Also. I don’t use a bouncer because I have 3 animals and 2 kids. Bouncers are too low to the ground. 😂 A nice swing and a locked bedroom door do the trick for showers!
also one thing I learned first go around was get one of a few bottles and see what works best. DS had horrid reflux and we had a tough time finding a bottle that helped keep the air out as much and finally found Dr Browns.
@pirateduck Agree with @mamaj1220 that registering in person for your first is a smart way to go. Also, if you have a friend who has a baby, take them. I would have loved input from someone with recent baby experience. MH and I were clueless. Please don't bring a family member who had a kid 30 years ago. They will not be helpful and likely drive you insane.
@rox7777 my swing seat was my bouncer (hello space saver!) and I used the bouncer when I was in the shower and put him on the floor sleeping in it and he slept in it for a bit because of his reflux and needing an incline
@mamaj1220 I loathe bottles to this day. DS1 would take any and all bottles. I used 5-6 different brands with no problem. I bought NINE different brands with DS2 and he never took a bottle. I’m ordering a two pack of como tomo and calling it a day this time.
@rox7777 bottles were the worst to find a brand that worked well for him, my LC gave me a bunch to try too and I randomly asked an SLP friend who suggested Dr Browns and finally less spit up. I know I’ll need lots of bottles because I have to go back to work at like 10 weeks (which is already killing me) and can’t leave my boob with DFs step mom lol
@mamaj1220 Dr. Browns were actually my favorite for DS1 too. I’m thinking como tomo this time because I’ve heard they’re easy to clean and most BF babies like them. I’m definitely pushing the bottle harder this time because I got worn out bf’ing DS2 for 2.5 years.
You ladies are full of all sorts of good info!! So it sounds like I need to plan a Target day with someone who has had a baby relatively recently. Start with the basics, diapering supplies, crib, mattress, car seat, work out from there. Try a variety of brands of things and be prepared to return some stuff once I figure out what works. Also I had no idea that babies could be sooooo picky about bottles! So much to learn. I spent so much time with fertility treatment etc that I was fully focused on actually getting pregnant and have yet to think about the part where I actually have to raise a child from an infant in a few months! It’s gonna be a crazy life change and I can’t wait!
I used the Phillips Avent bottles for both of my babies so far and have nothing but good things to say about them.
Babylist is a registry site where you can consolidate your registry from multiple places into one. I’ve done Target, Amazon, and Buybuybaby. I usually make them all for the completion discounts even if I don’t share them all with everyone.
If you like a car seat, buybuybaby may look the most expensive but don’t forget that you can use their 20% coupon code to buy it there. They will also price match with Amazon. Bedbathandbeyond coupons and gift cards are good there because they’re the same company.
A boppy is great for holding babies even if you’re not able to breastfeed. Multiple covers are a good idea.
You need like five crib sheets and three waterproof mattress covers. You can layer these on a crib mattress and be your own bff in the middle of the night when you’re half asleep and baby’s bed is soiled. Just pull off the top one and thank yourself later that you don’t have to remake the bed.
If you have a sensitive baby just go ahead and wash everyone’s clothes in Dreft. Dreft+ downy free and clear and the Dreft scent beads makes soft clothes that smell nice and doesn’t give anyone a rash.
Dr Browns makes a formula mixing pitcher that is a lifesaver. Most formula is good in the fridge mixed for 24 hours. If your formula is too foamy add a couple of drops of Mylicon (Walmart brand is MUCH cheaper) to break up the bubbles and make it easier on baby’s tummy.
Mommy’s bliss gripe water works.
Nose Frida is good.
Babyganics products are good.
Carter’s sales + coupons and Target without a sale evens out to about the same amount of clothes for the same money so just shop where you want.
Aldi’s baby products are good. Including their diapers. If you see they’ve got their knock off aquaphor in stock, grab as many as you can afford.
Target’s diapers are good. So are their wipes.
