Yeah, but talk about heavy! My dear lord all that came out of my child? How did something less that 15 pounds produce 150 pounds of biological waste in one week??
Baby stuff...do I really need it all???
- Thread starter Holly9937
- Start date
I have to agree with everyone who said they didn't use a diaper genie or changing table. A bouncy seat is great for a colicky baby if they like it and we used the mess out of our exersaucer. I breastfed and bottlefed and I had an Ameda purely yours pump and we used playtex nursers, dr. browns, and avent bottles. Oh, and a boppy pillow is great for all sorts of things. My third baby is due in Sept. and I've gotten some of those halo sleepsack wearable blankets. Don't know if the baby will like them but I found them at TJ Max for cheap.
A rocking chair...I forgot that..you need one. And a table or something next to it to set stuff on.
A mobile for over the bed.
One thing to keep on your changing table is a roll of masking tape. Maybe diapers are better now, but I remember getting something ont he tape tabs and they wouldn't stick, or for some reason I thought the diaper needed changing and found it didn't , you can tape back on. I tended to use the cheaper ones so didn't have areas that you could stick and unstick the tabs.
Go to garage sales..great source of cheap kids toys and clothes.
The cosleeper bassinett sounds like a great idea if you plan to breastfeed and get back into bed to feed the baby. There are so many senseless infant deaths because they are taken to bed with someone and then rolled over onto and suffocated. We had several here in Peoria last winter. Very sad. I tried the baby bed next to my bed with the first one, but that didn't last too long becasue she was a noisey sleeper, and I wouldn't sleep because she was making noise. A lot of times they quiet back down, but if they are really hungry they will let you know.
We lived in an apartment with the first, so didn't need a baby monitor. If you have a larger house..or want to go outside, you might want one.
A mobile for over the bed.
One thing to keep on your changing table is a roll of masking tape. Maybe diapers are better now, but I remember getting something ont he tape tabs and they wouldn't stick, or for some reason I thought the diaper needed changing and found it didn't , you can tape back on. I tended to use the cheaper ones so didn't have areas that you could stick and unstick the tabs.
Go to garage sales..great source of cheap kids toys and clothes.
The cosleeper bassinett sounds like a great idea if you plan to breastfeed and get back into bed to feed the baby. There are so many senseless infant deaths because they are taken to bed with someone and then rolled over onto and suffocated. We had several here in Peoria last winter. Very sad. I tried the baby bed next to my bed with the first one, but that didn't last too long becasue she was a noisey sleeper, and I wouldn't sleep because she was making noise. A lot of times they quiet back down, but if they are really hungry they will let you know.
We lived in an apartment with the first, so didn't need a baby monitor. If you have a larger house..or want to go outside, you might want one.
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suffocation due to co-sleeping usually happens when the adult is under the influence of drugs or alcohol or when someone other than mom is sleeping with the baby, however, IMO you don't want the baby physically in your bed because then it's really hard to get them out of your bed when they're like four. Believe me, I know. I couldn't stand for them to sleep in another room though because I wanted to be able to sit up in bed and see them. Also I was just too darn tired to walk to another room constantly. Oh, the SIDS alliance does not recommend sleep positioners, blankets, or bumper pads in the crib and you probably already know that they now say sleep on their back not tummy. SIDS has gone quite a bit since that campaign was started. Also, if you're having a boy, when you change his diaper, make sure that his stuff is pointing downward or else he'll pee up and out of his diaper. Crude, I know but no one told me that and we were always changing sheets and his clothes b/c the pee would shoot up and out of his diaper.
We found a baby monitor to be a must. The hardest thing was finding a channel that didn't come in over our cordless phone. And remembering that anything you happened to say in the vicinity of the monitor base station was essentially broadcast to the neighborhood. I remember picking up the neighbors (having an argument near their baby monitor) on our monitor's receiver.
Jim
Jim
Okay, everyone seems to have already answered your question fully - I totally agree with the cloth diapers as spit rags - they are good for lots of other stuff too. Oh, and I seriously limit my kids on TV, but I wish they'd just sell a huge pack of all the Classic Disney movies ever made. That would've been a lot easier!
Just my 2 cents
First of all: Congratulations! :clap: And don't worry about inexperience, my daughter was the first baby I ever changed and somehow everything worked out fine. Babies aren't anywhere close as fragile as we think they are. Keeping fish healthy, on the other hand... well, let's get back on topic:
As mentioned before, you'll get different advice from different people. Here's my personal take on essential items:
1. small diaper bag. Once you fill the big ones - and you will, since you can - it's way too heavy to lug around. The small ones are big enough to hold a few diapers, a new outfit for baby, a travel size box baby wipes (refill as needed!), a blanky, a bottle, keys and your wallet - all you need.
2. good stroller. Between my two kids I think I've tried every kind and the one that got the most use was a European type like this. It's comfy, folds easily, has a storage compartment and is compact enough for trunk and even cluttered stores. Before my kids could sit up I usually either hand-carried them or I had a sling for longer outings. Jogging strollers are good for jogging and not much else IMHO. Once our oldest was about a year old we invested in a good quality hiking backpack and we definitely got a lot of use out of it: not only hiking but also at fairs, museums, and while travelling. On hikes I'm still using it with our almost 4 year old - she'll get too tired to walk eventually.
