Kelly's Blog Hop! Baby GEAR!

Kelly is hosting a Blog Hop devoted to baby gear this week. And since I have a little on that is just one day short of being ONE YEAR OLD!, I have a good bit to contribute in way of likes and dislikes. I drew on the advice of other mommies with both London and Dylan for what we would use and not use, so I hope this is helpful for somebody!

What we loved and used often:

1.Swing. You can NOT skip out on this one, in my opinion. Both of my babies used there swings a ton for the first four to five months of life. I don't even know what we would have done with out our swings. Both times, I bought Fisher Price swings. I think its just a great brand. Also, I did the papasan swing both times. Perfection.

2. Bassinet. We used ours as her bed for the first four months of life. She slept in our room right there in her little bassinet and it worked out great. With Dylan, we were living in a two story house and we used his bassinet for downstairs naps. Again, this is a can not live with out item.

3. Excersaucer. There are tons of different types of there. For Dylan, I had the old fashion stationary one with a spin around seat and activities on it. He loved it and spent tons of time in it. For London I did one of the new jumpy ones. There are these new ones that have the seats spins around, there are lots of little activities AND the baby can jump up and down. Brilliant:

4. Walker. These disappeared for a little while because of all the safety issues with them. I think they are like anything else, you should not use them as a baby sitter. I couldn't even find one with Dylan and we were fine with out it. They are making a comeback now, so I did get one for London. I got it for her when she was seven months and would put her in it while she and I were in the living room. She loved it and it really helped to teach her to move her little feet in a walking motion. I will say, that I do NOT NOT NOT recommend the Disney Princess walker at Walmart. It is total garbage and fell apart WITH her in it (thank God she was not hurt) the day after I bought it. I took it back and bought her a super cute green Jeep brand walker instead and we loved it. She'll have nothing to do with in now that she can walk on her own though!

4. Play yard. I used Dylan's for his downstairs nap once he outgrew his bassinet. So, he used his everyday. London just takes naps in her crib. But we did get a lot of use out it for days out at the pool or park this summer. When it was nap time for her, I would move it into the shade and clip a little fan onto it. That worked out brilliantly for us. We also use it as her bed anytime we travel. Because I knew she wouldn't use it daily, I didn't get one of the big ones. I got the "travel" size, and its perfect for how we use it.

5. Boudreaux's Butt Paste cure ALL diaper rashes. Its the only thing I have ever put on either of my babies bottoms. It smells really good too. I give this with ever baby shower gift I give. It is just a must, must, must!
My dislikes and things we did not use much:

1.Boppy. I will admit that London Paisley has always been a chunky monkey and her little legs were hard to get in and out of it. Other than that, if your baby isn't so chunky, I bet you would use it more. We used our on and off for a couple of months.

2. Diaper Genie. We just don't really need to use it. Its not hard to take your pale of diapers out to the big garbage can every night. If you live in an apartment or somewhere without the garage trash can, I would recommend it though.

3. Wipe warmer. I bought one both times and very used it. My babies didn't mind the room temperature wipes. haha!

4. Full size Double Stroller. Dylan had just turned 4 when we had London, so we just didn't really need it. I still got one though. haha! I think I've used it twice. If you have a little one that mostly walks and a baby and you do want a stroller system that can fit both kids, I would recommend on that has the standing platform for your big kid. Once I realized we didn't need the full sized, I figured we really didn't need the other either though.