This is a burp cloth. Get a lot of them, wash them when you can, toss them when they are too gross to touch.
This is a burp cloth. Get a lot of them, wash them when you can, toss them when they are too gross to touch.
This is a changing table organizer. Get one. Forget the Baby Powder, you are not allowed to use it on a baby. I know, but it's true.
This is a travel baby changer. Get one for each car, and then put extra diapers and wipes in a storage spot in the car. When you want to be mobile, you can just grab this and run. We hardly ever used a diaper bag.
I would also recommend investing in a small bottle warmer. You end up in a lot of restaurants with the baby, and warming a bottle is always an issue. Most places can run it to the kitchen and microwave it, but it may come out way too hot to use. With this, you just borrow and outlet for 3 min and you are done.
You mean i've been abusing my kid by giving her bottles of formula made with cheap bottled water at room temp?
EvanR wrote:
Careful, that can lead to needing baby stuff.
I have absolutely nothing useful to contribute. My cats can't even use a litter box, I'd never be trusted with a little person.
pinchvalve wrote:
I would add: carry a spare shirt for yourself. Nothing worse than having to walk around in a shirt with someone else's puke on it.
pinchvalve wrote:I would also recommend investing in a small bottle warmer. You end up in a lot of restaurants with the baby, and warming a bottle is always an issue. Most places can run it to the kitchen and microwave it, but it may come out way too hot to use. With this, you just borrow and outlet for 3 min and you are done.
Eh, we don't use them. If we need to warm up a bottle of breast milk from the fridge, we set it in a cup of hot water. Otherwise they are all room temp, even the pre-mixed formula bottles.
Breast milk is fine for 6 hours at room temp, 6 days in the fridge and 6 months in the freezer.
Once my wife goes back to work, I'll be using the warmer to defrost bags of frozen breast milk.
Facebook yard sale is your friend. It's crazy the deals you can get on expensive stuff.
And this offer is good for all board members:
I have an abundance of 0 to 15 month clothes and toys. Mostly unisex clothes/colors (me and baby revs mom HATE pink). Pay the shipping and I will cram a flat rate box full of miscellaneous stuff. Few sizes of clothes and some toys. I gotta make room for 18+ month stuff now, and the next baby any friends are having isn't due till May.
Anti gas meds, Tylenol, and teething stuff.
Like a lot of people here we didn't do the baby room thing either.
Necessities
Decent crib and mattress
One of those changing mat things with ramps on the sides so they can't roll off
A couple changes of clothes
Diapers and associated diaper stuff (rash cream, rash prevention cream and wipes)
Good car seat (we bought a Recaro because, quite frankly, it's Recaro)
Tips and tricks:
Take all the free cloths and other things that the hospital gives you.
White noise is your friend. The vacuum worked well and so does a white or pink noise app on a phone.
Splurges
I bought SWMBO a couple things that made our lives a whole lot easier.
Kiinde System - This allowed my wife to pump directly into sterile, good quality bags rather than attempting to transfer from a bottle into cheap Lansinoh bags that have the rigidity of a off brand grocery store sandwich bag. I'd rather lose an appendage than deal with a hormonal woman crying over spilt breastmilk again. The kit also comes with a warmer so you can't overheat the bag of milk when warming it up, practically new dad proof.
Medela Breastpump - It lasted for two solid years being used a couple times a day and will likely survive the next one as well. Really good quality, easy to get replacement parts for, and can operate off batteries if you're traveling.
BoB Stroller - So these are spendy. If you look for a well cared for used one they still sell for nearly retail. We caught one that was being phased out for close to 40% off and it was still 300 dollars after taxes. Cheap strollers are seriously terrible though so I bit the bullet. We've managed to get quite a bit of use out of this one having taken it to national parks as well as on road use nearly every day for two years (so far).
Other than that I'd get a chest freezer for breastmilk and ready made meals that you can start cooking right now to alleviate the stress of the first couple of weeks.
Stefan (Not Bruce) wrote:pinchvalve wrote:Eh, we don't use them. If we need to warm up a bottle of breast milk from the fridge, we set it in a cup of hot water. Otherwise they are all room temp, even the pre-mixed formula bottles. Breast milk is fine for 6 hours at room temp, 6 days in the fridge and 6 months in the freezer. Once my wife goes back to work, I'll be using the warmer to defrost bags of frozen breast milk.
