Birth Halo Blog

Author: ashley

  • The Baby Registry List That Actually Matters (From Postpartum Nurses)

    The Baby Registry List That Actually Matters (From Postpartum Nurses)

    15 of the Best Baby Products of 2026

    While we thoroughly subscribe to the idea that the best “things” you could invest in for the birth of your baby and yourself are not “things”, but instead creating a support system around yourself and your baby including investing in a lactation course, new baby course, creating a postpartum plan with a doula, etc (visit birthhalo.com for our postpartum nurse picked experts). We also acknowledge that having the right baby items can ease a few burdens during a transitional time.

    These items are things we find to not only be incredibly useful but also add to creating an empowering and healing birth and postpartum experience for your family and for your new little one(s). Without further ado, here is our top 15 items.

    Keep in mind, some of these items have a higher price tag, I always have found them second hand. Scroll to the end of this post for some money saving tips and hacks, we are big believers in never paying full price unless you really have to.

    Disclaimer & Background: We are not paid for the promotion of any of these products. These are products tested, researched, and loved by moms and many mother/baby postpartum nurses. We enjoy bringing you the products that we have found clear our research as nontoxic, great design, and something that doesn’t break the bank.

    1. Baby Lounger the Snuggle Me Organic – $99 Brand New

    This product was a life saver for me in those first several sleep deprived weeks with a newborn. It provided a safe and cozy place that I could put baby while I napped alongside him on the couch, or got some things done around the house. It’s wonderfully designed to mimic a snuggle so baby feels secure and the entire thing is machine washable. (They are almost always running some sale or another, typically 20% off of the lounger and various discounts on the covers.)

    2. Mama Roo – $239 Brand New

    I genuinely don’t know where I’d be without this swing. It has 5 motion settings designed to mimic the way you sway or bounce your baby, and 4 sound settings or connect to an mp3 device with adjustable speeds and volumes that can be controlled through an app on your phone. So when baby needs to be rocked, but you need to make dinner, this is like an extra set of hands that you can adjust from across the room. Another feature I love is the mobile of interactive and reversible toy balls – one side is high contrast, the other is colored. My baby loves staring at the designs on the high contrast side, and I feel good knowing it’s providing some mental stimulation for him. (Because this is such a popular item, you can always find it second hand through things like Facebook Marketplace, or you can sign up for emails through BuyBuy Baby and they regularly send you a 20% coupon.)

    3. Comotomo bottles bundle – 48.99

    Keep in mind, you do not need to advance nipple flow if you are breastfeeding.

    These bottles are just about everywhere in terms of baby item lists, and you know what, there’s a reason. I didn’t want to assume these bottles were the only choice, so I got several different ones to try and these wound up being my baby’s favorite. They are soft to hold, wide for easy cleaning and widely accepted by breastfeeding babies. (You can often find these on sale through Amazon.)

    4. For those who plan to breastfeed, a storage caddy can be everything for keeping track of pumping times and milk storage: Medela Milk Storage Caddy – $28.99

    If you think you’ll remember the when and where and why and how, of each little container of liquid gold you pump, you’re wrong, very, very wrong. The little dials on the lid make it so easy to keep track of day and time, and the caddy puts the oldest up front to ensure you or your partner are always using the milk within the use by dates to avoid wasting a single drop.

    5. Coterie – Nontoxic diapers – $81 per box with subscription

    The FDA does not regulate what toxins companies can put in baby diapers. Read this article here for the breakdown of each toxin and their longterm effects in babies. We highly recommend cloth diapering, but also acknowledge that it’s not always a realistic option for everyone. This is why we recommend diaper companies such as this one.

    Not only are they super safe for baby, these diapers are so soft and super absorbent to keep baby dry for up to 12 hours. Fast wicking means less leaks and blowouts (if any). AND you can adjust size and shipping times conveniently through a text. Don’t let the price scare you, a box does last a while, at least a month for me, sometimes more.

