@brie_and_almonds well that's some crap. There used to be baby wearing meetings all over where I live. Even on base! I don't have Facebook anymore so I can't even check if there are people still meeting without BWI.
@brie_and_almonds OMG! I'd already gotten a Moby and Boba plus a lilliebaby while pregnant so I never went to a meeting but we had someone come talk at our hospital's moms group and they were amazing! That's so disappointing!
I somehow missed a full page of posts when I went through this the first time.
@msb615 I have the lilliebaby but we didn't like it for the newborn stage. Those structured carries (it's essentially the ergo but you don't need the newborn insert, just wrap a swaddle at the bottom) are still just too big IMO for a newborn. DH and I didn't feel like we could have DD in there and make sure she was breathing. I'll definitely use a wrap for the first month or so, exclusively. DH hates the wraps and only uses the Lillie which works for us.
I know this wasn't the intention of this thread but we are going to be buying a car (probably SUV) when this LO is about 6 months and starts daycare. DH has a Mustang so the convertible car seat barely fits. It's in the back seat but the front passenger seat has to slide all the way forward (don't worry, it's been checked by a car seat inspection team). His Mustang is a 2009 and has been paid off for 5 years already and my Ford Escape will be paid off next October. Glad to not have 2 car payments but we're already trying to figure out what type of car to get that will fit 3 car seats across as we know we want a 3rd kid. DH is totally not an SUV guy but we both work and he needs to be able to do all the things
@msb615 I have heard great things about the Lille but one thing I thought I’d mention is my friend’s son (10 mo) lunges forward when he’s front facing and it’s been causing issues for her. My DS at 11 mo is not able to do that with the Ergo. This is not meant to discourage, just something I thought was worth mentioning, I know lots of people who love their Lilles!
Also, FTMs - I highly recommend (towards the end of pregnancy when you’re ready) installing your car seat in your car and taking it to your nearest fire station or police station. We had to make an appointment with a police officer, he checked how we had installed it, made adjustments, and discussed car seat safety overall with us/answered questions. It was so anxiety relieving to have someone certified in car seat safety make sure we did everything right. And DEFINITELY look up the YouTube videos. I fiddled for 45 min (and was a half hour late meeting a friend) with my DS’s convertible car seat until I felt comfortable enough to drive. Watched many videos and messaged back and forth with another mom who had the same seat. I’m so glad I took the time to do it because a week later we got rear ended by a semi.
@kvh22 I think it will be tight for us, but we’re planning on fitting 3 across in our CR-V. We bought it last year before DS was born. We’ll be using the Diono convertible seats since they can fit 3 across though I’m sure it’ll still be a tight squeeze.
@eatinwatermelonseeds I prefer not to because it isn’t great for their hips but he whines if he can’t see 🙄 We usually do a little while out to take everything in then switch him back.
This just popped up on my hip2save app. If you don't have this app, you need it! Life saver for Christmas, baby items go on sale frequently, it's just amazing. Have used it for years.
@DuchessOfCambridge see, mine never fussed as long as I was moving, I may have considered forward facing if that were the case. But by the time he cared, I could just throw him on my back and go. He could see everything from there.
@DuchessOfCambridge Yes! Figure out how to get your car seats inspected. Little things have been called out/fixed the two times we've gone in each of our cars (once with infant, then again with the convertible). WRT the Lille, DD is almost 14 months and we use it frequently with no issues lunging forward when she's forward facing. That sounds scary, though. Did you get Dionos for now or planning to get them down the road? I got the Clek Fllo (splurge!) but the angle of the seat didn't work in my small SUV rear facing without hitting the front seats (they need clearance, who knew?). They're both 17" across and theoretically should fit 3 across. We got the Graco Extend2Fit for my car when it was on sale but it won't work once we need 3 across.
