Stuff for baby: A quick retrospective
May 6, 2015
We tried to be really careful about how much stuff we bought for the baby, and mostly did well, but babies still need a fair amount of maintenance related things and parents definitely need some stuff for sanity’s sake.
On review, I think we have a good idea of how well we did for this fourth-trimester phase.
We should have bought/stocked up on…
Diapers and wipes. Duh. (preferences below)
The First Years Deluxe Nail Clipper
Things we wanted more of…
Evenflo Classic Glass Nurser 8 oz
Hospital blankets and swaddle blankets
We love…
Our Chicco Car seat & stroller set
LB hated the car seat at first but came around after a few weeks. The stroller is awesome. It took months but we found the perfect lightweight, one hand collapsible, complete overhead canopy coverage stroller that we can both use. Ze loves staring at the sky when we’re out for a walk and conks out for naps in it.
Amazon Elements Baby Wipes, Sensitive, Flip-Top, 80 Count (Pack of 6)
Baby bouncer kinda like this. Ours was a hand me down, and too big for LB as a newborn but ze has grown into it and figured out that kicking really hard makes it rock. We can actually put hir down to hang out while we eat sometimes. Ze is still insistent on being held a lot more than we’d like but this gives us the occasional break.
Boppy pillows. We used this ourselves as pillows when cuddling, to prop hir up when nursing or bottle feeding, as an arm rest when bottle feeding.
We hated…
Huggies One and Done Refreshing Baby Wipes, Cucumber and Green Tea
Too wet. Soggy, even.
Pampers wipes, Sensitive
Too dry! And too thin. These are two of the three Bears of baby wipes, for us.
Not worth it…
We got an adorable cradle hand-me-down and it was in great shape. Sadly, LB wasn’t having any of that putting hir down business when ze was small enough to use it, and when ze finally was ok with laying around to play or maaaaaybe nap, hir wingspan was just too wide. And what child sleeps with hir arms flung wide to either side? MINE. Of course.
I still have a box of 100 Lansinoh disposable nursing pads. They were highly recommended and I’m sure they’re great but I can never remember to use them, and generally I’m pumping or nursing frequently enough not to need them. *shrug* There is a point to ordering things online with free returns, I don’t have to leave the house to get my money back.
My son developed a sensitivity to diaper wipes, so I ended up buying a couple of 24 pack washclothes at Costco. I used warm water and laundered daily. Glad that’s way behind me, pun NOT intended.
It’s amazing all the useless crap that gets sold to new parents. Even when educated and informed, one still ends up getting suckered by something, so don’t beat yourself up too much about that if it happens.
There is SO much crap marketed! And of course new parents are bedazzled by all the things you could get, on the premise that it makes your life easier.
We found for us that cloth diapers = AWESOME. It surprised me. Love my Maclaren Triumph stroller and the Chimparoo I bought as a baby carrier could not be better.. fits all sizes of babies.
Le sigh, cloth diapers. I really was going to find a way to do them but then I realized that our drought is SO much worse that I couldn’t justify double or tripling our water use for laundry.
Taking note for later in case I have to upgrade carriers. At least I haven’t spent money on one yet so I won’t feel bad 🙂