OT: What’s up with all the earthquakes?

[Shadowfax]

[quote=UCGal]Congrats AFX! Parenthood if fun (sometimes.)
[quote=flu]
I think you/wife first thing you need to get over is caring about way the crib or any baby furniture looks..It will save your pockets… Generally, it’s gonna get thrashed, and specifically for the crib, you might end up not really using it for a long time…..At least it was for me.

1)In the first couple of months, the baby wants to be swaddled, so you probably are better off sturdy yet inexpensive bassinet.

2)In the next couple of months, you probably would want to get a co-sleeper to make it easier for your wife if she has to get up in the middle of the night.

3)Probably at a little over 1 year, do you actually need the crib. But then about 2 1/2, you can end up putting said baby in her toddler bed. At least that’s what I did.
Her original crib now holds all her toys and stuff animals after about 1 year of total use.

Effective crib use was very low in my case. She started sleep on a full size twin mattress at age 2.5 that was placed on the carpetted floor with no bedframe.

That, or you end up with a kid that wants to sleep in your bed with you and your spouse.

Furniture at places like Pottery Barn for Kids looks nice. But seriously, it’s overkill both in practicality of use and on your wallet.[/quote]
I have to agree with this… Cribs didn’t get used much in our house.
[/quote]

Congrats on the baby…

I second the above assessment on baby items. Cribs are not all they cracked up to be. Neither of my kids ever wanted to sleep in a crib. They were in a bassinet when little, our bed a lot, and toddler beds until the moved up to twin beds.

The only benefit we got was the waterproof crib mattress (for the odd bodily function issue) but if they make waterproof twin mattresses, or you can get a waterproof cover, you could settle for a futon mattress or twin put on the floor for quite a while.

Of course, we all share this valuable information with you after the 10 hours you spent putting that puppy together!

Can I expand this to “Think dress/buy/parent Yiddish, dress British”?

[afx114]

Heh thanks for the congrats and tips, all! Trust me, we’ve done our research. I spend a lot of time on this site called “Cribbington’s Baby-Almanac — San Diego Crib Bubble News And Analysis” and we decided that it was time to buy. The crib we got is all sorts of high tech.. it’s convertible, so as the baby grows we can convert it from a pseudo-bassinet to a real crib, and then to a daybed.

Our next planned purchase is a fully-electronic stroller (60mpg minimum), then if we have money left, solar panels for the crib.

In all seriousness, any stroller recommendations? We’re looking at something that doubles as a car seat and is reversible so that the baby can be facing either in or out. (sorry for continuing the threadjack.. oh, and we want our stroller to be earthquake-proof).

😉

[afx114]

Heh thanks for the congrats and tips, all! Trust me, we’ve done our research. I spend a lot of time on this site called “Cribbington’s Baby-Almanac — San Diego Crib Bubble News And Analysis” and we decided that it was time to buy. The crib we got is all sorts of high tech.. it’s convertible, so as the baby grows we can convert it from a pseudo-bassinet to a real crib, and then to a daybed.

Our next planned purchase is a fully-electronic stroller (60mpg minimum), then if we have money left, solar panels for the crib.

In all seriousness, any stroller recommendations? We’re looking at something that doubles as a car seat and is reversible so that the baby can be facing either in or out. (sorry for continuing the threadjack.. oh, and we want our stroller to be earthquake-proof).

😉

[afx114]

Heh thanks for the congrats and tips, all! Trust me, we’ve done our research. I spend a lot of time on this site called “Cribbington’s Baby-Almanac — San Diego Crib Bubble News And Analysis” and we decided that it was time to buy. The crib we got is all sorts of high tech.. it’s convertible, so as the baby grows we can convert it from a pseudo-bassinet to a real crib, and then to a daybed.

Our next planned purchase is a fully-electronic stroller (60mpg minimum), then if we have money left, solar panels for the crib.

In all seriousness, any stroller recommendations? We’re looking at something that doubles as a car seat and is reversible so that the baby can be facing either in or out. (sorry for continuing the threadjack.. oh, and we want our stroller to be earthquake-proof).

😉

[afx114]

Heh thanks for the congrats and tips, all! Trust me, we’ve done our research. I spend a lot of time on this site called “Cribbington’s Baby-Almanac — San Diego Crib Bubble News And Analysis” and we decided that it was time to buy. The crib we got is all sorts of high tech.. it’s convertible, so as the baby grows we can convert it from a pseudo-bassinet to a real crib, and then to a daybed.

Our next planned purchase is a fully-electronic stroller (60mpg minimum), then if we have money left, solar panels for the crib.

In all seriousness, any stroller recommendations? We’re looking at something that doubles as a car seat and is reversible so that the baby can be facing either in or out. (sorry for continuing the threadjack.. oh, and we want our stroller to be earthquake-proof).

