I'm a Baby-Stroller Shopper, and I want to ask anything...

[Russic]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Congratulations to the non-video monitor people who choose not to indulge in awesome technology. I am willing to bet that each of you went upstairs in the evening or went to the baby's room in the night after something made you want to check on the child a whole bunch of times. Congratulations to the people with video monitors that didn't have to do that and risk upsetting the kid by opening their door.

Hey, it's a luxury. I'm not going to lie. But it's such a useful luxury it's like sending a text message instead of writing a letter and putting it in the mailbox. You know immediately, and you don't have to walk anywhere to find out. And I don't care how lazy that sounds, because sleep is a very, very precious commodity around a new parents household. And minimizing little scraps about "it's your turn to go check" is probably another side affect that I didn't even notice we were avoiding.

And it's not really boring to watch your kid on the monitor. You're not going sit there and watch for minutes and hours, but when you see her doing the spin-o-rama in bed to position herself completely opposite of how you put her down, it's pretty cute. My daughter is a morning person. She sits in her crib and fools around for a good hour before she gets cranky and demands that someone let her out. It's kinda funny to glance at the monitor and see her playing with her toys at 7am. And it's also nice to know that she doesn't wake up and cry immediately. I don't know why I'm happy that I know that, but I am.

But go ahead and forego the video monitor like these other hippies and enjoy blissful ignorance, if that's your style. I guess that makes me a helicopter parent.

Disagree. There are tons of methods pertaining to bedtime and not all of them involve constant check-ins. In our house, monitors were a barrier to sleep more than they were useful. We didn't risk waking the kid up by opening the door a bunch of times because we didn't open it at all (once several months had passed and the kid didn't need to eat every few hours). We have friends with video monitors and it's a blast to watch them screw around in there, but at the end of the day my wife and I agreed it's something we would spend way too much time checking when we'd rather be sleeping.

I think the important take-away for Table 5 here is that everybody seems quite pleased with how they did things. You'll sit down with the mrs. and determine what is and is not important to you. Whether you want a video monitor, audio monitor or no monitor at all it's going to end up just fine.

[Icon]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

The City Select by Baby Jogger rocks.
Nimble, turns on a dime, light weight, folds quick and can hold a tonne of weight.

4 wheels are better, 3 are too long and feel like they are gonna roll over.

The wife and I highly recommend them, our has taken a bunch of abuse and is still perfect.

Seconded.

[Rathji]

I probably won't have time to read this entire thread, so this stuff might have been said already.

If you have the room,aka a minivan, then I would get the carseat that snaps into the stroller style. Get the kind that folds and locks down with one hand, you won't regret it. Don't spend too mug on it, since you won't use it as much as you think you will. Ours pretty much just gets used on walks or occasional trips to the mall.

On the monitor front, regardless of audio/video, make sure it has multiple receivers and/or the receiver has a battery or else you will be always moving them from room to room and messing with plugs is a pain, especially if things are baby proofed. I guess if your place is really small it might not be much of an issue. We love being able to go on the yard or basement without worrying about forgetting the monitor.

[ernie]

Authoritative or not, GGG is correct in the advice to learn the cries. They are different for different reasons (hungry, needs a change, bored...). If you pay attention to them and learn them it will reduce the stress tremendously.

[COGENT]

Congrats man!

My wife and I decided on a BOB SE. We have a dog that we walk for an hour every night so we needed something versatile that we could push easily on all sorts of terrain. I will admit that it's a bit overkill for a mall, however it does come to a point which is effective in poking a group of teenagers that decided to stop in front of you and won't move. I found when he was small that the car seat adaptor was just as effective as a bassinet.

As for the car seats, we got a Peg Perego for the infant seat. I can't say it was better than any others out there but I will say I hit a deer going 125 km/h on the high way and my son didn't even wake up... not sure if that was his car seat or my superb driving though.

[fredr123]

I regret cheaping out on some items early on. We bought a crappy plastic high chair, for instance, a month or so after our first kid was born. It barely lasted through our second child and was junked before he moved on to a booster seat. We bought something a bit nicer to replace the high chair, but had we known from the getgo, we could have just bought one good high chair that would have made it through all three kids.

What's everyone's view of Bumbo chairs? I've heard from some that they can can cause physical problems if your kid sits in them too long (similar to the concerns over Baby Bjorns, I suppose), but man those things are handy.

[Bigtime]

Bumbo chairs are awesome (I want an adult sized one), but our first kid didn't spend a lot of time in them.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by fredr123

I regret cheaping out on some items early on. We bought a crappy plastic high chair, for instance, a month or so after our first kid was born. It barely lasted through our second child and was junked before he moved on to a booster seat. We bought something a bit nicer to replace the high chair, but had we known from the getgo, we could have just bought one good high chair that would have made it through all three kids.

