Carnegie Hill Mom

I was among the first of my friends to have kids, which meant navigating the baby gear scene somewhat blindly. I walked through the aisles of Babies ‘R’ Us and Buy Buy Baby scanning whatever seemed useful, but not having much product advice beyond what my mom found useful 25 years ago. It wasn’t until I joined a playgroup of other new twin moms and took some parenting classes at the 92nd Street Y that I could chat about and see park blankets, pacifiers and push toys in action. Raising kids inevitably means acquiring stuff. When you live in a two-bedroom apartment, in New York City space is at a premium. If something is no longer useful, I happily toss it or pass it along to a friend. I’ve compiled a list of sanity-saving gear for the first five years. These 50 products are worth the precious square footage they take up. If only I knew about them when registering! Essentials for Sleep Summer Infant SwaddleMes and Halo SleepSacks : Velcro makes for a great “baby...

If you enter my apartment around 5 p.m., tread with care. You will likely find a city of blocks hiding under seemingly cushy piles of fairy tutus. The stroller will have turned into a puppet show theater with toddler chairs gathered around, unicorns and Shopkins having a tea party off to the side. You’ll wade through a sea of 8 ½ x 11” paper in more forms than you knew existed: crumpled, scribbled, doodled, chopped, painted, folded, taped, stapled, rolled, but thankfully not stuffed back into the printer. Those mystery globs on the carpet? Either marker tips my 1-yr-old chewed off, hardened Play-Doh , or partially digested puzzle pieces—your guess is as good as mine. Sometimes I wish I could wave my daughter’s princess wand to restore order to my home after the kid tornado hits. On good days, I rally the troops: the kids and I all pitch in to put away the forts, board games, books, stickers, snack containers, and train tracks that we trip over on our way to the bath. Whe...