How many baby products did you realize you “need” as a parent of a baby and/ or child(ren)? Gas stove covers? Baby safe cleaning products? Fluoride-free toothpaste? Butt paste creams?
Here is the list of helpful baby and children products that I’ve used for the past 5 years or so that I highly recommend:
Stove Gas Covers
We highly recommend every household with young children to purchase some kind of stove covers for the knobs. When you are cooking soup or slow cooking something and walk away to attend to another task (such as changing a siblings diaper) sometimes, kids can wander to the kitchen and either touch the knob or turn it because they’re curious. Even when the kitchen is not in use, the kids can visit the kitchen and fiddle with it because they’ve seen you use it and accidentally turn it on without you knowing. The covers are convenient , easy to install and great for piece of mind. They’re not that bad looking either. I keep the covers on at all times when the kitchen isn’t in use. When I am cooking and need to attend elsewhere in the house for the moment, I lower the fire and put the cap back on so that the kids can’t touch or mess around with it.
CleanSmart Cleaning Spray (I emailed them and they are safe enough for pacifier cleaning)
Whenever we are cleaning up the house for a party or a playdate; I always try my best to sanitizer all the toys we have. When the kids were younger, it was even more important to find something that is baby safe for when they put the toys in their mouths when they are exploring their toys. When the kids pretend play with pretend food, they pretend, but often can’t help or without realizing, put the toys into their mouths. We have been using Clean Smart cleaning spray for years now and we love it. We clean their table trays in it before and after they eat and we don’t have to worry about food falling onto the table because we cleaned it with a safe cleaning spray. Before this, we always used Clorox wipes ( we keep this mostly in the kitchen or bathroom now when we are doing a cleaning; and comes handy during potty training for accidents). This is a statement I got off Amazon in their description section:
- Kills 99.9% of germs (viruses, bacteria, mold, fungus) with medical-field Hypochlorous technology. After killing harmful bacteria & germs, it becomes saline water and can air dry.
- No harsh chemicals, no alcohol, no added fragrance, contains no bleach. IMPORTANT: has a light scent like a chlorine swimming pool which dissipates fast.
Corner Guards
We highly recommend corner guards for your tables. They are useful when the babies are little and just getting the hand of walking; and when they are toddlers/ kids because no matter how many times you say no running at home, they will most likely run anyway. They can trip on something, they can trip on nothing and kids all fall from time to time. We like that these are clear and come off clean in our experience. We use it for a cornered glass table we have at home.
Windi
I used Windi frequently when Olivia had severe eczema as a newborn/baby and didn’t know she had so many food allergies. She had trouble digesting the breastmilk I was feeding her (which traces of whatever I was having in my diet including dairy, eggs and nuts). The Windi was inserted into their bottom, helping her relieve the poop (stand back because it can get messy). Nights when she was having tummy troubles, this saved the night and she would be able to sleep for the moment for an hour or two at least before waking up. Once we figured out what was causing her eczema, her tummy troubles greatly improved and we didn’t need it anymore. It’s handy for those moments for any tummy troubles (perhaps you ate extra beans that day?).
Nosefrida
We used this often when our kids were under 2 for stuffy noses or stubborn boogers. After we saline spray their noses, the boogers are easy to suck out with the Nosefrida. We like the ease of use, easy cleaning and refillable filters.
Aquaphor
Aquaphor works great on dry and/or cracked skin or diaper rash. We love it and use it alongside, often on top of Desitin and Coconut Oil to seal the moisture in, as recommended by our pediatrician.
Desitin
We use this religiously almost like lotion at our house, especially with the sensitive/ eczema prone skin. We use it after bath if their skin had been extra itchy or bumpy to help with the itch and redness. Sometimes we add a little coconut oil to make it easer to spread. We use it for diaper rash and even a quick tentative sunscreen if we forget our regular sunscreen at home.
*Note: Recently, we looked up the EWG ( Environmental Working Group ) Ratings and were astounded at how “bad” this product is in terms of what it contains. We are currently working on tryout our Honest Kids Diaper Rash Cream and Bordeaux’s Diaper Rash Cream Maximum Strength because the EWG Ratings were far superior than Desitin.
**UPDATE: We tried the Bordeaux Maximum Strength Diaper Cream and we are in love. I’m just a little upset took so long to try something other than the easily available Desitin (which we usually but from Costco). We used it once when we just got it on our kids and all their itchy eczema spots and they didn’t itch for the whole rest of the day. The skin showed immediate improvement. On the box, it states it was developed by a pharmacist for his 4 kids. It states that it is also free from dyes, preservatives, parabens and talc.
