Product spotlight: health/medical items

lovesclimbing

First aid kits, nasal aspirators, thermometers, baby CPR, baby medications and vitamins, moisturizers, etc. 

Let's talk about items to have on hand to keep baby in good health. 

For STM+s, what did you use or not use? What are items that are necessary vs. things that aren't? What do you want an opinion on?

mamakate1616

I’d like any recommendations on the scan style thermometers if anyone has them. DD used to be a champ but all these doctor visits have her fighting everything, including a simple under arm thermometer. 

My favorite product ever is the nose frida. I admit I refused to use it for the first try because I was afraid, but it is amazing. It just *works*.

Eta: I also love the fridababy nail clippers and the file that comes with that @chocolatelemons mentioned below, but I will throw a caution out that those suckers are sharp!

chocolatelemons

Necessary: Definitely invest in a Fridababy NoseFrida aka boogie sucker. I didn’t like the nasal aspirator given at the hospital (looks like a bulb with a straw connected to it) and it definitely didn’t work as well. I still use the Fridababy with my 17 month old.

We always had a bottle of infant Tylenol in case of a fever and Motrin for when the baby is older. We have a rectal thermometer since those are most accurate and an ear one for when the baby is sleeping. 

We dont use moisturizers aside from aquafor for chapped faces/  dry skin. You also need a good pair of nail clippers. We went with Fridababy but I’ve heard good things about the electric filing ones if you’re worried about cutting baby’s skin. 

novelblessings

Can't remember that I suctioned my kiddo's nose too much, but on occasion it was a thing. We have a thermometer that you can use in ear and on your forehead, which we did not have when DD was an infant. We also used a lot of gripe water. DD was extremely colicky and it seemed to help with her bubbles that she couldn't quite get out. I will be going to get some for this little one!

For bathing and moisturizing we were given so much Johnson & Johnson crap I never used it all. On top of that I ended up switching to more natural and organic products because DD's skin is so sensitive. So it is worth avoiding the little gift baskets of the generic stuff, your kid's skin will thank you!

Things we could have waited to buy were tylenol and vitamins. We got a lot at our shower but we had so much tylenol we didn't end up using it all. Just buy it when your kid gets sick and needs it. As for vitamins she ended up on one temporarily via her pedi prescribing it to her.

lovesclimbing

We just used a regular nasal aspirator. I've heard raves about the nosefrida, but it grosses me out! I know there's a filter, but I've also heard of people cleaning it and not putting it together again incorrectly and getting some in the mouth when they use it again! I just can't do it. 

We had baby Tylenol on hand, but I've only used it once, and I didn't even want to then but the person I was with bought a bottle specifically and was kind of pushy about it. I wish I hadn't. I don't consider myself super crunchy, but I am on that side of the spectrum, I suppose, and I believe fevers are the bodies natural way of fighting infection. So, unless it gets dangerously high, I prefer to let a fever run its course, bring it down naturally with cool baths and such, and refrain from any medications to bring it down artificially. 

I've used an Aveeno body lotion on my daughter's legs. She had really dry skin there for awhile. I've used coconut oil on her face for some dry skin but am going to ask about the skin thing at her next well baby check. 

We have a regular thermometer and an ear/forehead one. Sometimes I wonder if the forehead thing is actually all that accurate. I'm a bit dubious. 

Nail clippers, I just use our regular ones. Sometimes she fusses and fights it, but frequently she'll be chill and be interested and only tug her hand or foot occasionally. Just depends. I didn't feel we needed anything especially for her. 

chocolatelemons

@mamakate1616 The clippers are definitely sharp and I did cut my son’s skin once. I think I cried more than he did. 

When they’re really little, I wait until they’re sleeping.

mayoduck

@novelblessings Which brand(s) of cleansers and moisturizers would you recommend over J&J? I have sensitive skin myself, which I expect to increase the likelihood my baby will be. Plus, I don't think the perfumes and other crap are really good for anyone even if some people's systems can absorb it without obvious signs of irritation.

