Five of The Best: First Year Essentials

With Poppy turning one I thought I’d share my top five essentials which got us through our first year.

1. Tommee Tippee Perfect Prep

   I was always a bit sceptical of these as after breastfeeding my first born I didn’t know what a faff making bottles was, waiting for it to cool etc. This has been a life saver and has made making bottles fresh so much easier. They are often included in baby events, so worth keeping an eye out to buy one a little cheaper.
   

   

2. Beaba Baby Cook

   This has made weaning so much easier and saved the endless washing up that goes with weaning. The Beaba Babycook allows you to steam all your vegetables and meat in one pot before blending. You can read more about our weaning adventures here.

   

3. White Noise App
   

   From a young age we have used Baby Sleep Sounds android app to help settle Poppy to sleep. When she was little we’d use the white noise, namely the washing machine, and now we use the lullabies to help calm her. I even took to installing it on my phone so I could put it beside her in the pram if we were out and she was struggling to settle.

4. Angelcare Bath Seat
   

   A lot of bath seats are rigid plastic and not the most comfortable for little ones. The Angelcare one is a softer plastic which warms to baby’s skin and also allows water to drain away through the holes.

5. Bouncer
   

   Babies seem to love or hate bouncers and Poppy loves having a good bounce about. We’ve had both a Jumperoo and also a door bouncer and she’s loved both of them, especially before she was mobile, as it gave her chance to move about and explore. If you’re tight on space I recommend a door bouncer as these can be easily stored away and I’d say Poppy probably preferred this as she could turn herself to see us if we were in the living room or in the kitchen. Ours was a bargain at £6 from Gumtree.