Bye Bye baby stuff!

Now that my little princess is no longer technically a baby and we've decided that we are done having babies on purpose, (you never know what fate has in store for you), I've started collect a bunch of baby things to donate. Whilst going through this process, I've realized that there are certain products that I couldn't have lived without and others that were a total waste of money. Today I thought I would make a list of what in my opinion were the best baby products. Funnily enough, they are mostly feeding related =). Here it goes:

1. Mothercare change mat: This was an expensive change mat at 11 pounds ( that converts to roughly 20 canadian) but it was extremely sturdy and turned any surface into the perfect place to change a diaper. It also survived both babies and saved my back as I could use it on the bed on the floor, anywhere, without fear of errant poop despoiling any surface.

2. Avent Brush brush: (no this is not a giant toothbrush) This brush got all the icky powdery milk stuff out of the bottles in one fell swoop, definately cut down on bottle washing time

3. Munchkin Deluxe Drying Rack : this thing did double duty, it got the bottles dry but also kept the nipples and bottles organised. Before this magical contraption came to live it my house, bottles and nipples were strewn around my kitchen, taking over all the counterspace

4. Munchkin Deluxe Dishwasher Basket : I was washing bottles by hand until someone gave this to me as a gift. It changed my life and I stopped having scaly dry knuckles!

5. Bib clips. I bought mine from kula klips, but it looks like they don't make them anymore. Apparently these are easy to make, here is a tutorial I came across. . I love these! I went out and bought a big vinyl table cloth for $5 from walmart and cut it up into 12 inch squares and this is what I used as a bib with these clips. They are easy to clean and so big that it contains all the mess!

6. Mimitens! Ok - so I actually sewed some socks on to some mittens to make my own mimitens, but only because I was in a bind and so desperate for some gloves that would stay on my daughter's hands that I couldn't wait for shipping. I do however want to say that what I made looked way worse than the actual product and I do love this company, it's run by a mompreneur and it is Canadian so here is the link

7. Gymini Playmat - I put both my children in the gymini when they were only weeks old. They both started interacting with the toys at a very early age and I think it helped them ultimately develop the ability to play independently. My little guy used to play in it and then fall asleep!

8. Jumperoo - My daughter used to play in this until she fell asleep, it kept her busy for hours! As you can see maybe there is a pattern of my liking toys that tire my children out =)

9. Swaddle Me - both babies loved being swaddled, but being a very sleep deprived mom, I could never figure out how to swaddle them properly with a regular receiving blanket. This product made swaddling them fast and easy!

10. Milk Dispenser - This was a life saver for me, especially late at night. I would measure out the right amount of powder and bring bottles filled with the right amount of water into the bed room so that in the middle of the night, I could make a fresh bottle of milk without having to go to the kitchen.

So that's my list! I hope that the things I will be donating will be of some use to another mother! I wonder what would be on your list of top ten baby things?