Lots of my moms' friends are currently expecting, and some are hoping to be expecting, at at least two (against their better judgment) have asked for adivice on baby things. Infant essentials. Some of these were a big surprise to my moms, who had never heard of many of these but had them recommended y friends. So this is their list of what you might need when you have a little guy like me but not know it. Everyone knows things like diapers, stroller, carseat, etc, so the won't start there. So here's a list of the things my moms say they really enjoyed having and that they would call "must haves" that you wont find on a typical list. They tell me that these items are what they recommend for new parents and for great baby shower gift ideas, although we aren't advocating off-registry purchases :-)
This seat was indispensible - although I am getting big and strong enough to catapult myself out of it now, it was great starting at about 3 months. It helped me learn to sit up, allowed me to sit up and participate in family life without being held, and served as a great way for my moms to put me down an let me play without worrying about me. My mom would put it on the table (not an approved use!) when eating dinner or on the floor when they had to answer the phone etc. I could sit in it, see the world (or the living room at least), and play with a toy without getting into trouble.
This feeder is great- when I first started teething my moms would put ice in it and I would chew on it. Now that I can eat solids (but cant feed myself yet) this is another way for me to participate in meals, especially out (where I would otherwise get whiny and cranky). Simply fill with banana, sweet potato, etc and I can feed myself without choking. What my moms like about this brand in particular is that it comes with a cover/lid (Very important!) and can be chilled in the fridge.
Lots of moms and dads we heard from agree- this is critical when you have an infant and want to use the infant seat as a carrier without also having to lug a bulky stroller everywhere. Some folks even suggested to my moms that they use this as their only stroller until I was older and then they'd be more knowledgeable about what they wanted before shelling out the big bucks for a "real" stroller (they got my Peg stroller as a git, so the advice was moot).
So this isn't a "must have" but it has turned out to be my all-time favorite toy so far so we'll mention it (it's my favorite even though the recommended age is for older kids, so I'm sure I'll get more use out of it). Lots of different animals and a noah toy, but they all store inside the boat, so they make for easy clean-up.
Like a freezer pack, but can be cut to size and is flexible enough to wrap around bottles etc. Can cut off a few "squares" (rectangles I guess) to keep with bottle in a small area (like the insulated pockets on diaper bags) to add extra cooling.
Although there is some debate on whether or not this "aftermarket" product should be used in a car seat (parents views on this, like many things, differ!), my moms found it very handy, especially for a winter bamino like me. It allowed them to keep me warm outside withou over-dressing me (or putting on coats, buntings, etc, which you have to take off inside, defeating the purpose of an infant carrier if the baby is asleep and you have to wake them to remove their coat).
My moms didnt buy alot of gadgets (no wipe warmer for this tushie for example), but this one was very useful in the first months. Basically it is a bottle warmer AND a cooler in one, so you dont need to leave the bedroom (or in my mama's case, sometimes, even the bed) to warm a bottle in the middle of the night. Put the bottles in the cooler with the ice pack (included) before bed and fill the reservoir with water. When it's time to feed, no need to go all the way to the fridge for the bottle and/or warmer. It's gotten less use as I've gotten older (and nicely agreed to take cold bottles). Although I did most of my feeding via nursing, bottle feeding pumped milk helped take some of the burden off of Mommy and was actually doctor-mandated at the beginning when I had jaundice.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Unique Baby Essentials
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3 comments:
LOVED Charlie's bumbo (though thunder thighs didn't fit very long...) and, well, as a CPST, I MUST make comment on the bundle me... but I won't, because it's a moot point at this point.
I want some of those ice blankets though! Are they reusable? Do they stay pliable? How COOL!!
the ice blankets are absolutely reusable- basically they are little tiny freezer packs. They stay pliable along the "seams" (for lack of a better word), which is good because you can wrap them around things (our favorite usage).
As for the Bundle Me, it's one of the few (maybe the only?) areas where we bucked some kind of safety advice. On the one hand yes, it does put an extra layer (thin as it may be) between the baby and the seat, but as Gus was born in Dec, it was do that or bundle him up in tons of thick clothes, which has the same potential effect of compression and loosening the straps somewhat. We totally understand why many folks dont choose to use it, but we decided it was the best option for us. But we totally get while many dont use one....
It's so funny that you did this! I had been planning to write a VERY similar post. I was even going to include a couple of the same items (the snap n go, the bumbo, the warmer). I guess great minds think alike!
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