I thought it’d be nice to keep a list of our most used, tried and true, favorite items in one place. This is not a curated list to look cute and organized — just things we actually use and LOVE. I will keep updating as I think of things to add.
Also, as a disclaimer, I feel the need to say this: the world is trying to sell you things in every direction. You are still a wonderful person if you do not buy any of these things for your children. They probably don’t care what lunchbox they have!! I am just sharing because I do get some questions on what we use/like. <3
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Baby Feeding
First Open Cup — Did you know that you can go right from bottle to open cup? No need for a sippy! I like these as a first open cup because they don’t tip over as easily
EZPZ mat — I loved feeding my kids meals their first meals with this mat! PSA — the mat will not fit on the IKEA highchair tray but the plate will.
360 sippy — we used these cups when out and about with this strap on their stroller or high chair.
Travel placemats — A lifesaver when going out to eat — no throwing plates! Tip — put it down right before serving food because they learn to peel the edges quickly!
Bibs — I think these two types (sleeved & catchall) are essential. If we ate something really messy like pureed soup, you’d better believe they wore both at the same time! Ha!
Travel Lunches
Small bell jars with plastic lids we use these all the time for lunches and beyond
Bentgo Kids We have LOVED this lunchbox! I think my kids got it when they turned 2 and that was a perfect age. My kindergartener still uses it and loves it. I love that the compartments are sealed very well — I can pack yogurt in one spot and it won’t leak into another section. They have been dropped and still look great.
Midi Demi Spoon & Fork from Crate and Barrel— I actually have had this since before kids! They are small and fancy (think cheese tray) but they are actually perfect to pack with school lunches!
Planetbox Rover We LOVE this lunchbox. It is not sealed like the bentgo so you can’t put yogurt in the compartments but it does come with a waterproof container for those kinds of things. Its long and flat so I did need to buy another lunchbox (the planetbox lunchbox) but my kindergartener says he prefers this to the bentgo. I think it may be a bit difficult for younger kiddos to open on their own.
SMALL water bottle At my son’s school you are allowed to go in and each lunch with them whenever you want. It was weeks into school and I surprised him and ate lunch with him. Boy was it an eye opener! For one thing, I realized he wasn’t allowed to bring his big water bottle into the lunch room (maybe something he could have told me!?) so he wasn’t drinking anything at lunch! I felt awful. Most of the other kiddos had capri suns or lunchboxes. We try to stick to mostly drinking water and I try to minimize adding to landfills so I found these after a long hunt. I’ve been so happy with them! I was hesitant to buy such a large pack but the price was right so I went for it. Surprisingly, I’ve found a lot of uses for them so far, outside of the lunchbox! They fit perfectly in both the pottery barn lunchbox and the planetbox lunchbox. I like that he can pack water or I can pack him apple cider, almond milk, or something special if I want. Outside of the lunchbox they’ve come in handy transporting liquids on trips (I’m picky about my coffee creamer and maple syrup!).
Napkins & tie dye kit Speaking of reducing waste, before my oldest started kindergarten, we had a special afternoon tie dyeing these napkins . It made him feel so special and he loves being able to use them only in his lunchbox. TIP: when tie dyeing with young kids, choose only 2 colors that mix well together! We used blue and yellow and have a lot of green napkins.
Stasher bag These are pricy but I’ve really surprised myself how much I’ve used them!
Full circle bags These do feel a bit cheaper than the stasher bags (a little thinner) but are just perfect for kiddos and they are half the price!! I got mine at home goods for even less — so check there!
Washi tape I use these to tape onto the snack bags with their names. They love the fun patterns. I can usually wash the bags a couple of times before having to replace the stickers.
Hard plastic snack containers I like these because they are very compact and perfect for things that get mushed easily (think raspberries or cereal). I have the double one that I pack sometimes for a fruit + veggie (raspberries on one side, pepper rings on the other).
