As some of you may know, I am a very proud and happy mother. I became a mum for the first time a number of years ago and I have loved every single moment of it. I think for a long time I was waiting for the hardships to hit me full on. You know, all the warnings that people give you when you are pregnant. However, they simply didn’t come to fruition. Parenting does come with you all kinds of challenges and in this post I am going to share with you some of the items on my first time parent checklist that really helped me out.

 

 

Perfect Prep Machine.

I know that some people hate the Prep Machine and that is fine. But for us, it was a godsend. I had to do so many of the night feeds alone because of my husband working away. I don’t know how I would have done it coming down two flights of stairs or juggling flasks in our bedroom. We just make sure to clean this our regularly and we test the water to make sure that it is getting up to temperature.

 

Joie Travel Cot.

We are blessed with a rather large three-story house. We made sure that we had a safe space for the baby to sleep on every level of our house. Because of that, we bought the Joie Travel Cot for our main living room on the middle floor of our home. What I love about this is that there is the main area at the bottom, an insert at the top for smaller babies and then a changing tray on top. Fantastic for us and so much more versatile than a moses basket.

 

Zip Up Onsies.

I am a big fan of seeing babies in comfortable clothes. For the first year of his life, he essentially lived in onesies so that he was free to move and not restricted by his clothing. After having a range of different onesies over the years, it is safe to say that ones with zips are hell of a lot easier. Especially for my husband and I because we had a baby that would scream the house down whenever he had his nappy changed and getting him zipped back up quickly was a game changed.

 

Maam Bottles.

The only reason why I got these when I was pregnant is because they were blowing up online. However, after putting them to the test for a few weeks, I realised that they were worth their weight in gold because they are self-sterilising in the microwave. I didn’t realise how valuable that would be to me. It means that I can get a full batch washed, sterilised and stored away within around 10 minutes which is a godsend.

 

Ashton Teething Powders.

Having a teething and grizzly baby was one of my biggest fears. I hate the thought of being in a situation where I’m not able to soothe my baby. However, when we started to see signs of teething, we began using the Ashton Teething Powders. I take some of this on freshly washed hands and gently work it into the gums. Within around 30 minutes I can see him physically relax.

 

Sleep Sacks.

I tried the fancy sleep swaddles, you know the expensive Love To Dream ones that you see all over social media. However, my baby didn’t love them. But put him inside a good old fashioned sleeping bag and he had a whale of a time. As soon as I zip him up inside it, I can see him instantly relax and get in the frame of mind to get a good night sleep. But I really do think that things like this are each to their own when it comes to your baby. What one loves, another will probably hate.

 

Nuna Travel System.

I went for a travel system that is middle of the ground. Don’t get me wrong, this was still massively expensive which is a bitter pill to swallow. However, at almost £1200, I think it has been well worth the money. There hasn’t been a day since picking this up that we haven’t used it. It keeps my baby lovely and safe and I have never wanted anything more from my travel system. It is simple, classic and absolutely lovely.

 

Baby Bouncer.

When I was first pregnant, I really wanted the Baby Bjorn Bouncer. However, when I saw them online and that they were almost £250, I fell through the floor. In the end, I got one by the brand Cybex and it is exactly the same as the one that I had initially had my eye on. My baby loves this. It isn’t electric or anything like that, but my baby gets comfortable on it and is able to soothe himself to his hearts content.

 

As always, I hope you guys enjoyed this post and if you are a new parent or are expecting, that these items do you right. Just remember that none of these things are a necessity. All a baby really needs is the fundamental things that we need to survive. However, sometimes there are items that can make our lives slightly smoother and that is how I would describe the items that I have listed above.

Where possible, I will link to the items that I have mentioned where possible. Be sure to leave me a comment below. Let me know if there are any other items that you would mention to new and expecting mothers that made your life slightly easier.