What's everyone's view of Bumbo chairs? I've heard from some that they can can cause physical problems if your kid sits in them too long (similar to the concerns over Baby Bjorns, I suppose), but man those things are handy.

We never really used our Bumbo chair. By the time the kid was big enough to sit in it and not look all slumped over they were only weeks away from being able to escape from it. So really I think we only used it for about 1 month for each kid. I wouldn't buy it again.

[Table 5]

Does that thing double as a potty?

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by fredr123

I regret cheaping out on some items early on. We bought a crappy plastic high chair, for instance, a month or so after our first kid was born. It barely lasted through our second child and was junked before he moved on to a booster seat. We bought something a bit nicer to replace the high chair, but had we known from the getgo, we could have just bought one good high chair that would have made it through all three kids.

What's everyone's view of Bumbo chairs? I've heard from some that they can can cause physical problems if your kid sits in them too long (similar to the concerns over Baby Bjorns, I suppose), but man those things are handy.

That reminds me of one thing that was a lifesaver for us - a high chair with a top that converted to a baby recliner. The baby can go on the recliner at mealtime and still be close to everyone; after a few months you use it in highchair mode.

We had a Bumbo - my son never wanted to sit in it and my daughter used it for about 3 weeks; I wouldn't buy one again.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Does that thing double as a potty?

Nope, unless you put them in it without a diaper.

[Table 5]

I'll take that as a yes!

[You Need a Thneed]

A bumbo is a great thing to borrow, if you can. You probably don't use them long enough to get your money's worth out of them.

[Grimbl420]

If you can get a bumbo used off Kijiji or Craigslist do it, you may only use it for a few months but you can easily resell a used one for the same amount you bought it for.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by fredr123

I regret cheaping out on some items early on. We bought a crappy plastic high chair, for instance, a month or so after our first kid was born. It barely lasted through our second child and was junked before he moved on to a booster seat. We bought something a bit nicer to replace the high chair, but had we known from the getgo, we could have just bought one good high chair that would have made it through all three kids.

What's everyone's view of Bumbo chairs? I've heard from some that they can can cause physical problems if your kid sits in them too long (similar to the concerns over Baby Bjorns, I suppose), but man those things are handy.

We borrowed a bumbo from a friend; for them, as soon as their kid figured out how to get out (by basically flexing backwards), they couldn't keep him in. With our son, he actually liked it a lot more once he figured out how to get in and out of it himself. So I guess it's something that's highly dependent on the kid.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Russic

Disagree. There are tons of methods pertaining to bedtime and not all of them involve constant check-ins. In our house, monitors were a barrier to sleep more than they were useful. We didn't risk waking the kid up by opening the door a bunch of times because we didn't open it at all (once several months had passed and the kid didn't need to eat every few hours). We have friends with video monitors and it's a blast to watch them screw around in there, but at the end of the day my wife and I agreed it's something we would spend way too much time checking when we'd rather be sleeping.

I think the important take-away for Table 5 here is that everybody seems quite pleased with how they did things. You'll sit down with the mrs. and determine what is and is not important to you. Whether you want a video monitor, audio monitor or no monitor at all it's going to end up just fine.

Jeez. I didn't mean that you go in a bunch of times per night. I mean a bunch of times over the first six months.
Did you go in 10 times in the first six months? I didn't. I just looked at the monitor. The result was that we only once had to go into her room in the night, and we were glad we did because she had her blanket wrapped around her head.

But you guys win. It's a waste of money. Forget about it. You can hear your baby crying from upstairs during the evening, and you have no desire to find out why your baby is crying in the middle of the night. Congrats.

[Slava]

Holy smokes. I can't believe there is this much conflict about whether people should buy a video monitor!

[Table 5]

Went to Westcoast this afternoon to check out a couple models. So far of the ones in our price range we tended to like the Baby Jogger City Mini GT and the Baby Jogger Versa. A lot of the other ones seemed really nice, but felt really big and heavy to maneuver around....im not sure we need a stroller that effin big. If my wife wants to go jogging, she can give me the kid and go by herself.

It was definitely good to test them all out though.

I didn't even look at baby monitors. I'm gonna let you guys finish battling it out, and then you can present me with the final correct solution.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Slava

Holy smokes. I can't believe there is this much conflict about whether people should buy a video monitor!

First time on Calgarypuck?

[Wormius]

So along the lines of strollers, any opinions on bike carriers? I have a 6 and 3 year old, not sure if its worth it to get one now or wait it out until they can keep up on bikes. If I want to go out for a long ride, my wife insists that I bring them with me, but even the cost of a used Chariot on Kijiji is quite steep.

Without having read the previous comments, I think the baby monitors are a waste. You'd have to be separated quite a bit, and have your doors all closed to not hear a baby crying. I think what would be more beneficial is a baby noise-canceller device so you can sleep better, or a force field of some kind of to prevent your spouse from hitting you whenever they hear the baby cry.