Help...new Mommy Needs To Know

Hmmm..... I don't really have any stroller suggestions except to say in my experience, I've found travel systems to be a big waste of money. I don't know if you want any infant carrier carseat (I used the Graco snug ride at first and I had a 5lb premie) or if you want a regular carseat - I'd recommend the britax roundabout. Cereal - I love the Earth's Best brand. It looks more like cereal then the Gerber. I tend to buy Gerber baby food or Earth's Best if I find it on sale. Swing - I cannot recommend the Fisher Price papasan looking swing enough. All three of my kids (and the baby we've passed it on to) loved it. And when my oldest broke the swing by climbing into it, FP sent us a brand new motor for free even though we were past our warrenty. I've never used a walker, but we loved our jumperoo and the new rainforest one is awesome! They can jump and spin around to play with toys like an exersaucer.

I would get an infant carrier car seat. Those come in super handy when transporting a sleeping baby in and out of the car. And when he gets a bit older and you take him with you to restaurants and such. I kept my kids in an infant carrier until they could sit up on their own in a restaurant high chair and the grocery cart seat. Unlike PP, we like our travel system (the infant carrier/stroller combo.) The car seat is good and the stroller is now 5 years old and still works great. It is much sturdier than an umbrella stroller, so we use it for more adventurous outings. It is now on kid #2 who is almost 2. Walkers are not really recommended anymore. We got our money's worth out of our exersaucer though. We used it with kid #3 til he was 16 months old! You can start putting them in it when they can hold their own head up pretty well, so like 3 months or so. Not many toys or appliances will last you as long as this could. It is great for entertaining and containing a baby. I even put it right outside the shower door and could get a quick shower while the baby was awake...quite a feat! Swing: the papasan looks awesome! I wish I had been allowed to buy a swing with #3, I would have bought this one. I would go tomorrow and buy a swing, we could not have made it through months 0-4 without a swing with any of our 3 kids. Onesies, just the cheap Gerber onesies work fine for me. You can buy them at walmart or target, cheaper at walmart. Have fun with your new baby! Karla

When the seasons start changing, I head straight to Ebay. A lot of sellers will sell clothing like long sleeved onesies and jeans in lots. I bought a huge box of summer clothing back in April gently used for about $40 and got 70 pieces of clothing. My mom bought my Joshie his Rainforest Jumperoo; oh how he loved that thing. He is walking now but I still sometimes stick him in it if I need to run to the garage for something. He also has 2 exersaucers that were gifts and a bouncy seat that I bought second hand. The bouncy seat is really good to use when they are little little...it gives them a place to hang out and watch everything going on around them. Some even vibrate and play songs. Joshie would sit in his bouncy seat and watch Sesame Street on TV. It was great for letting me get some laundry done and supper ready for the rest of the family. Congrats on the new baby; I love to go to thrift shops and second hand stores...I almost always find a bargain! Blessings, Michelle P.S. I got our swing from a second hand store also, battery powered for about $15...I recently donated it to the local womens' shelter.

As far as "over the head"...Gerber makes "side snap" onesies that we LOVED! And "side snap" tees. It is so hard to get things over their heads, IMO. I always liked "sleep and plays" that zipped with the little closure over the sipper to protect their neck. At night we loved using the gowns. In terms of food...my kids were complete opposites. Older one loved and thrived on Gerbers or Beech Nut stage 2's and plain oatmeal cereal or the mixed grain. Our younger one really only liked the Earth's Best. Much more flavors there and a heartier texture in some of them. He did like Beechnut Mango's and Butternut Squash. And for cereal he would not eat the plain....he only liked the Oatmeal with banana. He also table fed alot sooner than my older one...but he had slight sensory issues. We also used an exersaucer. Peds don't recommend walkers anymore, generally speaking. For strollers, we have 3 now...a Macleran (which, IMO, is great for an older toddler 18mos+), a Peg Perego, and a Sit-n-stand. We LOVE our peg Perego. It is a "venezia" model and the seat reclines to flat...perfect for naps when out in the mall or walks or diaper changes to avoid icky places. We also like it because the arm swings in 2 positions..so you can have the baby face you or face out. That was the feature that sold us. A few other things that we really loved was the shopping cart cover for stores...keeps the germs off of them. I also really like the big disposible changing pads. Oh and for the swing we liked the Fisher Price travel size swing...it fold so easily and you can take it with you which is super nice!!!! --Renee

Oh I say get her into a Graco snug ride asap. We had a different brand with a snap and go wheel frame and the longer you can use those the better. Most people do like the Graco. The benefit is that you don't have to wake up the baby if they fall asleep in the car. When DS was colicky we would drive around until he fell asleep and put the car seat right in the crib. He slept many nights like that (after they start moving this is dangerous though). At about 6 months (most people can squeeze a few more months out of the snap and go systems) we moved into the Britax Roundabout (in Cowmoooooflage) and we LOVE it! As for strollers, it really depends are you a city dweller or a suburbanite. The Peg is kind of bulky for me as I go in and out of an SUV a lot but my BF who doesn't even have a car and lives in NYC uses it and loves it. I am a HUGE Maclaren fan. If it wasn't for the bumpy hills in our neighborhood I wouldn't need ANYTHING but our Maclaren Quest. In fact there is this website called Stroller Mama and the owner once told me she has every Bugaboo etc. known to man but in the end all she ever needs is her Quest! It is padded and reclines fully but also collapses and is light. There are so many new things these days. I'm sure you'll keep discovering wonderful conveniences you didn't have before! Oh and when she needs a highchair there is a thread on the Fisher Price Space Saver which many of us use and love.

