It all seems like a daze to me now as I look back at the first eight weeks when my little one arrived. Seriously, between the midnight feedings and the baby crying it was a matter of survival for me. My days were broken into hourly increments as follows: feed the baby, burp the baby, change the baby’s diaper, put the baby to sleep and then do it all over again within an hour or so. I lost track of the hours in the day and many times all the other things that I needed to get done around the house were put on a hold. But there were three products that helped me survive the first two months and gave me the chance to take much needed breaks during the day.
1) The Boppy:
The Boppy is an infant support pillow to help mother’s tired arms and neck while breastfeeding the baby. Not only did I use this pillow but so did my husband. My husband would put our little baby girl in the pillow to her feed her, ease her into sleep and then transfer her to her bassinet (very important to transfer baby to a safer sleeping area to avoid suffocation). The Boppy allowed us to keep her in a slightly upright position for a little bit after her feeding which helped minimize her acid reflux. As she got older, I would put her in the Boppy so she could sit up or practice tummy time next to me on the bed which provided me with time to catch up on my email or call my family and friends. Also, I kept the plastic packaging that the Boppy came in and I use it to carry the Boppy when we go on trips.
2) Graco Lovin’ Hug Plug-In Infant Swing:
My comadre brought me this swing that saved my life, not literally, but it gave me long durations of free time. Specifically, I would put my baby in the swing when I had to make dinner, wash clothes, or do other household tasks. I even jokingly called it the “magic” swing because my baby girl would happily drift into sleep for hours at a time. I particularly liked the Graco Lovin’ Hug Plug-In Infant Swing – Capri because it has an AC plug-in so that I didn’t spend money buying batteries. Not to mention the fact that the design is in a neutral color so it works for boys or girls and I love the little elephant mobile. This was one of the few items that I did invest in the Babies R Us extended warranty because if it breaks, believe me, you will want to replace it fast.
While attending the baby preparation class, the instructor showed an excerpt of Dr. Karp’s video The Happiest Baby on Block. Immediately after class, my husband and I bought the video because, well of course, we wanted our baby girl to be the happiest baby on the block! Within the video, Dr. Karp discusses several soothing techniques for the baby including the use of white noise or “shhhhh” sound. White noise is similar to what the baby hears when they are in the mother’s womb. Some examples of white noise around the house include the sounds of vacuum cleaner or hair dryer. While the noise from a vacuum cleaner or hair dryer may sooth a baby, I didn’t particular care for those sounds. So instead I bought the Homedics SoundSpa Lullaby which has several white noise options including heartbeat, ocean, rain, and lullaby songs. The SoundSpa would help lull our baby girl to sleep. We would keep it on while she slept so that she could get use to sleeping with background noise. And bonus, my husband and I ended up finding the ocean sounds quite relaxing for us too. The SoundSpa also has a modern mobile that projects three fun images such as stars, cows, and ocean motifs to the wall. Lastly, I love the fact that the sound machine is small and compact so it takes little space on the bookshelf and is easily packable for vacations.
I recommend adding the three products above to your baby registry to help during the first three months with your baby. I hope this advice helps all you first-time moms out there and feel free to share any favorite products that work for you below.
Linda Castillo is the Founder and Executive Editor of www.ModernLatina.com. She writes on topics that empower and inspire Latinas including art, motherhood, green living, culture, travel, and issues transforming the Latino community. Linda has earned a B.S. in Business and a M.S. in Mass Communications from San Jose State University.