Here are a few items you can probably live without having: Bottle warmers. Some mothers swear by bottle warmers, while others simply swear at them. Bottle warmers often work by placing a small amount of water in the bottle of a heating area. The water creates steam, which heats up the bottle. It takes a precise amount of water to heat the bottle accurately – something that is often tricky when you’re sleep deprived and doing the warming at 3 a.m. It is not essential to heat baby bottles. There are no health implications if you give a baby a cold bottle. Heating is more for comfort. Running the bottle under hot tap water then placing the bottle inside is equally effective. Wipe warmers. Sure, the thought of wiping your baby with warm wipes seems very appealing. However, as your baby grows, you will be changing him or her on the go or in other
areas of the house not necessarily in the nursery where the wipe warmer is located. Fancy bottle sterilizers. You can sterilizer bottles by boiling them in water or running them through the dishwasher. Video monitors. Sure, the thought of seeing your little one while he or she is sleeping can be reassuring. However, is this more of a novelty than a necessity? Did you know that much like a cordless phone signal can be accidentally shared by someone on the same frequency, so too can the monitor? It’s possible for someone crafty to tap into the signal and “see” inside of your house. If you don’t believe you will be using the monitors that frequently, chances are you can simply use the audio models instead. Babies only detergent. Laundry detergent marketed to parents of infants tends to be some of the most expensive out there. There are other brands available free of dyes and preservatives that may be more affordable. Plus, you will not have to worry about doing separate batches of laundry from your own. azhealthandliving.com | May 2013
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