I find that Huggies overnights hang in there better than Pampers overnights. Pampers tend to burst easier.
You don’t need a special blender for baby food making.Any will do if the food is soft enough, just add water.
Any bottle warmer will work. You don’t need anything fancy.
Making things as easy for yourself getting up at night with baby as possible is recommended. If you know what you need it’s good to have stations. Same with just all day with postpartum.
You can never have too many sleepers. The more the better. Zippers are easier. Especially the ones that zip backwards from the foot.
I used Amazon because that was 100% easiest for everyone in my family since we lived 2,000 miles away from the closest family member. What we did to find what we wanted (since they have so much) is that we went to actual stores and looked at everything and just searched those things on Amazon and added them to the registry 😂
Then people still bought off registry and we had tons of crap that we didn’t want 🤷🏻♀️
@mokay19 exactly why I started with Amazon, my family is far and it let’s you add anything from any website. The closest store I have to look at is a Target about an hour away but I think it’s probably good to register at a semi-local store for those people that may want to shop in person (or want to register in person). Now that I have all this info. I might be ready to take another stab at this. Also looked at Lucie’s list a little and that site is great!
Also, to all the first time boy moms - do yourself a huge favor and toss a wipe or cloth over their penis when you do diaper changes. Other you will both have pee in your face.
Yes @Austenista - layering sheets/mattress pads is a must!
I liked to put my babies down around 7:00 and then did a dream feed around 10:00. It helped them sleep another 3-4 hours before waking me up.
I loved Pampers. Triple Paste is the best diaper cream IMO, especially with some Aquaphor or Desitin on top. Wipes make diaper rash worse. Use a wet cloth when baby has diaper rash.
Does anyone live in a house where the master is on a different floor than the other bedrooms? Did you just set up a crib and changing station in your room and then move everything when baby was ready to sleep in his/her own room or did you set up two sleeping and changing areas (one in the master and one in baby’s room)? Did it work well? Do you wish you did it differently?
@pirateduck Not exactly that situation, but now that we're in a two-story house I'm definitely putting a changing station on the first floor.
I uhh never got my daughter to nap in a bed until she was like 9 months old but with this one I'm not sure if I'm going to try to do naps in the crib in her room or the bassinet that's in my room.
DD #1: April 2017 DD #2: May 2020 Baby #3: EDD May 2023; MC October 2022
@pirateduck our house has the master on the main floor and the other bedrooms upstairs. DD actually never really used her nursery or slept up there (oops), but we did have the pack n play with the changing table thing on top in our living room which was nice at first, but it was actually kind of an awkward height and would kill our backs. We finally ended up getting a changing table with drawers to keep in the living room and it was a game changer. I know everyone usually says "changing tables are useless", but we loved ours. And the drawers were great to keep diapers, wipes, diaper cream, clothes, toys etc so might be something to consider if you have the space. Also we had a bassinet in our room and her crib upstairs because we knew she was going to room share for at least the first year since that's the AAP's recommendation.
Also similar to not having too many of one bottle until you know what baby likes I would recommend the same with pacifiers. We had several different types we had received from the shower etc and my daughter refused every single one except mam and the rest were tossed.
@bananapanda thank you for that, I actually had been looking at pack and plays with the changer on top and wasn’t sure if that was really a good solution or not.
My house is actually opposite where the nursery would be on the main floor where the kitchen/living room and laundry is, so I’m worried that if I have everything upstairs in the master that throughout the day it’s going to get annoying to have to go upstairs for naps and every diaper change etc., but I fully get that baby will be sleeping with us up there (at least at night) for some time to start.
@pirateduck our master was on the same floor as the nursery, however, I didn’t want to walk up and down the stairs that many times per day while recovering from birth. So we had a changing station with extra clothes (since blowouts are just a way of newborn life) set up in the living room on the first floor.
Also, a lot of doctors will recommend that your child sleep in your room for several months (if not longer) so you probably wouldn’t use the nursery until the baby is a little older.