    6. Baby Wipes, Water Wipes – $28

    I love knowing that these wipes are pure and wont disrupt babies microbiome, and I love that they never irritate my babies sensitive skin. The wipe texture and wetness are perfect for cleaning even the messiest of diapers. (Target often offers in store gift cards with a qualifying diaper or wipe purchase, such as $30 gift card when you spend $100 – this is a helpful way to get a discount on these wipes as they rarely go on sale on their own)

    Again, we also recommend looking into making your own wipes, yet that isn’t always an option. These wipes are made with water and fruit. Both of my babies have never had any diaper rashes, and I attribute that largely to the use of nontoxic diapers and wipes.

    7. Wipe dispenser: Ubbi does it again with their genius design work. $16.99

    Want to feel the satisfaction of pulling out only one wipe, EVERY TIME? They have a perfectly weighted top to hold down the wipes without ripping and a moisture holding top. I was wholeheartedly expecting them to be from Switzerland from their clean and efficient design work but alas they are headquartered in New York, which is not too bad either. This product has probably saved me a lot of dollars just for giving me the amount of wipes that I actually need, and not that it thinks I need.

    8. A baby-wearing Wrap Moby $30-$50

    My postpartum nurse heart warms every time I see someone wearing their baby. It is so physically and mentally healthy for both caregiver and baby, especially during those first 40 days post birth.

    9. Swaddles like Copper Pearl for those early days and Hush Baby Goods for then and later. $29.99

    Of all the cute swaddles I was gifted, I was so glad I purchased some of these from Copper Pearl, they wound up being the only swaddle I used. They are so soft and stretchy, perfect for newborns, which helped my baby feel snug and comfy, without feeling too restricted.

    Hush Baby Goods swaddles are made in the USA, organic muslim swaddles, and exquisitely designed. You can tell the owner knows her stuff. They are soft for cuddling now and turn into a great “lovey” into toddlerhood.

    10. Baby Clothes by Bonsie or Kyte Baby $25-$33

    “Why on earth would anyone ever spend $27 on a baby onesie” is what I asked myself all of the time when I was shopping for baby clothes. But let me tell you, it really does make a difference when we’re talking about bamboo clothes. I had some similarly priced organic cotton outfits that were so thick and restrictive that my baby grew out of within weeks. The Bonsie and Kyte Baby outfits have so much stretch that they fit throughout a wider range of time. Plus they are gentle on babies skin because they are bamboo and they are so soft. The Bonsie is specifically designed for skin to skin, while the Kyte Baby is intended to be very gentle on the skin. I would highly recommend prioritizing quality over quantity. I would say invest in a few outfits as staples and get some really good use out of them.

    We’re not adding baby clothes on here lightly. If there are clothes that help remind you of the importance of skin-to-skin, organic, and last more than a few months, say no more. Design-wise and practicality-wise, they nailed it.

    11. Lovevery Play Mat – $140

    I’m not going to lie, I initially purchased this play mat because it was aesthetically pleasing, but when it showed up and I unpacked everything, I was absolutely floored by how amazing of a product it was. ADD THIS TO YOUR REGISTRY. You will not regret it. It comes with a little booklet that outlines all of the features and ways to play from the first day home from the hospital, through the first year and beyond. Every feature is backed by research to help your child learn and develop as they should to give them the best start to life which is truly priceless.

    12. Baby Wash products we recommend: Live Crude, Tubby Todd, & Puracy $25

    We loving supporting your baby’s healthy microbiome (healthy skin bacteria that they grow after birth through adulthood to protect them from disease and overall skin health) during the first weeks of their life by abstaining from any detergents in soaps. Live Crude is one of the only microbiome-friendly washes that we recommend can be used during those first weeks without worry.

    We do still love other gentle washes such as Tubby Todd and Puracy as other gentle options.

    13. This is for those who want to breastfeed: A High Quality, Hospital Grade Pump like the Medela Pump In Style or Spectra, in addition it is NICE to have a portable pump such as the Willow or Elvie, but not ESSENTIAL.

