SOOOOOO sad story time: yesterday was Thanksgiving, and while there were many thanks given we ended up staying home all day because Nate was incredibly sick. Like nausea-vomiting-achiness-fatigue sick. According to him, he’s never felt that terrible before so we ended up staying home and I “took care of him” meaning that I hovered and probably asked him too many times what I could do to help him. The good news is that he’s feeling 100x better today after a long night’s sleep and a ton of water.
I love that guy. like, a LOT.
In other news my Thanksgiving feast included the following:
- 3 slices of French toast
- 3 pieces of bacon
- 2 pieces of cheesecake (recipe to come!)
- 1.5 cups of mashed potatoes
- 2 eggs
That’s right. That’s what happens when you’re home on a holiday and every store is closed and there’s no food in the house. Oh, and you’re lazy and don’t feel like cooking. Hey, it happens. But I’m thankful 🙂
So today we’re spending some quality couch time watching football and then going out to look at baby things. Here’s where I need your help: If you have any experience, whether you have kids or not, with specific baby items like carriers (both that the parent would wear and the ones that you carry), car seats, strollers, etc – please let me know! We’re researching and don’t even know where to start.
Who knew babies required so much stuff? 🙂
It’s my first comment here, but I’ve been reading your blog for quite a while. First of all, congratulations. I had my son 3 months ago and we just bought the Beco Gemini baby carrier. It has the ergonomic waistband like the Ergo and you can carry your baby facing out (some babies like it, others get overstimulated, there’s a lot of discussion going on around this). I really like it so far. I also have a Moby wrap, which was perfect for the first few weeks, when he loved being all snuggled up close.
As far as stroller goes, we love our Uppababy Vista, which comes with a bassinette (supposed to better for baby’s back, rather than a car seat/travel system), but that’s just what works for us.
Also many people recommended the Peg Perego car seat to me, but we ultimately went with a Maxi-Cosi, which is a little smaller and more compact. Good thing we did, because our little guy was born weighing only 4lbs, but he fit in his Maxi-Cosi when we were sent home. So for a small baby I’d definitely recommend this one. Enjoy shopping for your baby – I loved that part of the pregnancy!
I’ll jump on the Chicco KeyFit carrier. We had the stroller & car seat for my daughter. We did all the research but when it comes down to it you can go to the store and feel the difference. The Chicco just seems a lot sturdier than the Graco. Also the straps will never twist. This is VERY important.
So terrible that Nate was sick, too! I ended up going to the doctor on Friday because the pain just would not go away and she told me that the whole week had been a rash of the stomach flu. Hope he’s feeling better!
The best piece of advice I got was to buy all of my big ticket items in gender neutral colors. And I quote, “Pink strollers are cute for girls but if you plan on having more kids, you might not want your future son in a pink stroller.” 😉 Other than that I agree with a lot of the previous commenters. Chicco and Britax for car seats. BOB for stroller, whether you are a runner or not. Get it at REI. Ergo is a great carrier. Medela is the only pump I would use. The mesh feeder bags are great for first food introductions. A video monitor is a total luxury but has calmed us in many situations. SkipHop has a great line of diaper bags. Oh and a cool mist humidifier has been great for getting our girl to sleep through the night. Make sure your pack n play is easy to set up/break down. Aquaphor is the best for diaper cream. The Aden and Anais gauzy wraps were amazing for swaddling.
Also, keep all of your receipts. You might think something is a must have only to discover your baby hates it. You will want to be able to return/exchange it and get something you can actually use.
Good luck! Can’t wait to see pics of your little bean!
Wow i am glad he is feeling better now – very cute picture. So i am last of my friends to have a kid and got TONS and TONS of advice and they even helped me do my registry. I am registered at Baby’s R us if you want to check out my registry, now it is not full since i got tons of hand me downs. But here are a few things – Stroller – if you are a runner BOB is it. Video monitor vs. regular monitor so you don’t have to go and check on them. Swing is a must i heard from all my friends they loved it. On carriers it was a mix – some love the moby, some the baby some the ergo – so they told me to get all three and try them out. Can’t have enought burp clothes that you use for washing, burmping and just general clean up. Sheets for your pack and play are great. Best friend for nurisng pillow if you are breast feeding. Heard great things about Belly Bandit. All pacifiers are different and each kid might not like the brand you get so get different kinds. No need to get a high chair just takes up to much space, get a booster and a seat that attaches to your dinning room table. Lots and lots of nipple cream for you. . .those are just a few things from my list of friends.
Temporal scanning thermometer! I wish I had gotten this instead of the anal thermometer. It’s so easy to swipe across the forehead and now that my twin girls are almost 3 the actually like to be tested (most of the time).
We got a Lazyboy swivel, rocking recliner for the rocking chair. Best.thing.ever. Very comfortable. Both my husband and I fell asleep with a baby on our chest during more than one midnight feeding. It’s now my reading chair. I would definitely recommend it.
