I want to apologize in advance for posting a non political thread on here.
 
Anyway, Mrs Bus and I are making the shopping list before the stork drops off the youngin. Who has what stroller, pack n play car set etc.  What did you like about them and not like...

Thanks!

oh yeah, Bush sucks...there, now this thread can stay in the politics forum...

Hugggies diapers are the best

dont buy the cheapies or you will pay
plus when you feel them you think I wouldnt want that touching my skin
so why would you put it on your child

stroller with bicycle wheels, they can be pushed along the shoreline...

You will probably wish to avoid products from this company.






Edited: 07/09/2008 at 10:42 AM by tahoe

stay away from cloth diapers. yuck
some things that went over good were cloth books so they can't be torn, anything with a mirror and those cool red/blue balls with all the shape holes.

look for a stroller with plenty of storage. Amazon has an extensive selection:


http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=am...1601&pf_rd_i=stroller


You might want to make a gift list too:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/baby/...n%2A=1&%2Aentries%2A=0

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"God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France

- speaking truth to power

i dont remember brands... as far as diapers, stick with the name brands. But do not limit yourself to a specific brand. I have one son who wore pampers, and another who wore Huggies. They had different fits, and quite frankly, my kids must have different shaped butts.
Go to a baby's R us or someplace like that, and pull the strollers off the displays... check em out, roll em, fold em, unfold em. Roll them over something on the floor to see how the wheels handle bumps.
Get hands on with the pack & play, and the car seat. Pick up the baby carrier car seat and carry it around... you will be carrying that thing a lot for the first several months at least.
Write down your favorites, and check them out online. Look for recalls, reviews, injuries, etc...
There is no "model AX124545" to recommend because they change every few months.. Just don't get wrapped up in the "eddie bauer edition" crap. It is a waste of money.
Find a diaper bag that YOU, a GUY, would feel comfortable carrying in public. Nothing with flowers, frills, silly colors, etc... Your wife can have whatever she wants. I recommend for you one that is a backpack. Nothing worse than looking like the sorry guy waiting and holding the purse while his wife is trying on clothes. And you WILL feel like that all the time with a girlie looking diaper bag.

Fill the diaper bag with airline size liquor bottles. Fatherhood will drive you to drink.

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Our position is tax cuts for the middle class. Theirs is tax cuts for millionaires.

 
so, as Tahoe suggests, stay away from the Bush baby brand...

We test drove a few at toys r us. Tragets are hard to get down off the rack. We plan on getting a pack n play for the house and one to abuse at the beach.

We are also researching more environmentally friendly diapers.

Shoudl I just get a bigger diaper bag and skip straight to fifths?

I used cloth diapers some just because someone gave them to us, and they weren't bad at all - I bought an old washer and stuck it out back (tres trailer park) and just washed them separately.

I did like the big wheeled stroller, but I never used it much - she had colic and I ended up carrying her around till she was 2 in a sling. I HIGHLY recommend them - she would sit up in it like a baby kangaroo holding onto the edge and it really helped distribute the weight. Plus she liked to look around and it made nursing REALLY easy - she just stayed in the sling the whole time. I carried her while I did housework, we took walks around the neighborhood, and all with no stroller. You're tired at first but you adjust.

It's weird, I never had a playpen, either - that would have been nice, but again with the colic she seemed happier roaming, and at the time I had time to watch her. Then again, I didn't have a crib till she was 8 months old - darn, I didn't realize I was THAT weird!!!! Someone gave me one of those side-sleeping things and she just slept next to us till she started eating solid food, at which point I had to get a crib. I never had a problem getting her to sleep by herself because by this time the colic was better.

Edit: Oh, and I had a car seat, but not one of the new ones that snapped in and out, but then again, with the colic she would have just lain in there and hollered. You can't imagine the hell that is colic...Turns out she had GERD .

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[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~Pat Robertson

Edited: 07/09/2008 at 11:34 AM by moody

Huggies all the way for lack of diaper rash.

And believe me. You think your tough. Wait till you wipe that prescious butt and you hear that scream and see that redness. You will feel the deepest pain inside your soul you have ever felt.

My wife would totally disagree, but pack and plays and car seats and all of that stuff is recyclable with a cloth cover. Try to get hand me downs and yard sale stuff and ask for cash money at the baby showers.

Its like expired perscription pills. We all know they still work great after the exp. date. Cash is better that a brand new set of plastic baby gear that will end up in the landfill anyways.

That being said, I forgot to leave the car seat for my wife for our 2 year old last week and she rushed out and baught a $80 brand new car seat knowing full well we had about 3 loaners availible. Chicks.

God bless and get ready to see the true face of God over the next few years.
Now that I'm on my 2nd curtain climber and teacher her to swim and worrying about her being left near pools and such, I can tell you that these precious gifts are a lot like the mariner who sees the roughest seas that can't be an athiest after seeing the majesty of the vast oceans power.

Same goes with raising small children. You will pray to anything resembling God when they cry out with a high fever in the night.

Congrats. dude. See u in the water this week.