    Most insurances cover a free pump, so make sure you have your doctor order you one BEFORE you give birth to have one on hand. As a lactation educator, I can attest that there are fewer more important things to invest in than a great pump even if you plan on never separating from your baby during that first year. If you choose to breastfeed for any extent of time, a pump is an extra tool that can save you a lot of time, pain, and create more ease for your whole family. Also, you never know if you might encounter a time when you have to be separated from your baby (NICU stay, emergencies, etc) or your baby goes through a nursing strike (!!). A pump will come in clutch!

    14. Baby Feeding or Breastfeeding apps such as Baby Tracker – Free

    My husband is the one who advocated for this to be a “must have item” because it helped him know what baby had eaten without having to wake me and ask so he could know what to plan for as he bottle fed expressed milk during those first several weeks with a newborn.

    15. Our Favorite Formula: Bobbie $24

    Bobbie is one of the only infant formulas that has European standards and is inspired to mimic the fundamentals of breastmilk. Read the science behind it here. While we recognize breastfeeding as being the healthiest option for baby and mom, we also recognize that there are times when it’s not realistic. Regardless of your feeding situation, having a formula researched beforehand, especially one not derived from corn-syrup solids and built to support your baby’s health, can be useful to look into.

    Want to know the magic of scoring good deals? It’s actually not a complex secret, check out a few of these options for what you’re looking for.

    BuyBuyBaby Coupons (Use these during sales for extra savings)

    OfferUp

    Buy Nothing Groups

    Registry Completion discounts (use these during sales for extra savings)

    Email sign ups for additional discounts

  • Baby Blues vs. Postpartum Depression: What Every New Mom Needs to Know

    Baby Blues vs. Postpartum Depression: What Every New Mom Needs to Know

    This post is written by Maddison Meijome, Birth Halo’s Postpartum Mental Health Therapist.

    If you’re asking this question, you’re already doing something right. You’re paying attention to yourself — and that matters.

    Most new and expecting moms want to know the difference between baby blues and postpartum depression for a very specific reason: they want to know if they need help. And here is my answer before we even get into the clinical details:

    You are allowed to seek help no matter what. Even if what you’re experiencing is “just” the baby blues. Even if it seems mild. Even if someone in your life tells you it’s normal. You get to have your feelings heard.

    Baby Blues

    Baby blues are extremely common — most new mothers experience them. They begin right after delivery, peak around day 7, and typically resolve within two weeks. Symptoms include:

    • Sadness or tearfulness
    • Feeling overwhelmed or anxious
    • Loneliness or emotional swings
    • Fatigue and not feeling like yourself

    This is your body and hormones going through an extraordinary recalibration. It’s real, and it’s temporary.

    Postpartum Depression

    PPD is different in duration and intensity. It doesn’t just resolve on its own in two weeks — and it often gets worse without support. Symptoms include one or more of the following:

    • Persistent sadness or hopelessness
    • Mood swings and irritability
    • Feeling worthless or like your family would be better without you
    • Loss of interest in your baby or yourself
    • Inability to sleep even when baby is sleeping — or sleeping excessively
    • Low or no sex drive
    • Sluggishness, lack of motivation
    • Thoughts of harming yourself or your baby

    Other signs that deserve attention: urges to isolate completely, a desire to “run away,” or if you’ve struggled with substance use in the past and feel those urges returning.

    How Common Is PPD?

    PPD is likely more prevalent than statistics capture. Because this is such a unique time in a woman’s life, many women and their supporters minimize the experience — writing it off as “just being a new mom” or a bad case of the baby blues. That mentality isn’t just unhelpful. It can be actively harmful, because depression tends to get worse before it gets better, and it touches every part of a person’s life.

    Research shows that untreated postpartum depression contributes to delayed development in children, increased risk of future mental illness in children, and insecure attachment between baby and mother. Getting help isn’t just for you — it’s for your baby too.

    How PPD Is Diagnosed

    The most widely used screening is the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) — you may have filled this out at your baby’s pediatric appointments. Some offices use it at every visit until baby is one year old. Others don’t use it at all. If you haven’t been screened, you can take it yourself and bring the results to a trusted healthcare provider.

