Baby Tech Talk

[nobueno]

Having a baby boy in September!! Favorite baby hacks?

Signing up for baby shower stuff now. What's your favorite/most helpful items you had for you kid? (Also open to any tips that'll help keep momma and papa sane.)

We're already signed up for a crib and the ergo baby carrier but outside of that we don't have too terribly much. Thanks guys

[jfost]

dont buy any baby clothes/toys/books/etc... if you or her have any family/freinds with older kids at all you will be OVERWHELMED with stuff for your 1st. I'm talking hand-me-down EVERYTHING, in every available color/size etc. Save your $ for diapers and formula (if you end up needing it - we did for a few months with both before they turned 1)

If you're having a few baby showers, have a "book shower" where everyone brings a copy of their fav childhood book. Cool way to get a library of the classics + a few surprises.

DONT waste your shower gifts on big dumb items like Diaper Genie, Play Mats, Fancy Pack&Play's etc. get a bunch of clothes and towels/blankets for gifts and see above.

Things you NEED:

1. a good pack&play (not fancy with bells&whistles) but a solid one that has NO additional features. We use our cheap-o one ALL the time, and never the expensive one with the lights and sounds and overhead gym attachment. Get a $20 pack&play mattress cover for little one's comfort and take them EVERYWHERE in this thing.

2. monitor - get the one with IR video, even if you are anti-monitor it is hilarious to sit up and watch you kid when they are supposed to be sleeping. Think they slept all nite? Think again when you check your video monitor...

3. some kind of bottles/drying rack, YMMV

4. towels. I cannot tell you how many towels you will need. When you open a shower gift and it is a bunch of towels, PRAISE THE LORD!!! You should have so many that you don't mind throwing them away when they get "things" on them...

5. One-sies. See above re: towels and repeat. The kind that snap tight in the crotch help contain diaper mishaps. You cannot have too many of these either. The moment that you are at a restaurant and the inevitable 3-days late shitnado happens - you will be SO stoked to pull out a new stack of towels and one-sie and walk back to the table with your head held high, knowing that some other poor guy will have to take out the garbage that night. Baby-sized pants to pair with the onesies are right there too...

6. a good carseat (we like graco for infant carrier/seat combo and britax for bigger kids) The infant carrier that snaps into a base in your car is SUPER handy. Having an extra set of fabric parts or at least a removable cover for the infant carrier is a good move. (see above shitnado)

7. stroller. You'll probably get one or three as gifts, that's fine. Make sure you get a frame type to snap the carrier seat into for the first few months. It is very convenient when you go out to eat/store/etc.

8. oh yeah, a good crib. IIRC drop rails are a current no-no - but you can solve it with a drill and some wood screws if you get a nice hand-me-down. Why risk a stupid latch failing and hurting the kid, just stick with solid sides and bend over to get them out. It works the back extensors and gives you something else to complain about...

that's about all - have fun!

[pfluffenmeister]

everyone here is a dentist.

we just hire nannies.

[nobueno]

thanks jfost. we already decided against getting shitloads of gadgets and dumb items everyone thinks they need. i just want to make sure we're getting the essentials. went to consumer reports and picked out the highest rated (read: "safest") crib and car seat. well at least now the wife can complain about my bottle tree for drying my home brew bottles. good to know about the towels and shitnados and love the idea of the book shower.

[JayPowHound]

B.O.B. Revolution is a great stroller, takes curbs like they're nothing and is smooth for running and off-road stuff...

Also, we owe many many hours of rest to the Miracle Blanket swaddling blanket/straitjacket. If you don't start with them at least keep em in mind if you end up with a baby who won't sleep.

Congrats, you'll have a blast!

[::: :::]

wipes

after that, everything else is just gravy

[Jethro]

delete post

[timeo]

Most important - spend the money on a nice, COMFORTABLE, rocking chair. No matter what the wife says, YOU will be falling asleep in this thing at some point so get one that is extra comfortable, preferably one that fully reclines. No matter how nice it is, you will grow to hate it.

Agree on the pack and play - nothing fancy but necessary.

Skip the Diaper Genie and similar - all it does it make shit smell like perfumed, festering shit since the shit stays in the room for several days before you empty it. We just used plastic grocery bags to wrap the diapers in, and then put them in a small pail w/ a tight lid that we emptied every day.

Get one of those waterproof blankets, they are like vinyl on the bottom. Great at the park and we still use it at outdoor concerts sans kids, one of the few baby related things we will continue to use.

Humidifiers come in handy when they are sick.

Also, just get a BOB stroller, everything else is plastic and garbage, BOBs are built to last and roll smooth and straight, they all work good for jogging. One of the best things we did was buy stuff on craigslist, like the BOB, the chair, baby gates, etc. We focused on getting the high quality gear and basically used it for 4-5 years and then were able to sell it back on craigslist for about what we paid for it.

[wooley12]

Congrats!! Enjoy the ride!! Monitors are OK I guess if you NEVER want to get any sleep. We never had one. Buy lots of shirts for yourself and the mom. You'll need 3-5 per day each.

[homeeey]

Baby Bjorn or similar to carry them around in.