Coconut oil
We use it like chapsticks when their lips are dry, a few drops of coconut oil in their bath (as recommended by their pediatrician) or just as a moisturizer.
Spiffies Teeth/gum wipes
When are babies started showing their first few teeth, it would be a little yellow from time to time. We found these gum and teeth wipes to be helpful in keep their gums feeling fresh and baby teeth clean. We even use it time to time nowadays when they need to freshen up or just help their teeth look whiter.
An accurate thermometer
This is soooo important! We used so many brands and styles of thermometer before we found one that was super accurate. We have the Braun Thermoscan and love it. It comes with a few ear covers and we purchase extras on Amazon. It usually registers 98.6F on days when no one has a fever. We tried it on every member at home and it’s consistent.
Saline sprays
Our pediatrician recommends this all the time. We use this for allergy season, cold and flu season; pretty much whenever their nose is stuffy and needs a good clearing to flush germs out. It’s not as intimidating as a Nasal Rinse (which the older two uses with ease these days for colds–we call it the Nose Fountain! Hah)
Baby wipes
Baby wipes are great when we are eating out or giving them snacks or if they have chocolate all over their face from a cake at a party or ice cream from the ice cream truck or pizza sauce. Sometimes with just a hand sanitizer, the dirt still stays around especially after a day at the park. For us, it helps to wipe that dirt off before using hand sanitizers .
EO Hand Sanitizer Spray
We first discovered this Hand Sanitizer at our pediatricians office. We liked how it was created from essential oils and didn’t dry out our hands and didn’t leak. We took it with us everywhere (park, restaurants, school, birthday parties, vacation) and sprayed them when we we didn’t get to wash their hands when we are out and about.We purchased the peppermint because personally, I thought lavender scented might attract insects in the summer (not sure if its true; peppermint reminds me more of a natural smell of an insect repellant? does that logic make sense?)
Jack and Jill Organic Baby Fluoride Free Toothpaste
We used this two years since our kids grew in most of their baby teeth. Before that, we used Spiffies teeth and gum wipes. We like that it contained natural ingredients and fluoride free in case they swallowed it. We visited the dentist twice with all the kids and we are happy to say they have zero cavities! Thank you also to Eccella Smiles for keeping our teeth healthy and clean.
Ergo baby
With three kids in tow all under the age of 3 just a few years ago, this was so handy in so many ways. Having the older two in the stroller, while carrying the baby gave us one less stroller to tow around and a happy, comfy baby. We used it hiking, grocery store runs, trips to the park, around the house errands,doctors visit and used it almost daily. We used it to get our babies to sleep when they had tummy troubles, when they were overly sleepy, cranky or just had trouble sleeping. It can be tiring carrying a baby until they fall asleep in your arms tired; and sometimes you are just too sleepy and feel more comfy just holding the baby close to you in the baby carrier. We used our Ergo baby for about 5 years and aside from a little fading, it still works!
Milkies
I wrote about this product on my breastfeeding tips post. It was a life saver for moms that leak on one breasts, while the baby was feeding in the other. From speaking to several moms, not everyone leaks. But if you are one of the moms that leak or know a mom who leaks while the baby is feeding on one side, Milkies is a God send product. It’s like silicone cup with a hole you wear in your bra to catch the leak. It’s also easy to wear during bed time for sore nipples or just if you feel like airing it out. The silicone is pretty soft and flexible. After the leaking milk is caught during a feeding or after bedtime, simply just pour it easily into a bottle or breastmilk storage bag. See Breastfeeding Tips post for more breastfeeding tips.
Toilet Paper Saver
We used this when Ayla and Olivia where still trying to get the hand for tearing the appropriate amount of toilet paper. They used to clog the toilet a lot with all the toilet paper they put in. This toilet paper saver was very resourceful. It gets inserted into the new toilet paper roll and it comes attached with a band that limits the roll from being pulled continuously. You have to work to tear the paper, making it more difficult to tear too much off. We highly recommend this if your child(ren) are having trouble with limiting the amount ehh tear off. We don’t use it anymore because the girls all have gotten the hand of tearing off the proper proportions and no longer clog our toilet.
Door stoppers
We buy the kind with cute animals for our doors at home. Sometimes, the kids can accidentally kick themselves in the bathroom and this comes in handy from in aiding them to prevent that. It’s also great to put on closing doors because it can help if their fingers are in the way. But please do check on on the door stoppers from time to time, because somethings they are used so much, they don’t hold their shape as well and don’t work as effectively as when they were new.
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Do you have any Helpful Baby/ Children’s Products you would recommend to parents/ caregivers?