I'm still working with baby #2 over here.. in fact, we may have some stuff we could give you by the time yours is due.

RE: a pack n play- we have one, but honestly really never use it.

They are good for a portable "crib" on trips- but usually hotels can supply these anyway.

For the home, I just don't find that we needed it- if you want the child in a safe enclosed place you can put them in their crib once converted with higher sides- basically the same thing as a pack n play..

or put them in an exer-saucer. Those are really good- especially the 3 stage ones.. however they can be a bit pricey. probably one of the more pricey baby items- they don't even use them that long- since once they are up and moving then all bets are off.

So I would see if anyone has a baby growing out of one, or keep your eyes on the consignment stores.


Truthfully, I often just clear the floor, put down a blanket, and let the baby roll around / try to crawl. that's what they really want anyway, and just get frustrated hitting the sides of a crib.

Since you're not really going to be taking your eyes off them anyway- that's always an option.

Word to the wise- I'd buy a BOUNCEY 1000x before a pack n play. You want a simple one with plastic click-in latches. no wierd thing with straps that have to go through loops or anything. The idea is a very quick and easy click in.

These are what you'll use when you need to do something real quick and need to know the baby isnt going anywhere. Fisher price makes good ones. you can get them at Target. Again- simplicity usually rules here. There's a cool jungle themed one I saw recently- at Target I think- that had a nice play rack, but wasn't to convoluted. the Fisher Price blue "Sea Life" one is a classic and works great.

I wouldn't bother with a "swing" the babies don't always like them- they are pricey, and they just add more clutter. I'd stick with one good bouncer.

For example:

http://tinyurl.com/5ohkxw

note the simple wire legs



re: strollers- you're going to want one that the car seat can click into, and then later can be used w/o the car seat.

Here's the thing with that- the baby is only in the car seat for awhile- so don't break the bank on some super setup- you really won't need it. We had a peg-perego pricey stroller and in the end it drove me nuts.

What you really want to look for are 3 things-

1) an easy click "base" that child-latches into the car using the safety latch system. the car seat itself "clicks" into the base and the stroller.

2) the car seat itself should have a nice easy to carry ergonomic handle. we have a baby trends this time around and I don't like the triangular handle, or the sticky rubber its covered in. what i also don't like is the kooky way the straps latch to the lock- you gotta hold all thre pieces together to get it to latch.. better to be able to latch in each car seat strap one at a time... so look for that.

3) the stroller that you use should be easy to fold, have plenty of storage- cup holders, etc all easy to access. Did I mention SIMPLE to fold? and it STAYS folded?
.. it should also not be ginormous. Lean and mean is the key here.

various brands of car seats and strollers can interchange with each other- so try them out and get a setup you like.

after the child gets a bit bigger, you'll probably just end up using that lightweight McClaren stroller everybody's got. There's a reason they use those- once your child starts getting heavy, you want the stroller to get light

At that point they also move up to a 5-point harness car seat which is another ball of wax- don't try to tackle that one before you come to it



In conclusion- most new parents get "baby fever" and the industry preys on this. The second time around is different though.. you realize that you went overboard the first time hahaha. So keep in mind to keep things SIMPLE and LIGHT. Don't buy the craziest boogaboo rodeo drive stroller or whatever the magazines push on you- usually they are annoyingly complicated, too bulky and have kooky ways of doing things.

Keep it simple, keep it economical, and don't buy things BEFORE you need them. Buy it on an as-needed basis, and you'll keep your life running alot smoother.. not to mention keeping the clutter down. You gotta watch that.. its tempting to buy all this baby junk and then it ends up stubbing your toe at 3am because you don't use it and there's nowhere for it to go- plus it cost $150 hahaha

Invest in a good wireless video monitor before getting any extras like a swing or a jumper or 10,000 outfits

You will need the monitor because you should be putting the baby down to sleep in its crib alone after feeding after the first month or so.. you don't want to create a situation where the baby can't fall asleep if its not cuddled up to Mom- trust me. Let your baby get used to sleeping in the crib solo.

re: diapers, we use pampers SWADDLERS, they don't leak, haven't had a problem. You'll need a diaper genie. a changing table.. if you see redness put the diaper rash cream on it. Don't use baby powder- its dangerous to baby's lungs, google it.

That's about all I can think of... get them used to the water early.. take them in a pool, the tidepool, etc My 5 month old has been going in the pool now for four months, I can dunk her under quickly- no problems. In Florida, the faster they know how to swim, the safer they will be.

re: sleep- the key is to work in shifts. Don't do a "you go this time" thing. that just means you both wake up all night. Have someone sleep, the other one is on duty.

If Mom breastfeeds, have her pump as well so you will have some milk around to bottlefeed when you're on. Keep a tub of Similac "sensitive" formula around as an emergency backup. It's no big deal if a nursing baby gets some formula once in awhile- just make sure its "sensitive stomach" formula so it doesn't give gas if they arent used to it.