ETA: corrected weird spellings from using the buggy mobile app.

novelblessings

@mayoduck I believe I switched to Aveeno Baby and I know we used Babyganics brand lotion. This was almost 5 years ago so I’ll be shopping around a bit this time to compare ingredients and price. 

mayoduck

@novelblessings Thank you! A friend of mine with two sensitive skin kids, one an infant, recommended Tubby Todd, which I am willing to try but seems like you can only get it directly through their website.

litzi-2

i used the nose frida too. i like it well enough. used eucerin lotion and aveeno baby soap. otherwise APAP and ibuprofen for colds and teething and such. we used zantac for a bit, too. really, didn't need too much.

keikilove

The Nose Frida is beyond disgusting to me but we swear by it. My husband does all the sucking—it’s satisfying to him —whereas I can’t even watch because it turns my stomach. But it works much better than a bulb syringe. 

We use the tiny baby clippers with a shield/magnifying lens. My LO always asks me to clip her nails lol so no problems there. My husband has said, “God, no, I can’t clip her nails! Most terrifying thing ever!” Hahaha. 

I use natural products or as close to it, such as Honest Company. She broke out in a torso rash every time we used Burt’s Bees baby wash/bubble bath. It smellls so delicious like honey but it was bought out by Clorox so I don’t believe it’s truly natural anymore. 

For moisturizing we use oils and salves, such as Australian natural brands that use paw-paw oil. Aden & Anais made a great one called mum + bun paw paw cream but it got discontinued. I used it on LO at every diaper change & she only ever got one diaper rash, plus I used it on my own face & lips, hands, feet, legs. Need to find an equivalent replacement. 

chocolatelemons

@mayoduck California Baby is great for natural products. My son has super sensitive skin too and this didn’t bother him. 

lucysmom2016

I registered for an obnoxious amount of baby wash/lotion sets (small bottles), because I'm nervous about what baby's skin is going to like, so I wanted to have several to try and see what works best for us and baby. Might be the first thing that's really made me feel like a neurotic FTM, but I couldn't commit to just one set 

ashley14598

We have used grippe water and gas drops both when DS was an infant. They both seemed to help (when he was in the witching hour we were will to do anything to help)! We also use baby Tylenol and baby Motrin for fevers and teething as necessary. We have a forehead thermometer it was okay but always seems to be a bit off here and there (you can test it 3 times in a row and get 3 different readings). But it is enough to tell us if he had a fever or not. I just can’t do the nose frida, I know everyone raves about it but we use the hospital grade ball syringe. We just use regular finger clippers and I did it when he was sleeping when he was really little.  

ashley14598

Also DS has eczema/sensitive skin and we can only use aveeno on his skin.

lindseyb918

I didn't use the Nose Frieda even though we have one. I felt like I had to be super coordinated to suck and hold baby down and hold the thing in his nose at the same time. 

The one thing I'll swear by is a humidifier. It works miracles for a stuffy baby!!!!

novelblessings

I second the humidifier. We now have two and I’ll run one in our room too. 

chocolatelemons

We also have a humidifier and an air purifier. Air purifiers are great if you have animals or other potential allergens. 

We tried gripe water, but it didn’t seem to do much for him, unfortunately. 

sejica

+1 on the nose frida, humidifier, and frida nail clippers in our house.

We found suction worked best in conjunction with saline spray to loosen the gunk, and prefer the spray to the drops.

meggyme

Yes to the nose frieda. I like that I can get a continuous suck on it so I don't have to repeat so many times. The straw is long enough and DD was never snotty enough to get it all the way through the straw. Yes, they're gross but when I had an angry, wiggly baby it was better to get it done in 2 goes rather than 10 with a bulb.

We have baby nail clippers (don't remember the brand) but I think the brand matters less than being able to do it while they're calm. Do bring them to the hospital because DD came out with talons. That was the first thing I did when we got her home. I used to let her take one nap a week on my chest so that I could trim her nails while she was sleeping. And you WILL most likely accidentally nick their finger. It happens to everyone. Don't feel too bad.

We have a Braun forehead thermometer, although I agree with PP that I often doubt it's accuracy. I haven't found a good replacement yet and most of the time I could feel she had a fever before it registered on the thermo, so it was mostly just to check the severity.

I love our humidifier and am registered for another one so in the winter when it's dry I can have on by the crib and in my daughter's room. I'd say go all out and get the big ugly honeywell ones. We had one of the little ones and the tank doesn't last all night, created so much vapor it left DD's sheets cold and wet and didn't have a filter. This is the one we got after that one, although I remember it being $50: https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-HCM350W-Germ-Humidifier-White/dp/B002QAYJPO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1538487238&sr=8-3&keywords=honeywell+humidifier

We use Johnson's baby soap and just regular Cetaphil lotion. I think that's everything. We didn't need many medications beside tylenol for teething. We used the Little Remedies brand because they have a convenient syringe top.