@bananapanda My kids refused all pacifiers except Mam, too. They couldn't keep the silicone ones with the stuffed animals in their mouth at all, which was a bummer because it would have been nice for them to have something to hold. Oh well. 🤷♀️
@pirateduck I agree with others, Lucie's List is great, go to a store with a friend who is a mom and walk around and register. You can always change things later. Even with a Target registry, people can buy online and have it mailed to your address. You get samples of things in the welcome kits from Target and Amazon, usually there is a bottle in there, so you will have a couple different brands from that. Most of the things will be trial and error to see what you and your baby prefer. You can usually find the big ticket items second hand pretty easily or you can buy them with your completion discount after baby is here and you know what you want.
As for the changing station, we have 2 floors and the master and nursery are close to each other on the second floor. We did not set up a changing station on the first floor at all, we always went up to the nursery for changes. I used the PNP changing station a few times, but there is a weight limit to it and you have to stop using it fairly soon I thought.
@m6agua yes, with the pack and plays some had good reviews on the changing station and some have terrible reviews. The weight limits vary as well as how easy they are to set up... so if your baby is sleeping in the bassinet and wakes up and needs to be changed, you then have to attach the changing table bit before you can change your baby, which sounds like something I'm not sure I want to mess with at 3:00am.
@pirateduck Wait, I'm confused. Our pack n play had a changing table next to the bassinet and we never had to take it on and off. Both my kids slept in the PNP bassinet until they were like 5 months old. The changing table never came off.
Which one do you have @ruby696 ? Some have better internet photos than others. Maybe I'm confused, maybe it depends the model! Some I saw it looked like the changer attached to the PNP frame in a way that it would be over the bassinet, so you'd probably take it off while baby was sleeping. If I found one that could stay setup all the time it could be a good option for one floor of the house.
@ruby696 I am wondering which one you have too. I think a lot of people get confused on what is the bassinet. That extra thing on the top most of the time isn't and the instructions say to not use it for sleep.
I didnt like the changing station on the pnp. I felt like I was too tall for it and I am 5’4. But you can buy the kind where one side is the changer, you flip it and the other side is a napper. Go to the store and look at it assembled before you buy it and make sure you like something as well as you think you will.
When we had a two story I had a changing table downstairs, one in my room upstairs (the type that covers a dresser and comes off when you don’t need it anymore). And a changing table in my DS1’s room. I kept DS2 in the room with me bassinet first and then crib until he was about a year old and then I put him in with DS1. They’re still in together now.
I used Amazon, Target, and Babies R' Us. I usually send people the link to The Bump registry because it put everything into one place, versus sending them 3 registries. I liked the layout of BRU's registry the best, but their website SUCKED and I had a huge issue using my completion coupon with them along with some gift cards, and that ended in an hour long phone conversation to have them order for me because their website didn't work for 4+ days for me. Good riddance to them, I say.
I second Lucie's List, and I really love their "Crib Sheet" spreadsheet. It breaks down the categories and price ranges. I went for less expensive options pretty much across the board.
As for my must-haves, it's kind of a long list, but I put together an email for some friends with links to everything. I'll post that separately and under a spoiler. Most of it is small stuff that just made day-to-day life easier.
**TW**
Me: 35 | H: 40 Married Sept. 2013 DS1: Nov 11, 2016 MMC: 11/16/18 (9w6d) CP: 2/3/19 (5w3d) BFP! 8/24/19 DS2: May 10, 2020
Here you go, it's super long! DS hated being put down ever, so I didn't really use many of our swings, bouncers, etc. Also, I recently discovered they make a motorized snot sucker and will be buying one this time because I'm convinced the Nose Frida made me catch whatever DS had any time I used it! Also, I haven't checked all these links recently, so some might be out of date because this list is 2+ years old.