Not a mom...but I own two daycares...and Exersaucers are wonderful. I have three different kinds. Not all kids love exersaucers...just like all kids don't love the swing. But 90% of the kids love the exersaucer! Also, for highchairs...I personally like the kind that have the plastic type covering. SOOO much easier to get those lovely green and orange baby food stains out!!! Just wipe and go!

The highchair I recommended has a machine washable cover btw and one thing about the exersaucers...get it at like 4 months because there is a small window to use it. Probably around 4 months to 11 months on average if that long! But it's worth it because there aren't that many things kids at that age can do! I and several of my friends didn't get it until 7 months and regretted not getting it earlier! There is one kind where the kid can be inside it or use it as a play table and play around the outside so they will want to use after 1 year or so. I mean they can on all of them but this one is made for that. You might want to check it out.Oh and the Leap Frog table gets RAVE REVIEWS as a first year toy! Seriously I read and write a lot of online reviews so feel free to PM me any time if you have specific questions. I really need a job....LOL

:thanks: :thanks: :thanks: AUNTIES! I have printed out this thread since I wasn't able to shop today. It's raining off and on here and he's never been exposed to the elements so we didn't make it out. You guys really gave me food for thought and I had no clue that Dr. no longer recommend *walkers*....It sucks being 17 years out of the loop! Thanks again...Tracy

Stormster...machine washable is great!! But, I find when you have those little ones that LOVE to spit their food out and blow raspberries with green beans...it's wonderful to have something that wipes off. The ones I have are the nice vinyl kind, sorta soft like..not hard, icky plastic. The one I have is also machine washable....but not all are, so you may want to check that out.

Our high chair is made by Evenflo and has a separate tray that pops out of the regular tray that you can wipe off separately or even put in the dishwasher. It even has pull out drink holders for mommies/daddies. We totally love our high chair; it also wipes off easily. I use regular diaper wipes to clean Joshie off if he has food on his face. Blessings, Michelle

Oh, by the way, the same company that makes the Jumperoo also makes a portable swing...Rainforest that is battery powered and sits right on the floor and fits great in a car trunk. Joshie used it a lot at my in-laws house; it was lovely to take it everywhere and use it if he got fussy. Blessings, Michelle

Stroller - I LOOOVE our Chicco Cortina. It's a smooth ride & easy to snap in a nd out of. The carseat is amazing, as it snaps into the base (which is also great, I love the leveler) plus it has pads for smaller babies you can take out, so no need to buy more. Swing - I cannot recommend our Fisher Price Papsan (or the Aquarium) enough. The "both ways" feature is amazing, and it's the only swing my boys like. Really, it's amazing. Buy this TODAY!! LOL We use it all the time. I love how soft the papasan is. It may seem like it is swinging too fast when you first get it, but it's not..babies love that. Plus I love the mirror feature. I think they have one that plugs IN now!! If so get it, because buying batteries stinks! Bouncy seat - do you have one? This is nice too, my first son hated it, second loves it. It's great because I can move it room to room. He won't spend hours in it like the swing (if I let him) but he likes to watch me cook while in it. Cereal - We always bought Oatmeal, Gerber. But didn't do so until about 6 months. Walker - we didn't buy one because it wasn't recomended but we did have an excersaucer. First son thought it was "ok" but liked his jumper more than anything. We didn't even use this until about 5 months or so. I will say I was glad we had one though...as there were days that he would sit in it just until dinner was done. Others - swaddleme blankets. Wrap your son tight in a fleece one (cotton never worked for my kiddos) with a onesie on and BAM they sleep MUCH better and go back to sleep MUCH better. Highchair - LOVE LOVE my chicco. It has big buttons so they are easy to push, goes up and down for easy storage...wipes off easily as it has a plastic like coating (but soft), and is very comfortable. Plus it comes with two trays for when they are dirty. BUT I also love my Fisher Price portable high chair (the white with the lime green back and blue tray). That is what we use now that he is 18 months. It goes right on a chair & can be folded for travel. Oh yeah!! And plastic BIBS!!!! Bumbo seat - Okay I will say at 3 months my kids were able to be strong enough to sit in it, and I do like it. I can take it anywhere, he can sit up and watch us (plus he had a somewhat flat head so having an option without a back is good). So if you can swing it, I'd buy this, plus you can use it as a high chair at first because they are able to sit up in it without being stressed. My son is 3 months, and we are in TX so I get you about clothes. IMO you just need to get short sleeve and long pants. Long sleeves won't be worn that much, just get a jacket to go over it for when he is outside. right now you need summer, at about 3 months you will need winter clothes as it is hot until about november here at least. Where do you live in TX? I love friend 2 friend consignment sales. I hit up The Children's Place outlet in Dalllas all the time. Plus you can go to Craigslist.com and they always have tons of baby stuff for sale there. You can meet in a public location too if you feel safer that way. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Sooooo... How'd you make out on your shopping trip?