Emily’s Baby Picks

All the gear I use and love for my 3 kids. If you are first-time parents these are some must haves.

SLEEP

Hatch Sound Machines

We are big fans of white noise to help sleep. We also utilize this one as a night light and sleep trainer. Our oldest daughter knows that she is not supposed to leave her room in the morning until the light turns green!


We also have the hatch mini, and the hatch portable for when we are traveling.

SLEEP: Smart Bassinet aka The Snoo

The Snoo is a game changer for when newborns reach that stage where they no longer fall asleep incredibly easily. Now they are a little more alert and like to be held and rocked to sleep.


The best thing about the Snoo is that it helps your baby learn how to fall asleep without YOU! This gives you back those precious hours when you might be ready to go to bed, but Little One just doesn’t settle in. My kids started sleeping through the entire night at 2 months old with the Snoo, but we were getting big chucks of time well before that.



I also really love the sleep swaddles from the Happiest Baby, which is the company that produces the SNOO. They keep the baby’s arms down pretty well and promote good hip health. My second favorite swaddle for naps is the Halo swaddle/sleep sack.

SLEEP: Dock a Tot

The Dock a Tot is really helpful for setting the baby down during the day. My kids all slept super well in the DAT, and it is easy to cary around the house if necessary.

Get a replacement cover from Amazon for much cheaper than the DAT website.

Car Seat

The DOONA

Hands down the best invention for newborns ever! I love my Doona. When I originally bought it for my first daughter in 2019 I felt SO boujee paying that much for a car seat that NO ONE else had. Moms would stop me everywhere and ask about it, including moms with older kids who just thought it was a great idea. It has held up really well. I’m on my third baby with it and it will luckily expire around the time he is turning 1 and ready for a convertible car seat. I bought it off Amazon and used a bunch of Amazon gift cards to help with the cost. But knowing now how much I used it and loved it, I would have paid full price for it.

The best part is you never have to carry the car seat. We traveled internationally with it, and it made traveling with a baby a lot easier. Some cons: It has absolutely NO storage. and it's pretty large, so it takes up space in the car, restaurants, and tiny doctor's offices. If you have to walk up and down a lot of stairs and when lifting it into the car, it is pretty heavy.

I bought a couple of accessories for it, through the years, but the sun shade in the Texas sun is definitely a must!

Strollers

A stroller for every occasssion

Ultra-compact and lightweight umbrella stroller. We used this for our toddler traveling internationally and it was a huge win. Great for grandparents who need a stroller, but don’t want anything massive taking up space.

The best for multiple kids. Double strollers are huge, wide, heavy, etc. My kids like the wagon, because they get to sit face-to-face and it feels a bit freer and more open than traditional double strollers.

For the active mom/dad who wants to run/hike/ and be on the go in all kinds of terrain. We really loved the BOB for jogging and use it still. It has held up well over the past 4.5 years.