😉

[afx114]

Heh thanks for the congrats and tips, all! Trust me, we’ve done our research. I spend a lot of time on this site called “Cribbington’s Baby-Almanac — San Diego Crib Bubble News And Analysis” and we decided that it was time to buy. The crib we got is all sorts of high tech.. it’s convertible, so as the baby grows we can convert it from a pseudo-bassinet to a real crib, and then to a daybed.

Our next planned purchase is a fully-electronic stroller (60mpg minimum), then if we have money left, solar panels for the crib.

In all seriousness, any stroller recommendations? We’re looking at something that doubles as a car seat and is reversible so that the baby can be facing either in or out. (sorry for continuing the threadjack.. oh, and we want our stroller to be earthquake-proof).

😉

[Zeitgeist]

“Universal car seat carriers are an alternative to stroller travel systems. You still have the convenience of leaving your baby undisturbed while you clip their infant car seat onto the metal frame and turn it into a stroller, but without the bulkiness and expense of the travel system.”

http://www.stroller-advisor.com/universal-car-seat-carriers.html

Don’t forget the baby monitor:

Philips Avent SCD510 DECT Baby Monitor *Est. $110 Compare Prices

“If you have a house full of electronics, you will likely have trouble finding a baby monitor that doesn’t get interference from wireless networks, cordless phones, microwave ovens, cordless game controllers and… remote-control toys.”

http://www.consumersearch.com/baby-monitor-reviews

[Zeitgeist]

“Universal car seat carriers are an alternative to stroller travel systems. You still have the convenience of leaving your baby undisturbed while you clip their infant car seat onto the metal frame and turn it into a stroller, but without the bulkiness and expense of the travel system.”

http://www.stroller-advisor.com/universal-car-seat-carriers.html

Don’t forget the baby monitor:

Philips Avent SCD510 DECT Baby Monitor *Est. $110 Compare Prices

“If you have a house full of electronics, you will likely have trouble finding a baby monitor that doesn’t get interference from wireless networks, cordless phones, microwave ovens, cordless game controllers and… remote-control toys.”

http://www.consumersearch.com/baby-monitor-reviews

[Zeitgeist]

“Universal car seat carriers are an alternative to stroller travel systems. You still have the convenience of leaving your baby undisturbed while you clip their infant car seat onto the metal frame and turn it into a stroller, but without the bulkiness and expense of the travel system.”

http://www.stroller-advisor.com/universal-car-seat-carriers.html

Don’t forget the baby monitor:

Philips Avent SCD510 DECT Baby Monitor *Est. $110 Compare Prices

“If you have a house full of electronics, you will likely have trouble finding a baby monitor that doesn’t get interference from wireless networks, cordless phones, microwave ovens, cordless game controllers and… remote-control toys.”

http://www.consumersearch.com/baby-monitor-reviews

[Zeitgeist]

“Universal car seat carriers are an alternative to stroller travel systems. You still have the convenience of leaving your baby undisturbed while you clip their infant car seat onto the metal frame and turn it into a stroller, but without the bulkiness and expense of the travel system.”

http://www.stroller-advisor.com/universal-car-seat-carriers.html

Don’t forget the baby monitor:

Philips Avent SCD510 DECT Baby Monitor *Est. $110 Compare Prices

“If you have a house full of electronics, you will likely have trouble finding a baby monitor that doesn’t get interference from wireless networks, cordless phones, microwave ovens, cordless game controllers and… remote-control toys.”

http://www.consumersearch.com/baby-monitor-reviews

[Zeitgeist]

“Universal car seat carriers are an alternative to stroller travel systems. You still have the convenience of leaving your baby undisturbed while you clip their infant car seat onto the metal frame and turn it into a stroller, but without the bulkiness and expense of the travel system.”

http://www.stroller-advisor.com/universal-car-seat-carriers.html

Don’t forget the baby monitor:

Philips Avent SCD510 DECT Baby Monitor *Est. $110 Compare Prices

“If you have a house full of electronics, you will likely have trouble finding a baby monitor that doesn’t get interference from wireless networks, cordless phones, microwave ovens, cordless game controllers and… remote-control toys.”

http://www.consumersearch.com/baby-monitor-reviews

[Coronita]

[quote=afx114]Heh thanks for the congrats and tips, all! Trust me, we’ve done our research. I spend a lot of time on this site called “Cribbington’s Baby-Almanac — San Diego Crib Bubble News And Analysis” and we decided that it was time to buy. The crib we got is all sorts of high tech.. it’s convertible, so as the baby grows we can convert it from a pseudo-bassinet to a real crib, and then to a daybed.

Our next planned purchase is a fully-electronic stroller (60mpg minimum), then if we have money left, solar panels for the crib.

