Parent’s Must Read! You Need These Things!

As you guys know the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale has amazing prices on super cute clothes! But what you might not realize is that they actually have crazy good sales on stuff for parents and kiddos too. So today on the blog I want to share some of my favorite products for all the moms, dads and kiddos out there!

ANTI-UV TENT

Since it’s summer time and super hot pretty much all over the country, the first product I want to share that I just bought from the sale is this anti-UV pop-up tent. It’s normally $40 and on sale for only $25 right now. I don’t know about you, but as a parent I feel like this might be the best $25 I spent all summer. Since Molly is at an age where she loves to be outside all the time, it’s super important for us to have this because we can put Riley in it and not have to worry about him being exposed to the sun. We also hope to do some beach trips this summer and this will be absolutely essential not only for Riley but also for Molly when she’s spent too much time in the sun. We actually haven’t even brought Molly to a proper day at the beach yet (except when we were in Hawaii – I more mean here at home since we are 30 mins from the beach). She’s been, but only when we were out to eat near the water and we just stopped by and played in the sand for a few minutes. She hasn’t had a full beach day yet. And I think it’s because we’ve been worried about her being in the sun for too long, but this anti-uv tent is the perfect solution! $25 is what I spend on lunch, so I’ll happily spend it on something like this for my kiddos! Once I get it in the mail I’ll let you guys know what I think of it. But if you could use one of these I suggest you snag it now before it sells out. Things in the Nordstrom sale sell out so quickly! And if you don’t love it, Nordstrom has free returns so there’s really no downside.

SWADDLE BLANKETS

As any parent knows you can never have enough swaddle blankets. We honestly don’t even use them to swaddle. We use them for covering up Riley when we go out, putting over his car seat to keep the sun off him and I use them as nursing covers. I also use them to put down on surfaces where I need to leave Riley. They’re really multi-functional and you can never have enough! We have this exact brand and they are the absolute best! Oh and speaking on putting your little one down, we own this play mat (I’ll post an insta story today). It’s great and part of the sale!

SLEEP SUIT

I also get 1 million questions about Molly’s sleep suit every time I post her wearing her sleep-suit on Instagram story. We plan on keeping Molly in the sleep suit/sleep blanket until she’s at least three years old per the advice of our sleep coach. She suggested we put Molly in one because she told us that kids, just like adults, like to sleep with a blanket over them. And as many of you know, or really every parent knows, you’re not supposed to put a blanket in the crib with your child when they’re very young. So that’s why we originally started using the sleep suit. And as soon as we transitioned Molly from no blanket to wearing the sleep suit, she immediately started sleeping so much better! The reason she’s still in the sleep suit even though she could technically have a blanket at this point, is because it keeps her from climbing out of her crib. In fact, Molly has never even tried to climb out of her crib and I think it’s because she’s definitely not able to while wearing this. Which means we get to keep her in the crib as long as possible which is such a blessing! I have a friend whose two-year-old is already out of their crib and they let themselves out of the room at night when they should be sleeping. Which is definitely not a bridge I want to cross with Molly quite yet. And the advice I’ve gotten from so many parents is to keep your kiddo in their crib until they’re at least three years old. At $25 this sleep suit is such a great price!

And in general you can see all the kids stuff that is on sale during the Nordstrom Anniversary sale HERE. There is so much good stuff like strollers, car seats, and more!

And while you are here I want to share this nursing find with any nursing mama’s out there. I posted about them before but one of my followers told me that she got this nursing cover for under $15. CRAZY right?! I didn’t know it was on sale! I had to re-share. I own a few pieces of clothing that are super similar to this duster/cover-up. I love them because they’re great to throw on with an outfit when you want to cover your backside. I wear them all the time when I wear more form-fitting dresses. Especially when I was pregnant because I’d like to show off my bump in the front but didn’t necessarily want to show off my backside. So this is a great piece to get if you are expecting so you can wear it with your form-fitting dresses and then wear for nursing afterwards! It has little buttons at the top so it acts as a nursing cover. It’s pretty cool if you ask me! And it’s on sale right now for under $20!

I also loooove this maxi dress. It’s so pretty that I’ve actually had friends borrow it recently who weren’t even nursing just because they wanted to wear it to a Sunday brunch. That’s the great thing about finding super cute nursing clothes that don’t look like nursing clothes. You can wear them well after you’re done breastfeeding! The material of this maxi dress is very stretchy and super comfortable! And I love that it provides coverage for the top of the breast while breastfeeding so it can be done super discreetly without the need for a nursing cover in public.