    Risk Factors

    The strongest risk factor for PPD is a personal history of depression — your body’s existing challenge with serotonin production can be amplified by the hormonal shifts of pregnancy and postpartum. That said, some women actually feel more mentally stable while pregnant or postpartum.

    Other risk factors include:

    • Family history of postpartum depression
    • Isolation or lack of social support
    • High-risk pregnancy
    • Birth trauma
    • Teen pregnancy
    • Low income
    • Malnutrition in mom or baby
    • Lack of physical activity

    Treatment Options

    Medication: SSRIs are the most commonly prescribed treatment — sertraline (Zoloft), citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac). In simple terms, SSRIs give your nerve endings a much better chance of receiving the serotonin they need. Talk to your OB, or better yet, make an appointment with a psychiatrist or ARNP who can fully assess your situation.

    Is it safe to take antidepressants while nursing? There is very little evidence of harm. That said, pregnant and nursing women are excluded from drug trials, so there aren’t detailed studies on infant side effects. The most useful question to ask yourself is: would this medication help me become the mother I want to be? Your mental health directly affects your child’s development — that matters too.

    Exercise: One of the most evidence-backed non-medication interventions available. It doesn’t need to be intense — a daily walk with the stroller counts.

    Sleep: Make a plan before you’re in survival mode. Who handles nights? Do you take shifts? Co-sleepers keep baby close and can maximize sleep for both of you. Even an imperfect plan is better than winging it.

    About Postpartum Psychosis

    This is rare but serious. Seek emergency care immediately — call 911 or go to the ER — if you experience:

    • Strong urges to harm yourself or your baby
    • Hearing voices or sounds that aren’t there
    • Paranoia — feeling like people are out to get you or your baby
    • Intrusive, persistent, unwanted thoughts
    • Mania similar to bipolar disorder

    These symptoms can appear as soon as birth and up to several weeks after. Because they can escalate quickly and result in fatal outcomes, get care immediately if anything on this list sounds familiar.

    How to Cope Day to Day

    Avoid isolation. It’s tempting to hunker down and disappear, but your brain genuinely needs human interaction to regulate during this time. Accept help. Find small ways to stay connected.

    Make a sleep plan. Who’s on night duty? Are you taking shifts? Will you nap when baby naps? Decide this before exhaustion makes the decision for you.

    Talk to a friend. Recognize when you need a break, take it, and come back when your energy is restored.

    Understand the difference between self-care and self-indulgence. Self-care is doing the daily things that keep you healthy — mentally, physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually. Self-indulgence is a glass of wine and online shopping. Both have their place, but they are not the same thing. Real self-care is less glamorous and far more sustaining.

    Communicate your needs directly. The people around you want to help — they just don’t always know how. Tell them specifically what you need. Be direct. They can handle it.

    When Do You Need Help?

    There is no threshold you have to cross first. If you feel overwhelmed — even if it seems like normal new-mom overwhelm — it doesn’t hurt to make an appointment with a postpartum counselor. There is no reason to do this alone.

    Explore Birth Halo’s postpartum support resources →

  • What Is Colic? A Nurse’s Honest Guide for Exhausted New Parents

    What Is Colic? A Nurse’s Honest Guide for Exhausted New Parents

    Your baby will not stop crying. You’ve fed them, changed them, rocked them. They’re inconsolable. Someone has said the word “colic” and you desperately need to know what that actually means.

    Here’s the honest answer.

    What Is Colic?

    Colic is not a diagnosis. It’s a description — a way of saying your baby cries or fusses for more than three hours a day, more than three days a week, with no identifiable medical cause. It typically peaks around 6–8 weeks and usually resolves by the 3–4 month mark, a period often called the fourth trimester.

    Your pediatrician telling you your baby is “colic” is essentially telling you: nothing physically concerning is going on, and your baby doesn’t need medical intervention. It can feel like a dismissal. It isn’t — it’s actually reassuring news.