Toddler / Preschool / Young Child Feeding
Corelle Salad Plates — I am kind of a minimalist (although not according to my husband…) and I don’t like having a lot of extra stuff around. The kids eat most of their meals on these salad plates. I’m not into having a bunch of kid plates around and I think they feel special having “adult” plates. They aren’t breakable, stack so nicely without taking up a lot of space, and still look new. We have a ton of these and the dinner plates and they are what we use when we have company over as well (I do break out our fine china on holidays).
Kids Utensils — I love that this set includes knives, perfect for cutting bananas or spreading peanut butter on toast. These aren’t plastic and look like just like smaller versions of our knives.
Smoothie Cups — These are the perfect size for toddlers / young kids. They come with smoothie straws and a nice sipping top as well (think hot cocoa). I like that they are stainless steel.
Water Bottle — These are the perfect sized water bottles for kids, in my opinion. It comes with two lids (straw and flip top), is spill proof, insulated (we kept them in the car all summer and they stayed cold), and much cheaper than the hydroflasks! Win win!
Everyday Cups (stainless steel) — These are what my kids use everyday. They come with silicone sleeves so they don’t argue over whose is whose. They each get the same color every day. Yes, they do spill them from time to time. They mostly drink water so it’s not a big deal to clean up.
Gray Barmop Towels — We’ve been using reusable napkins for the last couple of months now and it’s been so much easier than I’d ever thought! I really like these gray barmop towels (I can’t remember if mine are from Target or HomeGoods). They hide stains well and are very absorbent. The kids feel so special getting a “fancy” napkin. Unless they are really awful, they use the same napkin all day and I just throw them in the wash at the end of the day with the rest of our laundry.
Taco Truck Taco Holder — Not much to say other than we love these!! They are super fun and keep hard shell tacos standing up!
Cooking / Baking
Toddler Knives — To be honest my kids don’t love these crinkle cutters but I get a lot of questions on them so I will share if you are interested. They much prefer these. They each have their own set of knives and a small cutting board.
Glass Mixing/ Measuring Bowl — I’d never had one of these until recently and I am OBSESSED. I really find it a game to minimize as many dishes as possible and with the measuring markers on the side of this that’s easy to do. I love that it can go into the microwave so if you have a recipe that needs melted butter, melt it in here first then add the rest of the ingredients. The fact that it’s clear is awesome because you can see if you’ve thoroughly mixed the bottom (I never do!) and there’s a spout for easy pouring.
Quarter Sheet Pan — This is another thing I wish I’d discovered sooner. I love the small size of this pan. It’s the perfect size for reheating a few slices of pizza in the oven. I also use it a lot when bringing meat out to the grill or as a place to put meat when cooking.
Mini Square Pan — This is great for making boxed cornbread look fancy (or anything really! brownies, etc). I used it to make our green monster muffins too!
Nordic Ware Lotus Bundt Pan — Speaking of boxed mixes, my favorite thing to bring to a holiday is a boxed chocolate cake mix cooked in this pan dusted with confectioners sugar!! I love Bobs red mill brand. My kids think its so fancy and that the sugar looks like snow — no one misses the frosting! It really looks so fancy and who can be bothered making something fancy during the busy holiday season.
Y-Peeler — If you do a lot of peeling, please get yourself a Y-peeler! In OT school, we learned how awful a traditional peeler is at contributing to ulnar drift. Let me know if you want me to do a joint protection post haha!
Parchment Paper Baking Cups — so worth it. I’ll never go back to regular baking cups again.
Clothing
Toddler Bogs — These are pricey but in our area we get a ton of snow so necessary. Also they have good resale in our area. We try to find them on sale.
Toddler Boy Pants — Having 3 boys we go through a lot of pants! I love these so much and my boys actually tell me they are their favorite too. The khaki and gray color makes them look more dressed up but they are as comfortable as sweatpants.
Women’s Open Vest — This is my new favorite thing to wear around the house. It’s nothing fancy but the fleece is so soft and warm and much more stylish than a hoodie if someone stops by the house! I love that it has pockets for my phone or if my kid needs me to hold a toy.
