In my life I have come to believe that the little things can make the most difference. Last weekend we went a bit mad and bought all of the “big stuff” on our essential baby list. As well as taking up pretty much all of our house, we nearly had to take out a second mortgage. To be fair, we splashed out on some good quality gear in the hope that it lasts. Anyway, post-spree, I have had a chance to think about a few smaller bits that I’m pretty sure are going to be essentials when the baby arrives.

Firstly, I got my hands on an ergoPouch cocoon. I have read so much about how great they are as an alternative to swaddle blankets and it seems everyone (and I mean literally everyone) who has one swears by it. The swaddle bag is made from organic cotton and no word of a lie, if I could, I would live inside it. There were lots of options, but we went for a grey colour which is decorated with white ferns – perfect for our nursery. The temperature scale on the website was really useful when deciding which product to go for. Here in England, it’s rarely warm for long so I figured a winter pouch was best…considering these are from Australia, I think it’s safe to say we will be able to use this all year round. Looking forward to seeing the baby snuggled up in it.

The second item that we got ourselves was a sheep named Ewan. I genuinely thought it was a wind up that the sheep had a name, but it does. Anyway, Ewan lights up red/pink and make uterus sounds to imitate the environment that the baby is used to. Again, people swear by this product. I have read that it’s one of the best sleep aids available and not only that…it’s available in grey – so yes, it matches the nursery. Result. Ewan “the dream sheep” comes highly recommended…

The last little thing we bought was a giraffe. A chewy giraffe. Alas, similarly to the sheep, it has a name: Sophie. Sophie the giraffe is a teething aid apparently. It looks like a dogs chew toy to me, but if it helps the baby get through, I’m all for it. I know we won’t need it for a while, but mums and dads across the land are going wild for these, so we thought it was a good idea to get one.

So, hopefully these smaller purchases will help us as much as everyone says they will.  I’m thinking they will.  Let’s face it, anything that helps out will be great – we won’t actually know until the little one gets here though! Not long now.