Mommies, please help me..............

Hi Mommies,

I am in the process of starting my search for car seats, strollers, high chairs, monitors, breast feeding pumps, etc. etc. However, looking at the reviews at babycenter.com and babiesrus.com, I am getting all blurry eyed.

Can you wonderful Mommies just post all the brands/models of the Essentials (really any baby products/items) that you would give FIVE STARS too! That would make my search for these items so much easier. Things you have found have made your lives so much easier, things you can't live without. Also, brands/items to stay far away from...

I know I am way early in doing this, but why wait to the last minute.

Oh one more thing. I am still sooooo confused on whether to get an infant car seat that detaches from the base or a regular car seat that lasts longer or a travel system... What is a Mommy to do???

Thanks so much, Mommies.

Denise

Denise, go get the Baby Bargains book -- it was my bible and it will become yours also!!!!

Here's the website http://www.windsorpeak.com/babybargains/default.html

From experience: definitely get the bundle me for the winter -- I didn't get it at first and am so glad I finally did!!! I also just got the halo sleepsack, again, wish I had it from the start.

I have a travel system and love it, but this is where you have to see what you prefer. Some people like it and others hate it. I have the Graco infant car seat with 2 bases so that I don't have to move the whole thing from car to car.

Every baby is different and what some people rave about, others don't and vice versa. Sometimes it's trial and error, what works for one, might not work for another!!!

Right now my new love is the Evenflo Megasaucer!!!

Fisher Price Ocean Aquarium anything!!! The Kick 'N Play Bouncer and those Lamaze/Sassy toys!

Get the book!!!!!!!

Hey Denise!!!
Here's the items we used and really enjoyed:
-Swing: Graco Open Top 6speed swing
-Bouncie seat: FP Kick n Play Bouncer
-Crib toy: FP Ocean Wonders Aquarium
-Pack n Play: Carter's Animal Toss Playard
-Car seat: Graco Snugride

FM me if you have any questions about these items. I 've got a lot more things that we loved to use. I'll tell you about them later!

We we able to use the Snugride carseat until Maiah was 20 lbs. We bought a compatible graco stroller but I don't remember ever using the two together. The stroller is great by itself...except it's too big for my compact car!! We have two Cosco umbrella strollers that we keep on hand.

Here are a few more items:
-Breast pump: Ameda Purely yours (very efficient and comfortable)
-Exer-saucer: Evenflo Megasaucer(Maiah LOVED this one!)
-Monitor: FP Sweet Dreams (lots of bells n whistles but we rarely use it)
-High chair- FP Healthy Care (my sister has this one, I like it better than mine!):

Let me know how your hunt goes! Hope you are feeling well today...keep me posted on everything!
Donna

I highly recommend the baby bargains book too!

car seat: grace snap and go infant car seat...then when she was bigger we are now using BRITAX car seat...pricey but I think it is WELL worth it. ( Britax makes the seats on airplanes!

stroller: chicco mama deluxe xl ...I had the 2002 model. LOVE LOVE THIS

high chair: chicco prima pappa- mine had a double tray..the underneathe tray had toys pieces

swing: I think our is a graco...it swings back and forth as well as side to side. (WE STILL USE OURS even tho j is 14 months old ..she is a lightweight!)

bouncer: same one posted above

Breast pump: medela pump n go

bottles: playtex nursers..with drop in liners

bathing: the regular plastic tub everyone uses...for when they are really tiny...when u move into the tub there is a bathing 'pillow' called the safety bather or something like that. ..works well

if you have pets: and want to keep them out of the crib...we purchased the 'crib tent' attachs to the top of the crib and zippers open.
worked well for a while until out cat decided to jump up from the floor to climb up the tent...and she separated the zipper...so it opened. never used it the last 8 months or so...and just took it off.

baby monitor- I will have to get back to u on that one. Hubby and I are ham radio operators..so he researched a bit to make sure that the monitor would not be picked up on anyone's scanner in the area. FM me if you need the name/model

Diaper pail- Diaper champ. no special bags to buy. works like a CHAMP!

Thats it for now...

diapers are hit and miss...you have to try a few brands to find one that works for you. dont be afraid to try store brands...or bjs brand. Bjs works for us and is much cheaper!


hth!

Most of the stuff I would have recommended has already been mentioned above but I will definitely add (in case it wasn't there) the Kolcraft Infant seat carrier and the Zippy stroller. the Zippy is so great b/c I can open and close it with one hand, it is lightweight but very durable. Here are pics:

Thanks Girls.

Yes, Phyl, I would definitely love to know the brand of monitor you have.

You girls have been a big help!

Denise

FM

Oh I feel so much better, I registered for many of those things! Thank God I brought a recently experienced Mommy with me or else I would have picked out just anything

I second the Universal Car Seat Carrier Stroller!!!!! Definitely the Kolcraft one!!!

Denise, and every other new preggo -- GET THE BABY BARGAINS BOOK!!!!!!!

Denise - I've posted a few random registry questions within the past few days too - you may want to check back a few pages to read those responses as well

I had some of the most common things too:

Graco snugride carseat
Snap n Go (but the Kolcraft looks better)

I would def. recommend an infant car seat with travel system or univeral stroller, you don't want to have to wake a sleeping newborn! We got about 7 months use out of it.

Kick n play bouncy seat
Evenflo excersaucer (from around 5 months)
Graco swing (6 speeds)
Baby Bjorn
Britax Roundabout car seat
Maclaren Quest stroller (I love the lightweight feel, and being able to open/close with one hand, but I don't like that you can't put a dipaer bag in the basket, or on the handles. If the bag is too heavy and there's no baby in the stroller, it weighs it down and the stroller falls over).

I also looked at reviews on BRU and other parenting sites.

These are 2 things I would highly recommend:
The monitor is by Sony - works great in my house - the only other monitor that worked as great was the Evenflo Constant Care 3000 which you can still find in limited quantities on the internet.

Love my swing :)

monitor infor:

angelcare AC201-r

it has an attachment...a flat plate, that you insert into the crib, under the mattress pad..and hook into the monitor. It will sense when the baby doesnt move, or breathe ands sounds a LOUD LOUD alarm. Great for those afraid/prone to SIDS

we never used this attachement...but it is a great monitor and cannot b picked up on someones scanner!

Thanks for the great info Phyl...

I always worry about SIDS, but then again, what don't we worry about with our babies?