I wanted to show you a few things that make my life easier having a newborn in the house again. Since I am clearly outnumbered I rely on these things to make it through the day. Many of them travel with us whenever we leave the house because we simply need them.

Chloe sleeps in a Miracle Blanket, a swanky swaddling device also known as a cocoon or a straight jacket that she cannot break out of. We tried many swaddling style blankets and she would wiggle and squirm until she was free. She would sleep for thirty minutes, wiggle around, break out, and then be wide awake. At 10 weeks she is sleeping through the night, snug as a bug in a rug. They are pricey so borrow one if you can. Fortunately, I have two friends that own them and they both let me borrow them. This time around I have borrowed more baby equipment than you can shake a stick at. Chloe naps, during the day, swaddled in her swing. It’s like she doesn’t want to miss out on anything so she likes to nap where she can keep an eye on all of us.

We just received a Sleep Sheep as a gift for Chloe for Christmas. Actually it’s more like a gift for me so she can sleep. It’s a sheep that is a white noise machine to drown out the other noises in the house. Before getting the sheep I downloaded a white noise app for free on my iphone. We both slept to that for almost a week. The rain sound knocked us both out in a matter of seconds.

Chloe likes to be worn when she is not sleeping. So I go back and forth between the Baby Bjorn baby carrier and a Hotslings (pictured above), depending on her mood.

I use the Target brand Up & Up for just about everything. Most items are budget friendly and work great. I especially love their diapers which are green and blue polkadots. I have never had a problem with them and they are about half the cost of the brand name diapers.

My favorite stroller to use when the babies are around 6 months is the Maclaren Triumph that we bought when Makena was a baby. And when I found out that Maclaren came out with this Easy Traveler I knew it would work well for us. In driving terms, it handles remarkably well and doesn’t seem as shaky as the other snap n go options available. Plus it’s compatible with most infant car seats. But I always keep either the Baby Bjorn or the Hotslings with me in the basket since you never know when they’ll want to be carried.

I had a double jogging stroller when the other two were smaller. It was like pushing a Hummer through the mall. And I was always the mom pushing the empty stroller, wearing one and chasing after another. Fortunately, I bought it at a resale shop and needless to say we sold that stroller on craigslist for the same amount that we bought it for. Not a bad deal. When Chloe gets older we’ll probably get another Maclaren. I really like how compact and sturdy they are.

Like I said, I borrow a lot of baby items from the car seat, activity gyms, and clothes. They just go through them so fast and it’s nice to be able to get a little more life out of them. I also find things at resale shops, garage sales, and craigslist so they don’t make such a dent in our family budget.