Hi! We're here to share with you our family's L.I.F.E. thoughts, tips, and stories about raising boys and girls (and that includes me and my husband.) May what you find here be a blessing to you today.
Love,
Carmen Gutierrez 💜
My Top 5 Newborn Essentials
After what felt like a hundred months, getting back to blogging na ulit!!! 🥳
As of this time, I have around 10 friends who are pregnant. Some of them are 1st-timers. Some already gave birth na! (Sa tagal kong mag blog nanganak na di ko pa din napopost ito 🤣) Anyway… I’M SO EXCITED for them! 🥰 Praise God for blessing us women with a cutie little one to cuddle and care for, and for trusting us to raise this person how God wants him/her to be raised.
Yet I know na medyo nakaka-pressure at nakaka-rattle din ang preps with all the what-to’s and how-to’s! My heart goes out to you, mumsh! I planned to do a 4-part blog series— #gutsharezBABIES —which will be all about how I do baby care on the 1st year of life with my little world-changers. Kelangan lang ng mga isang timba na moral support nang mag succeed in posting them, so I’d love it if we’d chat after you read this. 💞
I'm on my 3rd time around in caring for a newborn and I realized na ang daming HINDI KAILANGAN, and the things I DO NEED have to be the perfect kind for its function, hindi enough na basta cute lang. I will share with you my personal list and I hope it would help you to have a sulit beginning in choosing what to purchase.
So mga mamas, bukod sa lugaw, here are MY top 5 essential things to have for my baby’s FIRST 6 MONTHS:
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Crib
This is top 1 for me & my husband because hindi lang para cute but because we’ve trained all our babies to sleep ON THEIR OWN in their crib. It’s a topic for another blog. I’ve tried 4 kinds of cribs so far with my 3 kids.
For our lifestyle, the type of crib that I love the most has these features:
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Drop-down side convertibility. So that baby sleeps just beside me for easy grabbing for midnight feedings during the first 3 months, while being safe from squished by sleeping parents.
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Small! For me, babies don’t need a spacious crib for sleeping. Hirap nila abutin pag sumiksik sila sa sulok hehe. They could be too far for your arm’s reach.
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Lightweight. We used to travel a lot (pre-pandemic) and for overnight trips, we always bring our crib so we can be sure the baby can sleep safely unless there’s a good one provided in the hotel. So kami ng tatay nila can also sleep in peace, not worrying about na madaganan si baby ng pillows. I looked for one that can fit the length of a large-size suitcase when folded. Di ko na idiscuss yung travel benefits...quarantine season naman guys 😅 But lightweight is also great for cleaning! And repositioning when someone else would need the room. Para hindi puro adults ang nag aadjust. Minsan si baby din 🤣
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Mosquito Net! Naku, naku. Very important! Go for one na madali ikabit-at-alisin at labhan.
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Fewer Accessories. Yup! You read that right. For me, I’ve tried the all-in-one fancy stuff... narealize ko the simpler the better. There will be days the baby will vomit, pee, and poop on the crib and you’d have to remove everything for cleaning. There will be days when ants would go all over it ‘cos of milk residue. And a crying baby is waiting for you to get it all done. Plus, more stuff will get dusty if you have an airy room, so added cleaning. For me, the less stuff in and around that crib, the better. Playing inside it is for another topic.
I've included the photo of our crib up here just to show what works for us. I just found Baby1st brand in Facebook Marketplace for around 3,500 (or 3,200? forgot already) 2 years ago. Showing for a sample only. You can go find other brands you like. Or get a wooden one which tends to be more instagrammable 😄 but I hope these thoughts would help you look beyond cuteness.
2. Washcloths
A lot!!! Please get a lot of these! 😂 Para sa unli laway, lungad at suka. Spend on good quality because the baby will rub his face on it so often and you would rub that on him/her even more often, so protect the baby’s skin from harsh friction.
My tips in choosing washcloths:
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For me, I like them to be just all plain white para easy to see insects and good for high-temperature washing.
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Choose true 100% soft cotton for fast and effective absorption
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Choose a smooth texture
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No embossed prints. Sakit sa face ni baby.
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Long, rectangular, medium to large sizes. Because the small square ones often found in baby stores, one or two wipings, they're full already. Labada na kaagad.
