Baby on the way... tips for a first time parent?

[BlackAce]

Originally Posted by WilsonFourTwo

A first thought: For baby gifts, ask only for diapers. Trust me....the toys and trinkets may be well appreciated, but most stuff will never get used....meanwhile, you're going broke over diapers! If you can, ask for different sizes.

A second thought: Another thing (that I saw posted here) is avoid baby books. Ask your doctor/friends questions, and then trust your instincts.....you KNOW how to raise a child.....you just don't know that you know, lol.

A third thought: Don't feel guilty about thinking "Geez, these things are boring". Babies don't really do anything exciting, its a fact. Realizing that they're kind of boring doesn't make you a bad parent, it makes you a realist!

The final thought: Beyond everything else you may here, I can offer you the single most important piece of advice in the world. Stuff=stuff.....time=love. Spend time with your kid. Instead of working an extra-shift to make money for 'A Thing', go home and read a book with the little one. Not only will you be happier and save a fortune on junk, but you'll raise a stronger, more confident and loving person. (I 100% Guarantee It)

Good Luck and God Bless!

Some great advice for sure... Thanks for the time for sharing from experience... I know I will take it to heart in raising my first... 2 weeks old on Friday

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Eight...that I should be so lucky. It seems like everything takes 3 AA's these days...I hate toys that take an odd number of batteries. You need an inordinate number of rechargables to ensure that you are charging dead batteries in pairs when everything takes 3. Grr....

I got myself one of these a few years ago. It does not require pairing up, and also does slow charging and conditioning.



http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...8%28ME%29.aspx

[Canada 02]

bump

my wife is 6 months pregnant with our first. Plenty of good info in this thread, but I have a question not yet answered here.

We are trying to get as much used stuff from friends and family to save money.

We got a used crib from a friend, which has drop-sides. Apparently, all drop-side cribs are now banned for safety issues. However, after assembling the crib, I don't see any obvious way the drop-sides can fail.

Anyone have experience with drop-side cribs? Do you find lowering the side of the crib to be a useful feature? If not, I don't think it would be to hard to rig something together to prevent the sides from ever dropping, accidentally or otherwise.

We also got a used traveler system (car seat and stroller). The previous owner has a one year old who has outgrown the weight limit, so kindly gave it to us. The baby class at our hospital recommended to never use a used car seat, but I think that a bit extreme. The car seat has an expiration date for 3 years from now. It also hasn't been recalled. Thoughts? I think it's safe to use, but maybe there are issues I haven't thought of.

Other opinions:
1. glass bottles vs plastic,
2. cloth diapers vs disposable,
3. Bob jogging strollers look amazing, but will you realistically have time or even want to go jogging when you have a baby?
4. what are must haves for the baby versus frivolous stuff that looks cool, but is really a waste of money? Play yard, bassinet, baby monitor, etc
5. is lamaze class helpful?

tia

[VladtheImpaler]

I think the "used" car seat thing has to do with the chance that the seat may have been in a car accident. If you are getting it from people you know, that's not an issue. More of a concern if you are buying from some random on Kijiji.

[Rathji]

Call the manufacturer of your crib, they will send you out a free kit to change the crib to a non-drop side crib.

Car Seat: As long as you are 100% sure it has never been in an accident, go for it.

Cloth diapers stink, and are not better for the enviroment or cheaper. They also cause diaper rash. I would never consider them. Diapers will be your biggest cost though, so make sure you try the cheapest brands first. Some kids rash up on some types of diapers, and it isnt limited to just the cheap ones. Like my kids couldn't use Huggies, but could use the Baby Dry pampers (their cheap line)

Bottles: Plastic for sure. We use Avent bottles, and find them good, but it really depends on the baby.

The classes for expecting parents are excellent, they dont really do Lamaze anymore though. As a first time dad I would have been clueless had I not gone to those classes. 100% required in my opinion.

Unless the baby room is large, don't get a change table. Just use the top of your dresser/shelves and get a good change pad that anchors to the wall. We only ever really used it after bath time anyway, or for morning changes.

Baby monitors: Go with something that is battery operated with at least 1 receiver per floor. I always hated moving our from main floor to basement if I was working in my office. There are the life signs monitor ones, that send out alarms if heart rate drops or breathing stops for too long. I can see how they would be very useful.

We use a Pack and Play for a bassinet for our current baby, as she sleeps in the room with us, and it is really good for travel as well even as the kids get bigger (like < 2). Ours was a baby shower gift, but I would buy it in a heart beat just the same.

