Children do not need many, but much. Much of our time, much of our arms, much of our soul, and sometimes, much of our … money.
I compiled this list using products that helped us tremendously or products that will be used in the future.
Home
- The funpod from The Little Helper – this funpod was one of the most used, if not the most used, buy. It is very well designed so that the centre of gravity is as low as possible, and the tower is stable even if the little one is bending over the edge. In their instructions, they say that “Please ensure your baby can stand unaided and the top of the FunPod is level with your child’s chest.” We spent hours in the kitchen, cooking, baking, playing, doing experiments. It certainly isn’t small but can be moved around to make more space. All I really wanted was that she can stand next to me safely, away from potential dangers, and still see what is going on. This funpod fit the bill perfectly.
- After watching this First Aid for burns in children video, I bought some spray bottles that I will take with me in our future travels (who knows when this hypothetical travel would happen!)
Babywearing
Please do your research regarding babywearing, as I have seen far too many parents that put their babies in snowsuits or carrying babies not in an M-shape position. I found some interesting guides here, here, or here.
I used a Manduca, a Boba wrap, an all-season cover, and a fleece overalls.
Wool
Wool is perfect for such a windy country like Ireland. Wool clothes are also quite expensive. At the same time, wool absorbs moisture, keeps babies warm and cosy, but will not make you overheat and, wool doesn’t get dirty quickly.
So far, all the brands I used were quite good: Disana, Joha, ManyMonths, Cosilana, or Tevirp.
I recommend buying a wool balaclava as it offers excellent insulation, is a 2-in-1 hat and neck warmer, and heads don’t get warm or sweaty. I have a Joha windbreaker fleece merino wool balaclava and Tevirp merino balaclava.
Another excellent advantage is that wool clothes seem to run on the more generous side: a stunning red boiled wool coat from Disana in size 98/104 (for children of 2-3 years) fits nicely at 4 years.
Wool clothes really do have a long life, as they can be reused by other children.
I usually buy them from kangaroo babies, Romanian shops, Aldi/Lidl promotions, or charity shops.
Solar Protection
This guide has more details about ways to prevent sunburn.
The products that I have used are: a summer multi cap, UV clothing from Decathlon, Bioderma Photoderm Kid Spray (recommended for children older than 12 months), and Bioderma Atoderm Cleansing Oil to remove sunscreen.
Out and about
- keep handy a good pair of waterproof boots for all the puddles and mud kitchens.
- travel potty for younger children
- Trunki Kid’s Travel Neck Pillow & Chin Support, a small-sized travel pillow
- Trunki BoostApak – Travel Backpack & Child Car Booster Seat for Group 2-3 a spacious, hand luggage approved children’s rucksack that doubles as a car booster seat for children weighing 15kg-36kg. After some debate, I bought this boostapak instead of the other well-known Trunki hand luggage as the boostapak can be used as either my daughter’s hand luggage or a booster seat. This booster seat was used on buses to and from Dublin airport, in taxis, or as a backpack with the travel potty and a change of clothes for day trips. This item saved us in the Thessaloniki airport as we rented a car with a child car seat. Little did we know that we couldn’t walk to the rental company and a minibus had to take us to our rented car.
- burn gel
- motion sickness wristbands
- packing cubes in distinct colours for each one of us. We watched together with our daughter Marie Kondo’s show on Netflix to learn about folding clothes.
- I love my Osprey backpack so much I bought our daughter a backpack for future school days, the Osprey Daylite Kids backpack.
- As she struggled to finish one bottle of water per day, I bought a bottle with a time marker. It is now much easier for our daughter to see how much she needs to drink until the line.
- To keep our daughter entertained while we dine in a restaurant, I packed in a reusable plastic bag Usborne activity cards, STABILO woody 3-in-1 crayons, and a Stabilo sharpener that came with the crayons set. The activity cards can be wiped to be reused.
Games
This is a very particular category, as kids have their own ideas of entertainment. I think we can all share stories about us, caregivers, overthinking which toys to choose for them, only for our children to leave poor toys in a corner so they could play instead with the wrapping cardboard boxes.
Over the years, I found that minimalism is best for children’s toys. If they have too many toys around, it is like they have none. They just can’t pick one to play with.
I also can’t forget about roleplaying games that require just a willing parent. I am not always in a mood to play a crying baby or a cat, but I remember these are the years where we plant and water the seeds in our daughter’s mind and behaviour.
Furthermore, I won’t discuss too much the classics: puzzles, Lego, dolls, cars, balls, animals (although, if you can splurge, Schleich has some excellent starter sets) etc.
Some of the most used games:
- kinetic sand, a daily summer activity
- Uno Junior – a classic game of cards. We skipped some penalty cards initially, and we let our daughter win. Until she started beating us. Consistently. Now, both of us play quite aggressively, and she still manages to win. This is an excellent game for a child to learn how to manage her frustration.
- magnetic tiles
- snap cubes or mathlink cubes
- Jenga – she is not 6 years old yet, but she has good manual dexterity. Blocks can also be used to make a domino. One of our favourites.
- games from Smart Games company – we started with Colour Code, a fantastic game to develop visual and spatial perception, with brain teasers to keep the whole family entertained. Then, I added IQ-Stars, down the rabbit hole, and I’ll buy some more games.
- making experiments from science books (e.g. 365 Science Activities) with science kits.
For future years:
- Snakes & Ladders and Ludo Double-Sided Folding Board
- Dixit Board Game – one of my favourite board games I played as an adult. Excellent for young storytellers with fantastically drawn cards.
- Rummikub
- Monopoly Junior Game
- Usborne Cut-out Models
If you want to read more about some more recommendations, other articles are about:
- Books for 0-6-year-olds
- Books for 6-9-year-olds
- Four Compassionate Picture Books For Children About Death
- Mummy, Where do Babies Come from? A Few Books to Spark a Gentle Introduction to a Sensitive Topic
- The Wisdom of Children’s Book “The Missing Piece meets the Big O” in Describing Relationships, Breakups, and Self-Discovery
- Wimmelbooks