[bern43]

Some recommendations that others have already mentioned: B.O.B. stroller, white one-sies that snap-on at the bottom, decent pack-n-play. For the car-seat make sure you get one that can snap into a stroller. Helpful for doing the transfer from the car if they're sleeping. Also get some kind of bouncy seat. You can put the kid in the seat and then move the seat around with them in it. Can't tell you how helpful that was. Hit up friends and relatives for old clothes and books. We have a huge library of books and most of it came from friends who have older kids. Good luck!

[crackboy]

as many waterproof lap pads as you can manage. help keep sheets and stuff clean when you put the baby down.

second the swaddlers. they work really well

white noise machine. we have a sleep sheep, it is good.

we ended up getting a wrap and a mei tai instead of the soft sided carriers, seems a bit more versatile to me.

our pack and play had a basinet feature that had a removable elevated sleeping thing. that was nice, but all the other extras aren't needed.

we never really used our glider seat.

also, this will depend on climate, but we dressed our september guy in sleepers for the most part. never really put him onesies until he got older. when picking a sleeper, buttons down both legs is better than any other kind.

[Cruiser]

Plan to hold the baby a lot. A LOT! It makes a difference. Get a baby bjorn or a wrap of some sort and hold the baby. Oh, and when you do use a stroller, get a nice one first. Then you won't have to piss away money upgrading to something better. Bugaboo is the tits. Everything else is less good. A high quality glider rocker is a good thing to have. That way you can nap in it semi-comfortably.

You may want to upgrade your washer and dryer too at this point. Just saying...

[JayPowHound]

+1 for the white noise, bassinet on the pack & play, and a vibrating/bouncy seat of some sort..

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[criscam]

if you don't have one already get a physio ball. can't count how many times i've used ours for bouncing our kid (either sitting or laying back on it) to get them to sleep or calm them down. plus you can get a little workout at the same time.

[~mikey b]

get a lot of beer

[iamTRuTH]

Our boy is 6 weeks old, and by far the best thing we got is a "Boppy". I made enormous fun of my wife about that thing, but now I see her wisdom. The thing rocks, They are like $30, so worth it.

Also, don't cheap out on diapers, we had no blowouts until trying discount brand diapers (Sam's Club brand). Pampers swaddlers all the way, however; we found the huggies wipes work the best for sticky poo.

Good luck, and rest up. I was up 0130 today with him.

[hutash]

Skis, ya can't start 'em too young.

+1 on the rocker. Get as much stuff for friends second hand, and don't obsess of safety. If a friend has a good crib, score it. The one thing I would buy is a good car seat/carrier. Those things change rapidly, and every year seem safer and safer (this is one place to obsess on safety.)

Get/barrow a travel crib, this makes life surprisingly easy.

Don't buy any clothes, and don't take the tags off of anything given to you. Take them all back, for the first 6 months the lid will never be out of PJs, unless it's hot and he is sport just the pampers. Laeit(sp?) gowns are the best, the ones with no legs, just a draw string. Kids live in those.

Get him a college savings plan...never too early to start.

[nobueno]

Great stuff so far. As far as the skiing, how early can you start them? By spring 2014 he'll be 18 months so I figured I'd try to get him a few warmer days on the slope. Sound realistic?

[nobueno]

And no don't worry I wont be just counting down the days til that. I'll be cherishing every second.

[wooley12]

Wish I had read this with ours. It works.

http://www.happiestbaby.com/

[Tahoepa]

I skied my twins at 2... in the spring. Before that they are just not that strong or coordinated. Year 3 waste a big year when they learned to stop and got off the leash. I second the bob stroller and diapers. Pack and play. A good diaper bag. Lots of bottles. A good changing table height with all the shit within arms reach....ie diapers, ointments, etc. We avoided.the pacifiers and in the end I think it was better.
My next point is probably the one thing that fucked me as.a dad the most. If mommy is gonna nurse, make sure its not all from the boob. Make sure your kid will eat from the bottle also. This happened to me and when wifey decided it was finally time to go out with her friends I was totally fucked. Nothing more helpless of a feeling than a crying child u can't console. Tons more things to need and learn along the way, but everyone is different. We raised twins with no help and both worked full time.....pretty epic still and my kids are almost 7.

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[nobueno]

wooley12 - heard that on NPR the other day and it's on hold at the library.

tahoe - i was kind of wondering if that would be a problem. good to know.

[Tahoepa]

Ya...you will go to places in your head u never knew existed with jr. There is nothing more awesome than becoming a super hero for your kid though. My kids are up for anything and there is nothing better than having a little one running for you when you get home from work or whatever. Have fun......children and family are the best parts of life....esp when u stoke em out on stuff u love in life. Nowadays my son and I go to the garage to tune our skis and wax.....awesome. Storm day skiing is pretty awesome too. Only takes a few inches for jr to be knee deep!

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[crackboy]

Wish I had read this with ours. It works.

http://www.happiestbaby.com/

yea we did that. it is amazing. i mean the book kinda sucks, liek 2/3 is him trying to sell the system. but the system works

as for the boppy, we found it wasn't all that useful until he was better at latching and a little bigger. for early breastfeeding my wife prefered the my breast friend pillow. it sat higher on her and kept little man where he needed to be. if your wife is long torso'ed i would look into that as the boppy will require leaning over.

also word of advice is to actually bring the nursing pillow with you to the hospital.