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Tuesday, March 10, 2009
A Little Adivce...
I'm not sure how many people still check my blog anymore since I have been horrible at posting lately, but I figured i'd try... So, I am going to register for our baby boy soon and of course, being a 1st time mom, am not sure what to get. There are so many choices out there of strollers, car seats, monitors, swings, bouncers, carriers, oh the list goes on... So, I figured I would just ask all the moms out there if there is something you really liked having when you had a baby, what brands you thought were good, and even if there was something you got that you never used. I would appreciate any advice!!! Thanks!
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Well, I am not that much further than you but I can tell you what has been told to me. On sleepers, make sure you register for the ones that ZIP up not the button ones. You'll be thankful for a zipper rather than 80 buttons in the middle of the night. Also, most of my friends got the travel systems (you know, the car seat with matching stroller), and most hated them. So we just got a regular Graco Snugride car seat and then bought a Baby Jogger City Mini stroller (we are tight on room in a Civic, and the city mini is the smallest stroller we could find without going to an umbrella). Also, don't bring stuff back until AFTER you've had ALL your showers. Then sort through what you want/don't want etc, and bring it back in one big trip. It's SO much easier... oh and Target return policy SUCKS, so try not to register for too much stuff there.
One more thing: must have is a boppy, especially if you are planning on breast feeding!
babies r us is the greatest to regieter at because they have everything. i loved my travel car seat stroller system. one other thing that we love the still put little guy in is halo sleep blankets. you don't have to get that kind there are others but its a blanket that they can wear to sleep because they say not to put blankets on them to sleep in. in the beginning you can swaddle them but when they start moving more the sleep blanket that they can wear is great. he knows it's night time when we get his blanket out and put it on. if i think of anything else i will let you know
I might just contridict everything everyone else said and confuse you terribly, but here goes... I love it that our carseat snaps into our stroller! The little swings that we thought would save space don't swing once the baby hits like 12 pounds. Get a full sized one! The front carriers you can buy at the store KILL my back! The baby sling worked great with Julia, and I loved the carrier Allie made me. Newborn size clothes fit for...maybe a week? Sleepers that zip are alot harder to get on - especially if they're almost too small or if your little boy decides it's fun to stick his feet straight out and not bend his knees. Cloth diapers make great burp rags! Try to find THICK towells with hoods and not the really thin ones. I know you might not want to register for this, but get a good breast pump! I learned that the hard way... I think my biggest advice would be to register for what you really want regardless of the cost b/c you'll be using it for a long time, and you'll appreciate the quality later on. =) Sorry I blabbed on so long and I hope it helps!
Well, you know I'm not shy about sharing my (sometimes probably unwanted) opinion. I'm sure I'll just tell you what I think when I see you, but in case I forget, anything you don't get as gifts, I would look for at Kid-to-Kid on Severn. It's used kids stuff but most of it is practically new. You can get awesome deals. You saw the stuff I was selling to them in VA. Babies don't wear things out like 2 or 3 year old's so a barely used swing, bouncer, stroller, bath tub, clothes will still last plenty long through a few kids. Plus, you can get higher quality, name brand stuff for cheaper than new cheap stuff. And like Melody said, I wouldn't get a carrier from Babies R US. You can use my Moby wrap or I can show you some web sites with slings and other wraps that are awesome. The best thing for pajamas for the first few months are the gowns that you don't have to zip or snap. Believe me, at 3am you don't want to be worry about it. A good quality breast pump would be nice, but if you're not planning to pump a lot (i.e. pump daily) I'm not sure if it would be worth it. You can look at the hand pump I used and try it out before you buy one (I think Crystal might have the same one).
Hi Christina, I still consider myself to be a new mommy, but I will try to give a little advice. I have 2 manual hand pumps that have never been used if you would like to have one. If you are going to pump, medela is a really good brand. One area you would want to spend the extra money. I have tried 4 types of nursing pads and I like Lansinoh the best. The others all leaked. (i had a pretty heavy flow from the beginning) Make sure you have lanolin as well to help with drying.
Madelyn loved the rainforest bouncy chair. It is great for small babies and I could move it around the house easily it makes music and vibrates. Graco makes a great swing at a reasonable price if you are interested. It isn't as bright in colors as other brands, but worked well. I agree about the larger size. The travel ones do not swing as well with a heavier baby. You may not need both a swing and bouncy that is totally preference. The baby Einstein play mats are great! Used from first month and still using. Don't waste your time with the expensive diaper disposal systems. I have the safety first can that you can put scented tabs in the top (they have them at babies r us. If you take your garbage out on a regular basis you will not have a "smelly" problem.
