Okay, so every mama-to-be has read the lists of must-haves for their new bundle of joy: What to stock up on before baby arrives; what to pack in your hospital bag; top-rated car seats, strollers, cribs, baby carriers, bassinets; top Netflix binge shows. You know, all of the important things! We’ve read every.single.one. But now that you’re past the baby stage and quickly approaching their first birthday, you NEED to read this list of toddler staples to stock up on before your tot blows out their birthday candle. You’ll thank me later!
With love, Amanda
1. Applesauce pouches. So you’re thinking one of two things here: 1: My child won’t be eating those. Nope. Too much added sugar. Or, 2: Yeah, okay, but how much applesauce can one toddler eat? Regardless of which mama you are, keep reading. Every kid ends up being introduced to the infamous applesauce pouch one way or another.
So just let me tell you, my kids will suck down 3, 4 pouches no problem… and that’s before breakfast. We haven’t even hit after breakfast snacks, pre-lunch snacks, after lunch snacks, pre-dinner snacks, and before bed snacks. And if you run out of these babies… well just don’t. Trust me.
2. Band–aids. And I don’t mean Band-Aid flexible fabric, water block or tough strips. No way Jose. Don’t you dare try to stick that on your child. I’m talking Paw Patrol, Disney Princess, Peppa Pig, Spider Man band-aids. Nothing heals like licensed Disney characters. Because when your precious little nugget skins her knee, she’s for sure going to need a band-aid. Bumped her head? Yep, going to need another band-aid. Erfie, the stuffed dog, will, at some point, bite her. You’re going to need a band-aid to stop that wound from bleeding. Did her bubba pull her hair? You guessed it… band-aid time.
3. Baby wipes. Yeah, you thought you were almost past the point of having to buy baby wipes. Hopefully you already own stock in these because you’ve already put a Huggies grandchild through college at this point. But nope, not done yet. You will buy these until your child graduates high school. And then you will buy more and send them to college in a pretty care package.
Let’s just consider a few of the 72,000 uses for baby wipes: personal hygiene; wiping down your steering wheel, your shopping cart, the table at McDonald’s and the seats at your local movie theater; tame those flyaways; hemorrhoid cream substitute (look it up); eye make up remover (sorry L’Oréal, but Huggies are totally cheaper); dust cloths; window cleaner (okay, so pretty much you can replace everything under your sink with a baby wipe tub); stamp sealer; adhere those temporary tattoos… You get my point. Stock up.
4. Chap sticks. So I have the normal number of chap sticks laying around…. you know, one in my purse, one in my car, one on my night table, one in the living room, one in the bathroom, and my spare in the kitchen junk drawer. And I’m kinda a germaphobe. (I credit that to the knowledge I gained in dental hygiene school, but I digress.) So I really don’t want to share my chap sticks with anyone, especially my adorable, yet kinda gross toddlers.
Now, if they would just use it like a normal human I would probably be okay with sharing. Nope. They have to lick it, then smear it over their lips, cheeks, and nose, which are already smeared with snot, cookie crumbs, and residual milk. As if that’s not enough, they then proceed to share their chap stick (because it is theirs now) with anyone and anything. Does the dog want chap stick? He does now! What about the couch arm? Yep! Bottom of their shoe? Why not!? And do you think we can use the same chap stick next time? Nope! Because actually they ate it, or the dog ate it, or someone ate it. And it’s gone.
So yes, please keep plenty of chap stick on hand. Maybe even try hiding it, you know, like in your box of tampons. Hopefully no one will find it there. But just to be safe, go ahead and put it on the top shelf behind the unused pregnancy tests which we won’t be needing anytime soon… or ever.
5. Sunscreen. Okay so maybe this one won’t be for everyone. I do have fair skinned, tow-headed children. (Kids, let’s all say, “Thanks, Dad!”) But just hear me out. You would think that you wouldn’t really need a ton of sunscreen. I mean they are pretty small, right. Well, you will put sunscreen on your precious littles probably 32 times per outside adventure. And it doesn’t matter what time of day. 6 am, noon, and 5 pm all require sunscreen when you’re a toddler. You cannot risk them getting burnt. Trust me, you don’t want to deal with a tiny lobster. You will also need to put it on every square inch of their being. It’s not sufficient to just slather a little on their arms and cheeks. Nope. Lay down. Stand up. Stick your tongue out… wait, I think you got that with the chap stick.
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