The frist years infant feeding seat instead of a traditional high chair. It straps to one of your dining room chairs and can then slide up to the table for storage just like the other chairs. It tips back for infants and sits upright for toddlers. Comes with removable tray that can go in the dishwasher. My girlfriend bought a normal high chair and told me she wishes she had gotten our type of feeding seat instead.
Fisher Price Jumperoo. A self contained seat on bunges. My girls LOVED it.
It’s an exciting time…Enjoy every moment. Time will fly once your baby is born. Good luck. Love the blog.
That picture of you guys is precious!!
We have done plenty of searching ourselves so here ya go…
We just now nailed down our car seat purchase and she could be here any day now. I’ve always heard such great things about Graco so was pretty sold on going that way. However, the more research I did the more times I kept coming back to Chicco. Among consumer reports, the Chicco Keyfit 30 (what we got) rates 23 pts higher than the Graco SnugRide we had been looking at. With that said, the Graco is still safe and great but the Chicco is even better. We decided to invest a little more and go for the Chicco which I am surprised I did because I’ve been so adamant about getting a Graco. When I spoke to the lady at Toys R Us she told me to definately not go with a Graco Travel System because the way the car seat snaps into the stroller is not very safe. You can test this in the store yourself and see that with very little pressure it pops right out while the Chicco locks into place. If you aren’t getting a travel system and are just getting the car seat than it probably doesn’t matter very much although again we still went Chicco. We just got the baby trend snap n go for the car seat to go into and in about 3-4 months we will get the BOB jogging stroller.
In regards to the BOB…we heard it was the absolute best and completely worth every penny of our investment. Every single couple in our home group has one and just goes on and on about how great it is. I’ve never heard other jogging stroller owners go on about theirs in this way. It’s easier to move about and you can use it as a regular stroller hence why we decided not to go for the travel system with our car seat.
As far as the little baby carriers go we are just taking my sisters Baby Bjorn, but I hear ergo baby is the best ever and probably even more so for you guys. Our friends go on constant hikes and jogs & this is what they recommended to us. Our friend who is teeny tiny still carries her giant 2 year old with the ergo and complains of no back pain like a lot of people do with other carriers. The moby wrap is also very popular but I can’t figure it out so I’m not getting it! 😉
Feel free to look at our baby registry if you need some ideas or help. Not that I know everything but my sister researched a lot so I made her help me register. I’d recommend Dr. Brown’s bottles & if your breast feeding I’d totally get the medella pump! 🙂 Okay enough advice from me…
Oh, no! Poor Nate! Sorry it wasn’t the best of Thanksgivings, but I know you still cherished the day. Love you!
I second the Chicco (pronounced key-coh) Keyfit 30 for an infant seat/carrier – it is highly rated and recommended by my dear friend who is a Child Passenger Safety Technician (side note – her name is Emma Douglas and she works at Stan’s Automotive in Louisville if you need assistance installing your seats or if you have general questions about car seat safety). You’ll also need a convertible car seat once your little guy outgrows the height or weight restrictions on your infant carrier, so you might want to register for one now as well. I like the Britax Marathon. For a stroller, you can get a Snap N Go stroller for under $60 that will work in conjunction with your infant seat, but then you would need a separate stroller once he has outgrown the infant seat. Your other option is to get a travel system that includes the infant seat and a compatible stroller that allows the infant seat to snap in but also works as a regular stroller once the infant seat is outgrown.
The Moby wrap and the Ergo carrier are both popular carriers for mom to wear with baby. The Moby works great when the baby is small, and the Ergo is great up to toddler age. One down side of the Ergo is that it does not allow for the baby to face outward, but other than that it’s a great and very comfortable carrier. I would suggest borrowing a carrier and seeing how your baby likes being worn before investing in an expensive carrier – my daughter HATED being worn and it was difficult for me to wear her anyway because I am short and have big boobs!
Hope that helps!
Loved my Moby for one child, next child didn’t like it.
Have the Chicco Key fit 30 car seat. Used it for both boys and it still looks good as new!
Had a Safari jogging stroller, not my favorite. 🙂 But it worked for our first.
With most everything we went super simple. No crib bedding matchy matchy set, people usually gift you plenty of clothes for the first couple of months then we either get hand me downs or 2nd hand store. We aren’t extra “fluff” sort of people. 🙂 I sent you a photo on Twitter.
Get the baby bargains book. It saved the day for me!
I’m so sorry to hear that Nate was so sick yesterday, and I pray that you don’ t catch that bug! My children are not babies anymore, but I will try to think of some things to recommend!
We just had our little girl in September and my husband did tons of research. Let me know if you need any help.
I really didn’t think I was going to be able to help with your baby goodies questions, but I just remembered about Ergo Baby [ https://www.ergobabycarrier.com/ ] they’re celebrating black friday, too — awesome time to snatch this super soft and versatile carrier. Check it out:)
oh gosh…I have lots of favorites: Britax or Peg Perego for carseat. Peg Perego or In STep for stroller. Moby wraps. Kelty packs for hiking.