product recommendations

ponderings / parenting / product recommendations

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these are my baby product recommendations - mostly focusing on newborn requirements. this list has lara to thank for it - she asked me for recommendations of US baby products, i wrote her one of the longest emails i've ever written (obviously thinking my views are extremely useful?!) and realised i'd written a page of content.. so here it is....

baby bjorn
i had a really cheap version with aly and NEVER used it because it was difficult to put on and i always felt like she was going to fall out, but I figured that with having to chase aly around, it was a must with toby and i was very happy with the baby bjorn I had.

baby mozart (see video tapes)

backpack stroller (from boots in the UK)
this was our BEST buy and favourite product. i think it cost about 30GBP (about US$45). my only regret is that we're not energetic enough to have bothered using it as a backpack more than about twice! we've been asked where we bought it wherever we've been in the world (we've also had a few people snigger when the sun shield is up since it makes it look a little spaceship-like!). it was with the backpacks rather than the strollers in the store so i don't think anyone looking for a stroller would really have noticed it. why so wonderful? it's light, very compact, very easy to use, the baby is happy because they're upright and have the best view, the storage is as big as a regular stroller (and the storage is easier to access). lara and roger will soon be taking custody of ours and i hope they have as many wonderful years together as us! (they're very energetic so i'm hoping it gets taken on the hikes it's been longing for). have i gone on enough. i really love it. can you tell?!

bath
i found it easier to have revoltingly luke warm baths with the babies so i could hold them properly and avoid backache for a week, so we didn't use our baby bath for long (we had a very basic one).

bath seats
we did end up getting one of those bath seats with toby which was a wonderful thing. i tried a cheap one which was next to useless (the whole seat floated around in the bath - often on it's side - not helpful!) but ended up borrowing a good one from friends (thanks jessica and jason). the one we had was for babies who could pretty much sit unaided though. i think it was safety 1st brand. it's important to find one which is designed so it is easy to get the baby into and out of since they're so slippery when wet!

bath stuff - johnson's
i'm still using johnson's stuff (they do a great 2 in 1 shampoo which i use for aly) but i never really had to experiment so don't have anything to compare their products to.

boppy
the crescent shaped things for breastfeeding/proping up babies. i have a lot of friends who swear by these but I always managed more easily without.

bottles
i just used the plain tall thin ones - they fit better in the change bags, but it was more coincident than anything. seems like it's more difficult to get bits for those in the US though. boots (UK) also make disposable bottles which were great for vacations etc.

breast pump
i had a really terrible one with aly and therefore never used it (never could). i got a good one with toby and had some success. mine was the 'medela single deluxe' [sounds more like a hotel room to me]

car seat
we had one with our stroller - graco. the kids are now both in matching eddie baeur cosco (not to be confused with costco) seats but I wouldn't recommend anything cosco - our double stroller is very iffy and the material on the car seats has worn through already - oh yeah and the straps twist irritatingly. they look pretty though :-)

change bag
i've always had backpacks - being able to wear the bag securely (no more slinging it over one shoulder to look cool) and still have 2 hands free is critical as far as i'm concerned! i think the one i've got at the moment is from gap and seems to be lasting better than my 1st one (which i think was from mothercare (UK)). lots of pockets are vital since you end up with SO MUCH STUFF.

changing mats
i much prefer the idea of the plastic/cold ones they have in the UK & never thought the warmth benefits of the fluffy american ones really outweighted the even-more-laundry-on-top-of-the-ridiculous-amount-i-already-had downfall.

changing table
i don't think this was really a necessary purchase but fortunately our ikea one coverted to a bureau so all was not lost!

crib/cot
we had a moses basket to begin with and i think you can use only that for the first 3 months or so (no basket frame necessary unless you have animals you need to keep the baby away from). aly had a crib that converts to a toddler bed but we ended up not converting it since she switched between her crib and proper bed for a while when she was transitioning. if space really is an issue you might be able to just get away with a pack n play (folding crib) - but you might want to get an extra matress pad for the base since the ones that come with them are not usually very comfortable.

cups
i LOVE gerber sippy cups - specifically the bigger, fatter ones. [US only]. having said that, if they'll drink from the tall sports bottles, they're handy because they fit nicely in bottle holders in change bags etc. moving on from there, ikea have just introduced some lovely looking small, clear, big kid plastic cups and some clear blue cups with non-slip bottoms to them. kids are moving up in the world.

