Mommy Products To Try

My shopping preferences have dramatically changed since I became a mother. Shoes, clothes and accessories hardly catch my attention, but bring me to a baby store, any baby store? Well, good luck trying to drag me out of there.

As mentioned in a previous post, mommies can sometimes go a little overboard when buying things for their kids. Factor in today's internet-based economy, where there's a lot of great products for mommies to try for themselves, and you could really go on a shopping frenzy.

With Little C on the way, I've gotten a little more cautious about what stuff to buy. Not everything is a must-try for me, but here are some products that I would personally recommend for new mommies to consider buying. Three of them are new products for our household to try, while the other two are mommy/baby products that I'm looking forward to revisiting with the wisdom gained from my experience with J.

1. The Swaddler - I know he liked the feeling of being swaddled, because he'd sleep better while swaddled, but swaddling him using a receiving blanket never held him for too long. Plus, diaper changes were always nerve wracking. Since you had to unwrap the entire thing to get at his butt, there was always the risk of waking him up. With Little C, I decided to invest in swaddling blankets. For the most part, we ordered swaddling blankets from the US, but I'm also considering purchasing a Woombie as well, just to see which works better.

2. Sophie the Giraffe Teether - We actually bought this during a moment of weakness (and after several loving bites from my teething vampire). We had J try it out, but he was too happy chomping on the rest of his toys, and on us, to even give it a shot. So Sophie goes back in her box to wait for Little C. I'll train him to nibble at Sophie from the get-go so we save ourselves a lot of pain, literally.

3. 2oz. Breastmilk Storage Bottles - My breastpump came with a set of 5oz. bottles, but not all moms are immediately blessed with the ability to pump out 5oz of breastmilk. I remember being so disheartened when I saw how little milk I came up with after each pumping. They barely came to half of the bottle. So when I saw these tiny little bottles at the Medela House, I fell in love with them because they look much easier to fill up. I'm hoping that seeing a full, although small, bottle of breastmilk can also pump up (pardon the pun) my confidence and boost my milk supply. Other upsides? They're stackable, so they'll take up less space and look much more organized in the refrigerator compared to the 5oz bottles.

4. SaYa Baby Sling - I bought my SaYa soon after giving birth to J. But as a new mom who was still getting the hang of handling a seemingly fragile human being, I was really nervous about maneuvering his little body into the sling and I ended up just using it when he was older. But now, with Little C, I'm looking forward to pulling out my SaYa again and trying some of the positions that are recommended for newborns.

I'm also considering the ring sling, because I think it will help with breastfeeding Little C. While attending La Leche meetings, I've noticed lots of mommies using the ring sling while breastfeeding and it looks very easy and convenient to use. Speaking of babywearing and slings, there are two babywearing events coming up. One is this the Babywearing Meet 4, for this Saturday, but I think registration for this event has been closed already. I was hoping to attend it, since sellers of baby carriers will be there to answer questions and give a demo of their products, but prior plans have already been made. The other one will be on April 28 at the Medela House, and I will definitely be there. (Click on the links for more details on the two events.)

5. Last, but certainly not the least, Lactation Muffins from Mommy Treats! - I think I'm looking forward to these most of all. Haha. I tried these muffins while breastfeeding J to try and increase my milk supply (the banana oatmeal ones are my favorite!). Amount wise, it increased only by a little bit, but what I really liked was the noticeable difference in the quality of my milk. It was thicker and creamier-looking. That's because these little babies, baked with care by Mommy Paola Loot, are packed with various galactogogues, or substances that help increase milk supply. When I asked another breastfeeding mommy about products she could recommend for increasing milk supply, she immediately said, "Lactation cookies (they also have cookies) from Mommy Treats!" She nibbled on them at night when she got hungry and it helped boost her supply.

So mommies, if you're interested in trying these products, they are available from the following sellers: Mama.Baby.Love, Caleb's Closet Ecostore, Momtrepreneur Shop, Medela House, Mamaway and Mommy Treats.

*Disclaimer: All the shops mentioned in this post are shops that I have personally purchased items from, which is why I recommend them for other mommies. The products may also be available from other sellers. :-)