@Lcardinal04 we need one as well. DH added a baby sense one to our Amazon registry, but no idea how well it works. I’m interested to see what others have liked
@ashh2018 Just my 2 cents, but there are much lighter weight infant seats than the Keyfit. That being said, we have a Keyfit 30 and it’s a super solid seat, easy to click into the base/stroller. But, DS was absolutely too heavy to carry in it beyond 6 months old. I wish we would have done a Graco seat for that reason (much lighter), but we will be reusing the Keyfit since we have it. Hoping this LO isn’t off the growth chart and we can use it longer!
We got the Bravo system mainly because we liked the fact it could be used as a frame stroller and DH liked how it felt when he pushed it around. We still use the Bravo for DS (14 months) for stroller walks and shopping and it works great. If you need a stroller to handle rough terrain, I would skip it.
What is VOX mode? Haha! I have a Vtech Safe and Sound and it has multiple cameras. We like it.
@Wishilivedinflorida thanks! Which seat was lighter? When I search now mthe keyfit comes up as the third lightest I think at 9ish lb. After checking them out at the store I realize that every pound really does make a difference!
@Lcardinal04 so I had the dxr5 and wouldn't recommend it because the video died after 8 months or so. I've heard better things about the dxr8. But, I was able to set it to automatically come on when DS made noise but the video would stay off otherwise. I distinctly remember being able to toggle on/off VOX mode. Maybe this is different from the dxr8? But on the Amazon description it says there is screen off, audio only mode available. Unless I'm confused about what exactly VOX mode is?
@Wishilivedinflorida@nlc8424 VOX mode is basically a sleep mode for the visual screen. If there is a lot of movement or sound then the screen turns back on. So for example, on our current monitor I can turn on VOX and turn the sound (audio) down/off. The screen will stay off/Black, and go into sleep mode. If DD wakes up and starts fussing then the screen turns on. DH is a really light sleeper so this allows me to wake up if the screen turns on without hearing every noise DD makes. It only turns the screen on at a certain level of noise detected too, so we don’t get woken up just by normal sleep sounds of DD. And since it’s on my bedside, DH isn’t constantly woken up by DD’s normal noises.
@Lcardinal04 Thanks for the explanation! We always have our video/sound on but I’ve never looked to see if we have that option. We just adjust the volume how high we want it to be.
@ashh2018 Just by feel, the Graco Snugride is lighter. My friend had one and I was shocked at how much lighter it felt. That being said, the Chicco felt sturdier to me, if that make sense. Haha! Probably not helpful...
@nlc8424 thanks!! I think I’ll have to go into the store and look at the different models. Amazon and the baby bargain site specifically say it doesn’t have VOX so I guess I need to search out the model that does. No price point in mind... I just want something that works and lasts
@Lcardinal04 ah so I just looked at the dxr5 model and it does say VOX, so maybe it was discontinued with the upgraded model. Maybe the "screen off, audio only mode" replaces this, but I'm not sure. I hope you find one you like!
@ashh2018 I also agree with wishilivedinflorida about the chicco vs graco snug ride. The snugride I think is 2 pounds lighter than the chicco, and all carseats manufactured are up to safety standards if they're on the market. It's totally your choice, but the 2 lb difference is what made me choose the graco snugride.
Ok I’ve narrowed down my travel system choices!! I definitely like the Chicco keyfit 30 (lightweight car seat is my primary factor). Anyone have experience with the Bravo vs the Viaro for the stroller??
No experience with the strollers since we went for a non-Chicco one but we used a Keyfit 30 for DS and I loved that car seat. It's still good so we're using it again with this one. We stuck with Chicco for our convertible car seat too and have been very happy with it.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________ MMC 8/5/15 at 8 weeks DS born 9/13/16 BFP 1/13/18 - EDD 9/20/18 - It's a boy!
So my sil is doing a sprinkle/shower/something for us, and it’ll be a stock-the-freezer-with-freezer-meals fun kinda thing. And at my house. The people I know of who will attend would love the hands on activity over the usual sit around that is done around here.
My question is this, I do have a registry going for the random stuff we’ll need, but we’d much rather, if people are willing and want to, have help with the cost of banking the cord blood and tissue (in hopes of it being useful to dd in the future).