In all seriousness, any stroller recommendations? We’re looking at something that doubles as a car seat and is reversible so that the baby can be facing either in or out. (sorry for continuing the threadjack.. oh, and we want our stroller to be earthquake-proof).

;)[/quote]

Here’s my list of things I bought related to my daughter. I went overboard with stuff. I’ll give you my assessment of what I think was good purchase or not, hopefully, so you won’t make the same mistakes…I’d offer to give you the all the boxed up shit, but i’m saving it just in case I need it again…

———————–

1)Strollers:

1a)Everyday use stroller: Peg Perego P3.

The quality is really good imho…However, probably not worth the price new if you buy full price. I ended up getting one from BabyAge.com at half price because the fabric was discontinued (it was a dark blue).

Pros:
a) seemed to be better constructed than graco stroller.
b) worked with the Graco snug ride infant seat (also with peg perego infant seats, which are ripoffs)
c) decent recline angle
d) moderably portable for trips to malls/etc, without being overly bulky

Cons:
a)expensive. Not Bugaboo stroller designer expensive, but still expensive.
b)not reversable. Child always faces forward.
c)Useless cupholder.
d)Cannot be used on beach sand (but neither can other strollers that aren’t jogger strollers)

Recommendation: buy..especially if you can find one on craigslist….This was the primary stroller for 2 years. It was well used

1b) Jogging Stroller:
Pros: can be used on the beach
Cons: unless you are athletic an plan to take your infant with you on jogging, it’s pretty useless. Bulky, dificult to navigate in tight areas/malls,heavy.

Recommendation: don’t buy, unless you can pick one up for cheap @ craiglist. Our neighbhor gave away his, but we ended up not using it most of the time.

1c) Light umbrella stroller: Combi cosmo stroller.
Pros: light and portable, great for travel when kid is 1yr older

Cons: not recommended for infant.

Recommendation: hold off buying. Good stroller, but you might have a kid that hates sitting in strollers once they are older than 1.5 years.

Tip: when it comes to strollers, you pay for having the latest fabrics. So often if you get last year or close-out fabric, it’s 40-50% off
————————–

2) Baby carrying accesories…

a) Bay Bjorn:
I found this to be somewhat useful, but I didn’t use this extensively. I’m kinda clumsy and always worried about tripping over something and doing a faceplant with my kid in front of me.. I bought one used for 30% retail.

b)Hiking infant backpack.
This was pretty useful for carrying a kid on your back if you travel alot. Again, try to get second hand

——————————-
Car seats:

a)Infant: Graco SnugRide: I was pretty happy with this, though I don’t think we needed to get the “all weather boot package”. Price ranges differ based on fabric. Also, more expensive units were made in USA versus china.
I bought one on clearance made in USA (due to fabric being previous years). It included the cold weather boot.

Recommendation: since you have to get an infant seat, I’d go for this one. It’s good quality, but not insane price. Effectively, my kid outgrew the infant car seat really fast

b)Convertible:
Britax Bouvlevard:
Pros: rear facing for infant, and forward facing once todler. Solid…

Cons: Big…Make sure you can fit inside a car.

Recommendation: great seat. Again, find a discontinued fabric for good savings. I got one 50% off.

3)Convertible/booster
Recaro Young Sport Convertible Car Seat

Pros: supposedly has high crash rating
Cons: heavy, only forward facing, padding not as plush as say Britax.

Recommendation: not recommend. It’s a good seat, not worth the price. And the only seat I paid full price for because I was in a hurry.

————————————————

High chair

Peg Perego Prima Pagga:
Pros: Great high chair, adjustable up/down, foldable, sturdy, easy to clean, can be rolled around easily.

Cons: Ridiculously expensive @ full retail.

Recommendation: buy. We got good mileage out of the high chair, and again I found one discounted 30% due to the fabric.

————————-

Playpen/swings/bouncers/activity center

Graco pack and play:
Recommendation: buy, but don’t go overboard with the accessories. You don’t need the changing station, vibrating thing,etc. Good if you travel alot and places you go don’t have a crib

Graco swing:

Recommendation: hold off buying. Good swing, but my kid used it one time, and disassembling it to return was impossible. Total waste of money

Baby einstein activity center:
Recommendation: avoid. Piece of junk. legs started breaking, parts started falling off. I think there was a recall. In fact, I’d avoid all the baby einstein inspired things.

———————

Day do day use stuff

Diaper Genie:
Recommendation: don’t buy. Glorified trash can.
Flu recommends: if it’s pee, it can sit for 2 days. if it’s poop, take it outside anyway.

