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Pennsylvania Babies
Random poll of all things baby :)
On the way/back to the Outer Banks, I think I read a good 300 pages of Baby Bargains! We're going to start looking at some furniture and things this week, and I have a pretty good idea of brands and what we're looking for specifically, but I always appreciate all of your well-tested advice! So any thoughts welcome...
1. Did you have a bassinet for your LO? If so, did you find it useful or a waste of $ and space, how long did you use it for, etc? If not, any regrets, or was using the crib immediately fine for you?
2. If you have a glider, what brand did you go with? What do you like/dislike about it? Anything you'd look for differently if doing it again?
3. Where did you register? I'm trying to avoid having to register at different stores (although still might do 2?) like we did for our wedding because of having everyone split between MD and PA (all family is Central PA). I know we have Buy Buy Baby down here and Babies R Us...is there a Babies R Us in Central PA now?
Thanks as always!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Random poll of all things baby :)
We did not have a bassinet, we used the one in the PNP in our room until Gunnar was 3 months old, he was also a preemie so I felt much safer having him nearby, but he slept better and so did we once we moved him to his own room and his crib. That being said, I still checked and still do check on his about 5-10 times a night, if I'm up I'm checking on him.
We bought a Dutweiler (sp) we got it in Annville at Rock-A-Bye Baby and got a pretty good price on it and we got the fabric to wanted and it matched his room.
We only registered at Babies R Us and we got very few things off our registery, but that is just us. We bought all the big stuff like the crib, stroller, etc.
The bed we got the conversion kit so he will be able to convert it to a toddler bed, day bed and full size when he is ready. The crib is the Bonivita Sheffield Collection and we love it.
For a stroller we bought the Chicco, but went with the combo and now I wish I didn't. We bought an extra base so we had one for both cars. We just bought a jogging stroller and I wish I had an umbrella stroller so the combo is nice, but if you end up buying two other strollers it turns into a lot of $$.
1. Did you have a bassinet for your LO? If so, did you find it useful or a waste of $ and space, how long did you use it for, etc? If not, any regrets, or was using the crib immediately fine for you?
Nope - just a pnp with the bassinet attachment and we've gotten a TON of use out of it! Both kids have used it and still are and we got a ton of travel use out of it, as well.
2. If you have a glider, what brand did you go with? What do you like/dislike about it? Anything you'd look for differently if doing it again?
We do and I have no clue what brand. Originally we got a rocker recliner because our apt when Amelia was born was tiny, so we put it in the living room. That's in our room now and I also got a glider at a consignment store. Dislikes - the goofy denim fabric;) Otherwise it works well. I thought about having my mom recover it for us and
3. Where did you register? I'm trying to avoid having to register at different stores (although still might do 2?) like we did for our wedding because of having everyone split between MD and PA (all family is Central PA). I know we have Buy Buy Baby down here and Babies R Us...is there a Babies R Us in Central PA now?
BRU. Can't remember where your parents and family are, but there's definitely one in Lancaster(by Park City), Harrisburg(maybe more than one?) and I *think* there's one in York, too.
1. We borrowed a bassinet and used it for more than 3 months. I loved having him right next to me. It made it easy for night time nursing and checking on him. The first night in his crib was sad but I got used to it pretty quickly.
2. We have a Shermag glider that reclines from BRU. I love that it glides, reclines, and I LOVE the nursing stool that pulls out of the ottoman. I didn't 'get' the stool part until I started nursing E while sitting in the glider. It makes it much more comfortable.
3. We registered at BRU. Lucky you with the Buy Buy Baby!
TTC since Jan 07. Dx with PCOS Jan 08
1) We used the bassinet in the PNP in the living room for the first week or so. That way one of us could be with him "sleeping" on the couch while the other one got decent sleep upstairs in our room. We intended to put him in his crib from the start, but we heard every noise over the monitor and we both just sat there awake. I am glad he was never in our room. He is an excellent sleeper now. And even with breastfeedng it wasn't hard to go into his room so I didn't disturb DH - Adam took forever to go back to sleep after eating, and he made a lot of noise. There's no way my light sleeping DH would have handled me BF in our room. And when he got up for the bottles, I appreciated being able to drift right back to sleep.
2) Not sure what brand, we got it from a closeout furniture store. I do think you need to try them out though - some that look great just don't fit your body right.
3) We went for BRU and Target because DH's family didn't have a BRU nearby. In hindsight, I would have just done BRU. And I'm sure someone already told you we have a BRU in Harrisburg. And York, depending on where your family lives.
They're in Dillsburg/Mechanicsburg/Camp Hill areas. Most would drive to Harrisburg. Some of our older family members refuse to cross the river to the East Shore, very funny I know. But, BRU would probably be convenient for most in different areas and offer us the best selection. Really wish there was a Buy Buy Baby in Central PA!
1 We borrowed a bassinet for our room. DD slept in it 2 nights- she was a better sleeper in her crib. We do have a pack-n-play set up downstairs in the living room for changes and "downtime". We love the PNP.
