5 Household Gadgets to Make Parenting Easier
Baby’s require a lot of gear, yes, but here are five non-baby household essentials to make your parenting life so much easier:
1. Robot Vacuum and Mop
We practiced baby-led weaning (BLW) and, to greatly oversimplify this feeding approach, BLW encourages your little one to feed themselves and hold their own mushy foods instead of the parent spoon-feeding them purees. While I am (now) happy we took this approach with Lee, it was a total mess at first: avocado splattered on the walls, oatmeal on the underside of the table, and Greek yogurt just everywhere.
I don’t know why we didn’t order a robot vacuum and mop earlier, but once we bought one it made cleaning up after meals so much easier, especially now that Lee is obsessed with granola and almond slivers.
2. White Noise Machine
You likely already have a white noise machine for your nursery, but consider getting one for your bedroom, too. We found it to be especially helpful when Lee was about 6-8 months old; Lee was sleeping for longer stretches during the night, but I was still on high alert all night long as I strained to listen to Lee’s soft breathing to ensure he was sleeping soundly (a bad habit I developed when Lee was a newborn). The white noise machine allowed me to tune out Lee’s little yawns and catch some real shut-eye.
3. Slip-On Walking Shoes
The number of times I finally wrangled Lee into his baby carrier to only realize I didn’t have shoes on… I recommend buying a pair of sneakers that you can shove your feet in without having to bend over in for instances like this.
4. Travel Coffee Mug
If you’re the sleep-deprived parents of a newborn, pour your morning coffee into a travel thermos instead of a mug. Using a travel coffee mug will spare you: 1. Countless trips to the kitchen to reheat (and then ultimately forget) your hours-old cup of coffee in the microwave. 2. The clean-up when you inevitably knock over your open coffee mug.
5. Note Pads
I was a habitual list-maker before I was a mom, so after Lee, my to-do, grocery, packing, and lists of lists are at another level. Throw some notepads into your kitchen’s junk drawer for easy access and reference.
If you’re still shopping for true baby gear (and not just gadgets for parents), here are our recommendations for the best diaper pails, baby gates, and baby food makers for the first year!