Her are more of my favorite nursing items right now. All the nursing items I’m talking about in this post are from Motherhood Maternity and are buy one get one 50% off! (The red tank below is maternity – not nursing, but I think it could work to nurse – but I love it so I had to share for any expecting mamas)

OK, that’s all I’ve got for today! I just found all these awesome items from the Nordstrom sale and wanted to share them with you guys. And I wanted to re-share the above nursing clothes since they’re super practical, cute, and helpful in my every day life! Hope you guys have a great Sunday

37 Thoughts

37 thoughts on “Parent’s Must Read! You Need These Things!

  1. Thanks for sharing! When do you most use the play mat? Is it good for tummy time too? My baby is 4 weeks now and I’m always on the lookout for other “put down” options that are comfortable. Can you attach toys to it or it’s just a mat? Love that nursing cover, too! Brilliant!

    1. Our little guy hasn’t climbed out..yet, (was 2 yrs in June), but DOES often remove the sleep sack! No, zipper is still Up! So a matter of time! 😭

    2. I feel you Amanda! I have an 18 month old who now sleeps in a toddler bed because he climbs out of his crib. I only used a sleep sack when he was an infant. Is it too late to try to use one again, now? And if so what sizes do you get?

      1. I think they can climb out of the crib with a sleep suit on or not. If they want to try it, they will and it’s more dangerous with sleep suit on so what I did was put a whole crib mesh tent over the crib and zipped it up so they could sleep soundly in a suit and not attempt to climb out because it’s a mesh tent. Works beautifully and my little guy sleeps very soundly.

        1. I’m glad Ali and others you explained what a sleep suit when crib tent are! I’m an older mom and I never heard of either! My oldest son climbed out of the crib super early and all I could imagine was him wearing a sleep suit now and falling over the rails in it. I still watch Molly Ali and marvel at what she does (meaning what she doesn’t do – getting into things, climbing, knocking over things, etc as my boys did). Girls are just SO different in my opinion! (Easier imo!)

  2. I’m curious how you feel about this quilted muslin one compared to the regular cotton ones? Our littlest is in the Halo regular cotton sleep sack, but I always wonder if it’s warm enough!

  3. Hopefully you’re able to leave her in a sleep sack for a while. However, don’t be surprised if you go in one day and she’s unzipped it and is out of it. I’ve heard of parents putting them on backwards for this very reason.

  4. My son is almost two and loves his sleep sack…but he is almost too tall for it and he is in the biggest size I can find (18-24months), do you know of any sleep sacks they sell larger? Also, totally curious if you plan to potty train Molly while she is still in the sleep sack? I heard it is harder to do night sleep training if they are sill in a sleep sack or crib. If you have any advice on this I would love it 🙂

    I’m glad my son is not the only one obsessed with his sleep sack at this age! I tried to transition him out and it was definitely a no go!

    1. I agree would love to know a size bigger and where did she get the one Molly has on right now on this video

      1. Check the touched by nature brand on amazon…the 12-18 month size is 32 inches long. Brand runs large and great quality..also on zulily

    2. Perlin pin pin has one for up to 36 months. My boy is 27 months old and super tall, and still fits it really well. The zipper is hard to get at as it zips backwards. He’s such a monkey and hasn’t tried to get out of his crib with it on.

  5. I love Molly in her sleep suits. She looks so cute and cozy. My favorite stories you guys do are bedtime and Havana! lol And you look great in your new clothes! You’re always so super fashionable and pretty! 🙂

  6. Eventually ( around age 2) my tall kids got too long for the sleepsacks, despite still loving them! Maybe now they make extra long ones!

  7. My 2.5 year old transitioned from crib to converted crib/toddler bed seamlessly. I was actually shocked. I had a lot of stress and anxiety, but he did so well! He even stays in his bed when he wakes up after sleeping. I think it helps that we let him go to bed with a book or two – so if he wakes up he automatically picks up his book and entertains himself until we get him up. Don’t stress about it too much when Molly’s time comes! She will probably do great!

  8. Ali!! Can you please share where you got the ripped jeans from your post on July 20th? Thank you!

  9. We’ve used sleep suits for most of my daughter’s life because she takes regular blanket away. It also prevented her from getting out of her crib, however, when she turned 2, she learned how to unzip it and take it off and it was game over for sleep sacks. Now she just sleeps uncovered.