ET fix words
Halo sleep sack swaddles. If it doesn't have velcro, don't bother. DS escaped every non-velcro swaddle, and when they escape, they wake up. Get a newborn and a small size. They have fleece for colder months and cotton for warmer ones
Quick Zip Sheets. I didn't discover these until after having him. Instead of having to take the whole mattress out of the crib to change the sheets, you just unzip the dirty one and zip on the fresh one. Life saver for middle of the night diaper leaks (speaking of which, you may want an extra sleep sack in each size).
27" x 47" mattress protector pad These are waterproof and go under the Quick Zip sheet so you don't have to take off the fitted mattress cover (which would defeat the purpose of the quick zip sheets! You'll need two. I like the smaller ones for the changing pad instead of the fitted kind, too. Maybe I'm just lazy. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Flannel Sheet for chilly winter nights. Sadly, Quick Zip doesn't make one.
Fisher Price Rock n' Play. This was the only baby vessel DS would let me put him down in. This is the one that rocks itself, and it also has a vibration mode.
Boba Wrap. It'll take a couple of tries to get the hang of (watch a YouTube video and make sure it's tighter than you think it should be), but I lived in this thing for the first 3 months. DS refused to let me put him down, so this is how I managed to eat, go to the bathroom, etc. while still holding him.
MAM pacifiers. When used in conjunction with the Boba wrap, these saved my sanity. The green soothie pacifiers are too big and bulky for most newborns to keep in their mouth. When I finally tired these, they changed my life. They also make pacifier clips for them so when they inevitably spit them out, they don't fall on the floor/ground (but don't use the clips for night time sleep).
Bum Brush. Or as I like to call it, the butt spackler. If you get diaper cream on your fingers, it will be there forever. This thing is the best!
Safety Nail Scissors. I still use these. I've never accidentally snipped his finger like you can with regular clippers. Not once!
Nose Frida. So gross, but so essential when the baby gets their first cold and can't breathe. You'll want to use this in combination with a baby saline nasal spray.
Weighted Wipe Holder. I only discovered this recently, and I was mad I didn't know about it sooner.
Jumper Thingy. I didn't get this one. Mine didn't fold up, and was a huge monstrosity that took up tons of space for months. Regrets.
Activity Mat. I had this one. It was cool because it became a ball pit when he got bigger and could sit up.
Pack n' Play. Doesn't have to be this one. I like the one with the changing table and still use it. If you have space in your room, you can just use this instead of a bassinet, too. Also get a waterproof mattress cover for it.
Carseat Canopy. Great for keeping the cold out in the winter, since they can't wear bulky winter clothes in the carseat. Also good for keeping nosy people out of your baby's face.
General Notes:
Get a white noise machine that can be on constantly. The ones that automatically shut off always made him wake up. I have a Marpac Dohm for home and a Rohm for travel because I'm a white noise snob, hahaha.
Get a humidifier of some sort for the winter.
You don't need to register for lots of swaddle blankets, or blankets in general. You will get 800 of them no matter what. Same story with bibs and onesies.
Cute outfits are great for special occasions, but for the most part, they'll be in onesies and sleep n' play footie PJs. They'll go through a lot of outfits. Get ones that are easy to put on and take off.
Muslin swaddle blankets make perfect nursing covers, so don't bother getting a separate nursing cover. They also make great car seat covers on warmer days when you don't want the heavy insulated kind.
Cloth diaper liners make better burp cloths than burp cloths do. They're more absorbent.
Register for clothing sizes 3 months and older. You'll get so many newborn sizes that they won't have time to wear them all before they outgrow them. DS was only in newborn for about a month. I'd say register for sizes 3m (0-3), 6m (3-6), 9m (6-9), and 12m (6-12).
Get a stroller that the car seat can click into, but can also be used as a stand alone stroller later. Those little car seat buggy/caddy things are nice and lightweight, but only useful for when they're still in the infant seat.