2. We went with a Dutailier glider and I LOVE IT. DH did a lot of research on this prior to purchasing. On just a side note, you can cutom order through BRU. They have a whole book of fabric swatches if you ask. We didn't care for their display models or what they had in stock so we custom ordered.
3. We registered at BRU.
1. Did you have a bassinet for your LO? If so, did you find it useful or a waste of $ and space, how long did you use it for, etc? If not, any regrets, or was using the crib immediately fine for you? We used the bassinet feature on our Pack and Play for the first month or so, but then I decided I wanted an Arm's Reach (I was totally paranoid and wanted her as close to me as possible without her actually being in the bed
). If we had had strictly a bassinet I would have found it useless. I think the feature on the Pack and Play is awesome. We moved her to her crib at about 6 months.
2. If you have a glider, what brand did you go with? What do you like/dislike about it? Anything you'd look for differently if doing it again? It doesn't look like BRU carries our glider anymore; my registry just says cherry glider with beige micofiber
. I have no idea what brand it is! I just know it was one of the cheaper options from BRU and I really like it. Sorry I can't give you any more info!
3. Where did you register? I'm trying to avoid having to register at different stores (although still might do 2?) like we did for our wedding because of having everyone split between MD and PA (all family is Central PA). I know we have Buy Buy Baby down here and Babies R Us...is there a Babies R Us in Central PA now? We registered mainly at BRU (friends and family split between Delaware, Maryland, and Central Pennsylvania and we knew there was one near all of them) but made a secondary registry at Target because they were giving away a $25 gift card for making one with them
. For your family who won't cross to the East Shore there is a brand new BRU in York (attached to the TRU). It's maybe a year old...
I don't have any first hand advice yet but wanted to share this link with you that I bookmarked a while ago when Lesli was starting her registry. It was really helpful for me when starting our registry.
https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/13511022.aspx
1. I am going back and forth about buying a bassinet or not. Even though his room is really close to ours I feel like for me I'll just feel better having him close for the first couple months and that it will make night time feedings easier on me. My DH is a heavy sleeper so I don't worry about waking him. I have considered a travel lite pack and play to use as a bassinet and then to leave at our parents when we move him to the crib. Like I said I go back and forth though.
2. We ended up buying a Shermag from BRU. I was a little disappointed that I couldn't get the fabric/wood combination I wanted in the reclining glider with pull out nursing stool but felt good about the money we ended up saving (it would have cost us about $150 more and we may have been on a waiting list). Now that we have the one we bought in the room I'm glad we didn't go with the reclining option bc of the space the glider itself (without reclining) takes up. With a coupon and the sale price we ended up paying $220 for a $300 glider so I was happy with that.
3. We're registered at BRU but we don't expect too many people to purchase from our registry. Alot of our family lives an hour north of Harrisburg and like your family with the East Shore they refuse to leave Schuylkill County to get to BRU (in Reading or HBG). My hope is that some are able to check our registry online for items and then maybe purchase elsewhere.
1. Did you have a bassinet for your LO? If so, did you find it useful or a waste of $ and space, how long did you use it for, etc? If not, any regrets, or was using the crib immediately fine for you?
We just used the PNP bassinet feature. We only had him in there in our room at night for about three nights. It just wasn't working with all the noise he made and with the fan blowing so much air in our room, so we moved him to his crib across the hall. It worked out just fine. Like pp said, it was nice to be able to get up and nurse and get DS back to sleep without waking DH.
2. If you have a glider, what brand did you go with? What do you like/dislike about it? Anything you'd look for differently if doing it again?
We do not have a glider, but rather the IKEA Poang chair. We had it in another room and just figured that we'd give it a try in the nursery. We planned to find something else if it didn't work after he arrived. However, it ended up being just fine. I use a regular pillow under my arm to nurse (the boppy didn't work so well), and I figured out a system whereby leaving the pillow on one side of the other of the chair reminded me which side I was to nurse on next. Soooo easy to forget when you're up every few hours in the middle of the night.
3. Where did you register? I'm trying to avoid having to register at different stores (although still might do 2?) like we did for our wedding because of having everyone split between MD and PA (all family is Central PA). I know we have Buy Buy Baby down here and Babies R Us...is there a Babies R Us in Central PA now?
BRU.
1. Did you have a bassinet for your LO? If so, did you find it useful or a waste of $ and space, how long did you use it for, etc? If not, any regrets, or was using the crib immediately fine for you?
We borrowed a bassinet, but only used it for about a week and went to the crib in her room and she has ben in that ever since and STTN since she was a month old. She slept much better in her own room.
2. If you have a glider, what brand did you go with? What do you like/dislike about it? Anything you'd look for differently if doing it again?
My mom gave us her cheapie glider made with an aluminum frame. Don't know what brand it is, but it work just fine and it even reclines!
3. Where did you register? I'm trying to avoid having to register at different stores (although still might do 2?) like we did for our wedding because of having everyone split between MD and PA (all family is Central PA). I know we have Buy Buy Baby down here and Babies R Us...is there a Babies R Us in Central PA now?
