The Top Items that Make Being a Mom Easier

Motherhood is a whirlwind of new and sometimes scary experiences, it's exciting and overcomes you with happiness. No matter what you hear however, no amount of advice or even experience prepares you for having your own little bundle of joy for the first time. Parenthood is full of stress, surprises, and inconvenience in of itself. Anything that makes those sleepless nights easier, soothes baby, or gives you a free hand, or some free time can make all the difference in a good day and a very bad one. I have found some products that make my days with baby go by much smoother. Feeding and diapering is very important and the items I use each day make a difference. Traveling with an infant is no small feat, and one item has made it so much simpler. Lastly, but also essential is the area of soothing and sleeping for a baby.

Since most of my time is spent feeding and changing my daughter, I am highly concerned with the topic and have searched and tried all sorts of different things and brands to make it easier and cheaper. Any parent knows that a huge amount of money is spent to find the right formula, cereals, diapers, and rash ointments to keep your baby content as well as trying to keep a little money in your pocket. Well, my husband and I have bought all kinds of name brand and tried the cheap stuff as well. Because I have always helped to raise children in my family, I know quite a bit by trial and error with different names in baby supplies. As far as diapers, I learned something new, the brand that I used with my niece(now 6 years old) was Drypers and they were excellent at being cost effective and holding in leaks.

I was disappointed to say the least when I went to my local Kroger to find them in newborn size and did not find any of that brand at all. The only place I did find them was in size 3 online, with the added cost of shipping, it wouldn't have been worth it as it was when i could go to the local grocery store and buy them for $4.99 a pack. Now I have found a new brand of diaper that my husband and I love, CVS/Pharmacy makes some of the best diapers we have ever put on our baby. We found that CVS quite often has a buy one get one free sale on their diapers and pull-ups(which I look forward to trying on my daughter when she is old enough for potty training) and they are usually around $9.00 for two packages. It is a steal when you compare other brands and the fact that they are very stretchy for comfort, thick, and absorbent(we use the Supremes), it makes me happy to get her up now that she is sleeping through the night and know that her bottom is dry. Secondly, there is diaper rash ointment. Many people will spend upwards of $10 or more for name brand ointments when you can get the off brand kind with the same active ingredient for much less. We use the Dollar General Store brand of creamy rash ointment, it works wonders and just as well as the expensive ones I have used before.

With the price here only being $1.50, we stock up, go worry free, and save. Parent's Choice unscented diaper wipes work great, you can get them at Wal-Mart and they are under $8.00 for a box of over 400. In the beginning, feeding my baby was a challenge and she never seemed to get full unless I constantly breast fed her. It was convenient to do for night time and early morning feedings when I was tired and did not feel like mixing bottles. Yet, she still did not sleep as soundly, thankfully my mother-in-law suggested feeding cereal early which I had already discussed with my husband. Now every baby is different, some doctors will tell you not to feed them cereals until they are X months old and some will tell you to go ahead. Personally, I've taken care of babies that were content with just their formula, and those that weren't getting enough and needed cereal. It really just depends on if the baby seems to be getting full, is happy and calm, and doesn't constantly feed irregularly and seem hungry even just after feeding. My child needed cereal and we found that she slept better after eating a cereal bottle. Nature's Goodness oatmeal baby cereal from Wal-Mart for about $1.30 and Beechnut Good Evening whole grain brown rice cereal for about $1 at Kroger have helped a great deal. Now my daughter sleeps better and isn't always hungry. For formula, I found that Enfamil Prosobee works best for her and her digestive system which can't handle milk-based formulas.

Traveling with a baby is an altogether different experience, you have to be prepared for changing, feeding, and you need to be able to have something that makes going anywhere you need to easier. I had expressed to my husband that I wanted a travel system in which we could take the car seat out and connect it to the stroller. Again, my mother-in-law found a great system that was inexpensive and we both love. She went to a local thrift and resale store (another thing that has saved us tons of money and provided all kinds of baby supplies) and bought an Evenflo travel system for $30. It is navy plaid and makes trips to yard sale, thrift stores, grocery shopping, and walks in the park so much easier. It's light weight and have plenty of compartments to hold diapers, bottles, toys, cup holders for your drink and keys and it's collapsible for easy loading. My daughter was born back in the winter when it was extremely cold, so we wanted to keep her warm and protected. We found a bunting car seat carrier at the thrift store for under $10, although the openings for the car seat straps didn't fit perfectly, my husband altered it with some precise cuts and velcro. These items make traveling so easy, we picked neutral colors for most baby gear because if we have another child, we can still use these without having to worry about it being color coordinated to the sex of the baby. Dark blues, plaids, yellows, sages, whites and off whites, and grays are good for either sex.

Keeping my child soothed and getting her to drift off to sleep when she was tired was exhausting. Some babies lull themselves off to sleep with no problem, but others want to stay awake no matter what you do. Hospital schedules, the activity the experience before coming home, and lighting all contribute to sleeping patterns. Infants usually have certain things that they like which soothe them. For my daughter, she likes the presence of light and usually some type of motion to get her to sleep. This was especially true of her first two months, she wanted to sleep on my chest while I rocked her, if not she would stay up until she couldn't hold her eyes open and cry. My husband's mother bought a generic swing which has been invaluable from, again a thrift store the local Good Will. It helps my baby to start the process of falling asleep and when I see that she is starting to go to sleep, I place her in her bed. It works like a charm and makes her get used to sleeping in her own bed so that I won't have the problem of her wanting to share our bed later on. Because she is soothed by light, we bought an inexpensive night light from Deals for $1, ours has a purple flower cover. Studies show that blue or purple colored light is helpful for getting most babies to sleep. We have a rocking chair that was given to us by my mother-in-law which comes in handy for when we get up with her at night, it's very cushy and lets all of the way back for a comfortable positioning while feeding and rocking baby to sleep.

All of the things that I have found to make days easier with my baby are inexpensive and very helpful. I couldn't live without these things, not with any sanity at least. Anything that can save money as a parent is a great thing and there should be more cheap things that actually help with keeping babies happy and safe. Remember that the most expensive isn't always the best, as long as it is safe and makes for a happy child, it is a good thing.