Baby Shower Gifts

This being my second child I didnt feel the need to have another baby shower. We had two when we had Boo Boo and we received pretty much everything we would need. There were only a couple things I wanted to splurge on for our second child, a nice changing table/ dresser, wipes warmer, and lots of cloth diapers & wipes.

When I was pregnant with Boo Boo our first child I found an excellent book "Baby Bargains" by Denise Fields and Ari Brown. This was an awesome guide to all that is baby stuff. In the book they review all products in every category you can think of from baby bedding to pacifiers. This is how I narrowed down the list of stuff I wanted to register for. I highly recommend the current version of that book, to anyone who is a first time mom/ dad and is looking for a place to start.

You learn alot about what works and what doesn't with your first kid and you can only hope you can remember those things when your second comes around. But one thing I didnt expect was all the new products that have came out since Boo Boo was born 3 years ago.

I have compiled a list of products that I have found essential with a new baby. So if you looking for a gift for a mommy to be I recommend the following:

Bubba Swaddled in his Aden & Anais blanket

1. My Brest Friend: I didnt have this nursing pillow when I had Boo Boo, I just used either a ton of pillows or my knockoff boppy that really didnt help much for support while breastfeeding. My SIL showed me this when she had her second child, at first I thought it looked uncomfortable, but I liked how it had a pocket to store little nursing things in. She raved about it especially for newborns because it had great back support and made getting a proper latch easier. So after Bub was born I ordered one and I have had it for a week and it is amazing!!!
2. Lansinoh Latch Assist: This is a little device you use before nursing to help get a better latch. Im not going to go into many details about this, but from the beginning Bub has been a rockstar at nursing on my left side, the right side however we struggled with for 2 weeks. I used the nipple shield with Boo Boo which I had a love/ hate relationship with, it was nice but easily lost and I became dependent on it and I didnt want to do that again. So after struggling with the right side I looked online for some other options and I found this. It is also a lifesaver I dont have to worry about trying to get him to latch on for 10-15 mins anymore! Lansinoh also sells my favorite breastmilk storage bags and lanolin cream, which are also essential to any nursing momma.
3. Aden & Anais Swaddling Blankets: These are the softest, nicest, swaddling blankets ever! They are big 47" x 47" and come in alot of cute prints. Either they werent available or I must have thought they were too expensive or something when I had Boo Boo because I didnt register for them and I didnt get any. They can be expensive if you dont buy them on sale, but they are worth the price!! I have 6 now.
4. Prince Lionheart Warmies Wipe Warmer: It is a luxury to have a wipe warmer, seriously! If I was a baby I would be so happy to have my butt wiped with nice warm wipes.. LOL I didnt get one of these before because I thought it would be a PITA if we were out of the house and the baby was used to having warm wipes and etc. This time around I realized who cares, its a 3 second job and I wanted to use cloth wipes and this warmer was for both disposable and cloth. So far it is awesome and works great! Keeps the wipes warm and moist and you just need to refresh the soaker pad in the bottom every week or when you run out of wipes..
5. CJs Butter: This is a cloth diaper safe, butt cream to prevent/ heal diaper rash. It comes in a ton of amazing scents or unscented. I actually won this on facebook from Kissed by the Moon, and I choose Blueberry Crumble scent, it seriously is so yummy smelling. haha I love putting it on my babies butt just so when I open his dirty diaper it doesnt smell like anything but blueberries.. LOL Bub has yet to get a rash but alot of moms rave about this product working great.
6. Medela Double Electric Pump: I love my pump, it also is a lifesaver when it comes to breastfeeding. It helps boost your supply and decrease engorgment. I can pump for 10 minutes and have a bottle ready to go if we are planning on being in the car for a long stretch of time. It will also come in handy when he gets older and isnt nursing at night I can pump before bed and/ or during the night to keep my supply up. I like having the option to pump one or two at a time. Medela makes excellent quality pumps and are backed by a warranty. This is actually my second pump they sent me an new one when my old one wasnt sounding right.
7. Booby Tubes: are filled with all-natural flax seed. Use warm or cold, to soothe after nursing or ease engorgement/ unclog millk ducts. I got them because in the beginning Bub had jaundice and was only nursing every 4 hours and I was getting plugged ducts and it was painful. These are great, you just pop them in the microwave for 40 seconds and then put on inside your bra for 5 mins before nursing or pumping.
8. Baby Comfy Nose Sucker: this is another item that just hit the market this year. I thought it was gross at first, but after hearing from others it works great and the kids arent as fussy about getting their noses sucked as with an aspirator. I had to get one and see. I have used it twice and it works better in my opinion because they arent fussing, and you can control the suction speed.
9. Cotton Nursing Pads: I decided to buy some washable nursing pads this time around, I didnt like how itchy the disposables were. I found these on amazon and they are so nice!! I recommend buying 2 of the 6 packs because one is only a 3 day supply.. I also recommend Bamboobies nursing pads, they are kinda pricy but work great, I havent had a leak yet!
10. Nursing Tank Tops: I have several different kinds of nursing bras and tank tops, but I find that the tanks are the easiest to wear and provide enough support. Target sells a good one: Gilligan & OMalley® Womens Side Sling..., I also have one from Old Navy, and Walmart. If you are going to exclusively pump this one is perfect.

This is obviously a very biased post about nursing products but its what I have found that works and is the best.

I was in no way asked to promote any of these products by any of the companies listed, I developed this list on my own and it is solely my top favorite items for a new mom.

I will do another Baby Shower post in a couple months on products for an older baby, like the bumbo chair and sophie teether.

Thanks for reading!