diapers
second only to the backpack stroller, i love pampers premiums (the purple/more expensive pack) but people's opinions vary hugely, so I think it must have to do with the size/shape of the baby. anyway, particularly in the first couple of months its worth testing a couple of different brands to find the best for your baby so you can try to avoid 'blow-outs' [as they're called by those in the know!]. i still love them even though we re beyond the blow out stage because it means i can be extremely lazy and only change them when the diapers start to drag along the ground! [the only time either of my kids have had diaper rash is when we're changed brands so i'm all for pampers. dont stock up on newborn and size 1s because they instantly grow out of them!

diaper bins/genies
i have the main playtex one. in fact we did have 2 when we had 2 storeys and a newborn. i don't think they're essential and they're a bit bulky (and require lots of changing when the baby is little and going through a squillion diapers a day). changing the refill units requires a degree or a lot of practice. the US ones don't do as good a job of concealing the smell as the UK version.

diaper sacks
not many people seem to make them in the US which I really miss (although babies r us do do them) but many plastic bags for pooey clothes and pooey diapers are required in your change bag!

dishes
anything with a suction cup or non-slip bottom is critical. partitioned dishes are also useful. (also see spoons).

dummies
unless you're dead against it, i'd recommend having a dummy in the house. both my kids loved their dummies but would only take avent brand (they can be tricky to find in the US but i think both target & babies r us have them)

fish tank
(the fisher price one, not the sort with fish that poo and require feeding) (a present for aly from kellie and kenny) - this has been great for entertaining them. we used to switch ours between the crib and change mat so we didn't really use the mobiles we had much.

highchairs
we've now had 4 different highchairs. the first one we bought was a beautiful wooden one which was a HOPELESS highchair. it looked pretty but was difficult to clean, didn't adjust, the tray didn't move and it never looked very comfortable (other than that..!). fortunately that highchair converted to a toddler chair and table which have had many many hours of use so we've definitely got our money's worth. we had an ikea one at my mum's house which definitely served it's purpose and was wonderfully cheap (10GBP). right now we have 2 different graco ones - one designed for younger kids with all sorts of adjustments and one for older kids - no adjustments. we like them both. the only trouble with the adjustable one was that it came with a lovely cloth cover which had to come off after about 2 meals since it was was too much hassle to clean!

monitors
depending on the size of the place you live, these are not always necessary. the most important thing when buying one is to take it home and test it immediately - i think we've had 5 different ones over the past couple of years and which one worked depended on where we lived and where we placed the receiver. it's worth getting one which will work just with batteries when required. despite my love of all things graco, i think i tried 2 different graco ones, neither of which worked. i'm pretty sure it was a safety 1st one we borrowed from dave and marcia which worked best.

pacifiers (see dummies)

plates (see spoons)

prams (see stroller)

rocking chair
we have a nice one from babies r us. if i ever bought another i would avoid babies r us since the first 2 we bought were both damaged. i didn't use it that much to begin with but i think we will end up getting our money's worth for years to come. we also bought the foot rocker with it but it can be difficult to rock yourself without too much effort when the foot stool rocks as well! i think we would have been better with just a regular footstool.

seat (vibrating)
we didn't have one with aly but toby definitely enjoyed his - it made a change from the swing! (i think we had a fisher price one)

spoons
for feeding babies i always liked the small munchkin feeding spoons - metal handles with a plastic end [they come in packs of 4 or 5 - US only]. the only trouble with them was that they liked to chew them because they are a really nice texture. when they started to feed themselves, the weird plastic gerber loop-handled spoon seemed to work well for toby. aly and toby now just prefer kids' metal spoons and forks [the plastic forks were usually too difficult to stab things with]. ikea do wonderful cheap plates/bowls/cups but their knives, forks and spoons are a bit too clumsy.

stroller (also see backpack stroller)
we got a travel system thing from graco which I think is essential if you have a car (but even better, they now have the bases which you can leave in the car rather than having to re-strap the seats in each time). The important thing is to test foldability in the store to find an easy-to-use one. when we were choosing sascha was very good about doing the walk test (to ensure he didn't get irritated by kicking an annoying bit sticking out of the back or something. often the 'annoying bit' is the break - this can be very dangerous when crossing the street!).

swing
anything which has a hope of getting them to sleep without being held has to be a good thing. we didn't have a swing with aly but damien bought us one (a graco, hand wind) when we had toby and I still haven't kissed him for it :) winding yourself is not a problem and those other ones go thru batteries like there's no tomorrow.

vibrating seat (see seat)

video tapes
(baby mozart etc.) - actually the one we've got is made by baby smart i think - same idea. toby is now 18 months and will still sit without moving and watch this (i'm panicking a bit because it's starting to get crackly). i'm not sure it would have lasted as long with aly because she was never into classical music the way toby is?! it's been wonderful and worth it's weight in gold when I've really needed to get something done.

wipes
again, we love pampers wipes. it doesn't matter which type. toby seems to be allergic to huggies wipes!