[habernac]

People go overboard on the "never get used cribs, car seats" etc. If it's in good shape, use it. those things cost a fortune.

Jogging strollers are great if you're already an active person. If you aren't, it's something pricey that looks good in your garage.

Skip the bassonett, the video baby monitors are cool, lamaze has some decent things for new parents.

If you do use disposable diapers, stay away from generic ones. They turn your poor baby's rear end into this horrible red rash almost instantly.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

I think the "used" car seat thing has to do with the chance that the seat may have been in a car accident. If you are getting it from people you know, that's not an issue. More of a concern if you are buying from some random on Kijiji.

exactly

[Boblobla]

I have an 8 1/2 month old.

We got our car seat used and it was fine, as long as it hasn't expired or been recalled you should be good. We also bought a new crib, so I have no idea about drop sides.

Other questions:

1) We used plastic, if you go for that make sure they are BPA free, which most are. We warm our milk up in hot water, not the microwave.

2) We used disposable, but I have heard good things about cloth diapers and diaper services but I am pretty lazy and didn't look into any of that before the kid was born.

3) My brother/parents got us a Chariot jogging stroller for Christmas and I must say it is awesome. You can't job with the kids until they are 6 mo old but having the larger wheels makes a world of difference when traveling on anything other than smooth pavement. We got a bike attachment for ours as well which rocks.

4) Must haves for us were: change table, bumbo chair c/w tray, diaper genie (if you go disposable), baby monitors (if you are heavy sleepers and/or sleep with closed doors between you and the kid).

We bought a playard but didn't use it a ton.

5) From what I understand they don't really do Lamaze classes much any more. We did pre-natial classes at the foothills and they were a giant waste of time. I have heard from some people that they got good information out of them but ours were ####ing horrible and some of the advice/information that was given was completely incorrect and almost lead to my wife needing a c-section.

Other things:

1) Size 0-3mo is not the smallest size, there is a size nb (newborn) that you will need as well.
2) Buy your baby wipes from Costco, the kirkland brand wipes are awesome and come in easy to transport containers.
3) Remember, regardless of what you and your wife say to each other at 3:30AM, you still love each other...
4) Do you know if the sex? If it is a boy, are you both on the same page re: circumcision?

[Rathji]

Also, a couple things you didnt mention:

Bottle Warmers

http://www.toysrus.ca/product/index....ductId=2689250


Nasal Aspirators (these things are a severe godsend if your kid is sick), you can actually get electric pump ones that work even better but I hate the idea of vaccuuming my kids brains out.

http://well.ca/products/hydrasense-i...tor_15245.html

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

bump

my wife is 6 months pregnant with our first. Plenty of good info in this thread, but I have a question not yet answered here.

We are trying to get as much used stuff from friends and family to save money.

We got a used crib from a friend, which has drop-sides. Apparently, all drop-side cribs are now banned for safety issues. However, after assembling the crib, I don't see any obvious way the drop-sides can fail.

Anyone have experience with drop-side cribs? Do you find lowering the side of the crib to be a useful feature? If not, I don't think it would be to hard to rig something together to prevent the sides from ever dropping, accidentally or otherwise.

We also got a used traveler system (car seat and stroller). The previous owner has a one year old who has outgrown the weight limit, so kindly gave it to us. The baby class at our hospital recommended to never use a used car seat, but I think that a bit extreme. The car seat has an expiration date for 3 years from now. It also hasn't been recalled. Thoughts? I think it's safe to use, but maybe there are issues I haven't thought of.

Other opinions:
1. glass bottles vs plastic,
2. cloth diapers vs disposable,
3. Bob jogging strollers look amazing, but will you realistically have time or even want to go jogging when you have a baby?
4. what are must haves for the baby versus frivolous stuff that looks cool, but is really a waste of money? Play yard, bassinet, baby monitor, etc
5. is lamaze class helpful?

tia

The drop side crib issue was basically from people who improperly installed the rails, ending up breaking them. You should be able to do a visual inspection and check to see if you can see any problems. You might be able to get a kit from the manufacturer to convert the crib into a fixed side crib.

The car seat should be fine, up until the expiry date at least (and likely much longer). In reality, these items only have expiry dates to limit the liabilty of the manufacturer in case something does go wrong. If the car seat is from someone you know, I would have no hesitations about using it.

We went with plastic bottles with drop ins, I can't really compare since I never used glass bottles. Everything is BPA free now.