3. Clothes: Onesies, Pajamas, Mittens and Booties
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Onesies. The 1st 6 months will have a lot of buhatan and sukahan moments. Onesies with snap-on, snap-off locks on the diaper area are best for me THAN the shirts & pants and tie-side shirts. Iyak na ng iyak si baby, hindi ka pa tapos mag tali. 😅
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Pajamas. For full-length overalls, opt for those that have quick access to the diaper without having to undress the whole thing. Or else every nappy change you have to fully undress your baby, shoulder to feet.
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Mittens and Booties. I’d say go for good quality gartered ones. I recommend avoiding the tie-type, yung itatali. Babies will need it for 3-4 months to avoid scratches on their bodies, especially on the face, yours, and theirs, brought about by their sharp fingernails and toenails. Kapag de-tali, pwedeng mahila at matanggal lang and you’d have to tie and tie again... and again.
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Mittens tip: Remove by 3-4 months when they start wanting to suck their thumb.
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Thumb-sucking tip: Thumb-sucking doesn’t always mean the baby's hungry. It’s comforting for them, it’s not always a hunger cue. Oftentimes they thumb-suck to soothe themselves to sleep
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Here's what I got for my infant, Boaz, before he was born. Love the minimalist feels! 😊 Not my shop & not sponsored but here's the budol link in case you like it, too.
4. Diaper Kit
A basket/a box/a trolly/a caddy. Plus all the contents you need to be in it to be able to change nappies efficiently with ONE HAND 😆 It can be any type of container you'd like. For my latest infant care, I used this fruit basket someone gifted me as a diaper caddy. I so so so loved it! Having this is super helpful for the first 2 months wherein babies have to change nappies 6-9 times a day…with poop! During 3rd month, less poop na, about 3x a day na lang. And on the 4th month to 6th month, about 1-2x a day na lang. Let's go back to the first 2 months. You'd need to reach for this so many times a day, so better have one that's handy. Whenever we needed to go to the baby's doctor, I just grabbed this basket to place in the car. No more big baby bag for me.
What’s in it:
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Water in a pump bottle & cotton balls for poop cleaning. Ako ang nagpu-pull ng cotton ko to have them in large & thick portions rather than buying the cotton balls in the supermarket, kasi maliit yung ganun na cotton balls for me eh. Poop will be all over your fingers if cotton's not big enough for wiping.
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Diapers (I used to use disposables but now we’re using cloth diapers 🥰✨ (for next blog yan)
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Diaper changing mat
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Few sets of mittens, booties, onesies, bibs & washcloths
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Alcohol for my hands to disinfect before and after a nappy change
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Nappy cream. I love the one from Human Nature. But we only use cream when the baby starts to have rashes. I stop putting when rashes get healed. I don’t put creams & powders regularly on the skin. Less product on skin, less will on the bloodstream, the better.
The basket I used is from Next Page flower shop.
5. Bath Set
My tips:
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A bath net with a frame like this in the photo is the easiest to use for me. I used a bath sponge with my eldest and it was hard to clean and dry off. This one we have is easy to hang on the tub after use and sturdy compared to the strap-on types of bath net.
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The simpler the bathtub, the better. One that is collapsible or can stand in one corner. Think of how you'll store it in your bathroom when you're done bathing your baby before you buy a bath set. Again, imagine doing things with one hand only 'cos the other hand is holding your baby. 😄
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We love Human Nature baby wash. It has natural ingredients and fewer ingredients than all others I've tried with all my kids. I always try to avoid those with SLS or SLES... kasi...
"The highest risk of using products with SLS and SLES is irritation to your eyes, skin, mouth, and lungs. For people with sensitive skin, sulfates may also clog pores and cause acne." Ayan sabi lang po yan dito.
I want to invite you to read the ingredients label of what you buy and research about those ingredients so that you'd be more aware of what's inside what we put on our babies. 😊
There! I know I said 5 essentials but it's still like a hundred things, noh? 😅 I hope these thoughts would help you decide before buying anything. If you have already bought stuff, no worries! Those items you already have might be just the perfect thing you need for you and your baby, after all. And if you who's reading this now are hoping you'd be able to have these "essentials", know that whether you have these or not, it's not what matters most. Your loving care for your baby is THE MOST essential thing that your baby needs to be well taken care of. Kahit ba kulang kulang ang gamit. Don't worry about it.
I fully believe that our Almighty God who has chosen you to be a mother to this precious being is powerfully able, willing, and generous to provide all your needs for this child. So go and believe Him for things you want & need.
Have a blessed infant-care journey! 💜
