Sara’s Newborn Favorites

It seems like just yesterday I was uploading pictures to announce our new little bundle and here we are now and my little guy is one month old today!

I thought it was the perfect day to share some of my current faves for the little babes (and their Momma’s.)

There are a lot of options when it comes to baby-wearing, and I’ve tried a lot of things in the past 9 years with 4 babies and the Solly Wrap is my favorite.   Their fabrics are so incredibly soft and lightweight, that it doesn’t even feel like it’s on.  I wear mine around the house even, when my little Gavin just wants to be held, but I need both of my hands.  He is instantly soothed every time I pop him in there.

I’ve even tried similar styled wraps, but one of the things I love about the Solly Baby wrap is that you don’t need an extra suit case to carry around loads of fabric.  It’s so comfortable to wear and it folds up into it’s own little pocket and it fits into my normal purse.  They come in lots of gorgeous colors, and the Solly Baby team is stellar. I absolutely love companies with great stories, and I love that the founder, Elle, started her business in a little sewing nook at home.   I especially love these wraps in the newborn phase when the little babies can just sit there close to your heart, and they’re so light you hardly notice them there!

It’s been 4 1/2 years since I last had an infant, so during my pregnancy I asked for recommendations for favorite baby items on Instagram.  One of the most popular things people mentioned were Aden and Anais Blankets, which were new to me.  They’re large, lightweight blankets made from muslin, which gets softer with each wash, and they are pretty fabulous.

Aden and Anais however, are also pricey.  If you’re interested in name brand, Amazon has some great deals, like this set- which drops it down to under $9 per blanket.  They also make discounted lines for both Target and Babies R Us.  However, I have several other brands that are just as great.  The blankets I use the very most are these very ones by Summer.  We started using them to wrap up our little burrito in the hospital the day he was born and he still gets curled up in them every day.

Pick Your Plum has some in stock right now, too. Muslin blankets are great because they’re so light-weight, yet so soft.  They’re great for swaddling, using as a nursing cover, covering up a car seat, laying down on the ground to change a diaper, using as a burp cloth, you name it.  I reach for these over and over again so I’m glad I have a big stack of them!  They make great baby gifts, too.

My favorite newborn item, hands down, are little sleeper gowns.  My boys pretty much live in these exclusively for the first 1-2 months of life.  Babies basically eat, sleep, and wet themselves in an endless cycle those first few months and these little gowns make it so easy to keep them cozy and get those diapers changed fast.  No buttoning, snapping, and fighting.  Just pull their little legs out and easy-peasy.  I especially love this little set that Carter’s has out right now, and matching hats?  Perfection.

My 3 older boys still sleep with a fan on at night, even in the dead of winter, because that’s what we used for white noise when they were babies.  This time around we got this slick little noise machine.  It’s got lots of noise options, takes up little space, and works great.  In our house, it signals bed time and my little one sleeps so much better when it’s on (which means Mom and Dad sleep so much better when it’s on.)  If you have a little one who’s having trouble sleeping, seriously, try some white noise.

Have you guys seen The Little Umbrella?  It’s such a fun site, and it has an awesome section of free, customizable printables.  Play around with it- it’s so easy and so fun.  I made these cute initial prints for my boys’ rooms and they look so professional and custom!  You pick any colors you like and fill in your info and then it prints right out on your own printer.  I made custom art in about 30 seconds and felt like superwoman.  These would be super cute baby gifts, too!  (Totally unrelated to baby, but I LOVE their *free* Thanksgiving Suite- you can customize all of those colors, too.  So fun!)

For the stylish babe who’s SO over those totally infantile paci clips… lol.  I love these cute leather clips.  The braided one is from Madeline’s Box and the thick strip is from Sugar Lime.  I bought both of these through Brickyard Buffalo, where they were discounted.  I love how they look with a cute outfit, and again- they’d make a unique baby gift!

Lastly, I just wanted to mention a couple things about keeping memories of those little ones.  Knowing this is my last baby has made me insanely sentimental (like, more so than a normal hormonal postpartum lady) and I want to savor every second because they grow SO fast.

I’ve told you lots about my different systems for scrapbooking and memory keeping (you can read about it here).  As a busy Mom of four, so many of my photos these days, especially of my newborn, are taken with my phone.  With a baby, everything is so in-the-moment so I find myself quickly snapping away while he’s sleeping on my lap, or while he’s looking cute on a walk, or whatever.  I love the Project Life App for taking those little snapshots and actually doing something with them.

I had a couple of pages done before I even left the hospital!  I also still love and use the Collect Photo App, which makes it easy to capture a cute photo of the baby every day and watch him grow over the coarse of the months.

So those are some of MY favorite things- tell me, what are your favorites??