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.

Comments

Amanda said…
I would look at used childrens stores if you have any in your area. A lot of my friends who have had babies told me that they wished they would have bought more things used that they didn't use as much like clothes since they outgrow them so fast and some larger toys.
Penny said…
EEK!! Good luck with all of that! It would be scary for me, too!
Unknown said…
I worked at that Babies R Us in the registry department. It is definitely madness!

The Ultimate Cribsheet
A Baby Swing or Bouncy Seat
Kavi said…
Good luck ! good luck !!

Theres a market for every product I guess !!

Many congratulations !
Glynis Jolly said…
I wouldn't suggest a store where you register. A little too pricy when the child won't be using any of it all that long. For your comfort and the bay's, get a lot of the terrycloth jumpsuits. They're wonderful. You never ever have enough of the wipes that pop up in their own dispenser. Hand towels are good for when you hold your baby. Any spit or whatever goes onto that instead of your clothes.

The big things I think you have covered well.
We had an angelcare monitor in our girls' crib. It has a alarm that goes off if no breathing movement is detected after 20 seconds. Peace of mind while baby is sleeping: priceless! http://www.angelcare-monitor.com/United-States/en/products/angelcare-monitor-AC2012P
Aleta said…
Blogger friend from Life Happens sent me a comment but my fingers slipped and I hit delete by accident. Thankfully I still had a copy of the comment in my email, so I'm pasting it here. Thank you!!

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!!
Candice said…
I remember walking into the baby store to register and completely freaking out. I was so overwhelmed by it all and had to leave after about 10 minutes.

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:)