Comments on: Essential Baby Items

By: Beth

Beth — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:42:01 +0000

I’m looking for a lamp dimmer. When my oldest was a babe, there was this FABULOUS little Grayco gadget that you plugged your baby lamp into (with an ordinary bulb). One tap, the light came on, two taps, the light dimmed, three taps…it continued to dim over 15 minutes and she was asleep. It was the best gift I ever got. Does ANYONE know of something similar I can give as a gift nowadays???

By: Becky

Becky — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 15:20:42 +0000

Essential often are determined by space. We lived in a 5th wheel when we have our first three little kids. For me, essentials were few.
1. a place for the baby to sleep (we used a small playpen like a Pack n Play,
2. a hook-on high chair, (as recommended), but of course, not til the child was eating, and
3. I used a back pack carrier. The stroller isn’t necessary if you have the backpack.
4. car seat (of course!).

Clothes, receiving blankets, diapers (I used both cloth and disposable at different times on my children————-I had 5.)

When we moved to a different country and I had a baby, we had nothing special for her. We used a cardboard box and lined it with blankets and then as she grew bigger, gave her a bigger box until we got a playpen for her to sleep in.

By: Vickie

Vickie — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 06:33:37 +0000

I am ever so glad you didn’t add a stroller to that list. Those were just a nightmare! What I found useful was the car seat, a great diaper bag, a dimmer light, monitor, and a great babysitter. (Child experts insist that parents need to get away from baby regularly – usually once a week, even if it’s just a couple hours.)

By: Four Pillars

Four Pillars — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 12:04:34 +0000

Shevy – thanks a lot for the great comment. I agree there are a lot of different aspects to car seat.

I’m going to put this topic on my “future post” list.

By: Shevy

Shevy — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 08:08:12 +0000

Well, yes, car seats are mandatory if you ride in a car or taxi but there are car seats and then there are car seats. In our family we currently have 3 car seats (2 of which can be converted into a type of booster seat) and 2 new boosters (the kind with a removable back). These are for my 6 yo daughter, and 4 and almost 2 yo granddaughters.

Of the 3 car seats, one has an awkwardly placed adjustment that makes it difficult to adjust the straps to fit different sized kids (or kids in coats vs. ones not in coats) without practically strangling the child but the bottom part of the fastening works well and the cover on the seat comes off easily for washing (one of the kids has been sick many times in the car). I don’t think it can be converted to a highbacked booster.

One adjusts well but has an annoying clasp that goes between the legs. Two pieces have to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, then slide together into the other piece. It’s pretty well impossible to do one-handed or quickly. This car seat’s cover is also much harder to remove and the straps are very tricky to replace. It has guides for where you use the regular shoulder harness when the child reaches booster seat size.

The 3rd is identical to the 2nd one except for the material of the cover (which is merely an aesthetic difference) and the clasp between the legs. This one uses the much better clasp of the first seat.

Far too often new parents pick the seat using a criteria as non-vital as the material or by merely looking at the price tag. Instead, you should really check it out. How easy is it to adjust? To remove the cover? To move the straps to the next set of slots? To fasten or adjust with one hand?

This applies to some of the other major purchases as well, such as strollers. Can you push it with one hand? Fold it or unfold it with one hand? How does it turn with a heavy child sitting in it? Is the handle the right height for you? This last may seem trivial now. It won’t seem trivial when you’ve been pushing the stroller for an hour and your back is killing you.

Frankly, a few things that other parents raved about never interested me (swings, infant bouncy seats, giant pillows like the Bumbo). I prefer to keep my babies in arms or on a flat surface (floor or bed) except when I have to walk any distance. Short distances are why I have a hip. Anything longer kills my back and I love a large stroller that folds flat, reclines fully and has plenty of space to tote shopping bags, coats, etc.

By: Four Pillars

Four Pillars — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 04:44:12 +0000

Wooly – that sounds like a great idea. I feel sorry for new parents who don’t have any relatives nearby.

By: Wooly Woman

Wooly Woman — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 03:31:28 +0000

A few of us are trying to set up a Rent a Granny network in our little town – for moms without relatives nearby. It is in its infancy (haha) but we have some interest from some older volunteers. So maybe they can be rented? In a most respectful way possible- after all, our goal is to match older people who would love to have grandchildren nearby with moms who would love to have a grandparent nearby, and to develop long-term relationships

By: Four Pillars

Four Pillars — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 01:51:09 +0000

Kika – yes the car seat is mandatory which is why I didn’t include it – kind of like diapers.

Jesse – second hand is the best way to go for baby junk.

Nicolas – great video – thanks for sharing.

By: Nicolas

Nicolas — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 01:35:50 +0000

An old pillow he can’t live without. Just like Linus in Peanuts.

I have to plug this one… Sorry FP. Here’s a little video all parents should appreciate. Put the volume on, the music (in French) is fun. You tell me what is essential there. I say lots of space to explore.

http://blog.fagstein.com/2009/01/30/baby-time-lapse-goes-viral/

CanadianFinance: Great for you both. FP’s posts are great but I’d have to add that reader’s input is also greatly instructive.

By: jesse

jesse — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 23:14:47 +0000

I would add the cloth book with “crinkly” pages. Our book had a mirror on one of the pages. (Babies are oddly narsissictic and like looking at themselves in mirrors.) Kept my daughter entertained for hours in her high chair.

For the packnplay crib, we went with the larger square one. A bit more $ but equally as portable as the smaller ones and usable for that much longer as the baby starts crawling around.

Also most of this stuff can be had second hand, either thru craigslist or swap meets. Our bumbo chair was $10 or something like that and it rarely gets used. We will likely sell it for $10 again. Depreciation = zero.

+1 for the portable clip on high chair.