@kvh22 the lunging wasn’t dangerous, just kind of annoying for her. He’s also a verrrry adventurous baby haha. We only have the one Diono for now and will buy more as we need. We want four so eventually we’ll need a bigger vehicle but we’re planning on having this CR-V forever and adding a second car if four becomes a reality.
@kvh22 Looks like a popular opinion that people don’t care for the lillebaby during the newborn stage. Thank you for the input! As far as SUVS go, we’re looking at the highlander, but we’re planning on this being our last baby. Some people do make it work with 3, but not all in the same seat I don’t think. I’ve also heard that the Honda Pilot is very car seat friendly, and everyone seems to love them.
@DuchessOfCambridge That’s definitely something to think about. I’m mainly considering using it in the beginning stages, so it may not be worth the money. Maybe I should find a very beginner/easy to use wrap since I probably wouldn’t use much past 6m. 🤷🏼♀️ I’d just hate to invest a lot of money on one and not use it much or baby #2 not even like it.
I plan on spending money on the stroller and car seat. I really want the baby jogger city select stroller and the chicco infant car seat. First child my mom got my travel system as a gift for me but this time I'm spending the money on a good stroller cuse I will have another child again.
I loooove My Brest Friend! At first, I only had the Boppy. I hated it! Even with that damn thing, I still needed to arrange whole bunch of other pillows around me in order to get comfortable. The MBF offers back support and you can adjust the height so it's not so low on you. I was only able to BF my daughter until 9 months but she still fit easily on it. (And now Im almost tearing up at how tiny she used to be !) Also, I highly recommend bringing whatever item you choose (Boppy vs MBF) to the hospital with you for delivery. You'll want to use it as the lactation consultants helps you find your way around BF.
My splurge that was a waste was the Tula. Even with the infant insert, my daughter never was comfortable in it. We both also got really hot in it. Im not sure if that's a problem with all wearables or just this one.
@chucksmom15 I’m so glad to hear that because we’re about 99% set on getting one! Do you have a bench or captain chairs in yours? I was so set on captain chairs, but we’d need to buy used if we did that due to price, so we have started thinking maybe it’d be better to just buy new and have the bench. We honestly probably wouldn’t use the 3rd row much anyway 🤷🏼♀️
We splurged on a nicer car seat and stroller (both Nuna) and a good rocker/recliner (Best Furniture, Benji). I absolutely love that chair. We watched sales and got really good deals on floor-models of nice solid-wood furniture, basically the same cost as the ikea dresser and Target crib we had looked at. And I lucked into a good sale and pooled giftcards to get a really nice bag to carry my pump to and from work, which made that chore a little better. So those last few were splurges, but not really.
Pretty much everything else big (swing, bouncer, pack n play, a lot of the toys) we have borrowed or gotten through garage sales or consignment. Babies outgrow things so fast and are so picky (what one loves, another hates), so most of it was in really good shape. We have Once Upon a Child stores, and two occasional consignment sales called Just Between Friends and Munchkin Markets that have netted good finds.
Re: babywearing - We have the K'tan and liked it when she was little. Still can technically use it at 14mon and 20lbs, but probably not for more than an hour or so. We plan to get a Tula at some point, but will borrow from our local babywearing group first. On that note, from what I understand, there was drama with Babywearing International national, and a lot of the locals decided to branch off. Our group changed their name, but kept the meetings and lending library.
Unpopular opinion, but Ihated the Boppy and consider it one of the biggest wastes. I had both a regular one and the two-sided Boppy Best Latch and they both felt weird. Also tried the My Brest Friend and Nook ones at Lactation appointments and didn't like them either. I did way better using regular pillows or stuffing rolled blankets under my arm.
Splurges this time will be a double stroller and eventually a Tula or other carrier. And a different diaper bag. I'm also suddenly aware that, even though we tried to go gender neutral on a lot of things, so much of our stuff is mega-girly. Like all of our crib sheets are pink or flowery. So if this one is a boy...
