to be a ninja right away.)  There’s a good amount of cargo room and oh!  How could I forget!  The handles are actually tall enough for non-tiny people to walk without intense back-acheage.  Fable enjoys sleeping in it, so there ya go.  Winning all the things!

Summer Infant Doctor Mom Nail Clipper Set

I can’t tell you how many people told me that trimming baby nails is incredibly scary.  I would like to report that it really wasn’t a big deal, which may be due to this super idiot-proof nail clipper we were given.  The crazy looking handle system on this sucker is pretty great.  I wait until Faby is asleep, swoop in and clip, and on we go.  No drama, no fear.

This concludes our first edition of Fable’s Favorite Things!  Know that these aren’t all the things we like, nor are they all the things you’ll need, but they are definitely our most loved items and the ones we’d recommend including on your registry.

Any other mamas (babies) out there have some favorites for months 0-3 to share?  Enlighten us in the comment section!

love.