A few more tips- do get a couple "Baby Einstein" dvds- as they get older they like these.. very simple, easy to take in. You are welcome to borrow some from me, as I have the whole damn set :/

Also, if you have digital cable, channel 309 is pre-school on demand. Has some slow moving soothing shows they can watch from the bouncer to give you a break.

Edited: 07/09/2008 at 12:58 PM by paddleout

I forgot.
The old school "BOUNCY SEAT" is best.
Both of my kids prefered the old "Coat Hanger" style metal bouncy seat,
to the new ones that play 20 songs and viberate.

Also get your Barney, Caillou, Dora, Baby Einstien and Blues Clues groove on as this will be you only relief in about 1 year for a nap.
A good 90 min Barney type tape is worth 100 times its weight in gold. If you plan on ever sleeping again.

Prop the child against you on the couch will a blanket and a bottle and snooze away with the 90 min kids show playing.

You can feel them move and that will wake you up. That or the warm sensation when the pee out the side of their diaper onto your leg. When you feel the warm sensation its pretty much already too late.



Edited: 07/09/2008 at 12:33 PM by consultrelkins@hotmail.com

definitely go with lots of color.
adults tend to like neutral colors that match (like graco stuff), but babies love bright bold colors (like fisher price) with things that move and rattle - and definitely lights.

Oh and keep em fed. A full belly = happy baby.
Otherwise you'll end up with the "Fee the Children" stare.


Edited: 07/09/2008 at 12:57 PM by consultrelkins@hotmail.com

Diapers.com
for whatever diapers you chose. Free shipping to your door.

Holla, we're getting rid of a couple car seats. The Mrs. had them on Craigslist but I'm sure she'll hook it up for you guys.

Paddleout said it best, keep it simple. You don't use half the crap you get and quickly find out what is really useful.

Bwahaha about the "feed the children" stare. If only mine would've stared instead of screaming!

I forgot about the bouncy seat - that one was a hit when my arms got too tired to hold her anymore or I had to run into the kitchen to do something. I also had a fairly complex setup of pillows when I first started nursing (your arms get TIRED) but now they have a pillow that you stick around your stomach that holds the baby at about the right height. I would have given a finger or two to have one of those...I think they're called "boppys" or something.

And yes to the new baby fever - I had to make do with next to nothing because I was on bedrest and couldn't work for the last three months, so we had NO money. I found out that I could do without almost all of the modern conveniences, and some were probably better to not have.

And I know I'll get a lot of flak for this, but as the person who was doing the breastfeeding, I loved having her in the same room. I HATE waking up, and I could just kind of roll her onto the bed with me and then throw her back on her own side when she was done (the bassinet had a lower rail on the side that attached to the bed).

But I swear, I did not sleep for 8 months. I learned a lot about sleep deprivation during that time...

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[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~Pat Robertson

Edited: 07/09/2008 at 12:57 PM by moody

I love you Moody. We are kindred spririts.
My wife calls me the afeminite one, but I'm just a softy for my new little girl and my 9 year old slept in the bed with us until he was 7.

Everyone said he would suffer seperation disorder when he spent time away from home, but he laughs when the other kids cry on a camp out in the woods.

You make your own rules when you see those little grins and frowns.
Our 2nd one sleeps in her own room at 2 after breastfeeding for about the 1st 18 months, but our 1st was like some kind of Icelandic freak, breastfeeding at 3 1/2 years unbottoning other womens shirts. He was like an animal.

Pretty high inteligence though. Maybe something to, keeping them close by you side for the first 3-5 years.

I like this thread. Let's talk about raising our kids instead of McSame and Obama.
Way funner!

Edited: 07/09/2008 at 01:13 PM by consultrelkins@hotmail.com

Paddle out had good advice
except:
No diaper genie!!
I hated the idea of storing poop in the house.
I put the diaper in a publix bag and to the curb it goes with the rest of the garbage.
The diaper genie makes these long link "poop sausages."

Poop sausage "Thats sounds funny" if I say so myself

Hey congrats Brown Bus if I didn't mention it earlier (I've been away much of the Summer).

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Outta time!

Just saw 3rdworldembryo's heartbeat on the ultrasound, seven weeks tomorrow, still in de Nile. Diapers!?!? Oh $#!

Edited: 07/09/2008 at 02:23 PM by 3rdworldlover

For carseats there is only one way to go Britax
Get two or three bases (depending on how many people will transport) and leave the base in each of the cars. We went for the infant seat while he was tiny and then moved to the next size up, which will go to 65lbs so it is a great value.

I will disagree about a "biggest stroller". We had a universal frame that the infant seat clicked into. The less stuff we were trying to orchestrate to get out the door the better. And the diaper advise is right on. Buy small packs of each brand and see which fits best, pampers worked best for us. We had a pack and play and used it 3x I think.

Didn't use a diaper genie, breastfed poop does not have that horrible poop smell so it really wasn't an issue for 6+ months by then we were out of the 500 poops a day stage.

HTH, Melissa

Avoid those horrible plastic seats with handles that I see people carrying their kids around in.
Babies need contact, to be held. Get a sling.

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"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill