I'm A Mum Of Two – These 7 Baby Products Genuinely Changed My Life

We ended up buying a lot of baby stuff the first time around. When we had our second child, these are the products I came back to time and time again.
These products have been a huge help to me as a parent.
Izmi / BabyBjörn
These products have been a huge help to me as a parent.

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When I was expecting my first child, I remember feeling completely overwhelmed by all the stuff we thought we needed for our new baby.

It all seemed so expensive – and wow, there was so much of it.

Long story short, we bought far too many things we probably didn’t need (not ideal at a time when your pay is about to take a massive hit).

Two kids in and I’ve swiftly learned that there are only really a handful of products that have actually been useful on a daily basis – and that I’d genuinely recommend buying.

So, to help you save some pennies in the long-run, here are the products I found to be most useful (and therefore well worth the cash) in my early parenting journey.

1
I had absolutely no regrets purchasing this BabyBjorn bouncer – despite the higher price tag.

The BabyBjörn bouncer was one of those purchases I was quite nervous about because £200 is a hefty sum to drop on a baby bouncer, but a few of our friends had recommended it so we bit the bullet and got one.

I'm pleased to reveal it's been worth its weight in gold. It has enabled me to shower regularly, sit and eat dinner, and has survived endless poo explosions (we opted for the mesh fabric which washes easily and dries super quickly too!). It is incredibly sturdy and I've always felt my babies have been very safe when sitting in it. My second baby is now toddling so I love that I can simply turn the fabric around and use it as a chair for her – it can be used as a chair until your child weighs 29 lbs/13 kg. The bouncer also folds flat so you can easily take it with you on trips away or to your mate's house.

We used it so much that we ended up getting a little googly-eyed toy attachment which helped keep both babies entertained for short periods.

2
The only wipes that didn't seem to aggravate my baby's skin.

I've tried a lot of baby wipes in the past three-and-a-half years and none have come close to Water Wipes. Both of my children have quite sensitive skin but these wipes tend to keep their nappy regions (and faces, when I have to do a post-lunch clean up) happy. I can count on one hand the amount of times we've had to deal with nappy rash and I credit that to these wipes and also drying the nappy area thoroughly after using them. They've also been dubbed an Allergy Friendly Product by Allergy UK which might help put your mind at ease.

While they're a bit more expensive, the wipes are also quite thick so you can fold them in half and go back for a second wipe – whereas some other versions are quite thin and you only really get one wipe out of them. As a result the packs seem to last us longer than other wipes, too.

3
The Dreamegg white noise machine is so good I've ended up buying it for my friends.

If you're a new parent, or you've got a friend who's about to have a baby, the Dreamegg Sleep Lite D11 is well-worth buying. We used it with our kids as they are both light sleepers (lucky us) and it's been a game-changer for helping them stay asleep – for example, if you're out and about and they're napping in the pushchair or you have friends over and don't want to wake up the kids with your laughing.

It has loads of sound settings but we typically just use the white noise setting (you can also have shh-ing sounds, lullabies and restaurant background noise). There's also a handy night light so we keep that on in the background as it seems to help our littlest feel more settled. We've used this pretty much every day since we bought it three years ago, so have definitely got our money's worth.

4
This Izmi wrap was SO useful when I was looking after a newborn and toddler.

Not gonna lie, I was worried about buying a sling because they look so incredibly complicated to tie up – like, would I need a degree in sling-fastening to be able to wear one? It turns out I need not have worried.

When we were expecting our second child I realised a sling would probably be quite useful for carrying my newborn while also looking after, and playing with, our toddler. I bought this wrap from Izmi which was £39.99 on Amazon and is basically a really long piece of stretchy fabric that you then tie in a certain way to keep your baby nice and safe while they snuggle you and snooze.

I wish I had bought this when we had baby number one because it was so incredibly useful for going about my day – especially because, like most newborns, both babies didn't like to be put in a Moses basket and wanted all the contact naps. As for how complicated it is, it took me a few tries to get it right but once I'd used it a couple of times it was really easy to tie it up quickly – and my toddler loved the fact I could still do jigsaw puzzles with her while sat on the floor, so that's a major win in my eyes.

5
This breast pump was a 3am purchase that I have no regrets about.

Having already purchased a Medela breast pump not long after my first baby was born, I realised after the birth of my second child that I didn't want the faff that went with said pump – you had to plug it in and basically sit still while you pumped. Not ideal when you've got mountains of washing to do (amongst a gazillion other things).

So, I looked at reviews for wearable breast pumps and came across this very wallet-friendly version by a brand called Kissbobo. The single pump is £30 and you can stick it in your bra and go about your day while expressing milk. It's a nifty bit of kit – you can recharge the battery with a USB wire and there are various suction settings. It's pretty easy to remove the pump and then tip it into a breast milk bag for freezing. I can't really fault it – and the fact it didn't break the bank (like a lot of other pumps do) also helped.

6
These tubs are the perfect size for storing and freezing baby food.

Once my kids were weaning at six months, these store and wean pots from Vital Baby – which are BPA, phthalate and latex free – really came into their own. I would batch cook baby food, blend it up and then store it in these pots, either in the fridge or freezer.

They are the perfect size for little portions and, as they got older and became toddlers, the pots became great for storing snacks like homemade muffins, raspberries, berries, yoghurt (etc) if we went out anywhere. I still use them now for all sorts of things – and at £6 for a pack of four, I've definitely got my money's worth.

I bought four packs so I've always got some on hand and I have to say, it's been one of my better purchasing decisions.

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