Bottles: Avoid microwaving plastic bottles at all cost, even those that are “microwave safe”. Make sure the plastic is not pvc based. Playtex Ventaire were decent for occasion use. Our kid didn’t like heated milk so this wasn’t a problem. And when she was 1.5 years, I switched to gerber glass bottles…. 6 pack at baby r us for pretty cheap. You/baby will end up breaking a few…

Bottle sanitizer: don’t bother. just stick the bottle in the dishwasher.

Portable blender: Get one of these. it comes in handy if you want to make baby food yourself…

http://www.chefgiant.com/show_product/9232/?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=datafeed&utm_term=9232

For example: organic peas and carrots, boiled, and then blended to mush….

You can find them at costco…

—————————————–

Furniture.

Dresser/chest:

Recommendation: don’t buy from baby store. Once the kid grows up, you need to get real furniture anyway. if you need a dresser, just go to ikea and get a white 2 drawer dresser for $100, versus $300-500 what they charge you at the baby store for a white dresser.

Convertible crib to infant bed…
Recommendation: not neccessary:
My experience is you don’t need this. First, most conversions still require to spend money on a conversion kit..Second, when the kid is old enough, just put them on a twin mattress that sits on the floor. It’s probably also safest to do, in case they roll off, they just land on the carpet.

Changing station: don’t buy. Just put the baby on a bed to change. make sure you get a water proof pad.

Kid table (when they are 2+).
Honestly, i don’t know where to get good inexpensive tables/chairs for kids. So I just got a small table from PotteryBarn for Kids, which ended up being free with a rewards card I got from work, plus I had a friend that worked for Pottery Barn’s parent company. I went to ikea and babyrus, and was disappointed because there wasn’t much and/or it wasn’t that much cheaper either.

Just recommend you get furniture with rounded corners..

Also, buy some lead test kits…Because you never know these days…

You might also want to throw in a cadmium test kit these days

http://www.cadmiumtestkit.com/where-to-buy-cadmium-test-kits.html

————————————

This is why a i think a good portion of retail for baby is recession proof. It’s ridiculous how much folks (inclusive) spend on kid crap.

[Coronita]

[quote=afx114]Heh thanks for the congrats and tips, all! Trust me, we’ve done our research. I spend a lot of time on this site called “Cribbington’s Baby-Almanac — San Diego Crib Bubble News And Analysis” and we decided that it was time to buy. The crib we got is all sorts of high tech.. it’s convertible, so as the baby grows we can convert it from a pseudo-bassinet to a real crib, and then to a daybed.

Our next planned purchase is a fully-electronic stroller (60mpg minimum), then if we have money left, solar panels for the crib.

In all seriousness, any stroller recommendations? We’re looking at something that doubles as a car seat and is reversible so that the baby can be facing either in or out. (sorry for continuing the threadjack.. oh, and we want our stroller to be earthquake-proof).

;)[/quote]

Here’s my list of things I bought related to my daughter. I went overboard with stuff. I’ll give you my assessment of what I think was good purchase or not, hopefully, so you won’t make the same mistakes…I’d offer to give you the all the boxed up shit, but i’m saving it just in case I need it again…

———————–

1)Strollers:

1a)Everyday use stroller: Peg Perego P3.

The quality is really good imho…However, probably not worth the price new if you buy full price. I ended up getting one from BabyAge.com at half price because the fabric was discontinued (it was a dark blue).

Pros:
a) seemed to be better constructed than graco stroller.
b) worked with the Graco snug ride infant seat (also with peg perego infant seats, which are ripoffs)
c) decent recline angle
d) moderably portable for trips to malls/etc, without being overly bulky

Cons:
a)expensive. Not Bugaboo stroller designer expensive, but still expensive.
b)not reversable. Child always faces forward.
c)Useless cupholder.
d)Cannot be used on beach sand (but neither can other strollers that aren’t jogger strollers)

Recommendation: buy..especially if you can find one on craigslist….This was the primary stroller for 2 years. It was well used

1b) Jogging Stroller:
Pros: can be used on the beach
Cons: unless you are athletic an plan to take your infant with you on jogging, it’s pretty useless. Bulky, dificult to navigate in tight areas/malls,heavy.

Recommendation: don’t buy, unless you can pick one up for cheap @ craiglist. Our neighbhor gave away his, but we ended up not using it most of the time.

1c) Light umbrella stroller: Combi cosmo stroller.
Pros: light and portable, great for travel when kid is 1yr older

Cons: not recommended for infant.

Recommendation: hold off buying. Good stroller, but you might have a kid that hates sitting in strollers once they are older than 1.5 years.