@expandcontract did you ever use it when she was bigger without the insert? We never used an insert (we got one when he was about a year) but I know they were bulky and uncomfortable. Without it, we comfortably wore until he was almost 3. They now have a free to grow that you can use starting at newborn without an insert.
@eatinwatermelonseeds yes, i did try wearing her when she got bigger. I don't know, maybe my daughter was just smaller than the average because even at 7 months, couldn't see above the darn thing. She was only 6 lbs when she was born, btw.
@expandcontract that's crazy. My kid was born 8.5lbs so was always on the larger size, even when he was failure to thrive he was still big. So, that was never an issue for us. A lillebaby might suit you better.
@expandcontract the Tula does have a high panel. It doesn't work for everyone. I have a boba and love it.
Thanks to this thread and struggling with two kids in a single stroller this weekend, I started the work of trying to find a double stroller. Trying to find something used is so frustrating but anything of decent quality is soooo expensive. I don't want to spent $1000 on a stroller I'm only going to need for a couple more years.
DD1: June 2014 - VBM4lyfe DD2: October 2016 DC3: coming May 2019
We were on one income, so not really any material splurges...
However we didn’t hire a sleep consultant that was about $200 and she was worth every penny.
Does anyone have experience with gdiapers? Is that a splurge that's worth it?
I personally don’t think gdiapers are worth it. I recommend researching the different diapering systems such as the All in one, the All in 2, pocket diapers, covers with prefolds, covers with fitteds, whether you want to be able to use disposable inserts, etc. It’s easier to recommend a brand if you have an idea of what you’re wanting your diaper system to look like.
I didn’t like any of the breastfeeding helpers and just preferred a normal bed pillow 🤷♀️ Anything that touched my stomach hurt my csection incision. Though I hated the boppy for breastfeeding, we used it a lot as a place for DS to rest and it was the BEST for tummy time. Much easier on him than being flat on the floor when he was super little - we still did the floor too but more on the boppy. I think it helped him learn to push up with his arms better. When he started learning to sit up, I’d put the boppy behind him so he’d topple over more gently. Worth it in my opinion!
@DuchessOfCambridge I totally forgot about that! Thanks for bringing it up! I hated the boppy for BF but I did use it for daughter's tummy and play time. I guess I should give it some credit. Hehe oops.
@knarlytaurus there are sooo many different brands of cloth diapers these days and they all fit slightly differently. I’ve used motherease fitted diapers and covers which tend to be really bulky on itty bitty babies. I also have bumgenius pockets which I use with a prefold diaper and a handful of blueberry covers, which are my favourite, but are definitely pricy. And then I have a bunch of cheapies from China, which do the job until baby gets to be too big and starts peeing a LOT.
I personally love covers and prefolds. I hate stuffing - it feels like a waste of time to me. And, fortunately, covers and prefolds are one of the least expensive systems. Cloth diapering doesn’t have to be a huge splurge.
DD1: June 2014 - VBM4lyfe DD2: October 2016 DC3: coming May 2019
@knarlytaurus we bought a big lot of used bumgenius pockets (sanitized them) and replaced the elastics, then bought thirsties hemp inserts for them. It’s worked great for us! I don’t know much about gdiapers but they seemed kind of weird when I’ve seen them here and there. I agree stuffing pockets is annoying, but it takes me about 10-15 minutes to stuff 20ish so it’s not the end of the world. We use thirsties natural all in ones overnight and I do like the ease of all in ones after washing.
I always loved the china cheapies. Alva brand, I think? We didn't start cloth until he was almost a year, though. (I was a bit behind on my crunch 😂). I loved the designs on them.
We use a couple of different systems. My favorites for a tiny baby are Thirsties size 1 duo wraps with a prefold, they start fitting at 6 lbs. We also love the Thirsties Natural all in one, it’s very absorbent but doesn’t dry quickly.
