February 2017 Moms

Baby Gear - Questions/Opinions/Suggestions

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Re: Baby Gear - Questions/Opinions/Suggestions

  • X-post:

    What do you ladies think of starting a thread for deals and discounts? We could sticky it and whoever comes across with a deal on anything from maternity clothes to baby gear can post it in that thread.  I think it would be helpful for all of us!


  • @Partyof6? With the bumble ride , did you take it in the car with you like to the store or whatnot or did you mainly use it for walks around the neighborhood? 

    Is it hard to get in and out of the car?
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  • Someone mentioned it earlier, but has anyone used a Halo bassinet before? I am one of those rare people who love bassinets. It's a must have for me for the first three months, since I don't cosleep, and keep the baby right by my bed to breastfeed. The Halo seems great bc it swivels and seems to have easier access to baby especially after a csection. 


     
  • homemake said:
    @Partyof6? With the bumble ride , did you take it in the car with you like to the store or whatnot or did you mainly use it for walks around the neighborhood? 

    Is it hard to get in and out of the car?
    We took it everywhere!   I was looking but couldn't easily find the picture of it on the beach in Florida.  It folded almost in half with one hand.  It is going to be wide, but it is no wider than a wheelchair.   I had an SUV with a big trunk and no issues.   
    Married - 7/29/06
    Ben and Maggie - 4/10/09 
    Mia - 6/16/11
    Surprise! due 2/23/17


    BabyFruit Ticker
  • I'm interested in a stroller with a bassinet option. Looking to keep it under $500 and I don't need a car seat. Any recommendations?
  • I'm interested in a stroller with a bassinet option. Looking to keep it under $500 and I don't need a car seat. Any recommendations?
    https://www.amazon.com/Britax-USA-B-Ready-Stroller-Black/dp/B0196GCQ50/?tag=lucslis-20

    This is basically the same as the uppababy vista which is great. 
  • @Partyof6? Trying not to get overly excited but I found a used one for 200 dollars. Picture looks good, I have to send my mom to look at it though because it's by her. Ah! Hoping it works out! 
  • Anyone had any experience with the kiidel bottle system? The idea of only have to wash nipples is so appealing, plus this whole system seems like a life saver when I go back to work. Is it too good to be true?
  • @FerForShort I switched to drop ins with my daughter and they were really convenient. I've been looking at the Kiinde because it's similar but you can pump directly into the bags. I need to see if you can use them as freezer bags too.
  • @FerForShort I have been reading all about these and they just have a couple of things that seem impractical for me. 

    1. There is no way you could fit a ton of these in your freezer if had a pretty good stash
    2. I am right sided heavy so I can get like 8-10oz on my right when sometimes only 3-5 on my left. Depending on how many oz I was giving in a bottle I feel like I would waste a lot of bags pouring from one to another for measuring correctly. 

    Other than that it seems like a neat idea and not cleaning 50000 bottle parts sounds amazing 
  • @PerraSucia are the bags all that different than regular freezer bags? I have never gotten more than 4 oz when pumping so that's a non issue for me. I usually end up bagging it in one bigger freezer bag and then having to transfer it anyway.
  • @cantalopes24 they don't lay flat like the other freezer bags because they have the twisty top. When I did my freezer storing I made the bags flat and then put them in bigger ziplocks per date and could get 10-12 little bags I n a gallon ziplock. There is no way you could fit that many maybe 6-8
  • I get so little from pumping I am thinking about giving these a try! And then it magically this time I produce more milk, I can try something else. 
    Lilypie Pregnancy tickers
  • I signed up.. so excited! It's supposed to be delivered a month or 2 before due date. I will let you know!
  • We planned to have our kids close together and thought we would use the stroller a lot in park like settings (DH and I were playing disc golf a lot at the time) so we got the Mountain Buggy + one.  

