January 2020 Moms
kbrown2385
member
For S+TMs:
What items did you love?
What items did you hate?
Additional thoughts?
For FTMs:
Options
Product Spotlight 10/11: Health and Safety
kbrown2385
member
This week we are discussing health and safety. What items did you find were essential to have on hand for the early days of health care and safety? Any items such as infant meds, humidifiers, owlet/angelcare monitors etc. are included in this thread.
Please use the prompts below to try and share as much relevant information as possible.
For S+TMs:
What items did you love?
What items did you hate?
Additional thoughts?
For FTMs:
Please post any products you are considering and ask any questions you may have.
Re: Product Spotlight 10/11: Health and Safety
A humidifier! It was absolutely essential here in the high desert.
This is not for the baby, but for mom:
Ibuprofen
Knowing exactly what mastitis can look like - know this ahead of time so you are not googling in the middle of the night. It moves really quickly and feels like a very bad flu.
A working thermometer for mom and baby. A forehead one works great.
Know the signs of pp eclampsia. Make sure your SO (or whoever is going to be around you the most) knows them too.
What items did you hate?
We didn't really think about this ahead of time - I hate that!
Additional thoughts?
Looking forward to seeing everyone's rec's.
-Nose frida snot sucker - it works much better than the normal bulb. Using a saline spray along with it helps so much. The little noses one is great.
-A cool mist humidifier. We have one that requires a filter and I highly recommend looking for one that does not use one. We never have a filter ready for when we need it.
-infant Tylenol with proper dosage from the dr. You don’t want to be questioning at 1am how much to give.
-hydrocortisone was a life saver for us with bad diaper rashes that would bleed. It was the only thing that worked to heal them.
-Camilia teething relief/hylands oral pain relief. I preferred using this over tylenol. It’s natural and worked like a charm over constantly using meds.
-Braun ear thermometer. Gives an accurate temperature reading and easy to use. Ours is still going strong after 4+ years.
What items did you hate? See above about humidifier
Additional thoughts? I’m sure I’ll come up with more later on!
- I second kbrown on the Nose Frida. I'm still using this for my toddler to get out gunk. It's not as nasty as you first think.
- Owlet sock oxygen and heart rate monitor. We agonized over getting this because it was $300 and there were many reviews on either side, most saying that they had constant alerts. We never really had many issues with alerts, just blue alerts for connection errors when I would forget to plug it in and the batter ran low, and yellow alerts for fit when she outgrew a sock. We did have one red alert, but it was while I was nursing and her foot was pressed up against the inside of my thigh. The sock picked up my pulse and added it to hers.
I ended up having PPA and the Owlet was the only thing that calmed me enough to sleep a little at night.
- Vicks fever thermometer. Out of the 5 thermometers I bought, this cheap one ended up being the most accurate. It came with sheathes for rectal temps which is the most accurate temperature reading method for infants.
What items did you hate?
- All the ear and forehead thermometers I bought. I never found on that worked accurately.
Additional thoughts?
- Starting around 6 months, when most babies start becoming mobile, begin thinking about how to child proof your home. We got a ton of outlet covers, several different types of cabinet locks, a baby gate, and started putting things above her reach as she started pulling up on things.
- Also since we are having our babies during flu season, if you even suspect the flu, get to your doctor immediately so they can get you on Tamiflu asap. I got both A and B strains January 2018, and had a 3 month old and that was rough. I nearly lost all my milk supply and was close to going into the hospital for fluids because I couldn't keep anything down. I had an oversupply of colostrum and was able to freeze about 8 oz of it, and I believe that was what kept DD1 from getting terribly sick with the flu.
My breastfed babies didn't really get diaper rash until they started solids, but once they did we swore by Boudreaux's Butt Paste in the green bottle. A friend later had a baby with lots of diaper rash issues and Boudreaux's fixed theirs up as well!
- Nose Friday for sure!
- Cool Mist or warm air humidified, we use a cool one in the summer and warm in the winter\
- Braun ear thermometer (We have the forehead one but I can never trust it) But for when baby is so little, the best is to use a rectal thermometer haha
- Camilia for teething, and they have another version for runny noses
- Weleda diaper cream, DD honestly never had diaper rash once. It is a bit more expensive but really found it worked.
- Vitamin D drops
Wipes:
- Essentially till DD started eating solids we never used wipes, just a bunch of little clothes that I would wet with water to wipe, if there was a big blow out or poop I would use wipes to scoop what I could quickly, then just used a wet cloth. I found it helped a lot better for keeping that area clean / rash free
video monitor - we have a bt openreach one (which is a brand from here) and it has great range and gave us great reassurance.
braun in ear thermometer - just seconding everyone else on this, ours is still going strong.
foam matting - we had bright coloured numbers & letters. I loved this as it was warmer and softer for setting tummy time mats on than just the hard cold floor.
As everyone else said, the nose Frieda. It's amazing. We also got a bigger humidifier that sat on floor near the crib. The filter needed changed every 3 months. It was great for winter, but we never needed it after that.
What items did you hate?
I'm not in love with our thermometer, it's the exergen temporal scanner. It is fast, but we end up taking 3-4 readings, it never gives the same one twice.
Additional thoughts?
Definitely know the right amount of Tylenol to give, before you need it. Also, program the pediatricians off hours phone number if they have one.
I ended up using a baby nail file when DD was really tiny, because I was afraid of cutting her with the baby nail trimmers. I could gently file while she slept in my lap.