Another brand we love is Grovia. We use every Grovia system that they make. I love the hook & loop shells with the no prep inserts. They’re very absorbent and dry quickly; they can hold on to smells so I often find myself putting a little bleach in the wash to help with that which is what the manufacturer recommends and that does help. I also like their AIO, they’re very trim and absorbent and dry quickly. The Grovia ONE is similar to an AIO but it’s very bulky and very absorbent, and it does dry quickly. It’s the most absorbent diaper I have so we use it for overnights.
We’ve used some other brands too. Smart Bottoms are good; they just didn’t work for us because the crotch area wasn’t wide enough. They’re also one of the most expensive diapers we’ve tried. BumGenius didn’t work well for us; the elastics go out on them really easily so the quality for the price didn’t work for us. Thirsties all in one, just the regular one, also didn’t work well for us. It’s not very absorbent and holds on to smells REALLY well. Like way too well. I would use bleach in the wash and they would still come out smelling freshly pooped in. Also wasn’t a fan of pockets; the only use I see for them is if you need to use a microfiber insert that doesn’t have stay dry top because MF can’t go directly against the skin. We don’t really have a need that for so we don’t use pockets.
I highly recommend getting a few a few different styles with a few different fabrics so you can figure out what you like; the only way you’ll know what works for you is to try it. Some of the diapers I mentioned that don’t work for, there are literally groups with *thousands* of people who love those diapers, so you might love them too. Every baby is different and has different diaper needs.
@brie_and_almonds@eatinwatermelonseeds NOOOOO! BWI was going to be my suggestion too. They were so very helpful to me. My old local chapter had a whole collection of carriers that they would rent out. They would show you how to use them, and you could try different ones to see what you liked. My favorites with my daughter were the Eco Cub stretchy wrap (from Amazon--it's shorter than the Moby) and the ring sling (I found a more affordable one on Etsy). BWI taught me some really cool ways to wrap her.... She always wanted to be on me anyway, so I would wrap her up and go about my business. We also used an infantino soft carrier.
We liked the rock and play.
As for the pack n' play: we tried to use the hook-in bassinet feature with vibration, but the vibration would automatically turn off, waking our daughter every time. So, although our pack and play had come in very handy for travel and naps, all the bells and whistles that we opted for were useless for us.
That Joovy Caboose where your toddler can stand and ride looks awesome-- I just made an offer for one on Craigslist.
For the mommas with toddlers in cribs: we transitioned our 2.5 year old to a toddler bed and it was very reminiscent of sleep training. Our daughter would get out of her bed every night and come to our bed. It was tough. Now, she has decided that she doesn't like her toddler bed, and chooses to sleep on the full-size bed in the guest room...we are ok with that. However, it might be really challenging to a have a newborn and a toddler transitioning to a big kid bed at the same time. I don't know though.... Does anyone else have thoughts about this?
@flutterflutter I’m so torn on what to do about the crib to big kid bed transition. DS will be almost 3 when baby #2 gets here. I’m somewhat surprised he hasn’t started trying to climb out already. I’d be fine keeping him in the crib, but I’m not sure how much longer it’s going to last. I’ve heard moms in a fb group I’m in say that bringing a baby home is a transition enough for the child that changing their sleep space is a lot to adjust to and sometimes they’ll revert back to wanting to be in the crib. 🤷🏼♀️
Is it too soon for a cloth diapering thread? We like AIOs (Thirsties natural, Smart Bottoms, Imagine, Bumgenius) and cloth-eez fitteds with covers. One of my favorite tips: get a bunch of cheap fleece reusable liners to help wick away moisture and protect cloth from creams.
We ended up putting the toddler rail on our crib for our 2yo. Two nights down and he has slept just fine and zero escape attempts. So we are thinking he will move to a regular bed in May and we will use his crib for deuce. Beds are cheaper than another crib I think, so yay! This feels too easy...now if we can only get him potty trained by 2 1/2 we will be living the dream...