    It's a double stroller, but it has some pretty good flexibility in the configurations.  You can use it as pictured with 2 kids front to back (both seats offer some recline options as well).  The back seat is slightly elevated so the back kid can still see out or you can pull the rear seat out and drop the infant cocoon in if you have a small baby or a smaller kid that's napping.  There's also a ride-along-attachment you can buy separately and add on.  It was about perfect for the 18 month age gap we had with our first 2 as far as the seating combinations go.  It also rode really well in park settings and we didn't have any trouble in uneven areas. 

    As much as I love that stroller, we ultimately haven't used it very much.  DH hurt his knee before DS was born and we basically stopped playing disc golf until this summer.  When we went shopping, we found that we preferred to wear the smallest the kid and the other rode in the cart.  This stroller is pretty quick and easy to set up/take down, but it is heavy and bulky.  It fit in the trunk of my Saturn Ion, but just barely.  Really it came down to us just not being stroller people.

    I think you can put an infant car seat on it too, but we skipped infant seats and went straight to convertibles so that wasn't something I cared about either way.

    On the Kiinde discussion, I was really excited to find these!  I've never used them, so I can't vouch for them, but we're going to try them.  @cantalopes24 The manufacturer says you can freeze them.  They can also go directly into a warmer from frozen (typically you have to thaw the frozen milk in the storage bag, then transfer it to the bottle to warm).  That's huge to me because thawed milk is only good for 24 hours so if you thawed too much you'd have to throw out the unused portion.

    Because of the screw on tops they are bulkier than regular storage bags but I had so much milk with DS that I stored it all in my dad's standalone freezer because we didn't have room in our tiny freezer.  He would just bring over a new bag whenever we needed it.  My dad barely keeps one rack of his freezer with anything on it, so he didn't and still doesn't need the extra space in there.

    There are definitely some other potential downfalls to these, but based on my prior experiences pumping I don't think they'll be a big deal for me.  For example, the potential capacity issue with pumping directly into them, I'm an overproducer, but I figure at worst I can pump into 2 bottles and pour that into the bags in whatever increments I want so that I only have to deal with those 2 bottles.  My kids only used the tommee tippee bottles (DD refused anything else), so I was pumping into the Medela bottles, transferring the next day's milk to tommee tippee bottles, and putting the leftovers in storage bags.  I eventually found the adapters to pump directly into tommee tippee's, but those bottles were so much bigger it was really hard to fit enough of them into my pump bag so it ended up not being worth it.

    The Kiinde bags are also more expensive than regular storage bags, but to me the difference in costs is offset by the convenience (especially if you buy them on sale).  It's very possible we'll end up not liking them much, but that's a risk with any set of bottles, so we're going to start with just a couple of the holder/nipple sets and a few bags then once we actually try them we'll start stocking up on the bags every time we find a good deal.  If we don't like the bag system we won't be out much money and will go through the process of finding bottles the baby likes.

  • Does anyone know if you can pump directly into the medela storage bags? I explored the kiinde system and too was very excited, but ultimately saw a lot of negative reviews that made me nervous. I liked the convenience of pumping directly into a storage bag though...
  • Does anyone know if you can pump directly into the medela storage bags? I explored the kiinde system and too was very excited, but ultimately saw a lot of negative reviews that made me nervous. I liked the convenience of pumping directly into a storage bag though...
    Yes there is an adapter that you attach directly to the pump and the bags can be attached to that.  At least for Medela.



    Big Bro 7/14/13
    Little Bro 2/6/17

                                                                  Pregnancy Ticker   
  • sunshine2417sunshine2417 member
    edited August 2016
    @Partyof6? we just did a bunch of registry shopping and literally went through at least 20 infant car seats and their reviews! Ultimately, we loved the Chicco KeyFit 30 Zip Air Infant Car Seat - Ventata because it felt the most secure, safest, and comfortable with head support too. I thought Graco snug fit would be good but it honestly felt like crap in person and super cheap. We read reviews where two mama's posted about getting in car accidents with their babies (one rolled her SUV 1.5 times and landed upside down... I was sobbing in the store) but her child was 100% safe without a scratch! 

    If you end up caring about the stroller, we decided to get the Chicco Bravo Stroller - Chakra with it because it snaps in just fine like a travel system over the stroller seat already in there, and the stroller was SO easy to collapse (one handed pull under the seat) and easy to put back up! 