Books (for adults)
Bringing up Bebe — Full disclosure: I read this book before having children (I was pregnant) and don’t know how I’d feel about it today. I do remember liking it and so many things still stand out in my memory 5 years later and I like a lot of my feeding philosophy came from this book.
Dear Mother — this is a wonderful book of short poems written with such raw emotion. It will make you laugh and make you cry. So relatable. A great gift for yourself or any mother you know.
No Bad Kids by Janet Lansbury — As with all parenting books, not every piece of advice will work for you. It was very easy to read (not a huge novel) and pick and choose which strategies work for me. I highlighted a lot of this book and I still reference it often. I really appreciate how it’s laid out. Its very respectful of toddlers — a wonderful book.
Retro Baby — This is a great book for expecting or new parents. It’s written by an OT so of course I’m in love. It gives some play ideas without using a lot of toys or “stuff.”
Simplicity Parenting — I almost didn’t recommend this book because, although it stressed simplicity, is very verbose and could have been condensed quite a bit. I didn’t agree with a couple sections, almost enough not to recommend this book at all (the biggest issue I had was that it said to limit the number of books you child has). BUT I still found the overall message something worth picking up the book as it has profoundly changed my current parenting status. The biggest takeaway I had from the book was (summarizing, not direct quote) “what did you imagine your life with children would be like before having them” and it helped me to reprioritize my time. How we schedule our days matter.. Lots of great quotes to highlight and remember if you can cut through the extra stuff. For example, I imagined a lot of baking and nature walks etc. and that’s not what we were doing. We were busy with a lot of other fluff (I’m looking at you, soccer for 2 year olds!). This helped me reprioritize my time to focus on what matters to us most as a family.
Siblings without Rivalry — to be 100000 percent honest with you I didn’t finish this!!! but I loved what I Read enough to recommend it. I’ve been implementing what I have read and notice a difference so much. I do think it was a bit wordy; I’d have probably finished if it were shorter.
One Line A Day 5 Year Memory Journal — Not really a book, but I’ve loved writing in this every day and looking back through the years. It’s been fun trying to think of things to add throughout the day, but don’t get me wrong there are some days where all I’ve written was “ANNOYED.” Those are still fun to read though and remember how far we’ve come!
Misc.
Portable 3-in-1 Potty — This thing has been a LIFESAVER. It comes with these special bags for going potty on the go (we’ve used it SO MANY TIMES in the car). It folds up and for a couple months I stored it in my diaper bag!!!! I’ve also had my kids go potty with it open just on the grass (not to be gross) but the last thing I need is for my boys to think they can go potty standing up on a tree haha. Seriously such a great investment and only $15. When the twins were potty training, it was a lot easier to keep one contained in their carseat and have the other one go potty then switch, than to take all 3 boys into a public bathroom.
Plastic Underwear Covers — Speaking of potty training, I get lots of questions on that. I basically go straight to underwear. When we go out of the house, these are really helpful. If they have an accident, I can just change their underwear without changing their pants as well.
Window Crystals — Young House Love has recommended these for awhile and I finally bought them. They are only $4 each and my kids love chasing rainbows every day!
Double Stroller — I really wish we had registered for this stroller for our first and just added a second seat when the twins were born. Instead we had to buy this whole thing on our own (along with another crib and another mattress an car seat etc etc etc). This is nice that it’s narrow, so perfect for doctors appointments or stores. I still use it with the twins being 2.5 years old; it’s nice that you can face them away from each other. I also have this attachment seat for our older child.
Wine Holder (to store water bottles) — These fit our travel coffee mugs and water bottles perfectly!
Learning Tower — My in-laws got this for my oldest son for his first birthday and we’ve used it EVERY SINGLE DAY since. The height is adjustable. It’s big enough now to fit all 3 boys and we’ve had so many memories cooking and baking together with them standing on the tower <3
Countertop Composter — I’m too intimidated to have a composter but luckily our neighbor has one and lets us add our stuff to it. Honestly, having this countertop composter has made it so easy! It doesn’t smell and I can drop off our scraps every other day or so. I may even invest in a composter after doing this — it really is so easy!