Do I: a- only give the cordblood info as the option(I believe a fund can be set up so it’s not cheesy “cut us a check and trust us to use it right”.
B- give both cordbank info and amazon registry
c- move everything to babylist where it can all be seen at the same time, assuming I can figure out how to link the cordbank info...
d-none of the above it’s all too grabby...
bfp#1-10/29/12,EDD: 7/3/13. nothing found @ 1st u/s, natural mc 12/10/12. "Bean"
bfp#2-5/10/13! EDD: 1/18/14. "Peanut" Arrived 1/13/14. Diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis
bfp#3- 9/26/14. EDD: 5/7/15. no heartbeat found @ 1st u/s, natural mc 10/23/14. "Little Bug"
@jhjocelyn I would say provide both. People will likely want to give something, even small, so telling them what you want is important. I was personally afraid withthe Babylist registry that my guests would not go there the way they would a known trusted source (target, Amazon, bbb)
Also, I know you really want people to donate to the cord blood banking, but not everyone will be comfortable with that, so it’s a good idea to share the other registry with them.
@jhjocelyn I would probably do option c. If people get you gifts off the registry, you can use the money you save not having to buy it yourself and apply that to the cord blood banking to help with the costs. Also, it’s not a guarantee you’ll be able to bank any blood. We tried with DS and there wasn’t enough left for them to get any.
@jhjocelyn I’d definitely include regular registry info...if you didn’t I would likely just buy a cute outfit or something, I wouldn’t donate for cord blood banking personally.
Also, I do think it’s a bit gift-grabby to have a registry/expect gifts for a second baby especially when the event itself is going to have people essentially making gifts for you.
Thanks for the thought, I really just made the registry for me but will share it of asked.
Around here second + showers are the norm, I’d feel weird if dd weren’t about to be 5 when this little one comes, we’ve been out of the baby loop for a long time!
I’m hopeful some of the long distance family may help w the blood banking, everyone adores dd and any chance to keep her healthy is worth every penny for us. We’ll be paying for it either way, there is a legit chance we’ll need it.
bfp#1-10/29/12,EDD: 7/3/13. nothing found @ 1st u/s, natural mc 12/10/12. "Bean"
bfp#2-5/10/13! EDD: 1/18/14. "Peanut" Arrived 1/13/14. Diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis
bfp#3- 9/26/14. EDD: 5/7/15. no heartbeat found @ 1st u/s, natural mc 10/23/14. "Little Bug"
@jhjocelyn - I like the idea of offering both the traditional registry and the cord blood banking, if people ask for registry information. Being a second shower/gathering I probably wouldn't include it with the invitation information (granted I come from an area/circle where second showers are not the norm), but certainly hand it out if people ask.
I would not spend the time to convert to BabyList since it's just the cord blood banking that cannot be included in your other registry.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________ MMC 8/5/15 at 8 weeks DS born 9/13/16 BFP 1/13/18 - EDD 9/20/18 - It's a boy!
@jhjocelyn for what it's worth around here people do full on showers, not just sprinkles for 2nd+ babies especially if they are further apart. I personally would totally contribute to a cord blood banking fund. I usually have a budget in mind for gifts so I'd probably do most of the budget towards the banking and then buy one little thing to wrap and put the check/cash/receipt for the fund in with the little gift.
@jhjocelyn if I were invited I would totally put money towards the cord blood banking knowing how important it can be for dd’s health. If people ask about a registry I would definitely mention that.
Re: The great big Baby Registry thread!!!
We got the Bravo system mainly because we liked the fact it could be used as a frame stroller and DH liked how it felt when he pushed it around. We still use the Bravo for DS (14 months) for stroller walks and shopping and it works great. If you need a stroller to handle rough terrain, I would skip it.
What is VOX mode? Haha! I have a Vtech Safe and Sound and it has multiple cameras. We like it.
@nackie fingers crossed someone knows of one. I fell for the VOX feature in our Samsung monitor but it’s barely lasted through DD being 2.
VOX mode is basically a sleep mode for the visual screen. If there is a lot of
movement or sound then the screen turns back on.
