Another Planet
That's what it felt like we landed on, another planet. But it was just another huge building, labeled, "Babies R Us."
For FTP (First Time Parents), instead of a registry station, they should have a consultation specialist! Someone to help you walk through all the aisles and ease the "oh my gosh, what in the world" feeling you get.
There's so much baby stuff! We went there, not to buy, not even to register.. just to... look. The other more knowledgable parents must have snickered at our expressions.
We explained our sense of overwhelmed anxiety to another couple who are also FTP and much further along in their pregnancy. They laughed and completely understood.
Car seat, stroller, crib. Those are the standards, so we went in that direction, for something we felt comfortable with.
Do you know they have different strollers for different lifestyles? If you are a jogger, there's a three-wheeler stroller with large wheels. We looked at a three-wheeler and a regular four-wheeler.
My husband was the one to point out that there are models come with attachable car seats to the stroller, which I thought was a good idea. He also said that the strollers are supposed to open and close with a push of a button and he tested both the three-wheeler and four-wheeler.
Four-wheeler, opened, closed, perfectly. Simple.
Three-wheeler, closed quickly... never did get it to open back up! Good thing I'm not a jogger :)
Even the cribs have options, do you get one with wheels to move around or the wood ones that could be heirloom quality.
It's a maze of baby stuff and that's not even getting into the smaller items available or my gosh, the toys.
Different world... Ok, question for the "been there, done that" parents.... What are the main "must haves" for a newborn? What are some items that you wish you had when your baby was born? What are some things you received but never put to use?
We're just trying to wrap our minds around it all.
Tomorrow I go in for my OBGYN check up. I don't know if the doctor will do an ultrasound or not.
For FTP (First Time Parents), instead of a registry station, they should have a consultation specialist! Someone to help you walk through all the aisles and ease the "oh my gosh, what in the world" feeling you get.
There's so much baby stuff! We went there, not to buy, not even to register.. just to... look. The other more knowledgable parents must have snickered at our expressions.
We explained our sense of overwhelmed anxiety to another couple who are also FTP and much further along in their pregnancy. They laughed and completely understood.
Car seat, stroller, crib. Those are the standards, so we went in that direction, for something we felt comfortable with.
Do you know they have different strollers for different lifestyles? If you are a jogger, there's a three-wheeler stroller with large wheels. We looked at a three-wheeler and a regular four-wheeler.
My husband was the one to point out that there are models come with attachable car seats to the stroller, which I thought was a good idea. He also said that the strollers are supposed to open and close with a push of a button and he tested both the three-wheeler and four-wheeler.
Four-wheeler, opened, closed, perfectly. Simple.
Three-wheeler, closed quickly... never did get it to open back up! Good thing I'm not a jogger :)
Even the cribs have options, do you get one with wheels to move around or the wood ones that could be heirloom quality.
It's a maze of baby stuff and that's not even getting into the smaller items available or my gosh, the toys.
Different world... Ok, question for the "been there, done that" parents.... What are the main "must haves" for a newborn? What are some items that you wish you had when your baby was born? What are some things you received but never put to use?
We're just trying to wrap our minds around it all.
Tomorrow I go in for my OBGYN check up. I don't know if the doctor will do an ultrasound or not.
Comments
The Ultimate Cribsheet
A Baby Swing or Bouncy Seat
Theres a market for every product I guess !!
Many congratulations !
The big things I think you have covered well.
It can be overwhelming when you are trying to register and figure out what you need. I would recommend the following basic things:
- bouncy seat (comes in handy when you need to take a shower, just plop baby in the seat in the bathroom with you).
- bottle warmer and Dr. Brown's bottles! Love them.
- Moby Wrap! It allows you to hold baby close to you, but allows you to be 'hands free' to do other things.
- Diaper/wipes caddy. Keeps everything together and you can carry it from room to room when you need to change baby.
- bibs! At first I got a lot of bibs and didn't think I would need them so I returned some. Then Matthew started teething and the drooling is unbelievable. He would soak through the bibs so fast!
- swaddle blankets (or big receiving blankets). We swaddled Matthew from the beginning (because they swaddle him in the hospital) and found that he slept way better when he was tightly swaddled. (I know every baby is different - some like swaddling and some don't).
And of course, the other basics like baby monitor, stroller, high chair (although when it comes to high chair, we got the space saver one and a regular one. Ended up returning the regular one because we never used it. And it takes up way more room).
Feel free to email me if you have any other questions!!
The necessities of course:
-car seat and stroller. If you have multiple cars you will need to get an extra base. As far as strollers go, yes there are lots of options and I suggest doing research and seeing which one fits for your lifestyle.
-crib and bassinet. J slept in a bassinet in our bed for neary 3 months before we moved him to his crib. I loved having him in a bassinet in the early months because it was so much easier to get him at all hours of the night.
- bibs, burb cloths...get lots of them!!!!
- swaddle blankets or swaddle bags. every child is different, but J loved to be swaddled and slept so much better.
- diapers, diaper, diapers....you will be amazed how many they go through. And you will need a diaper genie or similar to hold all of the dirties.
Ok, I could go on and on. Feel free to email me if you have questions:)