This is with double motive. First and foremost, lots of blog friends and internet friends and irl friends are having babies or have recently had babies. These are beyond-newborn-stage products that have been awesome for M. We still use and love the majority of them. (She’s a quarter past 2 y.o.)
I did a post like this once before and it was incredibly unpopular, but I don’t learn from my mistakes so fingers crossed this one does better.
Now for my second reason making this post… 90 days ago I was approved to be an Amazon affiliate and given an 180 day trial period to prove people wanted to buy my recs. Well so far I’ve had 0/3 people purchase anything- and that is for lack of trying. Oops. So this is my pathetic but honest plea to encourage you to use the links below if you do plan to buy any of these awesome products.
Ok. That was long winded. Let’s do this.
When you are a Type-A Enneagram 5 mom, you research the hell out of things. Like cups.
18 months and 4 days ago experts said it’s best for babies to learn to drink from a cup or from a straw- not tradition sippy cups. Why? I don’t know. They’ve likely changed their minds by now.
But regardless, M loves doing things on her own and this cups allowed her to consume a little water and create a terrible mess at the age of 8 months. The slightly less messy option, that we still use today, is this straw cup.
Why We Love It: The blue cup is shaped for small mouths, weighted at the bottom, and silicon for easy gripping. The straw cup is great because it’s easy to use, spill-proof, and the straw is weighted, so even if M turns it uptown drink it, the bottom of the straw shifts to the liquid and it works.
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No. 1 Stuffy
You know what’s weird? A baby who loves a stuffed octopus. But he’s cute. We named him Cal. He’s dropped a few ranks in recent months. Right now her favorite is actually a stuffed unicorn that was made to be a dog toy but now lives life as a two-year-old’s sleep buddy. Fortunately, we removed the squeaker so it’s less enticing to the dogs.
Why We Love It: Cal is easy to grab, easy to chew, and easy to wash.
I registered for this before C*VID was a thing but holy cow has it been helpful since the plague began.
Why We Love It: It definitely gives me peace of mind in the store AND it catches all the crumbs/toys/sippy cups M drops while we’re shopping. Plus, it’s cute.
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Originally purchased because we did cloth diapering, they’ve since been invaluable for many reasons. The big pocket is water-proofed and there is a smaller front pocket for other items. Plus the patterns are so dang adorable.
Why We Love It: These are great for dirty or wet clothes and bathing suits. They’re awesome to carry around while potty training. (I put extra clothes in the front zipper and anything that has been spoiled in the w.p. pouch.) They’re cute and they wash up so well!
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*I do not put mine in the dryer and they look like new. We started using them back in M’s newborn days.
First of all, my child actual kills me with how cute she is in this hat. That alone is reason to buy it for the child in your life.
Why We Love It: But really… there’s nothing cuter. And also it’s comfy and warm, easy to slide over their heads, and semi-difficult for them to remove while you’re turned away for 0.03 seconds.
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This item is 100% unnecessary but my eyes and brain loved them so much. Plus, you have a TON of baby clothes to sort through in those first two years and these help.
Why We Love It: They’re easy to hang in the closet, they keep clothes organized, and they’re cute. If you’re obsessed with order and organization, they’re fantastic.
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Admittedly, this is not my most exciting blog post, but I do swear by these items. And when I go to baby showers or recommend items to friends, these are always on my list.
Like I said, if you decide to get something from the list, pretty please use the links up there 😊 But if you don’t, I’ll forgive you and we can still be friends.
Do you have any must-haves for toddlerhood? I’m deep in the trenches and always looking for ways to keep my sour patch kid happy and safe.
-Aud
Life as Louise 