"How could anyone get rid of books?!?" I asked my husband incredulously. We were newly married and looking through books at a garage sale. I love books. I have a degree in English and just couldn't imagine parting with books!
12 years and four kids later, I get it a little more. I find myself wanting to get rid of books. I haven't actually taken the plunge, but I think about it. Why? Because of space. I used to go to a used book store where you could load up on books for very, very cheap and just take any children's book that looked mildly interesting. Now, however, our book storage space is at capacity, and if there wasn't such thing as Kindle and eBooks, we would be needing to get rid of books ourselves.
With that in mind, I wanted to make a list of board books that I would never get rid of and would definitely buy again if I were starting all over again and wanted to save space. Here they are for you! This post contains affiliate links.
Really, you can't go wrong with anything by Sandra Boynton. They have several boxed sets for her. Brinley probably liked Pajama Time as one of her best among those books, but again, you can't go wrong with any of them. You must have at least one of her books in your collection.Karen Katz Books
Yet another author who is a must-have addition to your library. She has a lot of cute ones about the love between parents and baby. She also has fun lift-the-flap books and counting books. Any one of them is a great purchase.Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
This is a classic among the board books. It is written in poem and has interesting illustrations that vary from color to black and white. It is a soothing book that really preps your little one for sleep.
Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
This is a cute story that my good friend gave Brayden for his first birthday. She is a teacher, so I knew it would be a good one. Most of this story has no words. Wordless books are fantastic for helping develop story-telling skills, so this is a must-have book to add to your library to be sure you have a wordless picture book.
This is a cute story that my good friend gave Brayden for his first birthday. She is a teacher, so I knew it would be a good one. Most of this story has no words. Wordless books are fantastic for helping develop story-telling skills, so this is a must-have book to add to your library to be sure you have a wordless picture book.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.
This was McKenna's absolute favorite book when she was a little one. This one is fun because it teaches both colors and animals.
Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day
This is another book that is primarily a wordless picture book. This book is silly yet endearing, where a dog is left to babysit the baby. They have many fun adventures together.
Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day
This is another book that is primarily a wordless picture book. This book is silly yet endearing, where a dog is left to babysit the baby. They have many fun adventures together.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
This is yet another classic book. This one adds learning days of the week as well as the science lesson about caterpillars and metamorphisis.
This one does not matter so much this exact board book, though this is a great one, but the fact that it is a book with pictures of real animals. That is so valuable to a toddler or preschooler. They also LOVE books with pictures of real animals! So be sure you have one in your home library.
DK Sophie books
This is one that can almost seem silly. Board books with the character based off of the favorite teething toy?!? Marketing at its finest. But the books are great. We have several and really like them all. That's Not My...
These are fantastic books. They are touch and feel books and you can find them on just about any animal or love your child has. Dolls? Yes. Mermaid? Definitely. Dragons? Of course. Check out the many options and find one that suites your child.
This is another where I am not set on one certain book. DK in general often has fun books, board books or picture books alike. This one linked is great for just learning lots of different words. It is a great way to build vocabulary. But look at all of their options. For example, they have a tractor one, a color one, a numbers one, a farm one, an animals one...lots of good things.
Favorite Stories in Board Book Form
Some books are family favorites that they have in made into board book form. That is great for little hands who might rip books. Sheep in a Jeep is a great examples of that. Others, like Ladybug Girl, take beloved characters and creat new adventures.What are the must-haves in your home library?
: I love having a nursing pillow. It seems like when Brayden was a baby, the Boppy (or generic versions that were the same thing) was the one option for nursing pillows. Now there is My Breast Friend, Mombo, and much more. What will you like best? I don't know. I have tried the Boppy and the Mombo. I like both. I find the Boppy better for sitting on softer surfaces, like my bed or my couch, and the Mombo better for sitting on harder surfaces, like my computer chair. What is your favorite?
and the Kiddopotumus bib--which is now under the name of 
. So, I thought I would do some posts asking readers their favorite products. I will do these every so often. Today, I am interested in your favorite products for babies 0-12 months. Favorite monitors, swaddlers, bedding...whatever you use for the baby. I am not talking toys or books today, just your nifty products you absolutely love and think everyone should know about. 
My favorite thing is the 
. I had heard from other moms that it was a great product, but there was no way I was spending $100+ on a baby monitor. Little did I know that peace of mind was worth every single penny! When we decided to move our baby girl to her crib upstairs, we opted for the monitor because it had an alarm that would go off if Katie stopped breathing. We had a few false alarms, but that was the best $100+ we spent on our daughter!!
My favorite item is the 
- this seems like it is more for mom's benefit, but it's also for baby's! 
aden + anais swaddle blankets
because they let me swaddle my baby during the summer without him getting too hot http://www.adenandanais.com/
Baby White Noise sampler cd 
from Amazon 
Tide laundry detergent
for baby laundry stains
- my daughter easily broke out of every other swaddle blanket except this one. It immediately added 1-2 hours of sleep at night by keeping her from waking up due to flailing her arms.
