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LGBT Parenting
jeannkerricotober09
member
top baby must have's
jeannkerricotober09
member
It's that time.. I am creating my registry (ok. I am lying, I have created and recreated it about 17 times by now.. but this time for real.) and I would love to hear from all you about what was essential in the beginning, what surprised you, and what was a huge waste of $$.
Also, we are cloth diapering so any advice on CD 'stuff' is much appreciated! i.e. wet begs vs pails, accessories, inserts, cloth wipe 'stuff'. Not so much for the registry, more to keep me from buying any more diapers (seriously.) and focus on the other things I will need.
One more thing 
Our house is 2 floors. The nursery is upstairs and I can't imagine going up there for every diaper change. I thought just and extra changing pad I could use on the floor would work, or maybe a cheap changing table so I can keep everything organized? Thoughts?
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Re: top baby must have's
I was thinking a PnP in the beginning for the downstairs because I didn't want to 'waste' money on a table (we bought a real dresser for the nursery and just plan to use a changing pad and caddy on it) but I worry about my cats.. They will hop in and claim a PnP in a heartbeat and I don't want my diapers all hairy. So I am trying to find an alternative. Even the pad on the floor is creeping me out a little.. I think they will sleep in that too, but I figure I can put away? damn cats.
My #1 newborn must-have is a moby (or similar) wrap.
as for changing...yeah, we never got around to setting the changing table back up for daisy (we used the pnp for RB). We stash changing pads around the house and couches, bed, floor all work fine.
Blogs: Our Growing Family - CT Working Moms
Moby or K'tan wrap for sure. And yea, for us a changing table was pointless. I used a diaper caddie and loved it. It sat next to my couch and I restocked it every night. It worked perfectly.
oh, and by changing pad i mean something like this:
not this (we have one of these and never once used it for either baby):
Blogs: Our Growing Family - CT Working Moms
Absolutely brilliant!!! I can totally put a little pad like that away! I was trying to figure out where I would put a big ol pad.. on the book case? behind the couch? oh dear.. I have so much to learn.. (sigh)
Keep 'em coming!
I pretty much always agree with anything CT says :-p
- Moby
- We tucked this diaper cady away downstairs. I know Mrs._F had it on her registry too. I loved it and still have it hidden downstairs for when I need to grab a diaper without running upstairs.
- We used Avent bottles and were very happy with them.
- We didn't use a PnP downstairs. It was set up in our room for co-sleeping (because co-sleepers don't work with our bed frame) until I finally just went to bed sharing.
- Snap-n-Go. We had the Graco Snugride32 car seat and the Snap-n-Go was the best thing ever! For all those times I didn't want to wake a sleeping baby I could just grab the car seat, pop it on the frame, and roll away.
- A boppy or some other nursing support pillow.
- IMO a bumbo is a waste of money unless you can get a cheap one from craigslist.
- a few Swaddle Me blankets/wraps.
- Changing pad liners like this. This was used on top of the changing pad cover. It was awesome for those early running poops that would sometimes get everywhere when cleaning. It was much easier to toss a few of these in the wash then to keep washing the changing pad covers.
Shoooot, I just had a folded receiving blanket in the diaper caddie. They fold up small, easy to work with and wash easy and you always end up with 935 of them!
Our house is also 2 stories (well, 3...but the bottom is the playroom that wasn't really utilized until they were older and we just changed them on the floor.)
this was great. It provided a place for them to nap for the first few months (once we got on a schedule they napped upstairs in their cribs) and we used it for travel until they were about 2y. We definitely got our money worth.
ETA: We also have 2 cats and they never got in/near the PNP/crib/etc. In fact they are just starting to come around when the boys are in the area. :P
Loved these sheet savers. So much easier than changing the entire crib at 2a if someone throws up/had a big spit up.
Also I loved that we would double make the crib (still do this with Carter's bed.) Sheet, waterproof mattress pad, sheet. So if the baby (my kid) has a blow-out/leaky diaper you just yank off that top layer and you still have a fully made bed.
