My top 10 must have for a happy baby (and a happy mommy).

So now that I have had 7 - yep, that's right, 7! - solid months of raising a baby, I have gotten a pretty good grip on things I love and things that make parenting a bit easier! Here they are!

1. The Fisher Price Waterfall Soother.
- There is no possible way that Brody would ever sleep as peacefully without it. And the songs and sounds are actually nice to listen to, very relaxing.
Waterfall Soother

2. The Lovely Duds Wrap
- I go everywhere with this and never leave home without it. It is great for carrying him around in when I do not want to haul out the stroller. I can wear him in so many different ways, and if he is cranky it is a fail proof way to get him to nap fast!
Lovely Duds

3. Butt Paste.
I use this for more than just diaper rash. a) I use it to treat and to prevent diaper rash. I usually slather it on his little booty in the morning every day even if there is no sign of redness (which, unfortunately is usually not the case) to prevent. I put it on at the first sign of redness throughout the day to treat it and within the next few diaper changes, he is healed! b) I use it on his chest and tummy area before we go swimming or if he is especially drooly that day. He has baby exczema and it gets bad, so to protect it from the harmful chlorine and from his nasty drool, that seems to irritate his skin, I put this on and it helps a lot!
Butt Paste

4. Hyland's Homeopathic Teething Tablets.
Lifesaver in a bottle. Love, love, love these! They ease Brody's pain right away, and with all the teeth suddenly popping out, its wonderful! Plus they are all natural, so no medication is in them! Bonus!
Teething Tablets

5. Luvs.
You live, you learn, you get luvs - so true. So maybe this is not making for a happy baby, exactly - but they do save me a ton of money enabling me to buy more fun stuff for Brody when he needs it, in turn making him happy in the long run!
Luvs

6. The Bumbo Chair
Now that Brody sits up on his own, I do not utilize it as much as I had, but I love this invention. Who would have thought a foam seat would be so popular. I use it while I am getting ready for work, Brody sits in his bumbo on the bathroom counter (ALWAYS supervised, of course) and watches me and himself in the mirror. Feeding times, and now that he eats snacks on his own, the tray is great!
Bumbo Seat

7. Mylicon Drops
From the month of 0-4 these were awesome. I would give him his dose right before his meal, not every meal, but at least every meal before bedtime, sometimes more throughout the day if he was really fussy. And it really relieved his gas and fussiness.
No More Gas!

8. The Munchkin Formula Dispenser.
I do not leave home without it. Its so nice to have his formula pre-measured when I am out. The way in clicks into place to let you know your in the right spot to pour out the formula is great as well, and we never loose any formula in transferring it from the dispenser to bottle.
Munchkin Formula Dispenser

9. Mophead
The octopus toy we lovingly refer to as "Mophead" - Brody's favorite toy. It has so much for him to explore on it, and he can hold it. It really keeps him entertained for quite a long time. It goes on every car trip with us.
Mophead @ LTD

10. The soothie holder.
We love our soothies, and Brody loves to not only soothe himself with it, but chews on it like a biscuit for teething! But when they fall they bounce and roll and then they get lost. The holder, albeit somewhat large, works like a charm. Especially when we are out in public! The wubbanub is also wonderful and cuddly!
Soothie Holder
Wubbanub

Items I could do without - The Space Saver high chair - my husband will tell you that I have have an unusually large amount of hate for this item and I am not kidding. Space saver my a$$! It takes up a whole chair in our kitchen (which I totally didn't even thing about when adding it to my registry back when we registered) leaving us with 3 instead of 4. So when we have company over, I have to take it off the chair. I also despise Targets return policy on registry items. They would not let me return it, because it had been longer than 90 days past my due date. Well, hello, I am not going to pull out a high chair and use it when my baby is 0-3 months old! Blah!
The doorway bouncer - Brody never took to it, and the few times he did go crazy and jump around, in it, I always felt like he was going to bang his head on the door frame.
Huggies, Babies R Us brand, and Fisher Price diapers - AWFUL. Like cardboard on my little baby's booty, and leaks galore. Give me Pampers or Luvs - nothing else works, IMO.
Fast Flow nipples - Woah, Brody can polish off an 8 oz bottle in 4 minutes flat with these, causing him to spit up a lot and be hungry again within an hour and a half. No thanks!
Wipes Warmer - Stopped using this after week one! Waste of money and electricity!

Now that I did 10 - there are more I can think of. But I will wait for a later post. Hope this gives some new mommies and mommies to be some good things to think about!