Honest Company diapers are pricey but they're soooooooooooo effing cute on newborns. I'm gonna get those again for the first 6 months at least. The pictures we have of DS in those adorable prints in his newborn stage are priceless. My favorite on him was the skull and crossbones.
@flutterflutter if we were in your situation with the bed refusal, I’d probably just transition her to a regular bed now. That might help with her getting up motn too. Dd1 went from a toddler bed to a twin at 2.5 bc we needed the crib for dd2. When dd2 was having trouble staying in bed (when we transitioned her crib to the toddler bed) we actually had to put a baby gate across the hallway to stop her from going downstairs. She just wanted to go play with toys. 😆 after a couple days with the gate she stopped though.
@knarlytaurus I was NOT a fan of the gDiapers. I tried them out, along with a variety of other full-cloth brands, and definitely preferred the full-cloth to the gDiaper hybrid. I had the cloth inserts as well and they really didn't do much. I found the plastic liner left marks on my baby that other diapers didn't. Plus it needed to be washed most of the time anyways so it was rarely a simple swap out of the liner. We will cloth diaper again, mostly OS pockets. I really loved the Bum Genius brand and we had a lot of AppleCheeks too (not OS, but there are only two sizes and they worked awesome for us). Also, the AppleCheeks swim diapers are awesome, even if you don't plan to cloth diaper.
Re: Baby Splurges
I somehow missed a full page of posts when I went through this the first time.
@msb615 I have the lilliebaby but we didn't like it for the newborn stage. Those structured carries (it's essentially the ergo but you don't need the newborn insert, just wrap a swaddle at the bottom) are still just too big IMO for a newborn. DH and I didn't feel like we could have DD in there and make sure she was breathing. I'll definitely use a wrap for the first month or so, exclusively. DH hates the wraps and only uses the Lillie which works for us.
I know this wasn't the intention of this thread but we are going to be buying a car (probably SUV) when this LO is about 6 months and starts daycare. DH has a Mustang so the convertible car seat barely fits. It's in the back seat but the front passenger seat has to slide all the way forward (don't worry, it's been checked by a car seat inspection team). His Mustang is a 2009 and has been paid off for 5 years already and my Ford Escape will be paid off next October. Glad to not have 2 car payments but we're already trying to figure out what type of car to get that will fit 3 car seats across as we know we want a 3rd kid. DH is totally not an SUV guy but we both work and he needs to be able to do all the things
Also, FTMs - I highly recommend (towards the end of pregnancy when you’re ready) installing your car seat in your car and taking it to your nearest fire station or police station. We had to make an appointment with a police officer, he checked how we had installed it, made adjustments, and discussed car seat safety overall with us/answered questions. It was so anxiety relieving to have someone certified in car seat safety make sure we did everything right. And DEFINITELY look up the YouTube videos. I fiddled for 45 min (and was a half hour late meeting a friend) with my DS’s convertible car seat until I felt comfortable enough to drive. Watched many videos and messaged back and forth with another mom who had the same seat. I’m so glad I took the time to do it because a week later we got rear ended by a semi.
WRT the Lille, DD is almost 14 months and we use it frequently with no issues lunging forward when she's forward facing. That sounds scary, though.
Did you get Dionos for now or planning to get them down the road? I got the Clek Fllo (splurge!) but the angle of the seat didn't work in my small SUV rear facing without hitting the front seats (they need clearance, who knew?). They're both 17" across and theoretically should fit 3 across. We got the Graco Extend2Fit for my car when it was on sale but it won't work once we need 3 across.
@DuchessOfCambridge That’s definitely something to think about. I’m mainly considering using it in the beginning stages, so it may not be worth the money. Maybe I should find a very beginner/easy to use wrap since I probably wouldn’t use much past 6m. 🤷🏼♀️ I’d just hate to invest a lot of money on one and not use it much or baby #2 not even like it.
My splurge that was a waste was the Tula. Even with the infant insert, my daughter never was comfortable in it. We both also got really hot in it. Im not sure if that's a problem with all wearables or just this one.