Cloth diapers are better for the environment and your wallet, but they are a lot of work. If you do use cloth diapers, use disposable liners.

You probably don't need both a bassinet and a play yard. We just used our play yard for a bassinet when our kids were first born. We never really used a baby monitor.

As long as your kids is growing and eating fine, after the first month, let them sleep through the night as much as they want. Don't wake them up to feed, that just prolongs your tired insanity stage during the first couple months.

The nurses will say don't feed them solids until 6 months, but if your child is feeding like crazy and not sleeping very well through the night due to hungriness, start feed them some solids, ramp up slowly though.

Coffeemate is not a cheap substitute for baby formula.

A prenatal class will probably be benefical, just so that you will understand what will go on a little bit better, and will be a bit more prepared for the mayhem that will come soon. There still will be things that you will be unsure of, but the number will still be less.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

Other opinions:

2. cloth diapers vs disposable,
3. Bob jogging strollers look amazing, but will you realistically have time or even want to go jogging when you have a baby?

tia

Cloth diapers are ######ed. Go with disposable. You won't care at all about the environment when you're balls deep in barf and crap - you'll want to be able to cut every single hassle out of your life that you can.

If you like jogging, I'd get a jogging stroller. Maybe even get one that can convert into a bike trailer - I love biking with my kids in the trailer. But you'll need a "normal" stroller as well. I can't stand dopes that bumble around with giant strollers at the mall.

[VladtheImpaler]

The video monitor is pretty good. My wife was cancelling her RBC Avion VISA and it had exactly 20,000 points on it, which happened to be what it took to get the Motorolla video one. It's pretty handy - the video isn't the greatest, but you can tell what he is doing. I also saw some reports that the video monitors interfere with wireless networks, but it has not been an issue for us at all.

[Scoopdogg]

I would agree with Boblobla on the classes being a waste of time. As soon as my wife went into labor all that stuff we learned in that class was out the window and I was just trying to survive!

[COGENT]

Canada02

We just had our first 6 weeks ago so all this is still fresh for me.

I bought a used drop side crib but luckily the one I bought had a feature to lock that feature out. The drop down feature really isn't necessary. I would create a way to make it lock.

I have a BOB stroller and it was an incredible investment. Granted, My wife and I take our dog for an hour walk every day (and yes we have time to do that) so something like a BOB was necessary. We can't use it to jog with till 7 months (I think that's what they recommend) but my wife loves jogging so I can see it paying itself off. It is a bit of a beast though when luging it around in the back of the car.

We bought a used car seat and it has been great. Just make sure the date is valid.

We use disposable diapers just because we live in a condo and I was scared the stink would engulf the little space in no time. Get a diaper genie regardless.

We borrowed a friend bassinet. We had our son in the room for the first month only because it was easier for my wife but he sleeps in his crib now. Just not worth buying for a months use IMO.

We took a prenatal class which was well worth the time and money. We also took a child CPR class that was really useful too.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by COGENT

We borrowed a friend bassinet. We had our son in the room for the first month only because it was easier for my wife but he sleeps in his crib now. Just not worth buying for a months use IMO.

Borrow all that you can, even clothes. The first while, they grow out of things so fast, people you know should have things that are still in good condition.

[bradster57]

We had a big baby (over 10 pounds) and the nurses told us to wake him every 3 hours to feed. That is total garbage, it just destroyed what little sleep we were getting. Trust me, baby will let you know when he/she is hungry! Don't wake a sleeping baby!

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

Borrow all that you can, even clothes. The first while, they grow out of things so fast, people you know should have things that are still in good condition.

Don't buy anything new (that's what grandparents and friends/relatives are for) - it's a ridiculous waste to pay for something you'll use 3 times. Luckily, all of my wife's friends had boys, and my sister had 2 boys, so he is dressed - hope for his sake high school fashion won't change over a 5 year period.

[troutman]

NBC has been heavily promoting the new show Up All Night, starring Applegate, Arnet and Rudolph. Seems like a one joke show - the baby wakes up a lot, so the parents are tired. What are they going to do when the baby sleeps through the night?

[You Need a Thneed]

Our first started sleeping through the night at around 6 weeks. If they are eating fine, and gaining weight, this is perfectly fine.

[habernac]

the other thing to ignore from other parents: "Well so and so didn't do that at that age." No $%&* Sherlock. My baby isn't your baby. They're all different. My mother in law is a nice lady, but sometimes...