buying baby stuff...

[dormilona]

i know it's silly, but i've been very superstitious about buying things too soon. but seeing as i'm almost at the end of the 2nd trimester it's really time to figure out what i want in terms of a car seat , stoller, etc. my sister wants to buy us the toddler car seat as a shower present and asked if i trust her judgement. she has a son and her opinions seem to make sense. it's the infant seat that i'm more concerned with. which one did you buy and why? same goes for a stroller... she seems to think that the carrying seats that snap in make it too easy to leave the baby in them for too long. i can see that, but then i think about going to the grocery store or dinner and wonder if it isn't just smarter for those scenarios. i am getting a wrap for babywearing when possible. any tips?????????????
also, husband and i believe in cosleeping for infants (it makes breastfeeding a heck of alot easier), but that makes me wonder if i should really get a crib or just a pack and play for visiting family and naptime. does anyone know more about them? i feel like a bassinet would be a waste of money for us since our son would only use it for naptime for a few months. but cribs on the other hand go through toddlerhood. i'm just not sure which one to get. as i'm sure you can tell, i'm really not keen on buying things we don't really need. all the money we save now we can spend on him later.
and now i have to get ready for the last time husband and i are solo on our anniversary. it's exciting, but strange at the same time.
-b

[entropy]

my situation is a bit different, but i'm not going out and buying anything until i have referral. so, i'll have two weeks to get all the stuff i need before i'm off to Colombia.
that said, i have taken a few things that have been given to me. a vibrating chair, a floor jumper, and a little plastic feeding chair.

i do not plan to own a crib. most parents i know haven't used them. they say, it looks nice and somehow it seems that you are supposed to get one. but they aren't used. well at least not for a sleeping. my friends have put baby clothes and toys (storage) instead. they use the co-sleeper at home and when away from home they really co sleep. ;) usually momma in bed with the baby and daddy on the floor if no king sized bed is involved!
my plan is to follow the above. of course our child could be anywhere between 2-12 months, so if they are closer to 12 months, i'll just cosleep until they have been with us for a few months or so. Then when it seems right but them in a double bed in the room next to us!

[writingpsycho]

I didn't have anything until I was 38wks pregnant. She was not born until almost 41wks. (40wk 6days) And I panicked. I thought I would have her before my babyshower (at 38wks). I almost everything I needed at the babyshower, and the things I didn't get, which I needed, I got at walmart that same weekend, and I was set. You have to be careful buying stuff, because you may get the same thing at your babyshower, or they may not get it, because you got it, and you could have saved yourself some money!

[FaerieDreamer]

My advice. :)

1. I got the combo infant carseat and stroller "travel system" thing. My inlaws bought it for us for our shower, but we picked it out. We got the Graco Metrolite system. I really liked it, and it was very convenient to be able to take the seat out of the car, especially if baby was sleeping. Also very easy to use for grocery shopping since they fit right into the top seat part. And most restaurants now have carrier things that the car seat will fit into as well. So it just made things a lot easier.

2. I bought a Maya Wrap Pouch. I believe a couple of people here had the Maya Wraps as well. I liked it in theory but my son hated it. At first he was too small for it, and didn't like the way it covered his head up. And then when he was big enough, he didn't like that it was constricting! *laugh* I think next time I might try a snugli type carrier.

3. We had both a crib and a pack n play. We didn't cosleep with him as an infant, but he slept in the bassinet setting on the pack n play in our room next to our bed for 5 months. We then moved him into his crib in his room. We also were able to use the Pack n play when we went to visit grandma or anyone. I think though, if you are intent on co-sleeping you won't need the pack n play. We bought the crib second hand from my brother, and my friends pooled together to get us the pack n play for my shower.


I waited to get a lot of big stuff until after my shower. We knew we were getting a lot of stuff from family and friends and we didn't want to have doubles of anything. We did register for everything we wanted, and that gave us a lot of time to go through and have fun deciding what we wanted to get. Then after the shower we went through and picked up whatever we hadn't received or realized we'd forgotten to get.


