When I was still pregnant and planning, planning, planning…a friend with a couple of babies told my sister to tell me what turned out to be one of the best tips on living with my baby — it’s funny how that works out, isn’t it?  The advice: make sure there’s a place to “put” your baby down in every room in the house.

I thought that sounded practical and excessive at the same time.  But I was willing to buy a few things to make it happen.  And boy oh boy, was that friend right!  If you’re not going to sling or “wear your baby” around the house, then there is really no sane alternative.  You can keep the freedom of movement to do the things necessary for your baby, for you, and for your family during your day.  But you can still have your baby in the same vicinity while he enjoys his activity time.

One of the greatest products I found for this, because it’s easily transportable, is the Boppy Lounger.  I used this so much that almost all of the pictures of my son are of him in it!  I put my son in it on the living room couch, the kitchen counter, on our bed, and even on the dining room table while we ate (all highly supervised, of course).  Sleeping while he was lying in it WAS the activity time for some time.  I could fold laundry, cook, catch up on my laptop, you name it!

I also bought a swing for the bedroom, a pack-n-play for the living room, and a bouncer chair for my bathroom.  I consider these purchases as essential to adjusting to life with your baby.  Eventually when my son could hold his head up, I bought a jumperoo that he loved too.  I found I could shower at any time I needed to and just being able to put my son down to do something as mundane as the dishes or the laundry made it feel like I could maintain relative normalcy!

~Whitney xo

Here’s a snapshot of our son in his lounger during our first dinner home from the hospital — of course he’s not the actual dinner but he was so cute we wanted to eat him up!