Just breathe, Mama bird: What helped us (birth

Mia will be 4 months next week, so I have been thinking about all the things that have helped us get to this point. Looking back, I miss the newborn period, but I know the reality of the situation is that the first 3 months (the newborn period) were hard and tiring. However, moms (and dads) are amazing and we get through it! Here are some of the products we used to maintain our sanity and helped us through the newborn period.

Little noses saline mist- Mia was born congested, literally. She had a really hard time breastfeeding, because the poor girl could not breathe (amongst other things, but I'll save that for another post)! I kept asking the nurses at the hospital for saline, but never received any. The only thing I had was the bulb syringe, which was too big for her tiny nose. So when we got home from the hospital, the first thing I did was use this saline mist to "neti pot" her. It worked like a charm and she was able to finally breathe (and eat)! We still use it every morning to help loosen any congestion, so she can easily sneeze it out. Next time, I just plan on bringing it to the hospital!

White noise machine- Mia loves white noise. We have a portable one and one we keep in her room. The heartbeat sound would soothe her almost instantly. It really did work like magic. There are new studies out about possible hearing loss from white noise machines, but you just need to avoid placing it too close to the baby and put it on the lower volume setting. Mia can sleep through our ridiculous dogs barking all the time and our generally noisy house with her white noise playing.

This is the portable one we have from Amazon

This is the one we have in her nursery that can also project images on the ceiling from Amazon

Swing- I know not all babies enjoy swings, but Mia LOVES her swing. It is the only thing she sleeps in for extended periods of time. We got ours as a baby shower gift and it is the most used baby item we have! The only con is how large it is, but other than that we have no complaints about it.

My little snugabunny swing and cradle

Boppy pillow- We use this to help with breastfeeding, to prop her up, and for tummy time. The pillow is extremely versatile and we use it all the time. I think everyone knows what a boppy pillow is, so enough said about this wonderful invention!

Stroller- We have the City Mini GT stroller with the car seat adapter. I wish we would have never bought the car seat adapter, it was a waste. The City Mini GT does not fold with the adapter attached, so we could not put it in the car as a travel system. So the solution to our problem was the car seat caddy to have in the car for quick stops.

Chicco KeyFit Caddy

The caddy fits our Chicco KeyFit 30 car seat and is the best solution for a portable stroller while your baby is in the infant car seat. If Mia is asleep when we get to the store, I can put her car seat on the caddy without disturbing her. This was invaluable during the many doctor appointments during the first 3 months without Mike there to help carry the car seat. The caddy quickly and easily folds open and close. It is super lightweight. It has a large basket underneath to put groceries in while grocery shopping. It is great!

Do you see her look of disgust? She has hated her car seat from the beginning!

We use the City Mini GT on walks (without the car seat adapter) now that Mia is big enough and we love it! We maybe used the car seat adapter twice, but since Mia hates her car seat, it was a waste! I would just put her in a sling/wrap on our walks instead, so that we could all enjoy them. I would recommend the City Mini GT as well, but you do not need this stroller until your baby is bigger/older.

We love this stroller for walks. The sun shade is huge and it reclines almost all the way back for naps!

This is the ~~useless~~ car seat adapter if you want to try to use your City Mini stroller as a travel system, save your money and use it towards a caddy instead!

Moby wrap/Mei tai- I have done an entire post about how much we enjoy babywearing, so I'll be brief. Mia has GERD, which caused her a lot of pain before she started taking medicine for it. One of the things that really helped her in the first few months was keeping her upright in the Moby wrap or sling. It was a life-saver and helped keep everyone happy. We also use the wrap or sling when we go to the store when she is awake, she will pitch a fit in her car seat. If she is asleep when we arrive to the store, then we use the caddy.

Mobile and exercise gym- These were the only toys she really made any use out of during the first 3 months. She used the ceiling fan in our room as her first mobile until we bought her one. She enjoyed the mirror on her exercise gym the most. When she started "batting," is when she really started to play with the toys hanging over her in the exercise gym.