Being a first time parent, you know there are so many baby items you have to buy. Aside from the sheer cost of all these new items, you have to consider how much space it’s going to take up. If you don’t have a lot of space at home, you’d probably want to be as minimal as possible. Especially since babies are just a phase, once they grow up, you will no longer need those items. We live in the Bay Area, and most people in the Bay Area don’t have large homes. Lucky for us, we decided to move out to the Tri-Valley area, about 40 mins east of San Francisco, where homes have a lot more space.
I aspire to be minimal, and from my conversations with close family and friends, many of the day to day baby tasks are super simple and you they have gotten by just fine without all these new and fancy machines. I definitely considered it while I put together my baby registry, didn’t want to overspend on things that I didn’t actually need. But if you know my husband, he is all about efficiency, even if it comes with a price. So here’s a list of items that we purchased, even after our peers have recommended was not necessary or a nice to have, which have ultimately saved us a lot of time:
+ Bottle Warmer – This has been one of the most useful items we’ve had. Before we had our baby, we would hang out with our other friends who had a baby at their home, and watch them boil water to heat up the breast milk. This seemed very tedious, the act of having to boil water ever single time you needed to warm up a bottle of milk. And then if you boil the water too hot, or leave the bottle in the hot water too long, you overheat the milk, which can cause the nutrients to deplete and also burn your baby. Having a bottle warmer was nice because you can set the water at the ideal temp that is perfectly warm. Also it’s pretty small so it fits in our master bathroom, which is a lot more convenient than running downstairs to the kitchen since we do most of our feedings in our bedroom.
+ Bottle Sterilizer – This also saved a lot of time, since we don’t have to boil water in a pot to sterilize all our bottles. It’s super simple, all you have to do is add water and press a button. The container has holders that our perfect size for your bottles, and there’s also a section for all the small parts like the nipples, and bottle caps.
+ Instant Formula Dispenser – This machine is super simple, at the press of a button, you will have formula. Yes it takes up a good amount of counter space, but instead of having to measure out how much powder formula you need and then measuring how much water to mix it with, and then having to heat it up, this machine just does it in seconds. Amazing!
+ Elvie Stride Breast Pump – So this was actually the first pump I decided to purchase. My insurance covers one breast pump per pregnancy, and the Elvie Stride was offered, all I had to do was pay $15 OOP. I didn’t do enough research about breast pumps honestly before the baby arrived but my cousin had told me that I would probably need a regular breast pump because the Elvie was not going to be as strong. And you need something strong. So I ended up purchasing the Medela Pump-In-Style and was using that primarily for the first 2 months. Once I started using the Elvie, my life changed. I have regrets of not starting to use it sooner because I was on maternity leave, and thought, since I’m not working, I have time to pump anyways. And our baby was always asleep. After using the Elvie, I no longer was prisoner to my pump. I got so much more done wearing the Elvie, didn’t have to schedule my day around pumping, just pump whenever you feel like. It’s so convenient when you’re out. I know others who didn’t get a hands free pump during their first pregnancy, because they thought they needed a regular strong pump. But I think the Elvie is a must!
+ Snoo – my husband and I decided way before baby arrived that we were going to get a Snoo. What’s great about purchasing the Snoo, is that you can schedule it to arrive closer to the due date of your baby. We’ve heard mixed reviews about the Snoo, pretty much works 50/50 for people, all depends on the baby. So we decided to have it arrive a few weeks after our baby’s due date because we thought the Snoo would become more effective when the baby is older. So the Snoo did arrive two weeks after she was born and because our baby was such a great sleeper, we really didn’t need the Snoo. So for the first month, we just never used the Snoo, and we thought maybe our baby is just a great sleeper, and we can probably return it (they have a 30 day return policy). Just as we were approaching the 30 day mark, we decided to just try it out. There were some nights where our baby would cry a little, but it would be really easy to get her to go back down. So one of these nights, we decided to use the Snoo. She cried a little bit, the Snoo started shaking, and then she started crying even more, and the Snoo started shaking a little bit more, we were getting worried, that maybe this wasn’t going to work, and after a few more minutes, she eventually fell asleep! It was like magic! So although we didn’t have a fussy baby, and she was probably one of the best sleepers ever, we really could have done away with the Snoo, but for some of those nights where she is a little fussy, the Snoo will do its magic, and this saves you so much time! It’s definitely a nice to have, especially if you are just so exhausted, and you just want your baby to sleep instantly. So we thought we didn’t need it, but we are so glad we have it!
