Sure the baby years are tough, but these are the life-changing products every parent needs to survive, well, parenting. Print this list, add them to your Amazon cart, share with every parent you know. These are the things you never knew you needed!
When I made my baby registry some five years ago, I included the “necessities“. Crib sheets, diapers, and bottles. Some adorable onesies and more diapers.
I thought I had followed all the registry must-have lists and I did in fact receive most of the things I needed. For a baby.
But those babies become mobile and then suddenly their sole purpose in life is to see how quickly they can make all the messes and destroy all the things.
Kids, man.
It turns out there were some other things that no one told me I would need one day but that I would use all the time. I mean, ALL the time.
ALL THE TIME.
I mean, yes you’re going to need a broom and dustpan. A dustbuster even. Oh, and go ahead and throw in some batteries every time you go to the store and that should get you through a couple of months. But there’s more.
This is the list of six items that every parent of small children needs, even if they don’t know they will need it one day. Just tuck these items or ideas away for later and I promise, you will thank me.
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6 Products Every Parent Needs
1. A grape cutter
Obviously no one wants their kids to choke on anything. But can I just say that cutting up grapes is annoying? And of course, my kids love them and want them constantly which leads to more cutting up of grapes.
Someone shared this grape cutter on Instagram the other day and it works exactly as it was advertised. I cut up grapes as a snack today and not only was I not annoyed by all the cutting, I was actually amused at my new handy cutting device.
A grape cutter is definitely one of those “didn’t know you needed it until you tried it” products!
I hope they want grapes again tomorrow just so I have an excuse to use it!
2. Loop Earplugs
I started seeing ads for noise-reducing earplugs on Instagam and was immediately intrigued. Then I saw a friend post that she bought them and loved them.
I was now more curious and asked for a pair for Mother’s Day. (Is there any more appopriate Mother’s Day gift than earplugs?)
These are special earplugs that don’t cancel out sound but just reduce the noise to a level that’s much more pleasant. I can hear my kids just fine (you know, in case they actually need me), but I can also hear myself think, and that, my friends, is a marvelous gift.
If you’re an introvert like myself, you’ll appreciate any way to lessen the constant stimulation children provide. These are making my days at home with the kids much less mentally stressful.
3. A cover for your car seats
No, not the car seats your children ride in. (Just accept the fact that your child’s car seat will become a disgusting black hole of spilled drinks and sticky things at some point.) I’m talking about the seats of your actual car (that hold the car seats).
We recently had to buy a car and as I cleaned out the old one I couldn’t scrub the bench seats enough to remove the stains from the car seats. When we found the new car I decided to not put the car seats in until I had covered the seat with a nice vegan leather option that was easy to wipe down and clean. It’s protecting my seats from spills, stains, and general stickiness.
Will it get disgusting? Of course! But one day when we need another new car, we’ll just take the seat cover off and dispose of it accordingly and save ourselves a lot more work.
4. A cover for your couch
Speaking of covering things, if you care about your furniture at all, get slipcovers. Actually, if you don’t even care that much about your furniture but just want something that’s easy to clean, I also recommend slip covers (this is the one I have). Spills and stains? Just remove and throw it in the wash.
My favorite way to hack this hack? Placing a blanket down on top of the slip cover. Now you’ve just got a blanket to wash, and once the kids go to bed you can take the blanket off, throw it in the laundry and sit on a clean couch for a couple of hours and pretend your life is in order.
5. A bean bag that stores stuffed animals
If you had told me that the most used item in my entire house (besides maybe my broom and dustbuster) would be a cheap cover that you fill with toys I, well, probably would have been confused.
As it is, my kids use this CONSTANTLY.
How? Well, it solves two problems.
First, by storing the millions and millions of stuffed animals we have that no one was really playing with but we couldn’t really part with either. We just had piles of stuffed animals and no real place to put them.
The second problem involved jumping.
My oldest son likes to jump and I have no problem with him treating our furniture like a jungle gym. What I did have a problem with was him leaping from the sofa to the hardwood floor in an attempt to stop my heart with each floor collision.
Jumping onto a giant bean bag filled with soft stuffed animals? Perfect!
Apparently the bean bags can be used for sitting and not just for jumping. Who knew!?
Now maybe you’re not a jumping-on-the-couch kind of family, you could still use this bean bag, as well, a bean bag and sit on it. I hear that works too. :)
I opted for the solid gray cover so it doesn’t look super out of place and it’s also easy to hide behind a chair or sofa if you want. Some of the best money I’ve ever spent.
6. Under the couch toy blockers
Do you have any idea how many times I sweep out all the toys/dishes/food/cups from under the couch? Well, now only about twice a week because it could be considered my part-time job otherwise.
I still don’t know how so many things get under the couches and chairs but GOOD GRIEF is it a lot.
These plastic guards stick to the floor and are easy to reposition and restick. They will change your life and I’m not even kidding. All the dishes, toys, etc. are easy to see and pick-up and I don’t have to wonder what’s lurking under all the furniture.
Those are my six life-changing, no one remembered to tell you that your baby will grow into a messy kid that will destroy allllll the things, recommendations for products that every parents needs.
Good luck out there, friends!