Ditto 2brides on this one. The woman we bought E's crib from suggested this double sheeting/mattress pad idea. I have to say it was the best thing I learned. There is nothing like trying to strip down a bed with a crying upset kiddo at 3am and then rangling with the mattress to get fresh sheets on.
we're the opposite, we use the actual changing pad at home (it just stays on top of his dresser) and only use the other kind when we're staying at Grandma and Grandpa's, we don't even use it out and about because our diaper bag has a little changing pad in it. but, we also don't have a two-story house and it's easy enough for us to just take him to his room to change him.
also? I HATE the moby. we got one and I tried it and just could not get the hang of it. I'm sure part of it was me just not finding it at all easy or intuitive to use, but that's my two cents.
someone gave us a bottle warmer and we returned it. it was a waste of money for us, he didn't care what temperature the bottle was and it was just as easy and way cheaper to just run it under warm/hot tap water.
my must haves are probably: burp cloths (or cloth diaper prefolds you can use as burp cloths), we went through them a lot faster than we ever thought; small waterproof pads (like 12x12") to put under baby's bum on the changing pad if you use one, that way if you have a leak or something you only have to change the pad not the entire cover, and we used them for air time under his bum while playing in the living room without a diaper and other things like that; swaddling blankets; bouncy chair; floor activity mat thing; and lots of extra sheets. a boppy or similar pillow was very helpful but not absolutely necessary.
I second the diaper caddy that Two linked to. We didn't use the changing pad it came with because I didnt like how plastic-y it was, instead used a receiving blanket or waterproof "lap pad. I found the caddy to work just fine with cd's too - just holds less than it would with sposies.
-Moby wrap - you will love.
-Bouncy/swing - we would keep one upstairs and one downstairs, and both were lightweight enough to move around the house. Henry liked them both, and they both got lots of use, even though I am a confirmed baby-wearing AP-er. Sometimes, you need to pee, eat, or just give your arms a rest
Henry also liked to nap in the swing.
-Bumbo is kind of useless. But some babies love theirs - Henry prefered the bouncy seat.
-Boppy. Love, love, love. Get an extra slipcover for when it inevitably gets soiled. Loved it for nursing, Hen loved it for lounging, and then great for support when he was learning to sit up.
-Moses basket - Not essential, but I really enjoyed being able to carry him from room to room with me when he napped a lot as an itty bitty.
-Snap n go - sooo nice to have something lighweight, easy to get in and out of the car, and to be able to let him sleep from car to store and back again.
-SwaddleMe - Just buy them. It feels weird at first to wrap your baby up like a burrito, but it really helps them sleep and comforts them. And unlike a receiving blanket, there is no learning curve. Also have heard great things about the Wombie, which is similar.
CDs:
-We use a pail (just a plastic trash barrel with a foot pedal to open...highly recommend the foot pedal!) and pail liner (Wahmies - very happy with it). I have two so there is always one clean.
-For downtairs diaper changes I have an XL Planetwise wet bag. Their wet bags are great and they have nice prints.
-I also have two medium wet bags for the diaper bag (side note: I have found cd'ing on the go to be very easy, never felt the need to go sposie)
-Extra inserts - feel free to get some, but I have barely ever used them.
-Detergent - Our town has very hard water. I recommend Rockin Green Hard Rock, and perhaps a water softener as well. Although, at first you shouldn't have much of a problem. Newborn, breastfed babies have very low-key dirty diapers, lol. As Henry got older, I found that our detergent (Planet) wasn't cutting it anymore and switched to Hard Rock.
-I have never purchased a wipe solution. I did get some Thirsties Booty Luster, which I have used on and off and like. For a new newborn, water is just fine. Once I felt Henry needed something more, I added a tiny bit of California Baby Super Sensitive Soap to the water in the spray bottle, which I'm happy with.
Depending on what's in your diaper stash - covers, covers, covers. If you are using prefolds and/or fitteds, I feel like you can never have enough covers. Once those big runny poops start, the cover will often get soiled, and there's nothing more annoying than having to rush to do a diaper load just because you're out of clean covers.
That's all I can think of at the moment!
sahm ~ toddler breastfeeder ~ cloth diaperer ~ baby wearer
I totally ran home and put one on my registry after you told me about it at breakfast yesterday! I put on a rocker too. It that overkill? I was so excited, I showed K who was like.. what the h is that? A MOSES basket? and then went back to watching the Bruins
My little lady love.. she is a'learnin..
And about the snap and go. I originally had that.. I think registry round 4 or 5
and then I switched it out for the City mini with adapter. We aren't registering for a stroller system and the City mini folds with one hand and seems easy to maneuver. I thought maybe this would be the $$ way to go since the baby will be born in October and so we won't be hitting the roads too many times before it gets too chilly (though I plan to spend the entire winter in the Fine Arts Museum and the South Shore Plaza so I guess it will get some miles..) this way we can use it long after the babe can stroll sans infant seat. Thoughts?
