First child due in February and we need the whole package…stroller, car seat, crib, etc.
Does anyone have any recommendations for good online sites which have solid recommendations or can anyone make their own recommendations? A trip to Babies R Us was predictably a disaster (crowded, screaming kids, and 40 of everything which made it overwhelming).
The criteria is basically simplicity and small (small home and cars).
Well get ready for all the useless crap that you get with your first child.
Do not know if there is a way to avoid this, since family and friends do not help!
Now it depends what you like, most of the baby stuff is not small…
-I have a Bob single (for the first) and now a bob Double since we have 2 kids. They are both huge, but work great.
-Car seats its all about safety and my wife wanted the safest thing ever so we have tanks that kids sit in, they are pretty huge.
For the home most if not every kid crap they sell is useless (mostly). I would avoid changing tables, special baby furniture etc, etc.
In the end you live a learn, go with whatever you(your wife) think you need. Amazon is your friend if you want to avoid the mall.
Congrats and have fun!
If you walk everywhere you like we do you can’t beat a Bugaboo stroller. But, if drive a lot and need a stroller that easily folds up to stow in the trunk there are better options.
Like the other poster said 99% of the crap on the market is, well crap. Another 0.9% of what’s left is not needed.
Please, please do not buy plastic shit. Please! There is so much plastic kid shit and it all ends up in a landfill where it sits FOREVER!
Yard sales and thrift stores are your friends.
I see moms (and neutered dads) walking around in public with their babies and they carrying a huge bag of who knows what. Don’t be that guy.
Babies need the following… love, food, sleep, love. Everything else is just cake.
First time father back in March. Here is what I think are the keys:
Key decisions to make now: how are you feeding you baby (breastfeeding or formula) - this can influence your buying power. Second cloth or disposable diapers? One is upfront cost the other is ongoing.
All the stores and sites are overwhelming. We probably got third of our stuff from amazon, a third from target and a third from local sales. Download the varage sale app. My wife lives on it buying and sell stuff for the baby. Usually half the price.
The thing with baby stuff is that it is all big. And takes up way too much room. We wanted (and i recommend) two strollers. The first was a travel system where the car seat snaps in. Easy, simple and convenient for travel. We also wanted a stroller for exercise. We went with a Mountain Buggy. Love it xcept for th fact that it is HUGE. Takes up the entire back of her car.
The best purchase ($10) we made was a baby bjorn rocker. He gets in it every morning to have his bottle. He can kick is legs to rock himself. And loves it. Best part is that its small and lays flat inthe car when we travel.
My wife used a baby k’tan carrier for around the house, shopping and races. She seemed to like it. I never liked any of the carriers. But they are really convenient in times where you need both hands (dinner, etc).
You can save money by shopping at the thrift store for clothes. You will still buy him/her something everytime you go to target. But at $1 a garmet for something the baby will wear 10x, that is a steal. We found really nice stuff too. Consignment shops are also your friend.
At the end of the day, i rcommend living with the baby before you commit to making too many decisions. For example we just bought a baby monitor. The only reason is because we changed our schedule and I would like to work in the home office more. It is away from th main areas. Otherwise we can hear him in all the other rooms. And we bought the $20 version. It didn’t make sense for the first 6 months, does now.
Well get ready for all the useless crap that you get with your first child.
Speaking from experience, the Diaper Genie (or diaper pail) is one of those useless pieces of crap (pun intended). After 6 months with the first of three boys, my wife and I learned that these do nothing to control odors. When you are at the food store, grab yourself extra plastic bags that will double as diaper disposal bags - just make sure to not reuse them and throw them out immediately.
Any legal crib is fine. I wouldn’t buy the cheapest one from say walmart, but I also wouldn’t buy the most expensive one from Pottery Bard Kids either. We had an Ikea convertible one - High deck crib (good for maybe 6 or 12 weeks), then a low crib (good till they start climbing), then a toddler bed.
Car seat: Your gonna buy a few. you’ve got to. The first rear facer won’t last too long, a year at most, and there is no way to convert them into anything else. Graco and Chico make good ones. Read reviews on amazon.