Make a list of shows to binge watch on Netflix for when all you're doing is breastfeeding for the first couple of months. Don't do what I did and watch something super emotional like Parenthood, or you'll just cry all the time.
**TW**
Me: 35 | H: 40 Married Sept. 2013 DS1: Nov 11, 2016 MMC: 11/16/18 (9w6d) CP: 2/3/19 (5w3d) BFP! 8/24/19 DS2: May 10, 2020
@pirateduck I personally liked Amazon because we don't have any place near us to shop. I did put together a babies r us and target one online but found they didn't carry certain items I was looking for so Amazon was my go to. I also treated the registry as a wish list and only put big items or items I wouldn't buy for myself that would be nice to have. Like matching pump bag and accessories because maybe someone would buy it for me and they did.
What everyone above said about bottles. I had my heart set on glass Dr brown bottles, then I tried every other glass I could find. Dd would occasionally take a bottle from me, but I want putting up with having to pump and clean bottles so I gave up and mh didn't have the Pottstown patients to fight her to take a bottle so when she went to the sitter she ended up pretty much reverse cycling and so started our nights of no sleep. She never went for a bottle but we could get her to take a couple ounces from sippy cups after week two.
Some of my most used items were muslin swaddle they were great light weight blankets and cleaned up spit up great. They dried very quickly out on the line too. She hated her swing, but it had a bouncer chair that came out and she loved that. We used the pack n play as her bed next to ours until she was about 7 months old and was figuring out how to crawl out of it. Carseat big need.
Some things we didn't use in the first year baby bath tub, (used once or twice but it was just easier to have her shower with me), crib she went from bassinet to bed sharing to toddler bed, door bouncer she hated it, bottles, bottle warmer, and changing table. Are what I can think of off hand.
We have a 2 story and we would just keep a travel changing pad downstairs and a little stash of diapers/wipes in a small basket - plan to do the same this go around as well. We also found it easier to just shower with the baby most of the time and now I'm glad we did it b/c DS is almost 4 and he shower's 98% independently which is great!
Honestly, I changed my kids on the couch and bed most of the time. Throw down one those flannel blankets you’ll get that are useless for anything else and keep a small stash of diapers, wipes and onesies next to the couch and bed. I plan to have a changing pad in the nursery (on the dresser) this time just because we have a nosey dog that gets in the way constantly.
@shamrocandroll yes on the baby nail scissors! They are amazing and we still use those at 2yrs old. I always see on mom groups of cutting their baby's fingers with clippers, and I know my mom tells me the same horror stories. I haven't had any issues at all with the scissors!
@pirateduck We just used amazon. Some friends have done Target and that also seems good. I agree with @rox7777 to err on the side of not getting as much and agree on most essentials. Might say bouncer rather than swing (DD hated the swing and I wouldn’t have been able to put it in my small bathroom while I showered anyway). In my neighborhood you can get a lot used at low cost or free if you really feel like you need it. Or ask co-workers if they have anything hanging around that they don’t need.
Nise Frieda for sure, per @ruby696. Would add the Munchkin High-Capacity Drying Rack, Halo Sleepsacks, changing pad to put on top of dresser or floor, white noise sound machine (so important!), and baby video monitor.
Re: BTDT - Questions for STM's
Then people still bought off registry and we had tons of crap that we didn’t want 🤷🏻♀️
Yes @Austenista - layering sheets/mattress pads is a must!
I liked to put my babies down around 7:00 and then did a dream feed around 10:00. It helped them sleep another 3-4 hours before waking me up.
I loved Pampers. Triple Paste is the best diaper cream IMO, especially with some Aquaphor or Desitin on top. Wipes make diaper rash worse. Use a wet cloth when baby has diaper rash.
Agree that Babyganics products are good.
I uhh never got my daughter to nap in a bed until she was like 9 months old but with this one I'm not sure if I'm going to try to do naps in the crib in her room or the bassinet that's in my room.
