Advise Needed From Veteran Moms: What Equipment, Etc REALLY helped you w/ your Baby?

[dr j]

Lots of great responses here.

Boppy pillow. LOVE this item. Probably the baby item that gets the most use in many households.

Avent Isis. I could be a walking commercial for this pump. I used it with Meg and keep "wanting" to buy the Medela Pump in Style but kept putting it off. After talking to many people I realized that I was getting more ( much more) milk with my Isis than most people got with PIS. I now have a PIS and guess what? I don't get near the milk with it - it may be about 5 minutes faster but I very easily pump at least 10 oz with my Isis and have never gotten more than 5 with the PIS. Plus the Isis is so much more portable.

Meg never liked the swing and we haven't even gotten it out for Hank yet.

pack and Play's are a good investment. We use ours often. If you plan on any travel they are great for hotel rooms etc.

Simple bouncy seat.

Gowns - although you also may want to get a nice supply of little socks. Esp with a fall baby. I love gowns but also wear socks on my babies unless it's really warm.

Cloth diapers. You can't have enough of them. "Burp rags' we call them! And when you are done having babies they make GREAT clothes for washing the car etc etc etc. A million uses! LOL

We used our Baby Bjorn a lot too.

I recommend doing stroller research and finding what stroller would be best for your lifestyle but there doesn't seem to be a stroller that does it all. I have 4. Love the Zooper strollers www.zooperstrollers.com

Check out the baby bargains book and website for more info than you ever wanted www.babybargainsbook.com

Babies don't need shoes until they can walk. They are really cute but not necessary.

Lands End Diaper bags. I have two. They honestly look brand new after three years of almost constant use. I love buying new 'bags' of any kind and wanted a new diaper bag for Hank but I couldn't justify that when I have two that look so good and are so functional. You can often get them discounted at Lands End's website.

I am sure I will think of more later.

Jill

[hazelnut]

2 of my 3 were spitters~ lots of burp rags in this house!

Suz~ how can I forget gas drops! I'm going to go add them to my list right now!

Pacifier~ funny story. When I had my first dh and I read all the books, talked about parenting, and had a plan what we were going to do and the things we were most definitely not going to do. Well, when dd was 1 week old my parents were visiting. Dad was holding the baby and she was fussing. He asked for her pacifier. I quickly told him we weren't going to use a pacifier. He laughed at me and continued to try and soothe her. A few mins past and he convinced me to at least see if it would soothe her(we had the one the hospital sent home with her). Of course it did. The next day we went out and bought stock in pacifiers. I easily took away the pacifier by age 1. I gave my next 2 babies pacifiers as well. DD #2 stopped using hers @ 6 mths and DS @ 9 mths.

[littlecalista]

Bibs and cloth diapers!!! Finn spits up a lot and is a very messy eater (he's bottle fed). I tuck a cloth diaper under his chin while feeding him. He wears a bib pretty constantly, though he's starting to spit up less.

Gas drops!! I put a couple of drops in his bottles to cut the froth. Life saver!

I have a boppy pillow, but don't use it that often. Pottery Barn Kids has a new sort of pillow that's better than the Boppy(IMO). They had similar ones at our breastfeeding center that they couldn't keep in stock. The ones at PBK are firmer than Boppy so baby doesn't sink in the center and there's a lower back support attached. You can velcro the entire thing around you so it stays put. Great for when you're feeding baby and have to get up to grap another spit up cloth or whatever. I've tried that with the Boppy and you should've seen me trying to hold Finn and keep that pillow around my waist! LOL!

Fisher Price Aquarium Cradle swing. Finn practically lives in this! It's great because it swings front-to-back or side-to-side.

Sleep positioner!! We've *finally* weaned him off of sleeping directly on my chest. He's now in his pack n play (we'll be getting a crib soon), but he didn't like sleeping on a hard surface. The sleep positioner we have has about an inch of foam to cushion his head.

Sleep gowns are ok, but they tend to bunch up when you're trying to burp baby. I prefer footy pj's that have *zippers*!! I don't know why they don't put zippers in all baby clothes. Try figuring out 15 snaps when you're half asleep.

Pack n play. Since our nursery is still a work in progress this has been a life saver. It has a removeable changing table and holds diapers and supplies on the side. I didn't want a bassinet since it's only good for one thing and doesn't store easily. The pack n play has a bassinet in it.

Good luck!
Angela

[Cheez-It]

BP4U~~

I know that trepidation in wandering into Babies R Us....but try to get there because it is fun Its also overwhelming...there is waaay too much baby stuff out there. It has taken me many many trips into the car seat and stroller sections to even begin to get an idea of what I need and what works best and is safest etc.