Tip: when it comes to strollers, you pay for having the latest fabrics. So often if you get last year or close-out fabric, it’s 40-50% off
————————–

2) Baby carrying accesories…

a) Bay Bjorn:
I found this to be somewhat useful, but I didn’t use this extensively. I’m kinda clumsy and always worried about tripping over something and doing a faceplant with my kid in front of me.. I bought one used for 30% retail.

b)Hiking infant backpack.
This was pretty useful for carrying a kid on your back if you travel alot. Again, try to get second hand

——————————-
Car seats:

a)Infant: Graco SnugRide: I was pretty happy with this, though I don’t think we needed to get the “all weather boot package”. Price ranges differ based on fabric. Also, more expensive units were made in USA versus china.
I bought one on clearance made in USA (due to fabric being previous years). It included the cold weather boot.

Recommendation: since you have to get an infant seat, I’d go for this one. It’s good quality, but not insane price. Effectively, my kid outgrew the infant car seat really fast

b)Convertible:
Britax Bouvlevard:
Pros: rear facing for infant, and forward facing once todler. Solid…

Cons: Big…Make sure you can fit inside a car.

Recommendation: great seat. Again, find a discontinued fabric for good savings. I got one 50% off.

3)Convertible/booster
Recaro Young Sport Convertible Car Seat

Pros: supposedly has high crash rating
Cons: heavy, only forward facing, padding not as plush as say Britax.

Recommendation: not recommend. It’s a good seat, not worth the price. And the only seat I paid full price for because I was in a hurry.

————————————————

High chair

Peg Perego Prima Pagga:
Pros: Great high chair, adjustable up/down, foldable, sturdy, easy to clean, can be rolled around easily.

Cons: Ridiculously expensive @ full retail.

Recommendation: buy. We got good mileage out of the high chair, and again I found one discounted 30% due to the fabric.

————————-

Playpen/swings/bouncers/activity center

Graco pack and play:
Recommendation: buy, but don’t go overboard with the accessories. You don’t need the changing station, vibrating thing,etc. Good if you travel alot and places you go don’t have a crib

Graco swing:

Recommendation: hold off buying. Good swing, but my kid used it one time, and disassembling it to return was impossible. Total waste of money

Baby einstein activity center:
Recommendation: avoid. Piece of junk. legs started breaking, parts started falling off. I think there was a recall. In fact, I’d avoid all the baby einstein inspired things.

———————

Day do day use stuff

Diaper Genie:
Recommendation: don’t buy. Glorified trash can.
Flu recommends: if it’s pee, it can sit for 2 days. if it’s poop, take it outside anyway.

Bottles: Avoid microwaving plastic bottles at all cost, even those that are “microwave safe”. Make sure the plastic is not pvc based. Playtex Ventaire were decent for occasion use. Our kid didn’t like heated milk so this wasn’t a problem. And when she was 1.5 years, I switched to gerber glass bottles…. 6 pack at baby r us for pretty cheap. You/baby will end up breaking a few…

Bottle sanitizer: don’t bother. just stick the bottle in the dishwasher.

Portable blender: Get one of these. it comes in handy if you want to make baby food yourself…

http://www.chefgiant.com/show_product/9232/?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=datafeed&utm_term=9232

For example: organic peas and carrots, boiled, and then blended to mush….

You can find them at costco…

—————————————–

Furniture.

Dresser/chest:

Recommendation: don’t buy from baby store. Once the kid grows up, you need to get real furniture anyway. if you need a dresser, just go to ikea and get a white 2 drawer dresser for $100, versus $300-500 what they charge you at the baby store for a white dresser.

Convertible crib to infant bed…
Recommendation: not neccessary:
My experience is you don’t need this. First, most conversions still require to spend money on a conversion kit..Second, when the kid is old enough, just put them on a twin mattress that sits on the floor. It’s probably also safest to do, in case they roll off, they just land on the carpet.

Changing station: don’t buy. Just put the baby on a bed to change. make sure you get a water proof pad.

Kid table (when they are 2+).
Honestly, i don’t know where to get good inexpensive tables/chairs for kids. So I just got a small table from PotteryBarn for Kids, which ended up being free with a rewards card I got from work, plus I had a friend that worked for Pottery Barn’s parent company. I went to ikea and babyrus, and was disappointed because there wasn’t much and/or it wasn’t that much cheaper either.

Just recommend you get furniture with rounded corners..

Also, buy some lead test kits…Because you never know these days…

You might also want to throw in a cadmium test kit these days

http://www.cadmiumtestkit.com/where-to-buy-cadmium-test-kits.html

————————————

This is why a i think a good portion of retail for baby is recession proof. It’s ridiculous how much folks (inclusive) spend on kid crap.

[Coronita]

[quote=afx114]Heh thanks for the congrats and tips, all! Trust me, we’ve done our research. I spend a lot of time on this site called “Cribbington’s Baby-Almanac — San Diego Crib Bubble News And Analysis” and we decided that it was time to buy. The crib we got is all sorts of high tech.. it’s convertible, so as the baby grows we can convert it from a pseudo-bassinet to a real crib, and then to a daybed.

