A Few of My Favorite Things, Mom Edition!
For those of you who are familiar with the song, yes, pun intended 🙂
– Playtex Drop in Bottles= These are by far my most favorite bottle. These bottles use plastic liners inserted into a bottle. They are great for keeping bottles clean since you just throw the liner out when you’re through. They are intended for single usages but I often will wash them and use them for a few bottles during the day before throwing them out. Many superstores offer an off-brand of the liners so you can save some money on them. I love how easy they are!
-Munchkin Mesh Feeders (below)= Both my kids have used these. I love the fact that these keep kids from choking on solids but let’s them explore. I love letting my kids te
st out new textures and foods while they play. These are great for teething also!
-Swaddle Me Swaddle blankets= as much as my son hated to be swaddled, my daughter LOVES it. After countless nights of trying to get my daughter swaddled at the wee hours of 3 am and no sleep, we finally broke down and bought some Velcro blankets. Yes, they are amazing. It makes swaddling so much easier and keeps the hold all night long. They come in several sizes and fabric weights for every situation!
-A good diaper bag!= I have yet to find THE BEST diaper bag yet. I would actually love to have two diaper bags. One for longer trips, lots of pockets and storage room for more than one kid. Easy to care and easy to hang on a stroller or back. I’d also love one for shorter trips, lots of pockets and enough room to get the essentials in without lugging around a suitcase! Oh yes, I want a quality bag that doesn’t cost a car payment to purchase! Feel free to share your input on this one!
-Baby gates (pictured right)= I love me a good baby gate! My favorite baby gate is the Evenflo Summit Easy Walk Through gate! This is the best gate I’ve come across. 
I loved the fact the door could swing either direction so we could have it at the stairs and the gate can swing either way. It fit perfectly in any doorway and it is extremely kid proof (it’s often parent proof too!). These are pressure mounted onto the wall so you don’t damage your walls by putting holes in them (watch your paint though! we had one spot that the mount pulled the paint off the wall, although I’d rather touch up paint than patch holes!) We’ve got several of these in my house and I love them! I don’t think I’ll ever by another baby gate!
-Infantino Ecosash Wrap & Tie Carrier= Baby wearing is an up and coming trend! It gives mom the chance to two hands but being able to be close to baby at the same time. Often times these carriers can run in the upwards of $70-$90. I found a perfect alternative! This carrier is sturdy and well built. I feel that my kiddos are safe and they love it! The particular carrier I have can have the print reversed so that way my husband doesn’t feel less manly having a flowery carrier yet I can still feel girly when I want! It’s a great compromise from an expensive carrier!
-Graco IPO stroller! (pictured below)= This is the BEST ‘umbrella’ stroller. It’s light weight yet heavy duty. This is not one of those flimsy umbrella strollers. I love the under 
carriage storage, it’s huge (for the size of the stroller that is!). The seat reclines and has a harness to keep baby safe. It folds up super tiny and is still light weight. I bought and used this stroller when my son was just 6 months old, we used it to fly and it was great! So much nicer than having to lug around a huge travel system stroller. This stroller also comes in a side by side double! love!
-Fisher Price Nature’s Touch Cradle Swing= this thing was a life safer! My son used this for the first 4 months of his life, slept in it! He had sever vomiting issues and until we fixed it this was the only thing that would soothe him. It can swing side to side or can be turned to swing front to back. It reclines all the way back and sits up for older kiddos who want a view. The mobile at the top was wonderful, my son loved looking at it! I’ll never forget the first time he “saw” himself in the mirror on the swing, he laughed for hours! Any other babies that come into our lives will absolutely have one of these! I don’t think they still make the Nature’s Touch version of this but the swing itself is still in production.
My number one most favorite Mom thing: Amazon mom! I just can’t get over this! I ship my kids diapers AND wipes for as cheap as store brands and they come to my door when I want them! I can adjust when they come, how often, what sizes and brands I purchase, it really is great! If you haven’t checked it out already, I suggest you do! Above all, the subscription is free and it’s all sponsored through amazon!
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Please update your stroller section. Graco makes the worst strollers they’re nothing but plastic. Get something like a Quinny or bugaboo hell even maclaren they will make your life easier!
The section about the strollers are about strollers I’ve used in particular. I’ve not used some of the more expensive strollers. Not only that, although you bring up a great point of the strollers being a better handling and or quality, the prices on these strollers also double, even triple in price of a Graco. So although some of Graco’s products might not be as high quality, not everyone can drop $600 for a stroller. Just something to keep in mind 🙂 Perhaps in a later blog, I can touch on higher quality strollers.
I understand where you’re coming from I dumped my graco bc I’ve used it and I know is complete crap after upgrading to Quinny I refuse to ever buy graco brand in strollers!
Chico has great quality and they run in the same price as graco. And not all quality strollers
are that high take the Quinny Zapp extra for example is only $300 or the maclaren triumph which is a lightweight only runs $170. I’m a strong believer you get what you pay for.
I agree with you in the sense of you get what you pay for. However, I personally haven’t had issues with my Graco IPO and I’ve used it quite regularly. It ultimately comes down to one of those preference issues. The Maclaren you suggested runs about $100 more than the Graco that I suggested. From what I can tell, the features of the strollers are apples for apples. So, it would come down to quality and price for many people. I’m not trying to downplay that Maclaren might make a better stroller than graco, I’ve not used them so I can’t speak. In some people’s eyes, it’s easier to buy the more expensive stroller, because it might indicate better quality than having to buy two of the cheaper stroller when it gives out. Logic right? Here’s my argument to that: what says that because it’s more expensive makes it better? (and not just with stroller, any product in general). I think sometimes as parents we get wrapped up in a brand name or a price point and say “well, since my car seat is most expensive, it’s the safest!”. There are undoubtedly better strollers or products than a Graco brand product, but does that mean they are worth the extra money? That’s dependent on the person to answer. I think the best way to determine our favorite products is to see what works best for our budget and our life styles. A hard core runner isn’t going to want a cheaply made jogging stroller, they’ll want a higher quality, which typically indicates a higher price point. Someone who jogs once every six months, is probably in love with a cheaper jogging stroller. So it’s all about what you want out of your product.
Clearly just said you get what you pay for. Who wants plastic that’s not gonna last? I do believe bc is expensive is better, comfort, manuaverability(sp) you get all that for the price you pay and not to mention great customer service. I just know that as a parent I won’t ever drop $150 on a graco ever, been there done that! Yeah it might be more expensive to get the other strollers but at the end it evens out for all the great features you get!