Top 10 Babycare Inventions

Here are top 10 babycare inventions that every new mother/parent should have:

1) Breast pads - OMG! I tell you if you're planning on breastfeeding & you have the means to, then you will need breast pads cos the milk will just leak out uncontrollably when your baby is not drinking. My favourite brand is Gerber which I bought from Takashimaya in Singapore. The absorbency rate is fairly high too vs Pigeon brand. But since I can't buy this here in Australia, I have also discovered another awesome brand (after trying 4 unsuccessful brands) and that is Nuk Ultra Dry breastpads. It cost about AU$9.99 here for a packet of 32. Even though it's a bit expensive than Pigeon, I must say it works out cheaper in the end b/c since Nuk has such a high absorbency rate than Pigeon, you would use less pads in a day vs Pigeon. I highly recommend Nuk Ultra Dry to any breastfeeding mums!

2) Pampers new born nappies - I'm not being bias here but oh these are amazing! I've tried 3 brands already and Pampers is undoutedly the best brand! It has a poo/wee indicator which means for new parents like us, it really helps us to know when Zach's nappy is full as the indicator will turn from yellow in colour to blue (which means he's peed or poo'ed & it's time to change his nappy). Oh and the absorbency of Pampers is very good which means lesser chance of leakage & it's better than Huggies too. P/S... One last thing, Pampers is made by P&G but too bad they don't sell it here in Australia for me to get free samples! sob sob...
3) Grobag egg - this product was voted Nursery Product of the Year in 2006 - It basically is an egg lamp that shines different colours according to the temperature in the room. Eg if it's too cold, it will turn blue. If it's just right, it will turn yellow. If it's warm, it will turn orange & if it's too hot, it will turn red. Kelv & I always use this as a reference to how much we need to put on baby to ensure he doesn't catch a cold or over heat.

4) AngelCare baby monitor - Once again this product gives us a peace of mind whenever baby is put to sleep. If baby stops breathing, the alarm will go off. However, having said that, to date, we have been woken up by the false alarm 4 times now because the monitor could not sense baby's movement (as Zach's blanket was too thick) and I tell you, every single time, both Kelv & I jumps up immediately to see if our little one is still breathing... so it might not be a good product if you don't want unnecessary heart attacks.

5) Avent Philips Electric Breast Pumps - I tell you, when your breasts are full milk and the baby is sleeping away cos it's not the time for his feed yet, your breast gets very very sore and engorged. So you will need a breast pump to pump out the milk. Another reason why it's a good thing to pump it out is so that your partner can also feed the bub while you can catch up on sleep. I recommend an electric breast pump b/c it's much faster vs the manual pumps. Time is so precious when you're extremely sleep deprived so the last thing you want to do is to spend hours manually pumping your milk out. I also recommend the Avent one vs Medela (Medela is the market leader in electric breast pumps but do not specialise in baby feeding bottles) because Avent breast pumps allow you to use Avent bottles which is what we have already. So that means you can just attach the bottles onto the breast pumps straight away & detach it to feed your baby as soon as the milk is pumped out. Fast, Easy, Convenient.

6) My Brest friend feeding Pillow - ok make sure you buy a good breast/bottle feeding pillow because a lot of parents kill their back while feeding their young one. So in order to make sure you don't strain your back, you need a good firm pillow. We got the brand 'My brest friend' because these have an adjustable strap that goes around your waist to ensure it doesn't slip down when you place your baby on your lap. It also has a very handy pocket to put the baby's bib/hankerchief in it. The other good thing about this is that b/c it's a firm & flat base, we can also sit the baby up so we can burp him properly at the correct height as well w/o over straining the back. We got this on special in Taka SG for about SG $65 (usual RRP is SG$89.90).

7) Sudocrem nappy rash cream - At about mid way of week 2, we noticed Zach's bottom was very red. Since the hospital gave us a whole sample of baby goodies, we started to apply the Sudo nappy rash cream & within 2 days, the redness had gone right down.

8) Phil & Teds Pram - These prams are increasingly popular with all the new time parents. It is designed in NZ. Its unique feature is that it gives the new time parents the option to pop on a second seat for your 2nd child in the future. So basically it's a long term investment. It also fits through a normal check-out aisle which is very important for any parent. We're still yet to buy our pram but this brand looks promising. It costs around AU$600 without the bassinet/second seat for a standard 3-wheeler. Originally we were going to buy a cheaper pram for one and then buy a stroller for the 1st child while the 2nd child newborn would use the pram. However Mr M said a good point 'How will you push two prams if you were to go out by yourself?'. 'Oh yah hor!' was my answer!

9) Bonds singlet & bodysuit for baby - They are all made from 100% cotton which means it's 100% breathable to ensure your baby do not overheat. The singlets serve as a spencer below the bodysuits during the colder days while the bodysuits or jumpsuits I would call it keeps the baby warm as it sticks onto their skin. The jumpsuits also have a built in mittens and socks which are very handy especially when normal/standalone mittens always fall off.

10) Baby Bath tubs with Stand - I really regret buying my baby's bath tub in Singapore. Because it doesn't come with a stand this means you will need to constantly bend over to bathe their baby which is not ideal at all for your back. So make sure you buy a bath tub that comes with a stand that suits your height so that you don't need to bend over. Very Very important for your back! It's definitely worth the investment in the longer term!