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Top 10 #8: Bath Tub/Seat
Posted on August 6th, 2008 2 commentsThis is the eighth item in my Top 10 Things I Could Not Have Lived Without During My Baby’s First Year post.
We used a baby bath tub for the first nine or so months of Samantha’s life. We put it in our kitchen sink and washed her there. We used a Safety 1st Comfy Duck Bath Center and loved it! It fit perfectly in our standard-size sink, had a drain hole for the water, a temperature strip, two recessed holes for shampoo or toys, the foam part the baby lays on is slip-proof, and it came with a rinse cup and a sling for a newborn. We never used the sling because it basically suspended the baby over the water, instead of having her lay in it (not enough slack in the design of the sling).
My only complaint about this tub was that it was difficult to rinse the shampoo out of Samantha’s hair (what little she had!). The tub was inclined enough that, if we poured water on her head, it would go in her face. We ended up turning her whole body around and holding her over the end of the tub/sink with one arm, and rinsing with the other. It was a bit of a pain with a crying, wriggling newborn, but not too bad with an older baby who was accustomed to the process.
When Samantha was sitting up well and outgrew her baby bath tub, we bought a bath seat. We purchased an Aquababy Bath Ring. We’re very pleased with it. Even though Sam is sitting up just fine on her own, I still wouldn’t trust her to sit still in a tub for a bath. I’m sure she would squirm around, try to stand up, etc. With the seat she sits still, except when she can’t reach a toy floating in the water.
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Top 10 #6: Front/Back Carrier
Posted on July 30th, 2008 No commentsThis is the sixth item in my Top 10 Things I Could Not Have Lived Without During My Baby’s First Year post.
Carriers are a huge help, especially with babies who want to be held a lot. I believe the term is “baby wearing.” We started off with an Infantino 6-in-1 Rider. When we were picking out products before we had Samantha (and even still) I look for things that can be used for different stages of development or have multiple uses, so we get the most bang for our buck. The 6-in-1 rider looked great, because it has 6 uses: carrier facing in, carrier facing out, backpack, car seat support, chair harness, and shopping cart seat. We both used it a few times as a carrier facing in and it was great. When I began using it as a carrier facing out, Samantha didn’t seem totally comfortable in it, and I actually feel like it was too tight across her chest (I thought she breathed funny when she was in it). As for the other functions, I think I used it once as a chair harness (you just strap it to a chair so she sits up). We didn’t use it at all for the other three functions.
We later decided to buy an Evenflo Snugli Front & Back Pack Carrier. We like this one a lot! It’s comfortable to wear, and Samantha seemed comfortable in it. It seems much sturdier and better made than the Infantino. We’ve only used it in the facing front position. This one has two zippered vents in the front, plus a pocket on the front for your cell phone and other small things.
My mom found us a second-hand LL Bean Kids hiking backpack. It works great for hiking, being in crowds of people where a stroller would be difficult to push, and walking up and down your driveway when it’s too muddy to drive on *sigh.* It’s got lots of cushioning in the shoulder straps, a waist strap, sternum strap, and mesh pockets on the back. It even has a detachable bag that hangs underneath. I tried to find it online so I could link to it, but I think it was actually recalled because people let their babies fall through the leg holes that stuff like that. The only one I found was on e-Bay. I’d definitely recommend something similar if you spend time in the great outdoors!
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Top 10 #4: Bumbo Baby Sitter
Posted on July 23rd, 2008 No commentsThis is the fourth item in my Top 10 Things I Could Not Have Lived Without During My Baby’s First Year post.
We used a Bumbo Baby Sitter for several months. It’s basically a firm foam seat that a baby can sit up in, even before they can sit up on their own. As soon as a baby can hold up their head, they can sit up in a Bumbo seat! We used this all the time with Samantha so she didn’t always have to be laying down in her swing or other seats. You can even buy a plastic try that fits on the front. We used this as her travel high chair and it worked great! It’s easily washable and quite light. I believe the only other seat similar is the bebePOD.
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Top 10 #3: Tummy Time Mat
Posted on July 20th, 2008 No commentsThis is the third thing in my Top 10 Things I Could Not Have Lived Without During My Baby’s First Year post.
This was definitely a great thing to have! It gave Samantha a clean place to practice being on her tummy, even if the rest of the floor wasn’t spotless. The one we have, Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Kick ‘N Crawl Aquarum, is great because it’s a 3-stage mat. First, it’s a tummy time mat with colorful characters and toys for a baby to look at, then it’s an overhead gym with dangling toys and a ball, then it’s a tunnel with dangling toys for baby to crawl through.
This particular one was great also because it rolled up easily and fairly small to travel with.
Tummy Time Mat
Overhead Gym
Tunnel
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Top 10 #2: Automatic Swing
Posted on July 16th, 2008 No commentsThis is the second item in my Top 10 Things I Could Not Have Lived Without During My Baby’s First Year post.
Since babies loved to be rocked, and Samantha particularly loved to be in motion, an automatic swing is a great thing to have! We have a Graco Swing ‘N Bounce 2-in-1 Infant Swing. Sam didn’t actually use her swing a whole lot. She did like it occasionally, though. It was very useful for the times when she wanted to be held and rocked a lot; we’d put her in, turn it on, and she was all set! She did fall asleep in it quite a few times.
This one had a couple of toys and a tray area (not that they’re eating finger foods at this age), and it had toys and a mirror hanging overhead. The other nice feature was that the whole seat detached from the swing and it could be used as a bouncy seat that vibrated. We didn’t actually use this that much, probably because we were given a separate seat similar to it that we used more often.
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