3. lots of burp rags/small blankets. Stash everywhere: car, stroller, diaper bag along with a zip lock bag with a few baby wipes. They'll stay moist for a few months and are handy for emergency cleanups.
4. long binky chain: if you end up with a pacifier baby, this is the best way to keep track of the thing
5. lots of onesies. Buy more than you think you'll need, keep in original packaging and return for bigger size if not used.
6. Buy only 1 or 2 outfits you truely adore. You'll get more than enough from friends and relatives
7. Don't buy a baby bathtub - waste of money. I found that the most convenient place to bathe my kids was the kitchen sink: perfect height and lots of counterspace. (make sure to remove all kitchen cleaners, sponges, etc. from baby's reach!)
8. Diaper Pail: with the first kid I just had a plain pail with an airfreshener. It worked, but especially once baby started to eat regular food it needed to be emptied at least every other day. With the second kid we got one of those "wraps diapers individually" ones - what a difference!! Diapers can stay in until it's full - no smell... I liked it so much I've given them as baby gifts since.
9. and my pet peeve; changing tables. Who ever came up with using a narrow space where the baby has to lie sideways and neds to be strapped down? This is what I had for my kids, and it worked great. It's basically a dresser moved away about a foot from the wall with a larger top you can remove later and use the thing as a plain dresser - I loved to have that much room.
In the end, do what you feel is right - this is definitely going to be a wonderful but sometimes stressy live-and learn experience.
First of all: Congratulations! :clap: And don't worry about inexperience, my daughter was the first baby I ever changed and somehow everything worked out fine. Babies aren't anywhere close as fragile as we think they are. Keeping fish healthy, on the other hand... well, let's get back on topic:
As mentioned before, you'll get different advice from different people. Here's my personal take on essential items:
1. small diaper bag. Once you fill the big ones - and you will, since you can - it's way too heavy to lug around. The small ones are big enough to hold a few diapers, a new outfit for baby, a travel size box baby wipes (refill as needed!), a blanky, a bottle, keys and your wallet - all you need.
2. good stroller. Between my two kids I think I've tried every kind and the one that got the most use was a European type like this. It's comfy, folds easily, has a storage compartment and is compact enough for trunk and even cluttered stores. Before my kids could sit up I usually either hand-carried them or I had a sling for longer outings. Jogging strollers are good for jogging and not much else IMHO. Once our oldest was about a year old we invested in a good quality hiking backpack and we definitely got a lot of use out of it: not only hiking but also at fairs, museums, and while travelling. On hikes I'm still using it with our almost 4 year old - she'll get too tired to walk eventually.
3. lots of burp rags/small blankets. Stash everywhere: car, stroller, diaper bag along with a zip lock bag with a few baby wipes. They'll stay moist for a few months and are handy for emergency cleanups.
4. long binky chain: if you end up with a pacifier baby, this is the best way to keep track of the thing
5. lots of onesies. Buy more than you think you'll need, keep in original packaging and return for bigger size if not used.
6. Buy only 1 or 2 outfits you truely adore. You'll get more than enough from friends and relatives
7. Don't buy a baby bathtub - waste of money. I found that the most convenient place to bathe my kids was the kitchen sink: perfect height and lots of counterspace. (make sure to remove all kitchen cleaners, sponges, etc. from baby's reach!)
8. Diaper Pail: with the first kid I just had a plain pail with an airfreshener. It worked, but especially once baby started to eat regular food it needed to be emptied at least every other day. With the second kid we got one of those "wraps diapers individually" ones - what a difference!! Diapers can stay in until it's full - no smell... I liked it so much I've given them as baby gifts since.
9. and my pet peeve; changing tables. Who ever came up with using a narrow space where the baby has to lie sideways and neds to be strapped down? This is what I had for my kids, and it worked great. It's basically a dresser moved away about a foot from the wall with a larger top you can remove later and use the thing as a plain dresser - I loved to have that much room.
In the end, do what you feel is right - this is definitely going to be a wonderful but sometimes stressy live-and learn experience.
Larissa said:
Heehee..don't think the boys have the corner on the market...occasionally girls can manage to do this too.... :huh:
I think the changing tables are dumb too!! I'm in the process of looking for a dresser for the room to put a changing pad on and use!! The nursery is not very big (we figure he doesn't need a room with his own bathroom just yet 
) plus my friend is doing a jungle mural on the walls (I'll have to post pics when shes done it looks amazing) so I really don't want anything more to hide the walls than I need 
!!
Glad to hear the burp rags are useless... they were so small, and I just stood there with one on my shoulder, like what good would this do?!?! We did register for a cheap 3 pack though, they were really cute so we thought they might be nice to use when we go out instead of a stained up blanket or diaper draped across us. Then again, we'll probably be stained ourselves so what will we care :thud: !!!
) plus my friend is doing a jungle mural on the walls (I'll have to post pics when shes done it looks amazing) so I really don't want anything more to hide the walls than I need !!Glad to hear the burp rags are useless... they were so small, and I just stood there with one on my shoulder, like what good would this do?!?! We did register for a cheap 3 pack though, they were really cute so we thought they might be nice to use when we go out instead of a stained up blanket or diaper draped across us. Then again, we'll probably be stained ourselves so what will we care :thud: !!!
oh great, I'm having a girl this time (after two boys) so I might still have to deal with leaky diapers?!!!!!!!!!!!!