Stroller: Your gonna go through a few too. The first will fit a car seat in it - easiest way to go. A jogger that holds a car seat are very nice! Bobs and Chariots are much better than most other joggers. In a couple years you’ll be so sick of a big stroller, you’ll exclusively use umbrella strollers that you pay $20 for…
Most useless: pack-and-play. Heavy, big, not any more useful than a blanket.
Most useful: bjorn or eq. Strap that baby in and then you don’t have to worry about a big ass stroller.
With our first we were fortunate to have had some family members that had children and gave us the ‘don’t buy everything speech’. We got a middle of the road crib from buy buy baby and since then two other people have taken it apart, moved it and set it up so I have no problem recommending their stuff.
For almost everything else we did Amazon Prime. Free 2 days shipping, competitive prices and no tax.
Car seat we did a Britax, it was easy to pop in and out and you will use that a ton for the first year. Then we bought the higher end convertible britax that you can switch from rear to front facing.
Strollers, it wasn’t the cheapest method but we had no complaint. We bought a britax one that the carseat and later another seat could clip into. It made travel when she was really young easy.
For running we had a BOB, love them and still use them, traveled with them and had no problems.
Finally we got a UPPA baby umbrella stroller, just a light weight always in one of our cars and if we are traveling by air easy to gate check.
Whatever you buy if you ever travel by air, go on amazon and buy gate check bags. They look like laundry sacks but protect the seat and stroller, are bright ugly colors and say ‘GATE CHECK - STROLLER/CAR SEAT’. My sister before doing that lost a stroller she thinks to a thief and a carseat that had straps get caught up in a baggage handling system.
You want minimal and cheap.
Pack and Play doubles as a crib but you can take it with you.
Umbrella stroller. Yeah cant carry a bunch of shit with you but you want simple.
Car seat. They all have to pass the same crash test requirements.
A car seat that is removable and pops into a stroller base is nice if you don’t want to carry your baby. My wife and i found it simpler to take the kid out of the car seat and carry them. Lots of people though leave there kids in the car seat all the time.
How to dispose of smelly diapers, figure out a system that truely works and make millions.
Simple put an extra garbage can outside or in garage, use free grocery bags one or double up for each diaper. At some point you will want to buy a new garbage can cause it will stink, but thats your call.
You want minimal and cheap.
Pack and Play doubles as a crib but you can take it with you.
Umbrella stroller. Yeah cant carry a bunch of shit with you but you want simple.
Car seat. They all have to pass the same crash test requirements.
A car seat that is removable and pops into a stroller base is nice if you don’t want to carry your baby. My wife and i found it simpler to take the kid out of the car seat and carry them. Lots of people though leave there kids in the car seat all the time.
How to dispose of smelly diapers, figure out a system that truely works and make millions.
Simple put an extra garbage can outside or in garage, use free grocery bags one or double up for each diaper. At some point you will want to buy a new garbage can cause it will stink, but thats your call.
What he said. Our first child was innundated, the second one showed up 18 mos later, so she won that lottery. We got rid of everything and 5 years later, child #3 showed up. She got the old drop-side crib that the other 2 had and the rest was just not needed. I did get a good jogger stroller and a great Britax car seat. Other than that, you don’t need much for babies.
If you walk everywhere you like we do you can’t beat a Bugaboo stroller. But, if drive a lot and need a stroller that easily folds up to stow in the trunk there are better options.
Like the other poster said 99% of the crap on the market is, well crap. Another 0.9% of what’s left is not needed.
Please, please do not buy plastic shit. Please! There is so much plastic kid shit and it all ends up in a landfill where it sits FOREVER!
Yard sales and thrift stores are your friends.
I see moms (and neutered dads) walking around in public with their babies and they carrying a huge bag of who knows what. Don’t be that guy.
Babies need the following… love, food, sleep, love. Everything else is just cake.
This. Join some baby item swap group to save money and the enviornment. Dont be like a family I know and buy more shit than you need. Having only one baby, they have given me enough shit to clothe three babies for a year. This is no joke as they have more chips than a casino.
Yard sales and thrift stores are your friends.
I see moms (and neutered dads) walking around in public with their babies and they carrying a huge bag of who knows what. Don’t be that guy.
Babies need the following… love, food, sleep, love. Everything else is just cake.