Good luck to all three of you! :)

[garoux]

We bought a lot of things for Gwen ourselves because I didn't think I would get a baby shower. I live 300 miles away from pretty much all of my family and friends, but they threw a surprise shower when I was visiting for a friend's wedding. I was about 20 weeks then, but we had already bought the stroller, swing, etc.

We bought a travel system that comes with a stroller, car seat base, and infant car seat. It's the Graco Metrolite. The stroller weighs about 20 lbs, which is important to me because my back and neck are mangled from an old injury. The infant seat which came with it was the Graco Snug-Ride with a 5 point harness system. Last night at my childbirth prep class (the final one--yea!), a firefighter came to talk about installing car seats and said the particular car seat we got is one of the safest. Just so you know, you can call around your area and have the car seat correctly installed by the firefighters. They don't charge anything for it. but you need to call ahead because not all firehouses are car seat fitting stations.

I was given a Snugli for babywearing as a shower gift. I had registered for it on the recommendation of my sister. It sort of looks like a backpack that you wear on the front of your body. I think using a sling would be difficult for me because my neck problems.

I don't plan on co-sleeping, but I know it works well for some people. I can certainly see the appeal and respect people who do it--it's just not for me. I have a Pack and Play that my mom used with my nephew when he would sleep at her apartment, and we'll be using that if Gwen falls asleep when we're on the lower level of our home or when we travel with her. We have used it when my sister brought her nephew to visit me and we'll use it again when she brings her new baby (due in October) to visit. For our family dynamic, it makes traveling to see each other much simpler.

[dormilona]

one final question i forgot to add... someone (who tends to be overopinionated) told me that graco products are often recalled and have bad safety records. i don' tknow that i trust this, but was wondering what you all thought?

thanks for the advice, and keep it comin' it's really helping husband and i weigh out what we really need.

[PotatoFace]

i have the graco quatro stroller in the windsor. fabulous!
you can fold it up and back with one hand. i also have the matching infant car seat.

i never carry my daughter around in her car seat. i have had to sit her in it twice for going out to dinner. its not good for their backs.

i have a snugli, i bought for 4 bucks at the thrift store. its alright, but hurts my back and neck. a wrap is easier on your back.

[entropy]

stupid girl, do you have the snugli with the waist band? i heard that this is the best for backs.

[PotatoFace]

yeah. its got the straps that go around your shoulders and clasp behind your neck, then it goes around your waist.

its a good little thing. but i find if i wear her for more than an hour, my neck and back hurt a bit. so i would imagine if you have neck and back problems, it might not work that well for wearing a while. i hear the wraps and pouches are easier on the back and neck.

[FaerieDreamer]

one final question i forgot to add... someone (who tends to be overopinionated) told me that graco products are often recalled and have bad safety records. i don' tknow that i trust this, but was wondering what you all thought?

thanks for the advice, and keep it comin' it's really helping husband and i weigh out what we really need.


Graco is one of the major brands for baby gear, along with Evenflo. For a long time they were the only two on the market. So of course there are bound to be recalls and safety issues with some products. However, I have found for the most part that the products are very well made and extremely safe. Just do your research and you'll be fine.

[PotatoFace]

yeah, i love my graco stroller and car seat.

[dormilona]

it looks like husband and i decided on a pack 'n play instead of a crib. we don't really want it to become a storage unit. now comes the hard part... which one? i like the idea of a travel system for the stroller, i'm really keen on things that kids grow into. we're only getting so many hand me downs that i really want to minimize what we buy/ask for at the shower. especially since we don't have any storage here. here's another question for you, did you buy a special infant bath tub? we only have a shower where we live so i'm trying to figure out which one we should get. that and breast pumps are next on my list of "which one do i need?"

[FaerieDreamer]

We had a graco pack n play. I think the Saratoga pattern is what we had but I'm not positive.

We had a second hand bathtub. But I believe there is one on the market that grows with your baby. I'll look for a link for you, but I believe it's a blue tub that has a mesh lining thing in it that you can lay a newborn in, and then take it off when baby can support itself.

As for pumps, I had an Avent Isis handpump. I hated it. I had horrible results with it. I would suggest you get the Medela Pump in Style if you can afford it. It's a battery operated dual pump.