DD #2: May 2020
Baby #3: EDD May 2023; MC October 2022
Also similar to not having too many of one bottle until you know what baby likes I would recommend the same with pacifiers. We had several different types we had received from the shower etc and my daughter refused every single one except mam and the rest were tossed.
As for the changing station, we have 2 floors and the master and nursery are close to each other on the second floor. We did not set up a changing station on the first floor at all, we always went up to the nursery for changes. I used the PNP changing station a few times, but there is a weight limit to it and you have to stop using it fairly soon I thought.
- BFP: 3/10/16 — Baby Girl born 11/20/16
TTC#2 April 2019- BFP: 3/10/16 — Baby Girl born 11/20/16
TTC#2 April 2019Graco Pack 'n Play Newborn Napper DLX Playard, Manor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H8MRDU8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ugc1DbRQQCJ8E
I second Lucie's List, and I really love their "Crib Sheet" spreadsheet. It breaks down the categories and price ranges. I went for less expensive options pretty much across the board.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IugsUXAnYqBtntPL2L-3xfc7IdKE_O3SAk0rK8UgmNE/edit#gid=374724590
As for my must-haves, it's kind of a long list, but I put together an email for some friends with links to everything. I'll post that separately and under a spoiler. Most of it is small stuff that just made day-to-day life easier.
Married Sept. 2013
DS1: Nov 11, 2016
MMC: 11/16/18 (9w6d)
CP: 2/3/19 (5w3d)
BFP! 8/24/19
DS2: May 10, 2020
ET fix words
Married Sept. 2013
DS1: Nov 11, 2016
MMC: 11/16/18 (9w6d)
CP: 2/3/19 (5w3d)
BFP! 8/24/19
DS2: May 10, 2020
What everyone above said about bottles. I had my heart set on glass Dr brown bottles, then I tried every other glass I could find. Dd would occasionally take a bottle from me, but I want putting up with having to pump and clean bottles so I gave up and mh didn't have the Pottstown patients to fight her to take a bottle so when she went to the sitter she ended up pretty much reverse cycling and so started our nights of no sleep. She never went for a bottle but we could get her to take a couple ounces from sippy cups after week two.
Some of my most used items were muslin swaddle they were great light weight blankets and cleaned up spit up great. They dried very quickly out on the line too. She hated her swing, but it had a bouncer chair that came out and she loved that. We used the pack n play as her bed next to ours until she was about 7 months old and was figuring out how to crawl out of it. Carseat big need.
Some things we didn't use in the first year baby bath tub, (used once or twice but it was just easier to have her shower with me), crib she went from bassinet to bed sharing to toddler bed, door bouncer she hated it, bottles, bottle warmer, and changing table. Are what I can think of off hand.
I don't remember if this was mentioned yet, but I would also recommend having this on hand for yourself after birth because it's so much nicer than the bottles the hospital gives you: https://smile.amazon.com/Postpartum-Original-Fridababy-MomWasher-Cleansing/dp/B07TXLZ8MR/ref=sxin_0_ac_d_rm?ac_md=0-0-bW9tIHdhc2hlcg%3D%3D-ac_d_rm&keywords=mom+washer&pd_rd_i=B07TXLZ8MR&pd_rd_r=8ba60541-8fd4-4c0f-beb5-3d748ecfe7d2&pd_rd_w=Ey2Mj&pd_rd_wg=fgIO3&pf_rd_p=6d29ef56-fc35-411a-8a8e-7114f01518f7&pf_rd_r=NZP32T3A71RPHAEJMF6E&psc=1&qid=1574260954
There are a lot of new Frida Mom products that were released since I had DD 2 years ago that look like they might be nice to have as well.
Nise Frieda for sure, per @ruby696. Would add the Munchkin High-Capacity Drying Rack, Halo Sleepsacks, changing pad to put on top of dresser or floor, white noise sound machine (so important!), and baby video monitor.