Baby products we love

by Bex

So, almost 3 months in, there are a few of the baby bits we bought which have really stood out as great buys now that we've used them so I thought I'd share them here.

We absolutely love the Nipper Clipper nail clippers invented by Tom from The Apprentice.  Cutting the babies' nails was something I was dreading as the thought of catching their skin made me shudder.  I planned to leave that job to Nik but after being scratched a bit too much on the boobs one day during feeding, I had to take the plunge myself (the babies never seem to scratch themselves, just me!).  Using the Nipper Clipper was so easy and took the fear away as it has a little window so you can actually see exactly where you are cutting.  Not only that but it has more of scissor action than clipping which means you can press the bottom edge against the skin under the nail and confidently press down knowing you're just going to get nail.

It also comes with a nail file but that seems like way too much of a faff when you have two babies so we haven't used it.

The huge changing mat I bought with deep curved sides has also been great.  Nik still loves it even after I told him it cost twice as much as the white John Lewis one (which is smaller and shallower).  It's so solid and deep that we feel quite confident the babies are well contained while we're changing them and hopefully this will continue to be the case when they're bigger and more squirmy.  

Our whole changing area in fact works really well for us.  Using the top of the Hemnes dresser is ideal for us as we're tall and it's the perfect height.  the top drawers are ideal for organising everything and we have one specifically for nappy changes.  We tend to just keep the vaseline, wipes and a pile of prepared (unfolded) nappies out on the top as this is where we do the night time changes so it makes it easier.  In one of the top drawers we have the other nappies, cotton wool (although we don't really use this now we're onto wipes) and nappy bags.  Incidentally, we really rate the Aldi 'Mamia' nappies.  We had free samples of Pampers and Adsa nappies and also bought Waitrose own brand once as we needed emergency supplies (Aldi is on Nik's way home from work but we ran out n a weekend) so we have compared a few.  The Aldi ones are our favourite, we were really disappointed with the waitrose ones.  The Mamia wipes are MUCH better than the huggies ones we tried too - the huggies ones tore way to easily!

We have a box of tissues on the window sill behind in case of peeing & pooping emergencies when nappies are off, which is also the reason we invested in some £6 Ikea bath mats to save the carpets in front of our changing stations after Mummy experienced a projectile poop from each baby within 24 hours!  (Daddy has now also had the pleasure.)  Being a rookie, I automatically jumped out of the way - silly as it would have been much easier to strip me and wash my clothes than to clean the yellow stains out of the carpet!!!  Anyway, the bath mats are genius as we've since had a couple of similar occurrences and have just popped the mat in the wash.

We had to add a lamp to the dresser too as this end of the room was quite dark at night.
This is just an old cheap one we had from Ikea.

You'll notice I said changing stations as we also have a similar set up downstairs in the playroom on an old table.  It saves us having to go upstairs to do changes during the day which with two babies is much easier as we can still see and talk/sing to the other baby in the living room if they are upset while one is being changed.  We had planned to get a pedal bin for nappies but have found that just piling up the overnight bags and then taking them straight down to the front door works best as we've positioned our wheelie bin right outside - not very aesthetic but it's practical and easy which is what you want with twins!  Smell hasn't been an issue luckily.

Our maxi cosi car seats with isofix bases are definitely one of the things worth spending on (although we were lucky to receive one base from my friend Vikki) as they make it so easy to get the twins in and out of the car.  Finding parking spaces with enough space on BOTH sides to get them out however can be tricky, especially at the hospital where we've had a couple of appointments for them - the spaces are very tight and there are no mum & baby spaces.  I once thought I would actually have to reverse out of the space, get the baby out and then park again but luckily the car next door left in time so I had room.

Our co-sleeper for twins is also another big purchase which was worth splashing out on (although we did save by getting it second hand), having the twins right there means it's much easier for me to settle them if they just get mildly upset in the night.  I don't have to get out of bed to reach either of them and the same goes for feeding, I can lift them both onto the bed and feed them both without having to get up.  And while we're on the subject, the twin feeding pillow has to be one of the best products we bought (again second hand) as I can feed the babies at the same time, saving me lots of extra sleep!  I've talked about this more in my breast feeding post.

The duck bath has made bath time so much easier.  We have Roz to thank for recommending this one!  The first bath time was not fun and we learned a lot about what not to do!  I also decided having the soft duck bath would make things much easier and more enjoyable.  It was a bargain at just £11.95 (we missed out when it was £8.99 in Argos) and has been fantastic, the twins love it!

Here they are enjoying it at 4 weeks old:

We were lucky to receive our Bugaboo Donkey as a gift from Nik's parents and we absolutely love it!  It's SO easy to manoeuvre, it's a dream to push around, easy to collapse and build once you know how and it looks great.  It does take up A LOT of space in the boot though and if we want to take the carrycots in the car, we have to remove the wheels on the base to fit it all in.  I do love being able to put the car seats on it, especially as they sit higher up and it saves space in the boot, so thanks for the advice on that everyone who recommended it.  We've found it deceptively narrow when out and about.  We often think we won't fit through a door, space or pathway but more often than not we do.  In fact, we've only had trouble with doors when the car seats are on as the handles make them stick out more at the sides.

 Sunny days and not so sunny days!

These dummy clips are also fab so we don't drop them on the floor when out & about!

Out for our New Year's Day walk :)

I'm sure there are other things I've forgotten so there will probably be more posts like this in the future!