Thanks to this thread and struggling with two kids in a single stroller this weekend, I started the work of trying to find a double stroller. Trying to find something used is so frustrating but anything of decent quality is soooo expensive. I don't want to spent $1000 on a stroller I'm only going to need for a couple more years.
DD1: June 2014 - VBM4lyfe
DD2: October 2016
DC3: coming May 2019
I personally love covers and prefolds. I hate stuffing - it feels like a waste of time to me. And, fortunately, covers and prefolds are one of the least expensive systems. Cloth diapering doesn’t have to be a huge splurge.
DD1: June 2014 - VBM4lyfe
DD2: October 2016
DC3: coming May 2019
https://www.cottonbabies.com/pages/cloth-diaper-basics
We use a couple of different systems. My favorites for a tiny baby are Thirsties size 1 duo wraps with a prefold, they start fitting at 6 lbs. We also love the Thirsties Natural all in one, it’s very absorbent but doesn’t dry quickly.
Another brand we love is Grovia. We use every Grovia system that they make. I love the hook & loop shells with the no prep inserts. They’re very absorbent and dry quickly; they can hold on to smells so I often find myself putting a little bleach in the wash to help with that which is what the manufacturer recommends and that does help. I also like their AIO, they’re very trim and absorbent and dry quickly. The Grovia ONE is similar to an AIO but it’s very bulky and very absorbent, and it does dry quickly. It’s the most absorbent diaper I have so we use it for overnights.
We’ve used some other brands too. Smart Bottoms are good; they just didn’t work for us because the crotch area wasn’t wide enough. They’re also one of the most expensive diapers we’ve tried. BumGenius didn’t work well for us; the elastics go out on them really easily so the quality for the price didn’t work for us. Thirsties all in one, just the regular one, also didn’t work well for us. It’s not very absorbent and holds on to smells REALLY well. Like way too well. I would use bleach in the wash and they would still come out smelling freshly pooped in. Also wasn’t a fan of pockets; the only use I see for them is if you need to use a microfiber insert that doesn’t have stay dry top because MF can’t go directly against the skin. We don’t really have a need that for so we don’t use pockets.
I highly recommend getting a few a few different styles with a few different fabrics so you can figure out what you like; the only way you’ll know what works for you is to try it. Some of the diapers I mentioned that don’t work for, there are literally groups with *thousands* of people who love those diapers, so you might love them too. Every baby is different and has different diaper needs.
We liked the rock and play.
As for the pack n' play: we tried to use the hook-in bassinet feature with vibration, but the vibration would automatically turn off, waking our daughter every time. So, although our pack and play had come in very handy for travel and naps, all the bells and whistles that we opted for were useless for us.
That Joovy Caboose where your toddler can stand and ride looks awesome-- I just made an offer for one on Craigslist.
For the mommas with toddlers in cribs: we transitioned our 2.5 year old to a toddler bed and it was very reminiscent of sleep training. Our daughter would get out of her bed every night and come to our bed. It was tough. Now, she has decided that she doesn't like her toddler bed, and chooses to sleep on the full-size bed in the guest room...we are ok with that. However, it might be really challenging to a have a newborn and a toddler transitioning to a big kid bed at the same time. I don't know though.... Does anyone else have thoughts about this?
We ended up putting the toddler rail on our crib for our 2yo. Two nights down and he has slept just fine and zero escape attempts. So we are thinking he will move to a regular bed in May and we will use his crib for deuce. Beds are cheaper than another crib I think, so yay! This feels too easy...now if we can only get him potty trained by 2 1/2 we will be living the dream...
Dd1 went from a toddler bed to a twin at 2.5 bc we needed the crib for dd2. When dd2 was having trouble staying in bed (when we transitioned her crib to the toddler bed) we actually had to put a baby gate across the hallway to stop her from going downstairs. She just wanted to go play with toys. 😆 after a couple days with the gate she stopped though.