The baby market is a beast. It is oversaturated, overwhelming, and specifically designed to make you feel like you need every single product on the shelf to keep your tiny human alive and thriving. Spoiler: you don’t. After two kids and an obscene amount of money spent, I’m here to share what I know regarding sleep, diapers and clothes. Hopefully so you can spend less time browsing Amazon at 3AM and more time surviving it.
Sleep
I remember sleep. It was a beautiful, fleeting life I lived before I traded my soul for a tiny human who needs me every few hours. Here’s the thing no company wants parents to know – all babies are different. Some sleep through the night right away. Some sleep all day and party all night. My first was a decent nighttime sleeper but what I can only describe as a crap napper. We’re talking 20–40 minute intervals if I was lucky. I was rocking, shushing, running a noise machine, perfecting my swaddle technique, and blacking out every window in the house like I was hiding from the sun. I was doing everything and still losing my mind. At four months, I finally hired a sleep consultant. Game changer. They just needed fed before bed, no swaddle and for me to understand their crying and when they needed me. My second? A completely different animal. They required a full 45 minutes to an hour next to mom basically waiting until they were completely unconscious. Then in a half zombie like stupor I’d transfer them to the bassinet. It was its own special kind of torture. We sleep trained our second at four months as well and haven’t looked back.
There’s no universal fix. I was convinced I wasn’t cutout for motherhood gaslighting myself countless times. Don’t be afraid to ask for help sooner than I did.
Well $HIT. The GREATEST Diaper Debate
Can we talk about diaper snobbery? It’s a thing, and it’s as ridiculous as it sounds. Yes, there are moms out there who will only put their child in Coterie and would sooner combust than reach for a generic brand. We were lucky enough to be able to afford compostable diapers, and Bambo worked great for us — but here’s the truth: whatever diaper fits your budget works just fine. A diaper’s one job is to contain the chaos, and the $0.15 store brand does that just as well as the $0.60 bougie option. Don’t let anyone make you feel otherwise. Your baby is not keeping score.
I do not understand wipe warmers. I said what I said. You know what works beautifully for diaper changes on the go? Dog pee pads. Yes, really. They’re a fraction of the cost of anything marketed with a baby on the label, they do the exact same job, and nobody’s going to judge you once they see how well it works
The diaper aisle is full of products that look essential and aren’t. Keep it simple. Your baby does not care about the ambiance of their changing station.
Clothing: Cute is a Luxury, Easy is a Necessity
For the first six months, here is my honest advice: do not spend money on baby clothes. I’m serious. The vast majority of the time, your child is going to be in a onesie, pajamas, or whatever is fastest to remove when you’re elbow-deep in a diaper situation. Save the cute outfits for photos, and hopefully those get gifted to you, because they will be worn exactly once and then outgrown.
Which brings me to pajamas. Pajamas are arguably the most important clothing category of the first year, and one where the stakes are surprisingly high at 2AM.
Two brands that will genuinely change your life are MagneticMe and Kite Baby. Magnetic closures and zip-ups. That’s it. That’s the secret.
If someone gifts you pajamas covered in snaps all over, everywhere – smile, say a polite thank you, and quietly relocate them. Unless you enjoy solving puzzles in the dark while running on three hours of sleep, those are not your friends. And if the gifter is a fellow mom? I’m going to charitably assume it was a momentary lapse in judgment. If it wasn’t… I’m not sure how to proceed.
There’s lots more to post on strollers, rockers, feeding, etc but that’s a post for another day. Stay bothered.