When I was pregnant, I had no idea of what my “must haves” were for the baby. All I really knew was that I needed diapers and some clothes of some sort. I lucked out on the clothing end and was given bags and bags of clothes by a friend who had had two daughters. I was also given a bouncy chair by the same friend (who had three of them) and that turned out to be one of the most essential things. The Poptart napped in there most days while I was in the living room or kitchen. As she got older, the bouncy chair turned into a Kick ‘n Play which let her build up her leg strength.

A year and a bit later, my top ten list of things to have when you have a baby is:

1. Bouncy chair (Best. Thing. Ever.)

2. Vaseline (especially for the first few days – the meconium poops are horrible to clean up)

3. Diapers (think of how many you’ll need, double it, and then buy twice as many as that number – that should last you a week or so)

4. Sleepers

5. Onesies

6. Receiving blankets (make excellent burp rags)

7. Ready access to a breastfeeding guru

8. A doctor I trusted (seriously, if you don’t have one, get another)

9. A travel system (carseat/stroller – so I could actually go out. I suppose this is only necessary if you have a car)

10. A supportive partner (seriously, I couldn’t have made it through the first few months without Darren)

(Sidenote: Strong legs + Busy baby = Early Walker. She started walking at 10.5 months and I’m not sure if this is a good thing)

As for the other end (ha! End! Diapers! Get it?), after a lot of research, we decided to use cloth diapers. For the first couple of months, I used a cloth diaper service. They’d come by every week, take the dirty diapers and drop off clean ones. It was great, it’s a family business and for starting out with cloth diapers I’d fully recommend them. Eventually though, I stopped using them and bought my own diapers which I found on sale from a local small online shop (which has sadly gone out of business). We stopped the service for a variety of reasons: cost (it wasn’t any less expensive than using disposables), my getting skeeved out at my daughter sharing diapers with other unknown babies, and there was a faint chemical smell to the diapers – like not all the detergent got out when they were cleaned. So I switched to my own diapers.

The problem with cloth diapers and diaper rashes is that you can’t use traditional diaper rash creams on them because the zinc oxide gets into the diapers and ruins them unless you use a liner. So when the Poptart was red and rashy all the time, I was kind of kicking myself for not considering that this might happen. We ended up using Vaseline, baking soda and fresh air – mainly because most diaper creams out there are zinc oxide based, and that will ruin cloth diapers unless you use a disposable liner.

So when I was contacted and asked to review A&D Diaper Rash Products, I jumped on it, hoping that there would be a solution.

And in a case of “Be Careful What You Wish For” the Poptart developed a bit of a rash right before I received the samples. Her timing is impeccable.

The A&D products are new to Canada and they look pretty good. There’s a cream (for treating rashes) and an ointment (for daily care and prevention).

(Oh and they’re called A&D because they both have vitamins A&D in them).

Pros

· Both products are paraben free

· You can use the ointment with cloth diapers as it is not zinc oxide based.

· The ointment can also be used for treating the results (i.e. – chafed skin) of diaper rash

· I used the ointment on the Poptart’s face rash (from teething) and it helped! I love multi-use products.

· The cream spreads well; I found other ZO based creams to be stiff. This one spread really easily and I ended up using a lot less for the same amount of coverage.

· Both are non-greasy.

Cons

· The cream is zinc oxide based and therefore not usable with cloth diapers unless you use a disposable liner.

So for me, the pros definitely outweigh the cons.

And I have a giveaway for you if you’re interested in winning 3 tubes of each of these products – that’s almost a year’s supply of diaper rash treatment products. All you have to do is answer the following question in the comment: what are your “must-haves” for new babies?

Contest closes August 30, 2010 and is open to Canadians (sorry US readers).

Disclaimer: I wrote this post while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central and received a Mom Central gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.