ETA: I recommend dye free for any medications if only because if they end up spitting up while it's in their stomach it doesn't stain clothes, sheets, blankets, etc red or purple.

lelkcot

Love: 

crane humidifier - doubles as DS night light these days. Quiet, relatively easy to clean and great when your LO is sick.

Took infant CPR and First Aid and definitely recommend it. Planning to drag DH to a refresher course, hopefully with kid CPR too.

Have infant Tylenol on hand. Our pediatrician gave us a dosing instructions sheet at the first appointment. Way better to have it than to be freaking out at that first fever and have to run to the store. And +1 on @meggyme ‘s recommendation of buying dye free - we have a stain or two from DS fighting it and spitting it up.

Burt’s Bees baby unscented wash - DS has super sensitive skin and this didn’t bother him. As @novelblessings said we got some J&J that we never used. We’ve also used Aveeno without issues.

If you or your SO has sensitive skin, I’d suggest getting a free&clear baby detergent (or just using the kind that works for you, I just use the same F&C detergent on all our clothes). DS has super sensitive skin and it reacted a bit to the scented detergent my MIL used on some of his clothes.

Meh:

Temporal thermometer - it’s ok, the one I have isn’t the most accurate. Will give you a deferent temp with every swipe. 

Grab a ton of the bulb suckers from the hospital. The one we got in our first aid kit was trash. And I actually have a favorite that I brought home from the hospital, it seems to work better that all the others.

Didn’t use:

Baby nail trimmer - I think I only used those once (trimming those tiny nails is terrifying). His baby nails were pretty soft, so I mostly just caught an edge and flaked off the length. Once he was older, I just used my nail trimmers, they worked better.

Edited to fix tag.

mayoduck

Piggy backing off of @lelkcot 's unscented detergent comment. If your baby has sensitive skin, I would definitely recommend using the same detergent for the whole family. I have used unscented detergent my whole life. I got a horrible skin rash in college and it took me awhile to realize it was from my clothes. Even though I used the same detergent I always have, there must have been residue detergent from whoever used the machines before me. I washed all my clothes again and my skin was able to clear up.

chocolatelemons

@lelkcot good point on the detergent. We use honest company brand or 7th generation. We tried nature promise (stop and shop natural brand) but DS had a reaction to it.

kapowfal

The website Made Safe is nice for brand suggestions, and the website CosDNA is good for product ingredient search. CosDNA, the area where I linked, will allow you to copy and paste ingredients from a website and analyze their SPF content, safety, acne, and irritant potential. I use CosDNA a lot for skin care products, but it's compatible with any cosmetic. I will usually use CosDNA then Google any ingredient I am not sure of. Research, patch test on baby's skin, and go from there. Just because something works on your skin, doesn't mean baby will like it, and vise versa. Organic and natural don't mean much either. Your mileage may vary, and so will baby's. I tried to oil cleanse with organic, cold-pressed coconut oil when that craze was going on... never again, haha. It made my face look awful.

I love our nose frida. I couldn't find it a few weeks ago and used a regular bulb on DD. Never again. Since she's bigger now, she tried to wrestle away, and she got a nose bleed. I cried, she didn't, haha.

The Vick's thermometer is my favorite. It is very fast, and sometimes I let sit for a bit to "warm up". Target also has thermometer covers that are nice, and alcohol pads to sanitize. DD does not like thermometers, so I use underarm when she's asleep, and rectal if she is awake. When they do the temporal scanner at the Dr, it's always like 97. When I take it before I go to the Dr to confirm a fever, it's always at least 100.4 or over which is a fever.

Definitely agree with the fragrance and dye free laundry detergent. 

Love our humidifiers and I need to get ours up and going. It's getting to be flu season, and humidity and the flu do not get along, according to a recent study. Also my nasal passages are dry as a desert. My face too.

This is not popular, but I'll go ahead and confess, haha. DD's nails were so tiny and transparent, they were hard to see. I just bit hers off for the first few months because I could feel them better with my mouth than I could see them.  I clip them now with the small clippers we have, or with mine. Mittened garments are a must. Haha.