Our next planned purchase is a fully-electronic stroller (60mpg minimum), then if we have money left, solar panels for the crib.

In all seriousness, any stroller recommendations? We’re looking at something that doubles as a car seat and is reversible so that the baby can be facing either in or out. (sorry for continuing the threadjack.. oh, and we want our stroller to be earthquake-proof).

;)[/quote]

Here’s my list of things I bought related to my daughter. I went overboard with stuff. I’ll give you my assessment of what I think was good purchase or not, hopefully, so you won’t make the same mistakes…I’d offer to give you the all the boxed up shit, but i’m saving it just in case I need it again…

———————–

1)Strollers:

1a)Everyday use stroller: Peg Perego P3.

The quality is really good imho…However, probably not worth the price new if you buy full price. I ended up getting one from BabyAge.com at half price because the fabric was discontinued (it was a dark blue).

Pros:
a) seemed to be better constructed than graco stroller.
b) worked with the Graco snug ride infant seat (also with peg perego infant seats, which are ripoffs)
c) decent recline angle
d) moderably portable for trips to malls/etc, without being overly bulky

Cons:
a)expensive. Not Bugaboo stroller designer expensive, but still expensive.
b)not reversable. Child always faces forward.
c)Useless cupholder.
d)Cannot be used on beach sand (but neither can other strollers that aren’t jogger strollers)

Recommendation: buy..especially if you can find one on craigslist….This was the primary stroller for 2 years. It was well used

1b) Jogging Stroller:
Pros: can be used on the beach
Cons: unless you are athletic an plan to take your infant with you on jogging, it’s pretty useless. Bulky, dificult to navigate in tight areas/malls,heavy.

Recommendation: don’t buy, unless you can pick one up for cheap @ craiglist. Our neighbhor gave away his, but we ended up not using it most of the time.

1c) Light umbrella stroller: Combi cosmo stroller.
Pros: light and portable, great for travel when kid is 1yr older

Cons: not recommended for infant.

Recommendation: hold off buying. Good stroller, but you might have a kid that hates sitting in strollers once they are older than 1.5 years.

Tip: when it comes to strollers, you pay for having the latest fabrics. So often if you get last year or close-out fabric, it’s 40-50% off
————————–

2) Baby carrying accesories…

a) Bay Bjorn:
I found this to be somewhat useful, but I didn’t use this extensively. I’m kinda clumsy and always worried about tripping over something and doing a faceplant with my kid in front of me.. I bought one used for 30% retail.

b)Hiking infant backpack.
This was pretty useful for carrying a kid on your back if you travel alot. Again, try to get second hand

——————————-
Car seats:

a)Infant: Graco SnugRide: I was pretty happy with this, though I don’t think we needed to get the “all weather boot package”. Price ranges differ based on fabric. Also, more expensive units were made in USA versus china.
I bought one on clearance made in USA (due to fabric being previous years). It included the cold weather boot.

Recommendation: since you have to get an infant seat, I’d go for this one. It’s good quality, but not insane price. Effectively, my kid outgrew the infant car seat really fast

b)Convertible:
Britax Bouvlevard:
Pros: rear facing for infant, and forward facing once todler. Solid…

Cons: Big…Make sure you can fit inside a car.

Recommendation: great seat. Again, find a discontinued fabric for good savings. I got one 50% off.

3)Convertible/booster
Recaro Young Sport Convertible Car Seat

Pros: supposedly has high crash rating
Cons: heavy, only forward facing, padding not as plush as say Britax.

Recommendation: not recommend. It’s a good seat, not worth the price. And the only seat I paid full price for because I was in a hurry.

————————————————

High chair

Peg Perego Prima Pagga:
Pros: Great high chair, adjustable up/down, foldable, sturdy, easy to clean, can be rolled around easily.

Cons: Ridiculously expensive @ full retail.

Recommendation: buy. We got good mileage out of the high chair, and again I found one discounted 30% due to the fabric.

————————-

Playpen/swings/bouncers/activity center

Graco pack and play:
Recommendation: buy, but don’t go overboard with the accessories. You don’t need the changing station, vibrating thing,etc. Good if you travel alot and places you go don’t have a crib

Graco swing:

Recommendation: hold off buying. Good swing, but my kid used it one time, and disassembling it to return was impossible. Total waste of money

Baby einstein activity center:
Recommendation: avoid. Piece of junk. legs started breaking, parts started falling off. I think there was a recall. In fact, I’d avoid all the baby einstein inspired things.