    Symptoms of Colic

    • Inconsolable crying or loud fussing lasting 3+ hours
    • Clenching fists, arching the back, or stiffening limbs
    • Refusing or fussing at the breast or bottle
    • Crying that doesn’t stop even when all basic needs are met

    Is Something Wrong With My Baby?

    No. There are no studies linking colic to any medical condition, developmental problem, or future personality trait. Your intense, screaming newborn may grow into the most easygoing toddler you’ve ever met.

    What Causes It?

    Honestly? Nobody fully knows. Theories include an immature digestive system, tongue tie, brain development milestones, sensory sensitivity, or even mom’s diet. These are theories, not proven facts. Don’t exhaust yourself chasing a definitive answer.

    What Actually Helps

    Baby wearing. A stretchy wrap (like a Moby) recreates the womb — your heartbeat, your warmth, your movement. Studies show babies who are worn cry less and sleep longer. It’s the single most effective thing many parents find.

    Constant gentle motion. Your womb was never still. A quality swing (the MamaRoo has five motion settings designed to mimic how you move) can function as an extra set of hands when you need both of yours.

    Hold them. You cannot spoil a newborn. Babies are neurologically wired to need human contact — it regulates their temperature, their nervous system, and their sense of safety. Hold them as much as you can.

    Pacifiers. If you’re breastfeeding and baby is using you as a comfort suck, a pacifier can give you a break while still meeting that sucking need.

    Take care of yourself. This is not a throwaway suggestion. A regulated, rested parent is the single most powerful tool your baby has. Tag your partner. Put baby down in a safe space and step outside. Walk. Breathe. Come back calmer.

    Put baby down if you need to. A crying baby in a safe crib is safer than a parent at the end of their rope. If you feel overwhelmed, lay baby down and take five minutes. There is no shame in this.

    When to Talk to Someone

    If you’re struggling with feeding, sleep, or your own mental health, please reach out — to your pediatrician, a postpartum nurse, or a lactation consultant. You don’t have to figure this out alone.

    Browse our newborn and postpartum support courses →

  • My Second Birth Changed Everything: A Co-Founder’s Birth Story

    My Second Birth Changed Everything: A Co-Founder’s Birth Story

    Having a baby at 41 weeks and facing a postdate induction is one of the most anxious moments in a pregnancy. For many women, it also becomes the moment that defines how they feel about their birth experience — and themselves — for years afterward. This is Sami’s story.

    My first birth took 39 hours. It was a blur of exhaustion and pain, and in the end, I had to let go of the natural birth I had hoped for to bring my baby safely into the world. I didn’t sleep for four days afterward. I was too disoriented to feel an immediate bond. I filed it away as a hard, necessary lesson — one I carried into everything Birth Halo is built on.

    My second birth is something I still can’t talk about without getting emotional.

    I was 41 weeks and two days when I went in for a postdate induction. I knew what I wanted this time. I advocated for my doctor to break my waters and simply wait — no Pitocin, no interventions — to let my body labor on its own. She honored that. Waters broken at 8 a.m. By 8:30, I was in labor.

    I worked with my body and my baby. At 4:30 p.m., I pushed him into the world — my husband, my doula, my nurse, and my doctor all there, cheering me on.

    The moment they placed him on my chest, I felt something crack open. Not just love for my baby — though that was enormous — but a fierce, tear-soaked pride in what my body had just done. I kept saying it over and over: “We did it.”

    And also: “That hurt like a mother.”

    Why this matters: Your birth story — whatever it looked like — shaped you. Whether it was empowering or traumatic or somewhere in between, you deserve space to process it, honor it, and heal from it. That’s the entire reason Birth Halo exists.

    What advocating for yourself in labor actually looks like

    If you’re approaching an induction and feel uncertain about your options, know this: you are allowed to ask questions, propose alternatives, and have your preferences honored. Asking your provider to break your waters and wait before adding Pitocin is a legitimate, medically acceptable request. You don’t have to accept the default protocol.

    A birth doula, a solid birth plan, and a care provider who listens can make an enormous difference — not just in your birth outcome, but in how you carry the experience afterward.

    Ready to feel more prepared for birth and postpartum? Explore our courses →