By the time a 4th baby comes on board, you’d think you know exactly what you need and don’t need to navigate the first few months. For the most part that’s true. We’ve never been overboard with baby items. We’ve pretty much stuck to the basics and a few favorite items time after time. While that’s true this time around as well, there have been some new (to us) products that we either borrowed from friends or bought on our own that we’ve loved.
Here’s what we’ve loved using with baby #4:
HALO SLEEPSAKS: We have used these with every child in almost every size they come in. JL even used the toddler fleece zip-up with holes at the bottom so he could walk around until he was almost three. They’ve been one of our favorite items over the years. I always have two in each size so there’s always one clean. We’ve reordered many over the years!
SMILO PACIS: These pacis were a favorite for the first few months until Isaac became a full-time finger sucker. I ordered the newborn pack of three before he was born. I liked that they were made of silicone and the supportive shape of them. I took some to the hospital with us to have on hand after he was born.
LIFEFACTORY BOTTLES: I love these bottles so much! We’ve actually had a few of these for years, 8 to be exact. When Thomas was born we got a starter pack of these for a gift. We went to formula pretty quickly with him, and I didn’t love them for using formula because the opening of the bottle isn’t very wide.
During our breastfeeding challenges this time, we were supplementing with the premie size Dr. Brown’s bottles after each feeding. Then there were times where I began experimenting with pumping and needing to give more than the two ounces the premie bottle held. I recalled that the Dr. Brown’s nipples fit the Lifefactory bottles, and voila! We’ve been using them ever since. I ordered a few more of the 4 ounce and 9 ounce sizes and that’s all we ended up using. I love how they’re glass, easy to clean, and not a ton of parts to them.
BOON DRYING RACK: This product has been around a while. But we just retired our older carousel-style drying rack for this Boon one with baby #4. I purchased the white color. I love it on the counter. It holds everything, and it looks nice. I have a few accessories that I use for bottle nipples and breast pump parts to dry on. I also purchased the travel size drying rack. That’s been really helpful the couple of times we’ve traveled in the last few months.
HAAKKAA BREAST MILK COLLECTOR: This item was on a list of best baby products I read when I was pregnant. I made a note to put this on my list of things to purchase before baby was born, and I’m so glad I did! I truly believe having this on hand from the very early days allowed me to be able to supplement with my own breastmilk rather than formula. It was also SO much easier to use this at the same time as nursing in the beginning rather than nurse and then follow up with an electric pump.
I used this several times with the lactation consultant, and it was encouraging to hear her say I had a good amount of milk. It was also helpful to see the milk and see the quality of it. All these things eased my mind about my supply after struggling with breastfeeding with the others babies.
HATCH BABY SMART CHANGING PAD: This is another item that’s been part of our daily routine. I wish I had purchased this and had it right when he was born. For the first few weeks when we were having weight issues, we borrowed a baby scale from my sister-in-law. That worked well, but what drew me to this one initially was the fact that I could weigh a feeding pretty accurately, down to the quarter ounce. We ended up purchasing this around the 5-week mark. For a few weeks we used this to not only weigh him every few days but also to track how much milk he was taking in when he nursed.
Although we made the decision to go to exclusive pumping, I still used the Hatch Baby app every day to track my pumping output, kept track of dirty diapers, and feeding amounts. We continued to weigh him every week or two, and it keeps track of his weight and his percentile.
PIP AND GROW SLEEP BOX: This is the best item we’ve owned for any of our babies! It’s a baby box based on a European tradition that creates a safe sleep space for babies. About the time he was born, there was a recall on the Fisher Price Rock n Play. We had used that in the past occasionally before going to the crib full time.
We needed a new alternative, and this box is perfect. He’s in our room/closet for the time being, and this is great for a small space. It’s got a little mattress inside the box too. We’ve traveled with it twice, and it’s been easy to transport and really convenient. Once he outgrew the box for sleeping, we used it around the house for him to sit in and play with toys.
BLESSED NEST NURSING PILLOW: This pillow I came across in the middle of the night when I was so uncomfortable with the other nursing pillows we had. I love the Boppy pillow for propping baby up to lounge, it’s just not my favorite for nursing. I’ve borrowed the My Brest Friend pillow as well, and it’s still not super comfortable to me.
This Blessed Nest Pillow was really the most comfortable to me during the weeks of nursing. I liked that I could mold it however I needed to be most comfortable. Then when we swapped to bottle feeding, it’s been a helpful support as well.
