First baby - help!

Platinum Member Joined: Oct 14 2009 Posts: 5893

Expecting #1 and just starting to look into baby products. Traditionally we don't really prepare before the baby is born but I figured I can make a registry so that when the times comes IY"H (and it's coming closer now!) it'll be easy to just pick up what we need. There's more time for research now, and I want to make sure I get the best values for what I need.

Problem is, my head spins just looking at a fraction of what is out there! First there are the choices of what type of product to get - convertible car seat or infant carrier? car seat and stroller or travel system? if travel system, car seat with frame or full stroller? bassinet and graduate to a full size crib when we find a bigger place, or pack-n-play? formula or pump for when I go back to work (ok, some time left to ponder that one...)? Then, even when I think I have some idea of what I might want, there's a zillion choices for each! WHICH car seat? WHICH stroller? WHICH pack-n-play? How are there NINETY different types of bottles on the market?! All of them have mixed reviews, everything has pros and cons, so how am I supposed to figure out what's right for me?

Value is really important, I can't afford to buy lots of stuff. But on the bigger-ticket items I'm willing to spend a little more where it would make a difference. For instance, I'm not even thinking about $600 carriages but would rather pay $200 for something full featured and sturdy than buy a $75 thing that will be a flimsy headache. We do have some savings, just don't want to blow it all on outfitting one baby. We are not counting on a ton of gifts but are hoping that maybe if we do make a registry online somewhere a few relatives might kick in. So I want to choose carefully the best of everything on a budget.

Any idea where/how to start?!!!

What

Executive Member Joined: Apr 09 2008 Posts: 375

Get this book, it was so helpful, it rates everything!

http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Bar.....amp;sr=8-1

Platinum Member Joined: Jun 22 2008 Posts: 6431

all you need to take the baby home from the hospital is a car seat, a change of clothes, some pampers and a place it will sleep.

car seat-the baby carrier is convinent if you do a lot of in and out of cars, same for a travel system/snap and go carriage. car seats you don't skimp on or take handme downs unless you know them personally that they where never in an accident and the car seat isn't expired.

Posted: Mon, Oct 04 2010, 6:05 pm Post subject: re: First baby - help!

By the time babay #3 came around it had been 10 years so I had zero stuff....exept my peg perego pram.

I did buy a baby moses basket so baby was portable and I could keep her next to me .
car seat ...and I did not have a frame on wheels thingy but my friends LOVE it for the longest time.
Bumbo got as a gift .my DD loved it.
baby mobile gym /tummy time mat got as gift
nice leather diaper bag from DH
no crib, she had a snuggle nest and now we share the big bed, she will go straight to big kid bed.
no change table .just a basket with pad and diapers.
borrowed a swing ,bouncy chair.
had bjorn....but loved and african ketenge more as I can still carry DD around and nurse completely covered.

nursing pillow a must
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Gold Member Joined: Dec 16 2008 Posts: 1126

I highly recommend baby bargains too!

I got a snuggle nest from craigslist for $15, a co-seeper from craigslist for $40, and a pack and play from ebay for $26. baby's bathtub from a garacge sale for $5, a peg perego stroller from a garage sale for $15 and my peg perego stroller for $25 from a garage sale.

my snap and go, graco snugride carseat/carrier and crib were gifts.

my swing, exersaucer and tummy time mat were hand-we downs.

its do-able! bnm is right, all you need is the carseat, sleeping place, diapers and changes of clothes for the first few days.

b'hatzlacha, and b'sha'ah tova! do you have any specific questions?

(p.s. if you are due in the winter, I HIGHLY reccomend getting a j.j. cole bundleme for the carseat.)

Active Poster Joined: Aug 05 2010 Posts: 60

Hi OP- I completely remember feeling like you do before I had my baby. My head was spinning at all the choices out there, I had no idea what the heck I should or should not buy and I was kinda freaking out at how clueless and unprepared I was to enter this whole new world. Needless to say, a year later, I feel like somewhat of an expert on baby stuff lol. You just kind of learn on the job and you will also figure things out even though it seems very overwhelming now.