We’re coming up on #2 in the spring. 90% of the stuff our 2.5yr old has came from church/work/family baby stuff exchanges, probably 9% of the rest came from grandparents. I think the only tangible (non-disposable) things we have actually purchased from a retailer was a car seat, recently a “big-girl” (twin) bed, and a pair of boots because I had an amazon gift card and they fit her Tinkerbell halloween costume. So much infant/toddler stuff is just tossed or sits in closets for years because children outgrow it while it still works. Our storage closet is completely filled right now with baby clothes and nic-nacks, several bags for girls and several for boys; when we find out what we are having, we’ll pass along the other bags to the next set of parents in the family/neighborhood.
You’ll have plenty of opportunities to blow your income on their medical expenses and childcare, save it where you can.
First child due in February and we need the whole package…stroller, car seat, crib, etc.
Does anyone have any recommendations for good online sites which have solid recommendations or can anyone make their own recommendations? A trip to Babies R Us was predictably a disaster (crowded, screaming kids, and 40 of everything which made it overwhelming).
The criteria is basically simplicity and small (small home and cars).
Quick reply as our now 3 year old is going ballistic right now.
I second buying quality (non plastic) stuff, also whoever pointed out that you don’t need to buy everything up front. I think parents (including us) get so jacked up about having their first that just getting everything under the sun becomes a necessity because…well you’re about to be in charge of a tiny human and isn’t that $800 stroller worth it knowing that?
Up front here are my suggestions:
-breast pump stuff (if going that route). Tool to help the little one get used to suckling if not taking to the breast out the gates (ask your doc for this…he/she may just give one to you).
-Diaper geni (this should be number 1)
-onesies
-carseat. Decide if you’re going with a carseat that detatchs or if you’re going to go the static car seat and use an Ergo and/or other chest carrier. Kicker here is the detachable ones are worth the expense up front when your kids an infant, but become worthless (the detatchable part) while going the ergo route is kinda a pain up front but much more worth it in the long run.
-handufl of fleece onesies
I’m sure I’m missing a few things here but you get the gist. Think “what do I need to do to make sure kid eats”, “what do I need to get kid from point a-b and back”, “what do I need to make sure our house operates as efficiently as possible when we’re all locked down inside”.
Oh also the best advice I got was to jack a bunch of those swaddle blankets and cotton onesies from the hospital during our stay. I actually brought an empty osprey pack as part of our hospital packing stuff. Packed it full with the above and diapers, and gauzes (circumsition), etc.
There are about a million spelling errors above. Sorry…no time to correct.
Good luck!
One thing we do I forgot to mention is cloth diapers! Kinda hippie but it is worth it.
Don’t have to keep buying huge bags of trash all the time, AKA diapers (which are hella expensive) and they work for your 2nd or how ever many kids you get.
Congrats and good luck.
Your best bet would be to ask this question of any friends/family who have young children. With any luck, they’ll go into their attic/basement and fill you car/house with more stuff than you’ll ever need. A lot of first time parents hesitate to get their kid used stuff/hand-me-downs. Trust me, that “new stroller smell” lasts for about 1 walk…the baby industry gets rich off of convincing people that if they are good parents they will buy Product XXX.
I was lucky, at the time we had our first, my wife was a private chef for a family who had a 1 year old and a shop-a-holic mom with a lot of time on her hands. We would get trash bags full of clothes, often never worn with price tags still attached, and it was shocking what some of the stuff cost. At one point, I was at a playground with my daughter and one of the mom’s commented “I love her jeans, are they True Religion?” I had no idea what she was talking about, but yup, my daughter was walking around crapping in $150 jeans.
I think when my daughter was 2 we actually bought the first clothing item…a pair of rain boots. Felt a little guilty.
We spent a lot of $$ on books though…no regrets about that. A good start:
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/best-books-for-babies-and-toddlers
Congrats and good luck.
Your best bet would be to ask this question of any friends/family who have young children. With any luck, they’ll go into their attic/basement and fill you car/house with more stuff than you’ll ever need. A lot of first time parents hesitate to get their kid used stuff/hand-me-downs. Trust me, that “new stroller smell” lasts for about 1 walk…the baby industry gets rich off of convincing people that if they are good parents they will buy Product XXX.
