5 Items We Ditched By Baby #3
When we were registering for our first pregnancy everything was overwhelming! I felt like I needed to buy all the things to be a successful, prepared for anything Mom. As we are almost out of the baby stage with our third child, there are some items that kicked it to the freecycle curb long ago.
Please know that I’m not saying you DON’T need these items; some of them, such as the Itzbeen timer is a life saver for a close friend of mine on baby number 4. Each will come with personal preference, but in terms of streamlining, these were our family’s thoughts heading into the attic to pull out gear for each new baby!
1. ItzBeen Timer
With our first baby, the sun, moon and stars revolved around the workings and stats this portable charting system recorded. Everything from when baby last slept, what breast last nursed on, number of dirty and wet diapers and more was included. If we hadn’t updated it, we panicked! If we didn’t know where it was, all hell broke loose. By our third baby, we are much more casual about how many diapers to chart (1 of each type per day of life until day 4) and alternated breasts each feeding and fed on demand. Nap timing? Any sleep was amazing with our third!
2. Shopping Cart Covers
We would carry this thing around with us everywhere. An obstruction between baby and all of the germs the world had around him was essential. So were the easy to leave behind toys that strap to the cover. By the second kid, we succumbed to the antimicrobial wipes that the store has next to the cart. By the third? Licking the handle of the cart provides antibodies.
3. Arm & Hammer Disposable Diaper Baggies
This one was a neat feature too. Anything that got ‘icky’ went into the bag, and then we tossed the bag whenever we could. Now? Straight into the garbage can nearest. It’s neatly wrapped in itself anyway, right?
4. Back Seat Mirrors
We had a swag mirror with our first kiddo that made sounds, lit up and allowed us to see every single thing he was doing back there in the rear facing car seat! It gave us a lot of peace of mind when we were driving that things were ok and the tears he was routinely spewing weren’t from suffocation or imminent peril. Now? We have other kids to entertain the baby. That’s their greatest feature.
5. Burp Cloths
You might be gasping at this elimination! What? What do you do with the spit up? Turns out, the items we use the MOST - swaddle blankets - have this as a bonus feature. One giant muslin can swaddle, act as a blanket and wipe up even the gnarliest of spit up disasters. It made washing and remembering one more item obsolete for us.
Wondering how you’re going to narrow down your choices? Look at functionality vs. emotionally charged purchases. If something can cover more than one use, then it’s bound to stay around for awhile. If it seems like a fancy gadget that you MUST have, then by all means, Inspector Gadget that baby stage! You do you.
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