Here's what I would recommend based on my personal experience. I chose a Graco infant carseat simply because that's what consumer reports rated as the safest infant seat and with a carseat, I was not going to take any chances on safety. I would recommend getting an infant seat with a base like I got (as opposed to the convertible carseat which as far as I know doesn't easily remove from the car once its installed) because then you can easily take a sleeping baby out of the car in the carseat (extremely convenient esp with a newborn). Also, if you have more then one car which we had, we just bought 2 carseat bases and 1 carseat and it was easy to move the carseat to whichever car we were using. Hope I'm not confusing you...

As far as the stroller, I used the Graco snap and go stroller for my baby's first few months because again, the convenience of not having to wake a sleeping baby was priority for me. With it, I could just take the carseat with baby in it out of the car and put her in the snap and go stroller base. Once she got bigger and I didn't worry so much about waking her up whenever we went somewhere, I got the city mini single stroller. I personally love it, it was only $250 and its so smooth and light and portable. I don't see why people spend 7-800 dollars on a stroller when there are perfectly good ones in the 2-300 dollar range but that's my personal opinion.

As far as crib, we used the pac and play as a bassinet (Graco makes a good one) until we got my baby a crib when she was a bit older. Even though a crib is generally fine to use for a newborn, a pac and play is a good thing to have anyways because when you go away for a night or weekend, you never know if your hosts have a crib, and you can just take the pac and play with you for baby to sleep in.

I bought a pump right away because I wanted to start building up my milk supply (came in real handy when I went back to work later and couldn't pump enough to keep up with my baby's appetite) and also it gave me a chance to take a break or go out for a few hours and leave the baby and pumped milk with a family member if I had a Dr.'s appt or something. I got the medela pump and was very happy with it. The pump came with a bunch of bottles and nipples and I just used those and my baby was perfectly happy with it.

Bottom line is, you really don't need much in the very beginning besides a carseat, diapers, a place for baby to sleep and some outfits (bundle me or snowsuit if baby is born in winter). I just bought each thing as I needed it and of course relatives chipped in and bought us some stuff. If you have more questions about products or just advice, feel free to pm me. Hope this helps (sorry so long).

Silver Member Joined: May 27 2008 Posts: 528 Location: NY

I also remember feeling exactly as you did - I was sitting on the computer online, looking at the zillion selections on amazon and feeling so anxious - I wanted to be sure that I was getting the best product but at a good price too. I also wanted quality but was also on a budget...
As someone wrote, you learn as you go. There are obviously some things I sometimes think, "I should've gotten that insted of this" but really, there's no real right or wrong, its trying to figure out what works best for you and ur way of life...
I got a graco car seat & base, and a maclaren 'snap & go' (the part that makes it into a stroller) vs. a graco one bec. the maclaren wheels better, has a bigger basket and the handles can hold bags etc.
I personally did want a good carriage, I guess the first one, I wanted a 'real' carriage so I got the uppa which I highly recommend, but if u dont want to spend that much the city mini is an EXCELLENT choice - I almost got that instead of the uppa. the uppa wheels incredibly light and easily, has the bassinet included in the price, the regular seat can sit facing u or the street, the basket is also huge...bkitzur, it has all the maalos of a carriage and is cheaper than other ones.
I got a baby play mat as a gift which my baby hardly used - but again, each child is diff. and u cant know what one child will love and one s/he will get bored of really quickly or not want to go into. I also got a saucer as a gift and my baby loved that.
I origianlly planned on getting a pack'n play (wait, I may be mixing htat up - is that a crib or more like a play-pen?) I planned on getting the thing thats more like a crib, but then we got a real crib as a gift from my grandmother so that took care of that.
Basically, u'll see as u go - for now, get a good car seat with a base - its very convenient to be able to just get out of the car and go w/ what ur baby is in, a carriage and pj's, onesies, etc. etc. As you go along, u'll get the other things ur baby needs...

Posted: Tue, Oct 05 2010, 8:45 am Post subject: Re: re: First baby - help!