Babies r us has a lot more to offer than target. I use the cloth diapers A LOT for burp rags. I used the zipper jammies and the button ones. It takes longer to get the buttoned ones on, but still ok to use. The wipable bibs are great when giving baby food. You will need a few cloth bibs too for spit up- I used those all the time when Madelyn was smaller. The gerber onesies shrink a lot more than other brands....almost a whole size after just a couple of washes. I still used them, but they do shrink! At babies r us, the carter brand crib sheets are smaller than the kaola brand and I have a standard size crib mattress.
I had one of those things to keep the baby from rolling around in the crib, not really worth it. Madelyn squirmed out of it at 2 weeks. I used lots of recieving blankets for swaddling, etc. Those swaddler blankets that have velcro work well, but the small ones are pretty small.... too small for an 8lb. baby. Lots of people gave thick heavy blankets. I only used one. Okay, sorry for rambling so much. This is all I can think of for now. I'm sure I will chime in if I think of something else that is helpful. Can't wait to meet your little boy!
thanks everyone for the advice so far! If you think of anything else, PLEASE let me know. It is a little overwhelming to register. There are so many choices and I want to make sure we get things we will actually use, and not things that are just a waste of money. Thanks again! All your posts are very helpful.
hey christina!! first of all, congrats on your little baby boy! i'm sure you're counting down the days until he arrives! just thought i would share a few of the things i've appreciated over the past 3 months...
we LOVE having a car seat that snaps into our stroller! it's so much easier when you're shopping and stuff...in and out of the car doesn't mean in and out of the car seat! also, since we have steps getting up to our house, if i didn't have a car seat that i could snap into my stroller, i would have to take the baby outside and down the steps before i could put her into the stroller, which would also be a nightmare in the cold!
i love my sleepy wrap. same idea as moby wrap, and so helpful to get things done!
lansinoh are definitely the best nursing pads.
gown sleepers are great, but i found that the carter ones have too much elastic. they are difficult to get over the head. gerber ones are much easier to maneuver! i also really like the sleepers that zip, but i agree with melody's comment about getting them on depending how they like to move their legs.
we got a pack 'n play with a bassinet in the top, and that's all alexis slept in for the first couple of months. it was way cheaper than buying a bassinet that she could only use for a little while. we got the cheapest graco one, and it worked great for her!
i found the gerber receiving blankets to be worthless! of course, alexis was 9 lbs, 6 ozs, and they were too small to do much good!
sleep and play outfits are GREAT!! that's practically all i used for the first month or more!
don't get much newborn stuff...you probably won't get a chance to use it!
instead of buying baby towels, you can make hooded ones! get some nice thick full sized towels and sew a washcloth in one corner to make the hood! someone made one of these for me, and i use it way more than the others!! the baby ones are so small, i can hardly wrap alexis up in them!
don't get too many pairs of socks until you know how big his feet will be! alexis has LONG feet, and i have tons of socks that i can't use because her feet are just too big!
sorry this is so long, but i hope it helps give you some ideas!!
hey girl another thing to consider is getting an electric breast pump from your hospital. i was able to rent one for a lot cheeper than buying an electric one and then sometime insurances pay for the rental. you can look into that. just an idea. oh and something to help is you can always add things to your registry online if you forgot something and you can change and take off on line if you decide you really didn't want something.
I guess i need to clarify my stroller comment-- I meant the bulkiness of the travel systems, not necessarily the ones that a car seat snaps into. My stroller came with an adapter for a car seat so my car seat does in fact snap into it. However, the stroller is 1/2 the size of a conventional travel system stroller, which works well for us since we are limited on space in our Civic. Sorry if that was confusing!
I agree on the breast pumps-- and look on craigslist for that if you are not particular about using a used one (you can buy new parts where the breast/milk touch). I bought my Medela Pump in style that was barely used for $75 on craigslist, and I live in a smaller area so I am sure you could find one in NOLA too!
Another piece of advice someone recently told me is to use your receiving blankets (the thin flannel ones) or the cloth diapers to stretch across the matress where the baby's head will be... this prevents spit up from getting on your sheets and saves you a LOAD of time in having to wash sheets every time you get spit up in the middle of the night!
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