- the monitor detects movement and alerts you with a beep if it has not detected movement in 15 seconds. It saved us from checking her breathing a thousand times a night.
- It fits into your existing dining chair and saves room. It's easy to take to someone else's house for a meal if they don't have a high chair. It's also very easy to wipe clean.
(or some other nursing pillow) - Besides nursing, I found many other uses for the Boppy: tummy time, propping baby up before she could sit up, and I even stacked 2 of them to help her sit up even more.
- It neatly stores milk bags upright and keeps them organized. The flattened bags are easy to remove and quick to thaw.
, White. I love this white noise machine and so does my baby.
. Emphasis on Active. I had the original, but it really hurt my back when I used it. I purchased the Bjorn Active and it was very worth it. The added back support helps so much when we are shopping, going on walks, etc.
My Breast Friend pillow
- I know the name sounds funny, but this was a life saver for me, a first time mother. At my 2nd day checkup I was having trouble and I was using another popular nursing pillow and the hospital recommended the "My breast friend" pillow. I had some other issues but this pillow solved many of them. It allowed me to line up my baby evenly so I did not have to slump over. It is completely flat so your baby does not sink and is also clips around your body to support your back. There were even times that I had to get up while nursing and I could do that with ease.
For swaddlers, I loved the 
. They are SO tight.
I love the 
... they are plastic, and dishwasher safe.
We used the
for white noise-- best invention EVER!
-- life saver if you breastfeed.
I also used the 
and it's great. We still use it for our 16 month old, although I plan on getting him a different toddler high chair when the baby comes.
I also am going to put my stroller on here, because I have LOVED it from day one. 
. LOVE LOVE LOVE it. It's compact, but bigger than an umbrella stroller. Strolls like a dream. I am planning on getting the double when baby #2 comes.
1. 
(sleep sounds)
2. 
(teether)
(great for those nights when it's 3am and there's spit-up/puke everywhere, presto-chango in 30 seconds flat!)
4. 
(safest out there)
5. 
(as an aesthetician, I have to say this is one of the best products I've used yet!)
6. 
- Lavendar, Lemon & Tea Tree
7. 
& wipes
8. 
(trainer and drinking ones)
9. 
by The First Years (closest to mimicking the breast)
10. 
11. 
(way better than the Boppy!)
12. 
Wearable Blanket.
13. 
14. 
(starter and junior sizes)
15. 
or Twilight LadyBug Constellation nightlight
Can not describe how much we LOVE our baby monitor - 
1. 
. Saved me when i had sores on my nipples so that I could continue to feed baby breast milk while I healed.
3. 
for holding breast pump up, making it totally hands free and worth EVERY PENNY.
4. 
stroller with bassinet feature, or any stroller with a bassinet. We have used this as his primary bed and it has been fantastic.
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nursing pillow
2.
(thewoombie.com)
3. 
(when you have your second baby)
4.
. I'm still using it with my 9.5 month old (21 lbs) and I can wear it for over an hour with no pain, soreness, or tired muscles.
2) 
- now that Hannah is 7mo old she does a great job sitting in it and it makes a looooong walmart trip more possible (since you can move from one carry position to another).
3)
. Seriously amazing product. You can suck a baby's nose and they don't even care... amazing!!!
4)
1. 
- It is well, a miracle!
2. 
- Easy to clean and no velcro to wear out!
3. 
- My DD likes to jam herself in the corner to sleep and I felt much better knowing that she could breath through the bumper pad!
4. 
- For those of you who can sew or who have someone nice enough to make this for you, it is an awesome diaper bag, tons of storage and it looks great. I had to adjust the cell phone pocket to make it bigger and I made an additional pocket on the outside of the bag for my keys and it is so incredibly convenient, I LOVE it!
1. 
nursing pillow - loved it, loved it, loved it. Could not have breastfed without
3.
4. 
- my daughter had crazy arms that would wake her up in those first few months. These swaddlers (in fleece because it was winter) were awesome.
1. 
2. 
3. 
4.
5. 
(for diaper rashes)
5. 
(made with calamine lotion & originally for insect bites and rashes, it is an awesome healing cream for diaper rashes! Over-the-counter but you have to ask the pharmacy for it.)
6. 
(worth the extra $$ for the safety and ease of install!)
One of the most helpful gadgets I was given for following Babywise was the 
. www.itzbeen.com. It keeps track of diaper changes, feeds, which side to feed on, sleep length, etc. There's an extra button to record other activities' length, which I use to time how long she's been awake, or Individual playtime length, or cry it out, etc. Very helpful for a younger baby, but I have used it throughout my baby's first year.
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