Comments on: Freaking out over baby products like strollers, cribs, and whatever else you buy for a baby boy.

By: Melissa Parlaman (Graco Contributor)

Melissa Parlaman (Graco Contributor) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:53:12 +0000

I work for Graco Children’s Products (and 33 weeks pregnant with baby #2) & if you have questions on any Graco strollers, please give me a shout out! I know there is so much out there & it is tough to navigate through it all…

By: ty

ty — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 01:21:23 +0000

Hey. I know I’m late in the conversation, but wanted to add one more thing that my little guy loved when he was first born. (Aside from the aforementioned bouncy chair with vibrater) We snugged him up nice and tight every night in his swaddleme blanket. It has velcro to keep him snug for longer.
While my guy loved it and had to get a second one after dad had to stay up to wait for it to emerge from the drier one night, my girlfriend’s baby boy totally rejected his. They’re all different.

By: Connie

Connie — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 01:29:24 +0000

Check out http://www.ambybaby.com
This is definitely what I will be getting, it is ultra portable and gives a natural bounce and swing any time the baby moves. You can also swing it for them. It will last up to the first year (more if you purchase the larger spring). It will save you on buying a bassinet and crib. If you like to travel, which I believe you two do, you can bring your baby’s bed with you! It will move from the bedroom to anywhere else in the house so if you want you can always have your baby near you.

Mostly, I say register for what you need and wait until after the shower to buy whatever you don’t get. Chances are you will have more than you bargained for.

By: Jill

Jill — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:39:51 +0000

I know I’m about a month late on reading this but when I was pregnant I ate up any and all information I could…so hope this helps. Note: Our daughter is now 10 months old
1. We wish we wouldn’t have bought a car seat/stroller combo thing. Buying the car seat alone along with a Snap-n-go and investing the rest of the money in a good umbrellaish stroller that will last would have been so much more worth it – and probably cost almost the same.
2. Little Tummies Gripe Water is ridiculously amazing. I know they make other brands, but for hiccups, gas, it saved our sanity the first couple of months.
3. I LOVED my moby-style wrap carrier. I personally bought mine on etsy from a seller called loveyduds but there are other sellers on there (some even cheaper)…and they’re cute not to mention amazing. My daughter loved (and still does at almost 20lbs) being snuggled in there close to me. My husband refuses to wear it though…so that’s a downside for me.
4. Buy a lingerie bag for baby socks. Seriously. When the socks are dirty, just toss them in the bag – and when it comes time to do laundry, zip it up and toss it in with the rest of the stuff. It was 2.99 at Target and this solved our lost baby sock problem.
5. We went through 7 different brands of bottles before we found one that my daughter would take and didn’t give her gas. Unfortunately the brand we ended up with was not the one we had registered for and stocked up on. Luckily my sister-in-law had the same problem and our rejected bottles worked wonders for her, so they were put to good use. Every baby is different. Next time we’re not buying more than one bottle until we figure out which one works.
6. When you do go in a register…they will hand you a list of “must-haves” do NOT get overwhelmed, you don’t need half the stuff that is on there.

Good luck on your baby gear adventure!

By: 20 weeks pregnant and the searching for baby cribs has officially begun. | His Boys Can Swim Pregnancy Blog And Forums

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 04:31:46 +0000

[...] not for Pregnant Jane of course! (Thanks to some great advice from a Dad who replied to the post: freaking out over baby strollers and cribs – who’s already been down this [...]

By: MoDLin

MoDLin — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:57:49 +0000

I totally agree. Buy as little as possible and register for the basics. You don’t need the blanket with the matching night light, lamp shade, switch plate, hamper and picture frame. You just need a blanket. And the chances are mighty good that some soon-to-be granny or great Aunt Tilly will knit one for your little guy. Really. Don’t freak out about this stuff. Someone will likely give you at least one baby shower and that will save you big time.

By: Cat @ 3 Kids and Us

Cat @ 3 Kids and Us — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 02:47:31 +0000

I didn’t read the responses so maybe it’s been mentioned before but seriously…get into doing product reviews. A really terrific stroller company just sent me one of their $700 twin jogging stroller plus one to giveaway to readers just for testing it out on our family and telling others about it. Doing reviews are a win for you and for your blog.

As for what you’ll need, I would recomend the book Baby Lists, it has you covered. Otherwise, you really only need the basics for the first few months, basic layette clothes, diapers, wipes, bottles (if bottle feeding), a pack in play is great for the first few months if you want to hold off on buying a crib, etc. If you’re on a budget you don’t need to go overboard with expensive things like monitors, wipes warmers, diaper pail, tub, etc. Babies don’t need much to start with, it’s later that it gets expensive when you’re replacing clothes every 3 months.

By: tara

tara — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:27:17 +0000

right there with you in the stroller overload department, in fact, i just blogged about stroller researching the other day! (here’s the link, if you were wishing.)

http://whatshereallywants.blogspot.com/2009/02/babys-first-wheels-researching.html

2 resources that have been helpful to me:
1) the book: baby bargains – reviews most brands and models of strollers, cribs, car seats, etc… and spells out where you can skimp and where you shouldn’t.
2) babygizmo.com – does video reviews of strollers, which are helpful when the stroller that *sounds* good via the above, isn’t available for a test drive at BRU. they show-n- tell how the things maneuver, fold, and connect to their system’s parts and provide editor and mommy ratings.

i’m at 27 weeks, still making lots of these decisions too, let me know how it turns out for you? best of luck!

By: buggies strollers

buggies strollers — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:05:11 +0000

Appreciate and understand what you must be going through…I put buying a new stroller up there in terms of stress, just below buying a house and buying a car!
I’ve always found it helpful to find as many online retail sites that offer independent reviews from people who have actually purchased them. It gives you a great insight…some just give the 5/5 stars, but the more valuable reviews come from those people who found that it wasn’t quite what they expected and give 1 or 2 stars.

By: Amie

Amie — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:27:34 +0000

oh and if you a looking to save money I recommend at least looking at cloth diapers and making your own wipes. check out bumgenius diapers (we prefer them to disposables and we have already saved money and our baby is only just 5 months – imagine the savings to come!) they work like disposables except you wash them. making your own wipes out of bounty kitchen towel (slice in half and put in a rubbermaid) 1 tbsp baby oil, 1 tbsp baby wash 1.5 cup water works so great too and saves money, plus you can flush them down the toilet. just another thing to look at! it works great for us