So for example, on our current monitor I can turn on VOX and turn the sound (audio) down/off. The screen will stay off/Black, and go into sleep mode. If DD wakes up and starts fussing then the screen turns on. DH is a really light sleeper so this allows me to wake up if the screen turns on without hearing every noise DD makes. It only turns the screen on at a certain level of noise detected too, so we don’t get woken up just by normal sleep sounds of DD. And since it’s on my bedside, DH isn’t constantly woken up by DD’s normal noises.
@ashh2018 Just by feel, the Graco Snugride is lighter. My friend had one and I was shocked at how much lighter it felt. That being said, the Chicco felt sturdier to me, if that make sense. Haha! Probably not helpful...
@ashh2018 I also agree with wishilivedinflorida about the chicco vs graco snug ride. The snugride I think is 2 pounds lighter than the chicco, and all carseats manufactured are up to safety standards if they're on the market. It's totally your choice, but the 2 lb difference is what made me choose the graco snugride.
MMC 8/5/15 at 8 weeks
DS born 9/13/16
BFP 1/13/18 - EDD 9/20/18 - It's a boy!
So my sil is doing a sprinkle/shower/something for us, and it’ll be a stock-the-freezer-with-freezer-meals fun kinda thing. And at my house. The people I know of who will attend would love the hands on activity over the usual sit around that is done around here.
My question is this, I do have a registry going for the random stuff we’ll need, but we’d much rather, if people are willing and want to, have help with the cost of banking the cord blood and tissue (in hopes of it being useful to dd in the future).
Do I:
a- only give the cordblood info as the option(I believe a fund can be set up so it’s not cheesy “cut us a check and trust us to use it right”.
B- give both cordbank info and amazon registry
c- move everything to babylist where it can all be seen at the same time, assuming I can figure out how to link the cordbank info...
d-none of the above it’s all too grabby...
bfp#1-10/29/12,EDD: 7/3/13. nothing found @ 1st u/s, natural mc 12/10/12. "Bean"
bfp#2-5/10/13! EDD: 1/18/14. "Peanut" Arrived 1/13/14. Diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis
bfp#3- 9/26/14. EDD: 5/7/15. no heartbeat found @ 1st u/s, natural mc 10/23/14. "Little Bug"
**Psalm 139:16**
Also, I know you really want people to donate to the cord blood banking, but not everyone will be comfortable with that, so it’s a good idea to share the other registry with them.
Also, it’s not a guarantee you’ll be able to bank any blood. We tried with DS and there wasn’t enough left for them to get any.
I’m leaning towards B because of the ease, good to know I’m not too far off.
@nackie Thanks for saying that it might not work! I hadn’t even considered that... I’ll be so sad if it fails. I’m glad to have a heads up.
bfp#1-10/29/12,EDD: 7/3/13. nothing found @ 1st u/s, natural mc 12/10/12. "Bean"
bfp#2-5/10/13! EDD: 1/18/14. "Peanut" Arrived 1/13/14. Diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis
bfp#3- 9/26/14. EDD: 5/7/15. no heartbeat found @ 1st u/s, natural mc 10/23/14. "Little Bug"
**Psalm 139:16**
Also, I do think it’s a bit gift-grabby to have a registry/expect gifts for a second baby especially when the event itself is going to have people essentially making gifts for you.
Thanks for the thought, I really just made the registry for me but will share it of asked.
Around here second + showers are the norm, I’d feel weird if dd weren’t about to be 5 when this little one comes, we’ve been out of the baby loop for a long time!
I’m hopeful some of the long distance family may help w the blood banking, everyone adores dd and any chance to keep her healthy is worth every penny for us. We’ll be paying for it either way, there is a legit chance we’ll need it.
bfp#1-10/29/12,EDD: 7/3/13. nothing found @ 1st u/s, natural mc 12/10/12. "Bean"
bfp#2-5/10/13! EDD: 1/18/14. "Peanut" Arrived 1/13/14. Diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis
bfp#3- 9/26/14. EDD: 5/7/15. no heartbeat found @ 1st u/s, natural mc 10/23/14. "Little Bug"
**Psalm 139:16**
I would not spend the time to convert to BabyList since it's just the cord blood banking that cannot be included in your other registry.
MMC 8/5/15 at 8 weeks
DS born 9/13/16
BFP 1/13/18 - EDD 9/20/18 - It's a boy!