I always had/have Tylenol and ibuprofen on hand just in case. I had all the gripe water, etc. but we never needed it but a handful of times when she was gassy.

As for things moms might need for a bit - take the sitz bath home from the hospital with you. Take the squeeze bottle. Witch hazel pads for hemorrhoids are also nice for hemorrhoids, if you have them, or for post-birth healing (witch hazel typically is anti-inflammatory, and soothing). The Dermoplast spray with the blue lid is awesome because it's a numbing spray. The freezing pads from the hospital are great as well. After going to the restroom, a good rinse with the squeeze bottle or a sitz bath, followed with spray, and a pad (either freezing variety or normal) with witch hazel pads on them were a godsend. I also brought a couple incontinence sheets with me from the hospital because I didn't want to accidentally leak on the bed, couch, etc. I didn't do it last time, but I think this time around I want to try Depends or something, haha. There were times when my body was like, time to pee! and I could barely make it to the restroom without piddling a little bit. Also, do your Kegels, haha.

meggyme

@kapowfal yes! The blue dermoplast is gold! DO NOT GET THE RED ONE! It doesn't have whatever cooling agent (menthol I think) and will burn when applied. Learned that the hard way when I couldn't find the blue one anywhere in San Diego.

lovesclimbing

Just FYI (and I'm definitly not trying to shut down this line of convo), but we also have a "postpartum healing" spotlight on the list for someone to start at some point. I think this one was intended for baby items, although we can always do whatever too!

kapowfal

@meggyme Oh no! I think the first thing I ordered for my first pregnancy was the blue dermoplast, haha. I just knew if I waited until I needed it, I'd forget and grab the wrong one, or it would be out of stock. I hope you were able to get the blue one quickly!

meggyme

@kapowfal I won't make that mistake twice, I'll tell you that! I already have 2 bottles on my "registry". I think it had been far enough into recovery that I just survived with witch hazel.

chocolatelemons

Not sure if this fits here, but does anyone have an Owlet baby monitor (since it’s specifically for tracking heart rate, oxygen and sleep, I thought it made more sense here than under baby monitors)? I don’t, but I was overly nervous with DS and I think the owlet may have given me peace of mind. Just wondering others’ thoughts. 

mamakate1616

@chocolatelemons   We had an owlet and loved it. I plan to buy another one since you can use FSA dollars on them and I know I will have some left over this year. Plus the last one has been through 3 babies between mine and my sister-in-law‘s kids

kapowfal

@chocolatelemons We had one, never used it, so returned it for diapers, haha.

Bonnesetter27

We use the exergen temporal thermometer. It does give you a different reading each swipe but they are close. we do 3 swipes and do an average. Really if you know within a degree you will be fine. We do have an under the tongue one (or armpit) for if it gets too high. We are a fan of treating symptoms not fevers. So a fever of 103 is fine if they are playing but a fever of 101 and laying on the couch for hours means ibuprofren. Also don't do the switching of tylenol and ibuprofren, you will get tired from being up and you will overdose. Fevers are ok unless they are over 104. *steps off soapbox*

We use aveeno or babyganics soap. There is some thoughts that J&J contains cancer causing ingredients.

Many people swear by nosefrieda, I haven't used it though. Boogie wipes are a must though for babies and toddlers with colds.

I use a file on tiny babies, then just regular clippers.

We use probiotics, it really helps prevent diaper rashes. We just add a scoop to a daycare bottle.

I know it's not something you need for awhile (6 months) but research sunscreens. Look for one that EWG recommends.
Sorry I went on for a bit. this is my third baby so I've tried a bunch of stuff.

sejica

Oh, also, several friends raved about the windi (frida baby), but we never needed it, but I will probably get some this time, just in case. They are disposable gas relief 'valves' you stick in the baby's butt.

lovesclimbing

sejica said:

Oh, also, several friends raved about the windi (frida baby), but we never needed it, but I will probably get some this time, just in case. They are disposable gas relief 'valves' you stick in the baby's butt.

Haha, a friend gave us one of those. We never used it. 

meggyme

@sejica those freak me out. But DD never had bad enough gas to need one, so I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. I also never did a rectal thermometer reading.

mamakate1616

I’m also in the no rectal thermometer/ no windi thing. Way to nervous about doing something wrong on that end! 
That said, I totally trust that brand and am sure they make it pretty fool proof.