———————

Day do day use stuff

Diaper Genie:
Recommendation: don’t buy. Glorified trash can.
Flu recommends: if it’s pee, it can sit for 2 days. if it’s poop, take it outside anyway.

Bottles: Avoid microwaving plastic bottles at all cost, even those that are “microwave safe”. Make sure the plastic is not pvc based. Playtex Ventaire were decent for occasion use. Our kid didn’t like heated milk so this wasn’t a problem. And when she was 1.5 years, I switched to gerber glass bottles…. 6 pack at baby r us for pretty cheap. You/baby will end up breaking a few…

Bottle sanitizer: don’t bother. just stick the bottle in the dishwasher.

Portable blender: Get one of these. it comes in handy if you want to make baby food yourself…

http://www.chefgiant.com/show_product/9232/?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=datafeed&utm_term=9232

For example: organic peas and carrots, boiled, and then blended to mush….

You can find them at costco…

—————————————–

Furniture.

Dresser/chest:

Recommendation: don’t buy from baby store. Once the kid grows up, you need to get real furniture anyway. if you need a dresser, just go to ikea and get a white 2 drawer dresser for $100, versus $300-500 what they charge you at the baby store for a white dresser.

Convertible crib to infant bed…
Recommendation: not neccessary:
My experience is you don’t need this. First, most conversions still require to spend money on a conversion kit..Second, when the kid is old enough, just put them on a twin mattress that sits on the floor. It’s probably also safest to do, in case they roll off, they just land on the carpet.

Changing station: don’t buy. Just put the baby on a bed to change. make sure you get a water proof pad.

Kid table (when they are 2+).
Honestly, i don’t know where to get good inexpensive tables/chairs for kids. So I just got a small table from PotteryBarn for Kids, which ended up being free with a rewards card I got from work, plus I had a friend that worked for Pottery Barn’s parent company. I went to ikea and babyrus, and was disappointed because there wasn’t much and/or it wasn’t that much cheaper either.

Just recommend you get furniture with rounded corners..

Also, buy some lead test kits…Because you never know these days…

You might also want to throw in a cadmium test kit these days

http://www.cadmiumtestkit.com/where-to-buy-cadmium-test-kits.html

————————————

This is why a i think a good portion of retail for baby is recession proof. It’s ridiculous how much folks (inclusive) spend on kid crap.

[Coronita]

[quote=afx114]Heh thanks for the congrats and tips, all! Trust me, we’ve done our research. I spend a lot of time on this site called “Cribbington’s Baby-Almanac — San Diego Crib Bubble News And Analysis” and we decided that it was time to buy. The crib we got is all sorts of high tech.. it’s convertible, so as the baby grows we can convert it from a pseudo-bassinet to a real crib, and then to a daybed.

Our next planned purchase is a fully-electronic stroller (60mpg minimum), then if we have money left, solar panels for the crib.

In all seriousness, any stroller recommendations? We’re looking at something that doubles as a car seat and is reversible so that the baby can be facing either in or out. (sorry for continuing the threadjack.. oh, and we want our stroller to be earthquake-proof).

;)[/quote]

Here’s my list of things I bought related to my daughter. I went overboard with stuff. I’ll give you my assessment of what I think was good purchase or not, hopefully, so you won’t make the same mistakes…I’d offer to give you the all the boxed up shit, but i’m saving it just in case I need it again…

———————–

1)Strollers:

1a)Everyday use stroller: Peg Perego P3.

The quality is really good imho…However, probably not worth the price new if you buy full price. I ended up getting one from BabyAge.com at half price because the fabric was discontinued (it was a dark blue).

Pros:
a) seemed to be better constructed than graco stroller.
b) worked with the Graco snug ride infant seat (also with peg perego infant seats, which are ripoffs)
c) decent recline angle
d) moderably portable for trips to malls/etc, without being overly bulky

Cons:
a)expensive. Not Bugaboo stroller designer expensive, but still expensive.
b)not reversable. Child always faces forward.
c)Useless cupholder.
d)Cannot be used on beach sand (but neither can other strollers that aren’t jogger strollers)

Recommendation: buy..especially if you can find one on craigslist….This was the primary stroller for 2 years. It was well used

1b) Jogging Stroller:
Pros: can be used on the beach
Cons: unless you are athletic an plan to take your infant with you on jogging, it’s pretty useless. Bulky, dificult to navigate in tight areas/malls,heavy.

Recommendation: don’t buy, unless you can pick one up for cheap @ craiglist. Our neighbhor gave away his, but we ended up not using it most of the time.

1c) Light umbrella stroller: Combi cosmo stroller.
Pros: light and portable, great for travel when kid is 1yr older

Cons: not recommended for infant.

Recommendation: hold off buying. Good stroller, but you might have a kid that hates sitting in strollers once they are older than 1.5 years.