Ok so I was stroller shopping and thought of you this weekend because of your post in the Julia Robert's thread about hating to be touched. That is me too!!! I don't know if its my loss history or, like you, the lawyer in me....just not into that type of person. Anyways.....my loathing of the touchy feely also extends to the strangers that will come up and want to touch and pet and squeeze the baby. From what I hear old ladies in grocery stores are big offenders. LOL Soooo, speaking of equipment I came upon a stroller (I believe Eddie Bauer) that had built in netting that completely enclosed the baby in the stroller. Oh they advertise it as insect prevention but I cracked up and thought NO!! Its perfect!!! Its touchy feely old lady prevention!!! All they need is a built in sound system (which some strollers have!!) that announces in an evil wizard of oz munchkin voice as the hand approaches...."Hey Lady!! Don't touch the kid!!" LOL

[nygal]

BP4U - I have no advice, being a first-timer like you - but I have been gratefully recording all the advice here so thanks for starting this thread!

I did want to add one thing, though. I bought a book last night that I think will be my constant companion for the next two months while waiting for the baby and probably for at least a year thereafter. It's called "Your Newborn From Head to Toe" or something like that. It's a newly published book written by a pediatrician from Santa Monica CA and it has all sorts of information about everything under the sun. The thing I liked is that it lists the complaint (e.g., blister on baby's upper lip) and then has categories of information that like What Is This, What Do I Do About It, When Do I Need to Get the Doctor Involved, and other info. It seems great to me because while it might reassure you that 99% of the time this is nothing to worry about, it also tells you what to look for that WOULD be something to consult your doctor about. Anyhow - between that and "What To Expect The First Year," I'm starting to feel like at least I have a resource or two to call upon rather than picking up the phone every five seconds! I plan to read both books prior to delivery, and probably re-read them many times over the coming year!

And let me echo BP4U's enthusiasm for the info you more experienced ladies are providing - keep it coming, please!!!

[nygal]

Well when I read about black, green and yellow poop coming out of a newborn, I was REALLY GLAD to have read about it before seeing it!!!!!

I'm just trying to have a knowledge base in the back of my mind before the baby is born so that I won't freak out needlessly. Maybe your instincts are just better than mine!

[BrookeFL]

my dd is 2 and i am 4 weeks preggers with lil' bean EDD 2/15/05
anyways..

fossett - my dd was born an average or slightly larger then average size. 7 pounds 15 ounces.
she could fit into SOME preemie things, not much, but the 0-3 months clothes were SO big on her. she didnt fit into them until 3-6 months. saying that, she is now 28 months old, and still wears a lot of 12-18 months clothes, and literally just had a growth spurt last month that has made her 24 month clothes fit.
she is just a shorty, always has been, so it really depends on the baby. i would definitly buy 1 set 0-3 month 1 set 3-6 month. you know if the bay doesnt fit into 3-6 months that the baby will soon enough! hope that helped.

babysdream- my dd could only use gerber diaper ointment. not the creamy stuff, but the THINK stuff. anything else NEVER worked. i bought all the name brands, and off name brands, the herbal ones everything, but gerber is what her bumm liked, and you could get it pretty cheap at burlington coat factory. also i found out later in her life that vaseline seemed to work ALOT better once the initial sore part of the rash was gone.

i would say my ness. are daipers and wipes. and really if you run out of wipes use washclothes, some mom's prefer this anyways. also what helped but wasnt a must was the MY BREST FRIEND pillow. it really did help me when i was falling asleep while BF my daughter in the middle of the night.

other then that my DD didnt like ANYTHING, no exersaucer, no bouncy seat, hated the car seat, only my arms. this time around i will really try the sling but she hated that also!

[shoshana66]

here are some i found valuable:

1. boppy - used it sooo much, made bfing so easy/comfy and hands free. can BF while on the computer and type too!
2. swing (this time I am getting a portable one): my dd loved this
3. elec. breast pump - with my 1st I made the mistake of waiting too long to get one. I am ready this time and will pump right away!

one thing I am using this time that I didn't have with my 1st is a bassinet which I am putting RIGHT next to my bedside, so when baby wakes in the middle of the night or early morning i can roll over and get the baby rather then walk to baby's room.

as for reading-- I always would read while breastfeeding- if you use a boppy you will have your hand/s free.

Robin

[4sweeties]

Desitin-in case of diaper rash
vaseline
thermometer
bulb syringe-they'll probably give you the one from the hosp.
baby monitor
bouncy seat
cloth diapers
sleepers
onesies
blankets
carseat
interesting things to look at (besides your face) mobile, bold patterned toys, gymini (or similar product)
sling

[4sweeties]

Never used:

baby oil
baby powder (not recommended because of inhalation issues)
gas drops
tried teething gel, never worked