    I was very stressed about this process and what to go with but these were both wonderful!
    Pregnancy Ticker
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  • @WinchesterGirl As you can probably tell from my post a over Chicco was my preferred brand. The car seat base couldn't be easier to install and it is one of the top rated seats. I don't have personal experience with Britax infant seats but I do have a Britax Pioneer seat for son now and love it. Britax is also top rated. With those 2 brands aside you can't go wrong with Graco if you are in a budget. When I was pregnant with my son I think I spent my 8 hour working day for about 6 months researching anything and everything baby. 
    We just got the same stroller! I love love love it. I'm going to go with the britax b safe carseat. I like the light weight, steel frame, and (the covers available on etsy are super cute) 
  • @Xstatic3333 I hadn't been looking at this but my one piece of advice for joggers is to get one with a locking / unlocking front wheel.  We have a fixed front wheel which is safer for running but the WORST any other time. i hate it. 
    Thank you for this post. I had no idea why the front wheel of mine locked. I don't jog wasn't aware that was safer. 
  • Just an FYI, after market car seat covers, head rests, etc are not recommended in car seats as they are not safety tested. We have no way of knowing how they will react in an accident.
    https://csftl.org/non-regulated-products/
    Married 5/29/09
    DS 8/10/2010 8lbs 6oz
    DD 11/28/2012 8lbs 7oz
    It's a Girl! Due 2/5/2017
  • @Partyof6? we just did a bunch of registry shopping and literally went through at least 20 infant car seats and their reviews! Ultimately, we loved the Chicco KeyFit 30 Zip Air Infant Car Seat - Ventata because it felt the most secure, safest, and comfortable with head support too. I thought Graco snug fit would be good but it honestly felt like crap in person and super cheap. We read reviews where two mama's posted about getting in car accidents with their babies (one rolled her SUV 1.5 times and landed upside down... I was sobbing in the store) but her child was 100% safe without a scratch! 

    If you end up caring about the stroller, we decided to get the Chicco Bravo Stroller - Chakra with it because it snaps in just fine like a travel system over the stroller seat already in there, and the stroller was SO easy to collapse (one handed pull under the seat) and easy to put back up! 

    I was very stressed about this process and what to go with but these were both wonderful!
    Great choice on the car seat! We will be using our Chicco Keyfit30 again with this baby. @Partyof6? I would definitely checkout the Chicco car seats!!
  • I have a potentially dumb question. :neutral:

    Is there any logical order to buy the bigger stuff in? My first priority is a dresser/furniture for the room... mostly so we have somewhere to store the small items as we get them. But, beyond that, I have no idea what to prioritize next. Does it matter? We have nothing now (except cloth diapers I've been stashing), so we need to buy everything. 
    Rainbow baby Dean is due 2/17/17!
  • @WinchesterGirl I don't think you need to prioritize anything. The only thing id say is to consider that even if you don't have a shower you will probably receive things from family members. My parents wanted to buy the crib and dresser but we didn't know that until month 8 or so...
  • @WinchesterGirl I would buy them in the order you're going to use them. So probably car seat and stroller first. I didn't use my oldest's crib until he was 6 months old and my youngest was 3 months.
  • @WinchesterGirl I would say make sure before anything you have a carseat! Hospitals won't let you take your baby without it. I mean if you are having a shower all of the other necessities will show up there or atleast what you need to get started. Everything else can just be bought as you see fit. Like the post above, some people don't even ever get a crib before the baby is born. 
  • @Patience7150 I have a lot of feelings about this but

    FUCK MEDELA BAGS. 