Tip: when it comes to strollers, you pay for having the latest fabrics. So often if you get last year or close-out fabric, it’s 40-50% off
————————–

2) Baby carrying accesories…

a) Bay Bjorn:
I found this to be somewhat useful, but I didn’t use this extensively. I’m kinda clumsy and always worried about tripping over something and doing a faceplant with my kid in front of me.. I bought one used for 30% retail.

b)Hiking infant backpack.
This was pretty useful for carrying a kid on your back if you travel alot. Again, try to get second hand

——————————-
Car seats:

a)Infant: Graco SnugRide: I was pretty happy with this, though I don’t think we needed to get the “all weather boot package”. Price ranges differ based on fabric. Also, more expensive units were made in USA versus china.
I bought one on clearance made in USA (due to fabric being previous years). It included the cold weather boot.

Recommendation: since you have to get an infant seat, I’d go for this one. It’s good quality, but not insane price. Effectively, my kid outgrew the infant car seat really fast

b)Convertible:
Britax Bouvlevard:
Pros: rear facing for infant, and forward facing once todler. Solid…

Cons: Big…Make sure you can fit inside a car.

Recommendation: great seat. Again, find a discontinued fabric for good savings. I got one 50% off.

3)Convertible/booster
Recaro Young Sport Convertible Car Seat

Pros: supposedly has high crash rating
Cons: heavy, only forward facing, padding not as plush as say Britax.

Recommendation: not recommend. It’s a good seat, not worth the price. And the only seat I paid full price for because I was in a hurry.

————————————————

High chair

Peg Perego Prima Pagga:
Pros: Great high chair, adjustable up/down, foldable, sturdy, easy to clean, can be rolled around easily.

Cons: Ridiculously expensive @ full retail.

Recommendation: buy. We got good mileage out of the high chair, and again I found one discounted 30% due to the fabric.

————————-

Playpen/swings/bouncers/activity center

Graco pack and play:
Recommendation: buy, but don’t go overboard with the accessories. You don’t need the changing station, vibrating thing,etc. Good if you travel alot and places you go don’t have a crib

Graco swing:

Recommendation: hold off buying. Good swing, but my kid used it one time, and disassembling it to return was impossible. Total waste of money

Baby einstein activity center:
Recommendation: avoid. Piece of junk. legs started breaking, parts started falling off. I think there was a recall. In fact, I’d avoid all the baby einstein inspired things.

———————

Day do day use stuff

Diaper Genie:
Recommendation: don’t buy. Glorified trash can.
Flu recommends: if it’s pee, it can sit for 2 days. if it’s poop, take it outside anyway.

Bottles: Avoid microwaving plastic bottles at all cost, even those that are “microwave safe”. Make sure the plastic is not pvc based. Playtex Ventaire were decent for occasion use. Our kid didn’t like heated milk so this wasn’t a problem. And when she was 1.5 years, I switched to gerber glass bottles…. 6 pack at baby r us for pretty cheap. You/baby will end up breaking a few…

Bottle sanitizer: don’t bother. just stick the bottle in the dishwasher.

Portable blender: Get one of these. it comes in handy if you want to make baby food yourself…

http://www.chefgiant.com/show_product/9232/?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=datafeed&utm_term=9232

For example: organic peas and carrots, boiled, and then blended to mush….

You can find them at costco…

—————————————–

Furniture.

Dresser/chest:

Recommendation: don’t buy from baby store. Once the kid grows up, you need to get real furniture anyway. if you need a dresser, just go to ikea and get a white 2 drawer dresser for $100, versus $300-500 what they charge you at the baby store for a white dresser.

Convertible crib to infant bed…
Recommendation: not neccessary:
My experience is you don’t need this. First, most conversions still require to spend money on a conversion kit..Second, when the kid is old enough, just put them on a twin mattress that sits on the floor. It’s probably also safest to do, in case they roll off, they just land on the carpet.

Changing station: don’t buy. Just put the baby on a bed to change. make sure you get a water proof pad.

Kid table (when they are 2+).
Honestly, i don’t know where to get good inexpensive tables/chairs for kids. So I just got a small table from PotteryBarn for Kids, which ended up being free with a rewards card I got from work, plus I had a friend that worked for Pottery Barn’s parent company. I went to ikea and babyrus, and was disappointed because there wasn’t much and/or it wasn’t that much cheaper either.

Just recommend you get furniture with rounded corners..

Also, buy some lead test kits…Because you never know these days…

You might also want to throw in a cadmium test kit these days

http://www.cadmiumtestkit.com/where-to-buy-cadmium-test-kits.html

————————————

This is why a i think a good portion of retail for baby is recession proof. It’s ridiculous how much folks (inclusive) spend on kid crap.

[Author]

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