Beyond the Basics: Unique Items Every Parent Should Have

We all know the necessities for babies and toddlers: car seat, stroller, high chair, etc.  But it takes time, experience, and getting your hands a little dirty to discover the unpredictable items that you’d be lost without.

NoseFrida: The SnotSucker, ~$16

We lost count of how many colds our son suffered through this winter. We took every piece of advice from our pediatrician on how to alleviate the congestion.  We tried several different aspirators, nose drops, humidifiers.  But nothing worked as well as this "unique" looking product.

I’ll admit that when I first came across it, I was grossed out to the point of nausea.  But the online reviews were stellar across the board.  I’ll do my best to describe it without causing anybody to lose their lunch.  One end resembles a small turkey baster, which is placed at the child’s nostril.  The other end is a thin tube that goes into the parent’s mouth.  Yes, the lucky parent provides the suction to remove the mucus from the child’s nose.  A filter in the middle of the tube prevents any chance of mucus ingestion — we love our kid, but there is a line.

It is such a simple (admittedly kind of disgusting) concept, but amazingly effective and efficient.  If you have a squirming toddler like mine, efficiency is key.

Amazon Mom, free

It’s not that I’m lazy, but packing up a child and lugging him around Target is not the best use of my precious little free time.  Amazon Mom allows me to order the supplies I need to be delivered to my home quickly and cheaply.  It’s a free program that gives 30% off deals on select diapers and wipes.  There is also free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime for the first 3 months of membership.  For every $25 spent, they give an additional month of the Prime shipping benefits.  So as long as we keep ordering (and boy, do we!), the free shipping keeps rolling over.  And you don’t have to use it for baby items only.

“It saved me a ton at Christmas, because of the free shipping.  And I use it to order presents for everyone now, since getting to the mall isn't as easy as it used to be,” says Ryan Elizabeth Anson of Woburn.

The Online Parenting Community, free

Message boards, blogs, advice sites; there’s a whole world for moms out there.  Only one of my ‘real world’ friends has a child, but I have many online friends who have helped me when I needed it, and vice versa.  The internet communities of which I am a part have been an invaluable resource in these first few years of pregnancy and parenthood.  If my son exhibited an odd behavior or symptom, I’d post it on a board and in minutes dozens of replies were posted with tips or shared experiences.  Of course, nothing beats the advice of your pediatrician.  But for less urgent matters or if you just need to vent to those who know, other mothers online can provide a great sense of support. 

In light of my appreciation for online communities, I posed the question of “unusual essentials” to one of my favorite mommy message boards.  Of all the helpful responses I received, the most common tool suggested by the majority of responders was:

Homedics SoundSpa Lullaby, ~$30

It's a sound machine and electronic mobile in one.  You can set it to music or natural sounds, and it projects a spinning image on the ceiling.  Although I can't speak from personal experience, many moms have dubbed this the “baby crack machine” as it never fails to calm their child at bedtime and soothe him or her to sleep.  They found it especially useful in that first year when sleep is a precious commodity, and continued to use it throughout toddlerhood.