I was lucky, at the time we had our first, my wife was a private chef for a family who had a 1 year old and a shop-a-holic mom with a lot of time on her hands. We would get trash bags full of clothes, often never worn with price tags still attached, and it was shocking what some of the stuff cost. At one point, I was at a playground with my daughter and one of the mom’s commented “I love her jeans, are they True Religion?” I had no idea what she was talking about, but yup, my daughter was walking around crapping in $150 jeans.
I think when my daughter was 2 we actually bought the first clothing item…a pair of rain boots. Felt a little guilty.
We spent a lot of $$ on books though…no regrets about that. A good start:
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/best-books-for-babies-and-toddlers
I must work for the same family. If the kid barfs on a shirt, they toss it in the trash and I then wash and donate it.
a Bjorn will be your BEST friend! A good jogging stroller is a close second. (BOB Revolution) is the only stroller we have. It folds up pretty well and works perfectly as an all the time stroller for us. That meant we didn’t need two + strollers for different occasions.
Agree with above that you won’t need 3/4 of the stuff they try to sell you like wipe warmers, etc. Neighborhood hand me down clothes are the best. Get a good monitor and focus on the ones with farthest reach. We bought a Graco for 1st kid. no video, just audio. Used everyday for almost 5 years and finally showing wear. Bought a video monitor for 2nd kid. Motorola. It’s good but its reach leaves something to be desired.
Good luck!
First off congrats!!
If you search old threads I have a detailed one on cloth diapers. They arn’t as bad as they sound, technology has gone along ways in this area. Let me know if you have questions.
As far as junk, most of the stuff we get used, lots of garage sales, craigslist posting etc. See if you can get the running stroller/car seat package, usually the best deal around. Some people think the pack & play is dumb, but when they get older (1y-2yr) it becomes helpful when your traveling or if you have friends over and they need to put their kid down for a nap.
MAKE SURE YOUR CAR SEAT FITS YOUR CAR. This is big, sometimes those small cars can’t fit the new huge car seats. Test it out when buying a new car or buying a car seat first.
Don’t buy anything you’re not willing to have covered in human feces and thrown away as a result.
Pro tip: when you have the newborn blowout all the way up the back and kiddo is wearing a onesie, break out the trauma shears and cut the onesie off. Tell your wife you don’t know where they’re all going.
Don’t buy anything you’re not willing to have covered in human feces and thrown away as a result.
Pro tip: when you have the newborn blowout all the way up the back and kiddo is wearing a onesie, break out the trauma shears and cut the onesie off. Tell your wife you don’t know where they’re all going.
I don’t get this…do you really throw out things that have poop on them? To each their own, and I have no experience with this myself but babies are dirty and smelly and messy, the fact they get crap on stuff means they’ll get crap on other stuff, why not clean the crap-filled stuff so you don’t have throw out OTHER stuff when it happens again?
A little time in a basement sink soaking in a cleaner then throw the offending item in the washing machine…what am I missing?
Oh, and to the OP: my sister has three kids, ages 8, 4 and 2. For the first she and her husband got an absolute crap-ton of stuff from aunts/uncles who held onto baby clothes and toys, not to mention the gifts that come during the shower and when the baby’s born. Beyond a stroller, which no one had, they were actually turning stuff away before long. Crib and gates and high chair and car seat were all hand-me-downs. Unless you *want *new stuff, check in with friends and family because you’re throwing money away otherwise imo, this stuff is used for a year then thrown into storage and has more than enough use left for the year short time you’ll need it before the baby outgrows it or you decide it’s not getting the job done.
Regarding strollers, an expensive one ($500 plus) is worth it if you live in a city and do a ton of walking. we lived in nyc with our first, and while I thought the money spent on the expensive stroller was insane, when you are walking constantly and going in and out of stores, walking on busy snowy streets, etc, it ended up being extremely well worth it. Moved to the suburbs by the time the second arrived and while the expensive stroller was still in great shape, it wasn’t really necessary and was a little too heavy to be constantly pulling out of a car and reassembling.
And you also have to get the base stroller for putting the car seat in even though you already blew $500 on an expensive one. It is great for the first 5 months.
We were on a tight budget.