Thanks for all the info ladies! I love it! I am reconsidering a PnP now.. off to BRU to check them out!
i think your stroller plan will work just fine. I love my city mini (double). I also love my snap and go but I bought it for $10 on craigslist so its not like i was sacrificing something else for it. The snap n go is a little lighter/smaller and a little easier to manuver but not so much so that you'd need both.
The appeal boils down to having something quick adn easy you can snap the carseat into - both the snap and go and the city mini would qualify.
Blogs: Our Growing Family - CT Working Moms
I have the city micro (which I love) but I'm not sure that personally I'd love it with a carseat on it. It would be a bit bigger than the snap-n-go, and it feels like the baby would be a bit farther away (but not much). I got the city micro once LO was out of the car seat, but I think I recall reading a few reviews of people not really liking the car seat adapter for the stroller. IDK. I think either one would work out fine.
Oh - and the SnG has a bigger basket than the city mini. I loved being able to run to the store and just throw everything under the stroller without having to carry around a hand basket. My friends with the city mini complain they can't fit all their goodies in the basket.
I had to skim pps because I really should be working (shhhhh!). Jumping in quick, though-- for the extra layer on top of the changing pad, we got waterproof crib sheets and just cut them into pieces. Super cheap and the plastic stuff on the back meant they didn't need to be hemmed or anything.
We loved our FP Rock N Plays-- they were great for our refluxy babies to nap and sleep in (DD slept in hers until almost a year, DS until 6 months or so) and also were easy, portable places to put the babies where they're higher off the floor than in a bouncy (also, ours hated bouncies for some reason). (Wow that was a poorly constructed sentence, but hopefully it made sense anyway.) Off to get some work done!
ETA: I used to carry them around the house in the RnPs-- super easy. I also used a laundry basket as a makeshift moses basket...
IUI #3 gave us the best 2nd anniv. gift ever: 2 babies! (born 03/09/10)
Peanut and Little Man are getting so big! 2 years old already!
finally blogging again at This Will Be: An Adventure
Love this.
Those Fisher Price Rock n Plays look awesome! I think those are new? Don't recall seeing them before Hen was born.
sahm ~ toddler breastfeeder ~ cloth diaperer ~ baby wearer
Just for a grin, here is one of our kids (I have no idea which one! bad Mommy!) camped out in the basket:
IUI #3 gave us the best 2nd anniv. gift ever: 2 babies! (born 03/09/10)
Peanut and Little Man are getting so big! 2 years old already!
finally blogging again at This Will Be: An Adventure
We are a change on the floor family. We have the same diaper holder thing that Two showed.
The rock n play was not out when E was born. I would have so loved it and E would have slept in it for ever. She slept in her bouncy seat in the pnp forever.
I had a moby and I wish I had the baby k'tan. I just never got the knack for the whole wrapping thing.
I love my beco butterfly we are still using it!
We loved the swaddle me wraps. We also liked the halo sleep sacks with and without the swaddle wrap.
The aiden and anais sleep sacks were great last summer. We also loved the aden and anais blankets for swaddling, for covering the stroller.
We used dr browns bottles and really liked them.
diaper cream with calendula
oh and a swing. That and the bouncy seat saved out lives.
We were told not to use the bumbo and the excersaucer (we had both but hardly used them)
We love love love our svan high chair worth every penny. E has been sitting at the table with us for ever. It is great.
When I nannyed in Portland; the family had a HUGE house, and they had a second floor changing area. It was used wooden bassinet they found on Craigslist, they had a mesh tote of supplies underneath. Worked GREAT, and was so much better than running upstairs every single time.
They also had a wipes warmer, it was wonderful. Not a necessity, but was much better than a cold on on your rear.
our top Must-Haves:
onesies - lots of them (I can't tell you how many we went through in a day becasue of spit up, blow-outs, and anything else that got them dirty)
bouncy (with vibration)
we got a PnP that had music and vibration (with a remote) - yes, fancy, but oh how Payton loved it! It was a life saver. (and the cat never went in it for some reason - although the cat did like to sleep in the Co-sleeper).
when they were tiny, we used Boppies a lot
Swaddle-Mes
oh and the best things? Well, we grabbed everything we could from the hospital! Swaddle blankets, diapers, formula, bottles, and nipples (even though we were planing to breastfeed), wipes, mesh underwear (may not be pretty, but they were great!), pads for mom, pacifiers (even though we were against them at first), and anything else we could get our hands on.