    They are the WORST.  I had more bags fall apart or tear and spill out everywhere then I can count. Target bags and lanolish bags are where it's at. 
    Thank you for the feedback, much appreciated! Same question still applies - can you pump (Medela) directly into the Target/lanolish bags or do you pump into a bottle and then transfer? 
  • @Patience7150 you could probably pop holes into the top part, but they're not designed for it. Give me a second and I'll type out my whole pumping routine for you to make minimal dishes. 
  • Is there a good website/blog with reviews and safety ratings of different baby gear items?
    Married: 12/2015
    Me: 37 - H: 39
    TTC#1: 01/2016
    BFP: 06/18/2016 - EDD: 02/20/2017 - Born: 01/27/2017

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • homemake said:
    @imalwaysme79 Lucies list!
    Thank you! 
    Married: 12/2015
    Me: 37 - H: 39
    TTC#1: 01/2016
    BFP: 06/18/2016 - EDD: 02/20/2017 - Born: 01/27/2017

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • Amber_WavesAmber_Waves member
    edited August 2016
    @WinchesterGirl  This is my plan:

    August:  
    • I'm making a registry on babyli.st and saving my money (for now).  I'm trying to get a grip on what we need to have. 
    • When I see clothes I like at 50% off or more, I'm buying them.  I'm not going to put any clothes on the registry in the hopes of not ending up with 200 newborn onesies that never fit my huge baby (this is what happened to my best friend.)  I'd much rather have a bunch of random books!
    September:
    • I have several friends who have told me their houses are full of baby stuff they don't need, so I should come by and take what I'd like.  I imagine items like clothes, bibs, and an infant bathtub will be gotten for free in this way; and then I'll take those items off of the registry.  
    • Insurance provides a breast pump, so I'll find out which one (I've heard sometimes they just send the manual ones) and see if I need to add or subtract anything from the registry.
    • DH and I are taking a class on cloth diapers at a local store and will register for diapers and cloth wipes after seeing and touching all the options.
    October: 
    • My DH's aunt is organizing a baby shower for us, so we'll finish up the babyli.st registry by October 1.
    November:
    • Baby shower.  I realize this is a little early, but DH's sister lives in Europe and this is when she's visiting + my MIL is really anxious that we'll have a baby shower in a blizzard and no one will come.  
    • Black Friday/Cyber Monday.  DH and I will shop for any big ticket items still on our list!
  • Has anyone used the Ameda Purely Yours Ultra breast pump?
    Me: 24  DH: 28

    Married: 9/2013

    Love my LEO!!

    TTC #1: 9/2015

    BFP: 2/1/16  MC 2/8/16 @ 5wks

    BFP: 5/22/16 RAINBOW BABY

    EDD: 1/30/2017 *IT'S A GIRL!!!!* 

    Kirsten Grace 1/20/17                            


    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • becbec28 said:
    Has anyone used the Ameda Purely Yours Ultra breast pump?
    I'm going to piggy back and ask about the Spectra pumps as well (especially as compared to the Medela PISA).

    If anyone's interested I've used the Limerick PJ's comfort and the Medela PISA.

  • I used the Ameda Purely Yours with my first. I didn't produce any milk so I only used it for about 2 weeks. It seemed like a good pump and I plan to use it again. It came with some bottle to pump into and they were just average bottles so If I'm remembering correctly I was able to attach a couple different bottles and pump directly in. Like Dr.Browns and Parents Choice bottles. I got mine from my insurance so even if it wouldn't of been free I would still spend the money on it. 
  • Yep! Used ameda py with my first and LOVED it! Comes with a carry bag but the pump is not attached to it so you can also just use whatever bag you want which I loved! Most of my friends with medela had the one which the pump is attached into the bag so had to schlep around work bag plus pump bag plus lunch box which I found tedious. Also a closed system so you don't have to worry about milk getting in tubing. didnt love the bottles that came with it but it is compatible with medela bottles so I used them.

    i prefer lansinoh bags that freeze flat (thaw faster and take up less room on freezer)
  • Married - 7/29/06
    Ben and Maggie - 4/10/09 
    Mia - 6/16/11
    Surprise! due 2/23/17


    BabyFruit Ticker
  • Has anyone used the "crescent womb" or heard anything about it?  It says it helps prevent SIDS.  I'm very curious what people think that have used it or what they've heard about it.  It looks like a fairly new product.  It's on back order apparently due to popularity.

    https://crescentwomb.com/product/crescent-womb/
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