I'm not one for buying stuff for the sake of it and frivolously (it's my Yorkshire roots) and so when I was pregnant the first time I limited my buying to absolutely essentials. I googled, asked friends and consulted Pinterest for people's lists of essential baby equipment.
Some friends gave us old bits like baby baths, but I never would have bought them, opting for longer term investments instead.
A moses basket was something I didn't think was a long term piece of essential equipment so I opted to use the carrycot that came with the pram downstairs and a next to me crib for upstairs.
Rather than drag the pram chassis in the house, a friend gave me her old moses basket stand to put the carrycot in. It worked perfectly well, and as our baby had horrendous reflux, we found she hated sleeping on her back laid flat anyway. Most naps were taken out of the house on the move or in the ToddlePod cushion on the sofa or floor.
Fast forward to our newest arrival just a year later and I was already thinking differently. I knew we would need things to make our lives easier, to give me peace of mind if I had to leave the room for a moment and leave the newborn and young toddler alone, and as we are forced to stay close to home for naps for the toddler now, I knew we would a better solution for downstairs sleep.
I wanted something that could keep baby out of harms reach of toddlers or pets so would need to be height adjustable and something that could move from room to room with us easily if baby was asleep or resting. The Little Inspiration is lively and active and bounces between the playroom, garden room, family room and garden. I ideally wanted something that wouldn't take up too much room and could be useful to us for plenty of time to come.
There were limited products on the market that could do it all but the closest I found was the Chicco 4 in 1 baby hug crib.
It is height adjustable so I can sit at the breakfast bar having a coffee and still interact with baby, step out of the room without worry that the Little Inspiration will lovingly smother her baby brother with cuddles and kisses (or poke his eyes) or drop it down if we're playing on the floor so I can keep a close eye on him or involve him in our play.
I can also move it with us around the house depending on which room we're playing in and it glides perfectly well across our hardwood floors. It is a little on the big side so occasionally gets stuck in narrow passage ways like doorways and the hall but generally has no trouble getting through an average sized house.
It converts from a crib, to a recliner, to a high chair and then lounger for a toddler but if I'm totally honest, it's likely that we'll move on from it after the first 6 months when we transition to naps in the cot upstairs. It's quite nice to look at but does take up space that we'll likely need back for other things in months to come. Plus i'm not convinced how easy it would be to clean as a highchair and will probably stick with our trusty wipe clean one. For this reason you could say that at around £200 it is a pricey item for just a few months use but its already proven to be really helpful to us.
Especially because it looks like the Milkivore may be following down the reflux path like his big sister (joys) and the recline option is great to make him more comfortable for when I need my arms free and don't want him in the carrier all day. Him being curled up around my body also doesn't help his colic so he needs to stretch out and get rid of his wind.
So in summary, its been worth it to us, even if we do move on from it in a few months but I would say it could do to maybe come down in price a bit. Hopefully it will hold value second hand but I struggled to find many preloved ones when I looked, so I think it is too new to be a household staple yet.
What are your baby essentials?
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