Becoming a mom has been super fulfilling, but there are definitely the occasional frustrations and inconveniences that I would prefer to be made easier if at all possible (such as avoiding turning on a bright light for middle-of-the-night diaper changes or trimming a tiny, wiggly baby’s nails!). I imagine that some brilliant parents saw an opportunity to make life easier for themselves as well as for other parents and so these marvelous baby-related inventions were born (pun intended 😉).
I feel beyond fortunate to live in these modern times with all of the amazing technology that we have available to us. We certainly could have raised our baby just fine without the following items, but I am so glad that we don’t have to!
Electric Nail File
No more worrying about accidentally clipping nails too short / hurting baby! This handheld Dremel-style tool gently files baby’s tiny finger and toe nails. It’s so quiet that you can use it on baby while they are snoozing without disrupting them! This only takes two AA batteries to operate and the battery life actually lasts quite a while. I will even use this nail file on my own nails! 🤣 At home manicure, anyone?
Digital Forehead Thermometer
I adore my daughter, but I just can’t bring myself to use a rectal thermometer 🥴 and squirming babies can’t hold a thermometer under their tongues or in their armpits so this quick-read digital thermometer has been perfect for our needs!
Nightlights
Hatch Rest
This multi-functional device is a nightlight, a sound machine, and when babies become toddlers the light can be used as a Ready-To-Wake to signal to your kiddo that they can come out of their rooms. The only “drawback” is that it must stay plugged in to function so it’s not portable, BUT it connects to WiFi and you can control it from an app on your phone which is super convenient, especially for those midnight feedings.
Jolywell “Egg” Nightlight
I also bought this egg nightlight before we were gifted the Hatch one and it’s a wonderful portable nightlight (read: it does not need to be plugged in except to charge the battery!). It’s pretty basic in its functionality as it does not have sounds or connect to WiFi, but it’s great for illumination during late night feeds or just as a night light in case I need to check on the baby and don’t want to use the harsh flashlight on my phone. Even though it has fewer functions than the Hatch I definitely find it to be useful, especially the portability factor because you can take it with you when you travel!
Owlet Sock & Camera Monitor
You just can not put a price on peace of mind!! This little sock fits on your baby’s foot and will alert you if their oxygen or heart rate drops below baby’s normal so you can sleep soundly knowing you will be alerted if anything goes awry in the night. We currently only own the sock monitor and haven’t ordered the camera monitor yet, but we definitely plan to get it when our baby moves out of the bassinet we have next to our bed and into the crib in her nursery.
BabyBrezza Bottle Maker
This device was a complete gamechanger for us. I was originally planning to breastfeed Sophie, but that didn’t end up working out so we were left scrambling to figure out the realm of formula. We were mixing and warming bottles by hand every time Sophie wanted to eat and while that’s not the end of the world, when you have a hungry, screaming baby every second feels like an hour. Then I remembered that I had seen this machine that was similar to a Nespresso, but for turning powdered formula into instant bottles! 🤯 Our order couldn’t arrive soon enough!! It makes bottles at the touch of a button from 2 oz up to 10 oz and has three warming temperatures (room temperature, body temperature and warmer than body temperature). This has hands-down been our favorite product purchase for the baby. The only mild annoyance about it is that after every four bottles you have to remove the funnel and clean off any formula powder that has accumulated (which isn’t hard to do, it’s just an extra step); to solve for this we bought a second funnel so that we can change them out quickly when the notification light shows up (sooo clutch for midnight feeds).
In addition to the formula maker, we also bought the BabyBrezza Sterilizer that is designed to sterilize bottle (and pump) parts! We quickly hand wash our bottle parts after each feeding and then put them into the sterilizer which holds about 6 bottles’ worth of parts; we end up running the machine about once a day. If I had to choose between the two machines I would absolutely get the bottle maker first and foremost, but the sterilizer is certainly nice to have too.
I hope that these suggestions were helpful for you! As I said in the intro I would not consider these items to be necessary, but I promise that they will all make your parenting life so much easier!
What were some of your favorite modern convenience products for parenting? Feel free to share in the Comments!
Sending hugs —
xx, Natalie
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