on baby essentials…

[As posted last June 26, 2010 on Tumblr]

I’ve just read the latest post of Topaz Mommy regarding baby essentials and thought of creating a post in relation to that. The list of baby essentials is actually long and based on my own experience, most of them we used but some we did not. The weaning essentials could be bought a few months after the baby is out since weaning would be around 5 months up.

I know there are mommies who’ll agree/disagree with me but i just can’t help it but share this, of course from my personal experience:

We bought abdominal binders but didn’t get to use them. I gave birth at a hospital in Quezon City and one of my titas is a midwife—we’re at the hospital for a few days and they didn’t ask for any binder for the baby, they didn’t even make the babies wear them (no instructions from our pedia to use this). You’ll notice that when babies breathe, their abdominal muscles are at work too, that’s what my tita told me (not the actual words but the thought is there), the binder could hamper the breathing of the baby so if you’re going to let your baby wear an abdominal binder make sure that it’s not tight and the baby can breathe freely.

Having relatives and in-laws from the province (we’re from Rizal province, not much a province now but where we came from, there are still rice fields, carabaos, trees, clear skies and fresh air), i also had to deal with them regarding issues like the use of abdominal binder or “bigkis”. Elders from the province believe that babies should wear them specially for girls because that would make them “sexy” when they grow up. Honestly, I didn’t believe in that, they made me wear “bigkis” when i was little and look at me now, with 30 something waist line eeks. If there are doctors here (even non-doctors) who can tell me the main function or any scientific explanation of why a baby should wear an abdominal binder, i’d be glad to hear that.

So there, the last paragraph revealed that i’m a semi anti-“pamahiin” well not at all, i do believe in some of them and if there’ll be no harm in believing that then i’ll follow but if there’s something that i think could or might cause wrong, then i don’t.

Also in the list is a “water proof plastic panties”, honestly, i think i already saw something like that but didn’t bother to buy/use any of that. All through Mia’s 12 months, we only used cloth (gauze type) and disposable diapers. Why gauze type? They’re easy to wash with just soap and water and the very visible spaces in between the thread makes it airy and comfortable unlike the bird’s eye type of cloth diaper. I remember when my younger cousins or a relative’s baby used bird’s eye cloth diaper, somewhat a little harder to wash and the dirt (read: poop) clings to the cloth. The disposable diaper on the other hand, is being used once mia is already asleep at night and that’s until she wakes up in the morning. Oops, before any of you reacts, of course we change her diaper whenever we see that it’s almost full. We dont wait for 10 hours or what the diaper packaging says that it can last up to, it really would depend on how often or how much your baby had to pee. This is not a paid advertisement but i just thought of sharing, we used and are still using up to now Huggies Dry Comfort or Huggies Dry because they have a cloth-like cover (actually the whole diaper is cloth-like), i don’t like my baby wearing something that has plastic which comes in contact with the skin which i’m afraid might cause scratches and plastic is not breathable the heat stays within the diaper in contact with the baby’s skin.

Other mothers out there forgive me but this is my own opinion okay, you can still have your babys wear other diaper brands :) Good thing, until now (mia’s already 15 turning 16 months old) she hasn’t had diaper rash. For the first 6 months, Mia wore cloth diapers during the day and disposable diaper at night. 7 months up, we still use cloth diaper as lining for her panties :) now, she wears panties during the day and still disposable diaper at night, we have yet to train her toilet manners.

Diaper clips. We used the metal ones (i think the brand name is Farlin), they last longer too. The first time we bought things before i gave birth, we had the plastic clips but the time we used them, they’re bulky and leaves a mark on the baby’s skin (to think that we’ve left just enough space between the clip and the baby’s skin, if we adjust further would result to a loose diaper).

Walker. No walker for us. Mia learned how to walk on her own in her crib and with our guidance. I am not against walkers but i read somewhere that it somehow poses risks to the baby. Having multiple wheels and the baby without control on where he/she wants to go to, could cause the baby and the walker to fall down the stairs, bump on furniture (which could cause shock to some), and some other accidents. So if you want your baby to use a walker, full supervision should be imposed. if not the parents, the nannies’ eyes should always be on the baby because accidents happen with just a blink of an eye.

Babies should not be left alone even if they’re fast asleep. While they’re awake one turn and you wouldn’t know if they’ll fall from something, hold onto something which they could also swallow, etc.

Stroller. It’s almost 16 months and I’m proud to say that we survived even without a stroller. As far as I can remember, we only brought Mia to the mall when she’s already 6 months old but very very seldom, only when we badly needed to buy something after her monthly checkup but that’s all. Baby’s immune system are still developing that’s why you don’t want to expose them to places that are crowded like malls and even parties. Thank God it is only after Mia turned 13 months when she’s not having cough and colds very often but before that i think every other week we’re at her pedia’s clinic for checkup due to cough and colds.

Back to the baby essentials, i am not a pro here, i’m just a first time mom of a 15 turning 16 months old baby and i would like to share my experiences here. Every baby has their own personal needs and whichever you think would be useful for you and your baby, go and buy them, you think there’s no use for what you have, perfect gift item :)