Coupons

If you sign up for Enfamil online @ https://www.enfamil.com/app/iwp/ConsumerRegisterLoadConsentInfo.do?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&csred=1&r=3559688837  or through their App... 

They send you samples, & special offers. (They sent me a $15 rebate for sending them a receipt with my formula purchase on it.) They also mail & email COUPONS for  $4, $5, & $7 off a can of formula! (The last mailer I received saved me $17!!!) 

I'm sure Similac & Gerber do something similar, so sign up for all 3! You never know which kind of formula your baby will handle best..

p.s.  Sign your Mom up too! = DOUBLE the COUPONS! :)  They don't send them very often, so My Mom, Mother in law, & I are each signed up, and most of the time I don't have to buy formula without a coupon.. Don't wait until you have him to sign up either, they take almost 2 months before they start sending any coupons! 

Bottle Warmer - Thermos

I LOVE THIS! I use it every day! We don't like to microwave Tav's milk, so we used to microwave a Pryex Measuring Cup, then sit his bottle in it, and wait for it to heat up. Which worked great.. until we're somewhere without a microwave... then what!? Well... I had this brilliant idea that we should get a really nice thermos, and keep a cup big enough for the bottle, then I would always be able to warm his milk! Sadly someone already invented it.. so I'll have to come up with a different invention to get rich.  ;)

This Tommee Tippee Travel Food Warmer is so cool! We boil water in our Tea Pot, fill up the thermos & it stays hot forever! (Even after 12 hours it's still pretty dang warm, depending on how full it still is..)  It's so convenient to use the cup, set you bottle in it and let it warm.  I was always so nervous to leave the house with him, because I would need to find somewhere to nurse him, or if I had milk in my Enfamil Cooler (FREE FROM THE HOSPITAL! GET ONE!) I would have to figure out how to warm it.  This thermos made me feel free to go out & not be constantly worried about his next feeding! Now that he's on formula, I use thermos water, add cool water (I keep a couple water bottles in his diaper bag) until it's the right temp & have a perfect bottle ready to go (Try to 'swirl' to mix the powder instead of 'shaking' it, you get less air bubbles).  I fill the thermos in the morning  and it will last until dinner time. I refill it then, and can make his bedtime & first morning bottle with it! I let the Tea Pot reheat while I feed him in the morning, refill it, & start all over. SERIOUSLY AMAZING.
The only thing I would warn you about is that the water doesn't pour out where you expect it to! (It DOESN'T come out where the button is, it comes out the side of the lid where the little gap is.)

(I couldn't find my Tea Pot anywhere, I got it at Ross years ago..

 It's a purple Tivoli Porcelain - Enamel one with a stainless steel handle, we've loved it.)

FREE HOSPITAL GIFT! 
Print this little certificate & put it in your Hospital bag, then you won't forget :)

(Some times the Dr. Office has them too, I have 2 of them! Ask your doc if they have samples, Enfamil, Gerber, & Similac usually have hospital gifts, & Dr. office samples, one nurse gave me 3 cans of formula!)

http://www.enfamil.com/app/iwp/enfamil/certificate.do?dm=enf&id=/Consumer_Home3/Offers/DiaperBag&iwpst=B2C&ls=0&csred=1&r=3559520504

Laundry Detergent

Dreft Laundry Detergent was recommended by several friends, and I love it. I don't have to worry about it irritating his Super sensitive skin, plus it smells good, and his clothes stay soft without using a softener (other than a dryer sheet). Get your Dreft at Costco if your Warehouse carries it, I can get it for about $13 at mine.
Also look for a "soap bar" laundry stain remover,  it works way better than any spray stain remover I've tried, especially on spit up & poop!  :)  I get it from my grocery store, I'll post the brand of the one I use when I get another one.

Swaddle Blankets - Car Seat Cover

I love these Aden + Anais Swaddle Blankets, they are so big, light weight, soft, and so far they've held up really well. I only have 4 of them, and have used them every day for the last 6 months.
They're also great to throw over the car seat to help keep him out of the sun & they're thin enough that I don't feel like I'm suffocating him. Much thinner than our Car Seat Cover, which is GREAT for cooler weather, but when it's 100+ outside, you can't use that, he'd cook!
We also tried the Velcro Swaddle Blankets, and didn't really like them.. Tavin wasn't super wiggly when he was little & we wanted him swaddled up tight, so I didn't feel like they made a difference compared to the A+A, or handmade blankets.  I guess maybe now that he's older if he needed to be swaddled to fall asleep they would be great, but he falls asleep without being swaddled most of the time. They seemed like good quality, maybe twisted up a little bit around the velcro after being washed & dried, but nothing horrible. Just make sure you do up all the velcro before you wash them so you don't ruin anything else in the wash.

(Watch for coupons from  https://www.carseatcanopy.com/ , I get them in the mail & my email all the time. You can usually get a code for a "free" one, and just pay like $12 in shipping.)

Mitten Cuff Onsies - Nail Clippers

These things are awesome. I'm amazed at how fast their little fingernails grow, & how good they are at scratching themselves! We had so many cute little Newborn & 0-3 M outfits & you would be surprised how many of them didn't have the mitten cuffs on them! You can put socks or little gloves on their hands, but they fall off constantly, & you aren't supposed to clip their nails for a little while because the skin is still attached to them.
The white Gerber Long Sleeve Mitten Cuff Onsies worked out perfectly. Tavin practically lived (ok.. slept..) in these onsies, and the 0-3M fit him from when we brought him home, till he was filling out his 3M clothes. The hospital gave us a giant (like 6M!) shirt with mitten cuffs, it was nice to have, but I didn't like having his little tummy & diaper exposed all the time. These onsies were nice because his hands were warm, he couldn't scratch himself, & I felt like they protected his little belly button so I could put sweat pants on him. 
The bigger sizes in the white Gerber Onsies have been nice to have too.  I have noticed the sizes run a little smaller than other brands, so don't be afraid to buy a size bigger than you think. I have to have everything match..  so WHITE is awesome! (If you can find them at Ross or Walmart, it's usually cheaper than ordering them online.)