We registered at Babies R Us and Burlington Baby Depot, there is a Babies R Us in Harrisburg (big one) and York (attached to Toys R Us), and the Toys R Us in Camp Hill has an Infant section, (about 6 aisles of non-clothing items). There is a baby Depot in both Harrisburg and York as well. However, there are no Buy Buy Baby stores around in Central PA.
HTH and lucky you for having a Buy Buy Baby near you!! I would love to go to one!! I loved Bbay Bargains, I took it with me when registering and have been very happy with the items we have!! GL and have fun registering!!!
1. No bassinette for us. We're going to try the crib from Day 1, and if that doesn't work, we'll use the pack-n-play in our room.
2. Yup, and I'm REALLY looking forward to getting to know my Dutailier. I got a fantastic deal on one online. See here. I pretty much just took Baby Bargains recommendation at face value on this one.
3. Registered at BRU only. Not a fan of the store, but it was the easiest one-stop-shop, since there's really no other alternatives around here.
1. We had a PNP, bassinet and crib for DD. We still have the PNP set up downstairs but use it mostly for the changing table. I love having it downstairs so I don't have to run upstairs to change her. We keep a lot of products (diaper cream, thermometer, etc) in the side compartments as well. We bought a rocking bassinet from BRU. Initally we had her in our room, but quickly moved her to her own room (which is right beside ours) as we were all keeping each other awake at night. I kept her in her bassinet in her own room until last night. She slept so well in it and I could turn on the vibrator, or rock her in it when she woke up. It would usually sooth her back to sleep.
2. I HIGHLY recommend our glider which I got at Target! All of our furniture is from Rock a Bye, but I just couldn't justify spending a lot of money on a piece of furniture I wasn't even sure I would use. I found a glider I liked at Target and I love it! It's pretty good quality and the cushions are really plush and soft. I purchased it for $159.00. It's so much nicer than the $200.00 gliders I have seen at other places.
3. I just registered at BRU. If your relatives won't cross the river to Harrisburg, you can tell them to go to the Toys R Us on the West Shore. They are the same company and may have some of the items in stock. My best friend got my bouncer off our registry there.
Good luck!
ETA: I forget to mention that our glider also came with an ottoman. If you're interested, they don't sell them at every Target. I found mine at the Target in Swatara.
Thanks for all of your input and advice. As for the bassinnet, I'm still really torn and feel like it really depends on your baby to know what will work. Personally, I know that I'll probably worry and want/need to check on her often, which would be nice to have her right there. Then again, it sounds like some of your LO's didn't sleep as well and moved on to the crib quickly. I think we'll hold off - and either hope we find someone/relative who has one we can borrow or attempt to squeeze in the PNP and see if it is worth buying one, if we're using it often and its working for us all.
As for the gliders, thanks for all of your recs!!
I'm a little late replying, and I didnt read everyone elses... but here are my answers
1. We were given a bassinet to use. I found it very helpful to have, I really liked being able to watch him sleep in the beginning, especially since we had him swaddled, on an incline wedge, on his side... it was nice to be able to keep an eye on him and make sure he wasnt sliding down. If I only had a one story house, I would just use the pack n play in the bedroom, but we used the pack and play on the first floor fr changing ad naps. We used the bassinet from 4 weeks until about 8 weeks (he would only sleep in the swing until we got the incline wedge)
2. We bought a glider for $40 off of craigslist. love it and definitely dont see a need to spend a lot fo money on a glider. make sure its comfortable and definitely get a foot rest, but I wouldnt spend hundreds of dollars on one.
3. We registered at Babies R Us in Harrisburg, my shower was in NJ and all of my family and friends live in the NY/NJ area. I was very happy with the registry altough I know a lot of stuff can be found slightly cheaper elsewhere, I felt they had the best selection.
1. ?We did have a bassinet and used it until Eli was almost 4 months old. ?His room was on a different floor from ours initially so it was much easier for me to get to him while in the bassinet, plus, I loved being able to just reach in there and feel him breath and stuff, haha. ?I have no regrets with using it, just some advice. ?Do not bother getting the sheets for the bassinet. ?Most receiving blankets will fit just fine! ?I know some have a rocking feature, ours did not but it still worked out fine for us. ?
2. ?We have a rocker glider, I believe its the Shermag brand from babys r us. ?I love just about everything about it, except, the ottoman slides easily on the carpet, so I could not sit with my feet up on the edge of it. ?Our glider also does not recline, which I really wish it would have. ?Some nights you just kinda want to fall asleep in the glider, or you accidently fall asleep in the glider, or your baby just needs to sleep on you and thats the only place they will do it, so it would have been nice if ours reclined.
3. I registered mostly just at Babys R us, but then also Target. ?Not for much at Target. ?Just be aware, that as always, registries get funky when people buy the day of or day before your shower and you will probably get duplicates! ?
Your belly looks so cute!?
Hey Megan!
There is a BRU in York now, not sure how Dillsburg peeps feel about traveling to York, but its right by the West Manchester Mall.
There may be one in the Mechanicsburg area by now.