5 Baby Products that Have Changed Since I Had My First Child
One of the things that has become most apparent to me since having our 3rd child, is how much baby products change, and multiply! I sometimes feel like my elderly grandmother when I lament on "how different things were 7 years ago when we had our first!". But truly, there are so many new and exciting and awesome products on the market, it's sometimes hard to keep track. And not only do the products change, but the rules and regulations and recalls are dizzying too! The change keeps me on my toes, that's for certain. Here are 5 things that I was most surprised to find that had changed in the last 7 years since I had my first child.
1. Infant Bathtubs
Who knew there could be so many new options for infant tubs available, and even possible? A friend lent us a piece of flat foam, called the Puj tub, that folds into a triangle of sorts and sits in your sink. It unfortunately didn't fit in ours though, but what a cool concept! Another friend showed me her newer tub, which looks like nothing more than a big pot! I recently saw at our local baby store a whirlpool spa tub for baby! Even with all the new tub options out there, we ended up sticking with the same, simple tub we first used over 7 years ago with our first born, pictured above. As you can tell, our 3rd child doesn't seem to mind.
Related: 5 "new mom" things I swore I'd never do
2. Carriers and Slings
Back in the day, we had the Baby Bjorn and a ring sling or two to choose from as far as baby carriers go. But 7 years later, as baby wearing has grown in popularity, there are at least about a hundred products that will help you carry your baby to choose from. I do not joke when I tell you that I currently have 5 baby carriers in my possession, all lent to me by different friends. And I do not lie when I say that I need instruction manuals for all of them.
3. Bottles
I primarily breastfeed and we give 1 bottle a day, so the great bottle hunt was never a huge priority for us. We just had to find one that worked well enough so our baby would take it once a day. When we decided to start baby number 3 on a bottle a few weeks back, I was overwhelmed with the amount of new and exciting bottle options on the market! In the end though, we stuck with what worked in the past, a simple, cost-effective bottle by Playtex.
4. Car Seats Expire?!
I was met with looks of horror by a few friends when I told them I was planning to use the same carseat for baby number 3, as we had used with number 1 and 2. Little did I know, but carseats expire! Apparently the plastic can become weak and no longer hold a child in properly if in an accident, so all carseats expire after 5-7 years from the manufacture date. This was news to me, and so off to the store we went to purchase a new carseat!
Related: 8 mistakes ALL new parents make
5. Crib Recalls
After my husband went to assemble the crib we bought for our first born, we discovered we were missing a part so we called the manufacturer to get a replacement. It turns out that all drop down rail cribs had been recalled over 2 years ago! They gave us a credit to purchase a new replacement crib so it worked out, but had we not had to call in for a replacement part, I don't think we would have ever known!
Needless to say, with all these changes we felt a bit like first time parents, but we've navigated through the changes and have found our groove, either with new and improved products, or our old stand-byes.
- By Andrea Howe
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