Once he's big enough that you can clip his nails these Safety 1st Nail Clippers have a LED light on them! Makes it so much easier to see what you're doing so you don't cut them. LOVE. I got mine at Babies R Us. http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4407950&cp=&parentPage=search

 

Stroller & Car Seat

So here's the deal.. I LOVE Graco, I think they make better quality items than a lot of other brands out there... So when it came to our Car Seat & big Stroller, there were no other options.. Graco...
We bought a Graco Stylus DLX Travel system... & I love it.  (As far as we could tell from testing them & watching videos, there is no difference between the Stylus DLX & Stylus LX besides fabric options) We went to a bunch of stores & played with tons of different strollers.The Stylus was by far the easiest to set up & fold, it's easy to roll while it's folded so you don't have to carry it, the handle rotates for your height, it has cup holders for you & baby, & baby's tray rotates out of the way (It doesn't come off).
The Snug Ride 30 Car Seat (Most of Graco's Travel Systems come with the Snug Ride 30..) has been awesome. The shade has little mesh screens on both sides so he can breathe & it's easy for you to peek at him without him knowing :) It also clicks in & out of the base pretty easily. (Buy an Extra Car Seat Base if you can, my friends got one for me & I've loved having it!)
I would definitely recommend getting the Boppy Head Support for your car seat, I even pull it out of the Car Seat and let him lay on it while he's playing with his toys. Don't wait until it's too late! Pay attention to keeping his cute little head round!  (I'll tell you about that craziness later)
One of the COOLEST things about the  Car Seat is the Swing Graco made for it! It has been an absolute life saver! (I'll post on that later too!)

Here's the rest of the deal... Even though the Stylus is amazing I've used it once. It definitely isn't a throw it in the back of your car & go shopping or to the park kinda stroller. I'm sure we'll use it for Zoo trips & Disney Land.. But for normal every day trips, it's too big. So I bought a The First Years Ignite 'Umbrella Stroller'  except this one is a lot more sturdy than a regular Umbrella stroller.. (It has metal 'bars' instead of hollow metal 'tubes' on the legs) & it's tall enough you don't have to bend over while you're pushing it. It reclines, although not flat like the Graco Stylus, it has a little sun shade, basket underneath, a pouch near the handles with a zipper pocket & water bottle holder. It's fairly small, easy to set up, light & super convenient.. I use it all the time to go to the park, & when I'm shopping & don't want a cart. LOVE IT.

Breast Pumps

My first word of advice.... Read up on breast feeding as much as you can BEFORE you have your little one! Yes you will figure out the techniques on holding them, getting them to latch on correctly, etc.. in the hospital with your lactation consultant.. (Ask them to help you!) But you need to know how to take care of yourself, what to eat, when to pump, when/if to supplement with formula...  I would also highly suggest reading Baby Wise to help you learn about keeping your infant on a schedule.. It's the best thing you could possibly do for the entire family! If you have a knowledge of these things beforehand, you'll be less stressed when your baby is screaming @ 3am!

I have a wonderful friend who is done having children & gave me her Medela pump.. (Similar to the one linked below.) I loved it, it was easy to pack up & carry around with me since it's all built into the bag, and it has a faster mode for the first couple minutes to help you 'let down' & then it would change to a slower deeper suck. Plus I think having the motor inside the bag helped muffle the noise. The only thing I didn't like are the attachments.. The little round plastic flap was annoying to pull apart & clean.. Tavin was a horrible sucker... so I pumped most of the time, that's a lot of washing the attachments.. (I did start rinsing them in hot water & keeping them in a Ziploc Bag in the fridge.. only actually washing them only 2-3x a day)
I also have a Sis in law who let myself & another Sister in law borrow her Ameda pump I didn't like the pump so much.. it was loud & didn't have the faster mode/deeper suck program the Medela had, & it just wasn't as convenient to move around or throw in the car. BUT I loved the attachments! They have a little plastic cup (for lack of a better description.. ) that was SO EASY to take apart & clean, & I wasn't worried about ripping it like I was with the little tabs on the Medela.
So... I used the Medela pump & Ameda attachments... (The air hoses are all the same size, so it's easy to switch..)
As if that wasn't complicated enough.. I hated having 3 different kinds of bottles to store milk in, always trying to make sure I had the right lid on the right bottle.. Then pour the milk into a bottle with a nipple Tavin would actually drink from.. So I bought a converter kit for my Avent Bottles  Best thing I could have done! You can also buy caps for the Avent bottles so you can store the milk without having to use up all your nipples.

A couple of other things I would add..
Make sure you're using a big enough attachment for your nipple... I found that if my entire areola wasn't inside the opening of the attachment, they got extremely sore. So make sure your attachment is big enough.
Also get some Lanolin cream to help with sore cracked nipples & use it religiously! I did try the nipple guards, they stayed on well, but I just rubbed inside of those instead of inside of the pump attachment.. (Could have just been me because there are good reviews on them..)
Get a Boppy,or another nursing pillow, they're so nice to have, and they're useful for more than just breast feeding! (I'll tell you about them later!)

I hope this helps answer a couple questions :)