Our midwife appointment went smoothly. Midwife A. measured Co's fundus for the first time. It was 22 1/2 which is fine for 21 weeks (fundal height is roughly equal to number of weeks pregnant, so it's on the big side). Flipper also measured larger than the stats in our pregnancy books at the ultrasound (he was almost a pound) so Co is slightly concerned that he will be a big baby.
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As per my pregnancy planner, I've set up registries for Flipper. We're more than happy to get as much secondhand/borrowed gear as we can, so hopefully I'll be taking items off of it.
I sent the links to my parents, just in case anyone asks them for the information. We're way too superstitious for a shower but setting up a registry didn't bother me. Apparently the superstition actually weakened in passage from Mom to me, however, because the very idea freaked her out. She's excited to sponsor a naming for Flipper at our congregation, though, which really touched me.
So on the topic of baby gear: what do we need??
We have a stroller, and will be using Nephew S's infant car seat since any day now he will be graduating to his big boy seat! I have a pretty good idea what we'll be getting for Flip to sleep in (Graco P@ack n' Play Tr@vel Lite). Grandmom (my mom) has put herself down for the changing table/dresser (if you have recommendations for a good combo let me know!). A particular mystifying issue is the Diaper Pail. We will probably be using disposables*. Suggestions? And what other Stuff is essential? Both general advice, and mentions of/links to specific products, welcome.
*a) Laundry is in the basement, not our apartment, and not many washers/dryers for the number of apts in the building.
b) Shared washers means no control over detergents that go in the washers.
c) We will look into cloth diaper service but have heard through the grapevine that that's no longer available in our neck of the woods.
d) That is all. No discussion necessary. :-)
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I suggest getting your hands on the book "Baby Bargains" - lots of good info. in it! We went with the diaper thing that uses regular trash bags... it gets a good rating and you don't need to buy the diaper genie refills. Again, good info. in the book :)
Mombian's list was a good place to start our thinking about essentials vs wants...
http://mombian.com/2005/11/03/baby-gear-recommendations/
if by diaper pail you are talking one of those a diaper genie things - my brother and SIL preferred the diaper champ over the genie because you could use regular trash bags, with the the genie you have to buy special bags and that was a pain to them.
i'd say add some kind of sling thing to your wish list - probably a great thing to have with a baby when walking in a city and won't take up too much space in your appt.
We are taking every hand-me-down pouch and sling we can, since you never know which one the kid will like. And we registered for the Ergo.
I will be political and say that I find those diaper pails that wrap each plastic diaper in plastic to be ridiculous and environmentally hideous. Get a SimpleHuman pail or similar with a good seal and take it out a lot. That's my assvice, not having done it yet but having spent plenty of time fighting with those stupid plastic sausage diaper things and hating them.
I've got to agree with Bri on the diaper pail thing. We had a diaper genie and we hated it. It didn't contain the stink once the kids started solids.
Our disposies are considered recyclable here in Canada so we have to put them in our "green" bins for wet waste. We just use a regular bag and it has a good seal. Like Bri said, just take it out often and that will be fine.
Trista recently posted a fairly comprehensive list of necessary baby items for those on a budget.
I also agree about the pouch/sling/carrier advice. There are so many different kinds and they are good for different times and activities. I love an adjustable ring sling because I found it to be very versitile for the first couple of months. I did have a pouch that I loved too because I could fold it up small and put it in the diaper bag in case I needed it.
You can check out the babywearer.com for reviews and suggestions about slings etc. They also have a section that gives you instructions if you want to sew your own. I made my own wrap that way since my sewing skills are pretty minimal.
I was just about to say... have you NOT been reading my horribly exhaustive baby gear posts? I do talk at some length about changing tables in the first one...
I haven't talked about slings, though, because we only tried 3 and we didn't like any of those but we also know that we should have tried different kinds.
the diaper genie is horrible. Waste of resources, waste of space, and not all that handy. If you're using disposables just get a pail with a flip-top lid and some good bags and do it that way. This reminds me that I need to add talking about diaper pails in my next baby gear post.
And I was also about to point you over to Trista- the Queen of baby gear smartness.
That is so awesome about your Mom hosting a naming. Love that!
xo
we have a dresser/changing table combo that we got at Baby Depot - upstairs at Burlington Coat Factory on 6th and 23rd - it's worth the trip - it's perfect, and it only has 2 drawers, so we are forced to weed out what we don't use/need. It has open shelves, too, which is great for disposables! We use 7th generation, which Fresh Direct delivers!
We also buy them from 1800diapers.com
we have an OPEN trash bin that we toss pishy dipes into free, but we use those powder scented bluer bags for poopy dipes. And then we just empty the trash each day with the litter, and it's fine. We used a passed down diaper genie for a while, and it was AWFUL!
Being in a small NYC apartment, we found the following was essential - stroller, crib, dresser/changing table, and that's IT.
Everything else is a nice bonus.
:)
Trista et. al.: Yes! I read the posts! I have found that rec's for baby gear are *extremely* personal, however, so I was curious to see what folks would suggest.
Shelli: I suspected/hoped what you said about stroller/crib/changing table. (We're even cheating on the crib!)
Thanks for the ideas. Keep 'em coming!
P.S.:
Jennifer, I am amazed that you can recycle diapers in Canada. that's it. we're moving. Or maybe we'll save up our diapers for a trip north...
I can just see you at the Canadian border with a stinky-a$$ car trying to explain to border patrol that letting you into the country is a matter of envorinmental necessity! Ha!
It is not a necessity, and perhaps not attachment parenty enough for some folks, but Cakie LOVED his floor gym. We had the Baby Einstien (evil, partially disney-owned company-- get a used one!) one, which he loved because he could cause the music and lights to start by smacking the arches or pulling the animals. I loved watching him go through the developmental stages with it.
Also, we only used the Daiper Champ for a few months. Now we take all poopy diapers directly to the trash chute.
We LOVE our Ergo. I'm not sure how great it is with newborns, though. You're welcome to come over and try on our wild array of slings anytime.
I ended up needing a lot less stuff than I thought I would. We ended up changing J's diaper on a folding changing pad on the floor (safer) and reduced the diaper bag to a tiny pouch with just a diaper and wipes, for example. I get evangelical on this topic. But it really depends on your own style and your baby's demands.
While Jasper was a newborn we put his dirty diapers in a large glass jar with a lid. Smellproof. Then when the diaper volume decreased we just put them in the regular garbage. Soiled diapers do not smell as bad as you think. In fact, if your baby is living on breastmilk the poo will smell -- well, not exactly nice but neutral.
I liked having a lot of cotton cloths around for spit-up, spills, accidents, etc.
My favorite baby books: The New Basics, Happiest Baby on the Block. Read the latter one before you think about changing your diet for a colicky baby.
I don't know if we mentioned this already, but forget the highchair. Especially in your place, where you have no room for it!
Go with one of these, or something similar:
http://tinyurl.com/3dyt8g
Folds away in a corner and transports for visiting relatives or restaurants (though most baby-friendly restaurants have their own highchairs). We had a highchair and got rid of it sometime before we got Niblet. She did fine in the booster.
Luckily i have T, who will be the "organizer" of us--i'm so bad at figuring out what all we'll need. Of course, it's a little early in the game for us!
Good luck figuring it all out!
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