Here are my top 11 purchases that have helped me through motherhood
Top 11 most useful purchases that have helped keep our household peace
1) Hoover Linx Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner
I honestly don't know how we did without this machine! My daughter doesn't like to be put down, she refuses to sleep alone and vacuuming while dealing with a corded vacuum and holding a baby meant my house got vacuumed maybe once a week and drove me up the wall. With a large dog and cat my house needs vacuuming daily! This helped me more than paying a cleaner to come in once a week because the fur was my biggest problem! Its literally grab throw in the battery and go! While this seems gimmicky, we use it more than we use her crib.
2) Tula
While I used a few carriers with my daughter such as the Infantino bliss, Snuggly and tried my sisters Becco and Ergo, I wasn't satisfied. Each carrier served me a period of time while my daughter was very small (under 6 months) but I had problems with each of them until I found my Tula. I would call Tula the Cadillac of baby carriers -- it gave me more freedom than the others because of how comfortable my daughter is in it and it fits both small and plus sized people. My Tula has enough support, cushioning and structure that I have hiked with it, choosing it over my hiking carrier. There are two sizes (standard and toddler) for your growing child and multiple places to purchase a Tula including buy/sell/trade groups on Facebook.
3) Stroller
Purchasing a stroller was not as easy as I expected. I went to Walmart, Toys'r'us, and specialty stores while shopping for our stroller. I pushed many to see the differences between them. There were all sorts of things we considered before purchasing, like how small it collapsed and, whether it had a click and go system, ease of pushing it, height, build quality and reviews by other people. We went with a Bob, but not a regular jogging Bob - instead, we chose the Bob Motion it comes in orange, black and blue. There is also there is the Bob Motion Travel System. What we loved about this stroller is that it is compact, easy to set up, pushes well, can be pushed with ease by my 5 foot nothing sister comfortably and someone who is taller like myself, can click together with a Britax car seat as a travel system, and has great resale value! We use our Bob Motion most days and it has great accessories like snack trays, weather shield, and drink holders and console. The orange can really be seen well, so since I still have many fears about something happening to Emily I stuck with the orange for added visibility.
4) Stroller bag
After many walks with my daughter, we found that she wouldn't keep a blanket on her for most walks we went on -- she would continuously kick it off. Another problem we found is that our child hates gloves and hats -- so those would come off too. The alternative to keep her warm was to bundle her up like the abominable snowman, but putting multiple layers into a squirming kid is a a waste of time and an exercise in frustration. The solution was found at Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) in the cycling department -- our stroller bag. It's a toddler-sized sleeping bag with holes in it for the stroller's five-point harness. We leave it in the stroller -- when we are ready to go out, we put Emmy in reasonable clothing for wherever we are going, then put her in the stroller. It was an investment in my freedom and Emily's comfort. Emmy now happily takes her naps on dog walks and everyone is happier.
5) Muddy buddy
Picture a suit you can throw over your child's clothes, roll them in mud in, remove from them and have your perfectly clean child again. This is what a muddy buddy is and it allows for more fun in our rainy west coast weather. I found the best prices on Amazon.com even with our weak Canadian dollar. Places such as second hand stores or VarageSale are also a great place to find these little rain suits. MEC also carries similar products that can be found here.
6) Jolly jumper
My Jolly jumper was great for about 4 months that we were able to use it. My daughter outgrew it quickly but while we could use it, it kept her and my nephew occupied.
7) Books
We have been reading with my nephew and daughter since they were tiny. At 14 months my daughter will now grab a book, throw it down next to you on the couch, and try to haul herself up where she will then settle herself in your lap with the book for you to read to her. Favorites of ours are Where is baby's belly button, Where ever you are my love will find you, The Lorax, The Paper Bag Princess, Love You Forever and Purple, Green and Yellow.
8) Frozen (the movie) - I swore we wouldn't get into this one kids love songs, colourful things and quite frankly Frozen has that. It has a family conquers all sort of feel too it and is a bit less "damsel in distress" and "needs a man to save her" than most Disney movies. I can pop this on and get a few things done while my daughter watches and my daughter will actually eat while watching TV which has been a struggle to get her to do some days. Once again I use Amazon for this too as Amazon Video can be accessed almost anywhere so wherever I am so is my secret weapon for quiet.
9) Car Seat
When picking out our second car seat (the infant travel system car seat is only safe for a window of time), we shopped around for features that were really important to us, such as ease of taking it in and out of the car, safety ratings, and company history. We decided on going with a Britax Click Tight system from a local retailer. Amazon would have once again got our business because of free delivery but the price wasn't any different than local and it would have taken us longer to have delivered and we needed it right away. The three convertable car seat click-tight systems are the Boulevard, the Marathon and the Advocate. The Britax website has a great website to compare their safety features.
10) Foam Mats
We used these for a short period of time under supervision when my daughter was having tummy time and was learning to crawl and walk. These kept the floor warmer, and they also make it so the floor is softer when they inevitably fall.
11) Echo
After losing Mitchell my attention span was shot! Reading was a favorite pass time before and it became almost impossible after his loss because I couldn't concentrate. When I later had Emily even if I wanted to read I was too busy. Now, meet the Echo. The Echo can make shopping lists, order items, get the news, play music (we ask for Brahms lullaby on repeat often to get my little one to sleep) or my favorite task, have it read to me! At home I currently have an Echo and have a Dot on order! Both are voice activated and hands free, which is a feature I use often. The Echo has a built in speaker which sounds pretty good and the Dot can hook up to your speakers. The Tap is similar but isn't hands free and must be tapped to turn on. Take a look at them, for your sanity's sake. They could be your best investment for time saving if you are an Amazon freak like me (I prefer having things delivered to my door: for example, formula is heavy, but not when ordered online, so I order my formula online on amazon.ca).
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