  10. Yes to sleep suits!! My 20 month old is in hers for these same reasons. It took so long for her to be able to sleep through the night, that we’re not about to change things and upset that. And like you said, it keeps her in the crib! We also have an 8 week old and I plan on using sleep suits with her as well 🙂

  11. I have used sleep sack from day one. My 3.5 year old is a preemie and was in a fleece Halo sleep sack in the special care nursey(we live in Minneapolis and she’s a December baby). She climbed out of her crib in her sleep sack just shy of 2. I was devastated because I wasn’t ready and everyone said to use a sleep sack to keep them from climbing out. Just an FYI it’s not always the case. Hopefully Molly will cooperate and stay in a crib for awhile.

  12. I’m 100% for keeping them in the sleep suits!!! I have a 22 month old and 6 month old. I plan to keep my oldest in the crib as long as possible too!! She’s also never tried to climb out and definitely think it’s because she’s always slept in the suit. ❤️

  13. We love sleep suits/sleep sacks too! My 15 month old son does great in them and we also plan on using them as long as possible. Our problem…he is a tall kiddo and is about to move into the biggest size!

  14. Curious to know how well Molly fits inside the UV tent. Best for sitting or can they play around in there?

  15. I don’t understand how the sleep suit works with potty training. My 26 months old daughter has been sleeping in a toddler bed since she was 18 months. She doesn’t get up except for rare occasions like when she is sick or when she wants to go potty.

    I don’t know how she could walk to the potty with the suit on. She had one as a baby but not since the toddler bed.

    I personnaly feel that 3 years old is quite old to still be in the crib. It serves more the parent’s interests than the child’s.

  16. Our sweet girl loved her crib!! She happily slept in it until she was 3.5, even though she potty trained at 20 months. She’d just call for us if she needed something, which is better than wandering in my opinion. We also love a good sleep suit. So snuggly.

  17. Amen to this!! I kept my twin daughters in sleep sacks and their cribs until they were almost 4 years old! All my friends laughed about it but then they would complain about their 2-3 yr olds getting out of their rooms at night and not taking naps anymore! Haha! My girls took an afternoon nap until 4 yrs old and always slept through the night in their cribs! Why fix something that ain’t broken! 😉

  18. My twins were kept in sleep sacks for this exact reason until they were 3 years old. We would put them in them inside out and backwards so they could not unzip them. I also made longer ones for them as they outgrew the longest versions on the market. Just used one of their old ones as a sample pattern and made them.
    As for potty training, my kids both stopped peeing during the night at 2 and day trained immediately after in 3 days. So never had an issue with the sleep sacks and potty training.

  19. Do they make sleep suits for adults? Cause that would be amazing. Especially if the rule while wearing them is to stay in bed and sleep 💤

    1. All kids potty train at different ages based on ability and implementation; there’s no hard and fast rule that says it *must* happen by 2. Matter of fact, many boys specifically aren’t emotionally devloped or mature enough at such a young age to be potty trained.

      I’m curious though, who’s it hurting if a child is in a crib beyond 2 years of age? My opinion is that safe & rested is best so if Mom & Dad are getting a full nights sleep knowing the child isn’t wandering their room or house and the child is safe & comfortable in a crib and sleeps well, what does it matter if they’re in it beyond 2?

      You seem very judgemental with very rigid rules & expectations regarding child rearing. I’m sorry to see that.

  20. Oh my! I’m ordering a sleep suit today!!! We are in a bad sleep season with my youngest. He is currently cuttting canines, going through a leap, and going through the 18 month sleep regression. Also, this week he mastered climbing out his bed! Needless to say, I’d try anything at this point, and just need to sleep! You are wonderful Ali, and thanks for the suggestion! Hopefully we can keep him in his bed.

    Mom of 3 boys! 😘😘

  21. Would you mind sharing Molly’s sleep schedule! I recall you saying that around 20 months she stopped napping. I am currently going through this with my 20 month old and I know she still needs a nap.

  22. Hi. My little boy is 14 months and he never really slept well in his crib, we are still breastfeeding and he has never really slept through the night. I’m wondering if these sleep suits would help. We transitioned him to a Montessori bed just now and I’m trying to sleep train but he still wakes up to feed.

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