In Dutch we have an expression that roughly translates as: rather stolen well, then found badly. It basically means that sometimes it is better to steal/copy something from someone who had a good idea, rather then try and come up with your own (inferior) idea. So, I have decided to steal another bloggers idea. The 4 kids, 20 suitcases and a beagle blog is one of my favourites and I love the diversity of her posts. Read Kirsty’s version of what I am about to do here: http://shamozal.blogspot.ae/2013/05/heres-what-i-found-this-time.html
So here are some of my favourite baby items, at least up till now! Just to add; I am not being paid to advertise these products. I just genuinely like them and thought that maybe you would too.
Firstly I need to mention the Stokke products. We could almost start our own Stokke appreciation society. We have the Stokke Explory pram which is great especially for Mr. Mermaid who is quite tall. No bending down and breaking your back to pick up the little mermaid. Then we have the TrippTrapp highchair with infant seat. Initially I thought we wouldn’t use the chair till much later and not bother to buy the infant seat. However the way our house is designed, the lounge is separated from the kitchen and dining room by a long wall so if I am in the kitchen or dining room I can no see the lounge. The little mermaid likes to be where we are (unless she is sleeping) so I can put her in the infant seat and she can watch me type or cook or hang up laundry. Added bonus is it keeps her safe from the dog as well. We also have the bouncer which I got secondhand. It is great but due to nosy dog I can not leave her in it alone. Here is a picture of the little mermaid in her TrippTrapp.
Another firm favourite is the Troll crib. Made from lovely Birch wood and painted with non-toxic paint this crib has wheels, can be adjusted to the height of your bed and one side slides down so that when I feed at night I just have to slide her over and don’t have to get up. Here is a picture of someone else and her baby. Thought a model would be nicer to look at then me with my just woken up hairdo.
The last of the big items is a play pen. Ours was a gift from our lovely friends here. They all chipped in and I am hoping the once they start having babies too they’ll be able to borrow it. So that we’ve created a family heirloom for our Dubai expat family. At the moment it is where the little mermaid does her daytime naps. Once she is a little older it will be where she will sit and play by herself and it will also be where she can practice standing up. She can still see what is going on, but most importantly she is safe in there. It means I can go to the bathroom, run upstairs, answer the door etc etc without having to worry about her or the dog. Not that I am worried about Indy being aggressive, but he is very curious and would love nothing more then free access to the baby so he could slobber all over her face. Not going to happen dearest doggy! Here is one almost like the one I have.
The one thing that I really found quite scary as a new Mum was bathing the little mermaid and yes I realise that sounds ironic as mermaid are great swimmers. However small babies are slippery when wet. I also didn’t fancy sitting on my knees while washing her. Strangely enough at the Ikea here you can buy a baby bath (if they are not out of stock), but not the stand. So I splashed out pun intended on what is basically a giant see through bucket;The Tummy Tub. You wash your baby sitting up and the position they assume is very much like the one they were in when they were still inside your womb. The little mermaid loves it and she’ll happily sit and chill in the water. The only thing she doesn’t like is when you take her out!
A small but very handy little thing has been the Gro Swaddle. I know you can swaddle little babies is almost anything, but I have found that with a lot of the muslins and blankets the little mermaid will manage to unwrap herself during the night and will wake up with cold feet. The extra flap on the Gro Swaddle keeps her feet nice and warm. She is still too small for a grow bag so for me this is the perfect solution. I also love the way she looks when swaddled in, such a tight cute snug little package!