I lived and died by my bottle warmer. My wife went back to work half days three weeks after birth and I was running on exclusively pumped breast milk until we introduced food. Exclusively breast feeding when you don't have breasts is.......limiting. On a similar note, if pumping is in your wife's future, get (buy or rent) the BEST breast pump you can find. She'll spend up to an hour with that thing every work day. A cheap pump is the equivalent of a driving a crappy old Corolla. It works, but the experience is less pleasant than it would be in a Bentley.
I second the sling type carrier. I had good luck with them. Once they get bigger a proper baby backpack is awesome. You can move through stores/crowds soooooo much easier and the kid gets to look around at the world instead of living in a sea of butts at stroller level.
Patience. You'll need lots of patience.
It doesn't matter what you think you'll NEED. Friends/family/showers/etc. will result in you getting all the crap you don't want as well.
Just use room temp milk and you wont have a need for a bottle warmer, or an upset monster child when you have to give them cold milk/formula at a restaurant.
Remember, however you raise your child, according to the rest of society you are probably doing it wrong.
Fueled by Caffeine wrote: Cheap strollers suck. Expensive strollers are stupid expensive. Buy a good midrange one.
and get it second hand
Buy your wife a breast pump, get a nice one. Get a new one, because a used breast pump, man that is just wrong.
Toebra wrote:Fueled by Caffeine wrote: Cheap strollers suck. Expensive strollers are stupid expensive. Buy a good midrange one.and get it second hand Buy your wife a breast pump, get a nice one. Get a new one, because a used breast pump, man that is just wrong.
Used breast pumps are fine. Just buy new hardware for them (tubing, membranes, etc.) as those are wear items.
Also check with your insurance as they will often pay for a new one anyway.
We had one given to us by a friend and we got a new one. The new one is a backpack version which travels a little better and the other stays at home. Both are the same brand and use the same supplies which is pretty handy.
In reply to JohnRW1621:
Congratulations sir! All mine came home this way. The last two were 1 hr notice newborns...
The suction bulb or powered suction device is a must have and really cheap. Bulb sucking the vomit blockage out of a newborn childs airway is far superior to using your mouth over their nose/mouth. Ask me how I know.
ProDarwin wrote: Just use room temp milk and you wont have a need for a bottle warmer, or an upset monster child when you have to give them cold milk/formula at a restaurant.
This is great advice for formula, but my brain is still wired to treat breast milk as a precious commodity NOT to be wasted or treated lightly in any way. I may have some residual PTSD from Mrs. Deuce and the hormonal sleep deprived pumping years. I take the comfort and mental stability of anyone hooked to a milking machine very seriously.
Edit: and don't actually call it a milking machine. Even if that's what it is, you shouldn't do that.
We went through this last year. There have been a ton of good suggestions already, but I'll add two.
Have a diaper party. Invite your buddies over for a night of drinking and ask them all to bring a pack of diapers. Mine was fun and we had diapers on hand for months!
Get Amazon Prime if you don't already have it. I have found that they beat the prices of local places on diapers, which you can subscribe
One more thing: some of this advice is for you (changing pad, stroller) and some is for the baby (sling carrier, white noise.) I'm sure you can figure this out for yourself, but, just for the record, you don't know what your baby likes yet. Once she arrives, she will let you know, if you're paying attention and open to suggestions from your boss. And I mean she will let you know what she likes starting at Hour One. (Even Minute One, if you count the tiny litle wail that means "Damn, it's cold and loud and bright out here! This sucks!") Some babies like to ride in their sling carriers facing in; other babies insist on facing out so they can see more stuff. Your Munchkin May Vary.
Tiger Mom has gotten a kick out of this thread.
She also agrees, women and baby showers will take care of the soft stuff. Your job is the hard stuff (furniture and minivan).
An aside from me: I've watched several deliveries now. When it's your spouse squeezing one out it's different. Focus on her head, stay close to her head, hold her hand. Do not look down. If you do you'll be tempted to share your "observations" later and she will not appreciate that.
Eyes up, hold hand, be positive and supportive.
I just had my third. As far as stuff goes, I'm a big fan of the basics:
Crib Car seat Stroller (we have the kind where the car seat clicks into it) Backpack (someone else said it, but don't bother with special purpose baby bag. A $15 backpack we bought has served us VERY well through three kids back to back to back) I like having a changing table.
That's about it for what you need.
I have two (and only two, although rather broad) pieces of baby advice:
Don't buy new: the baby doesn't care and you'll only use whatever it is you're getting for a little while. Buying new is burning money.
Just do it. Whatever it is. Change the diaper. Clean up the spit up. Wash the clothes. Hold the baby. Whatever. Don't fight it, don't put it off, don't ask the wife to do it (she'll do it all plenty on her own). It'll make the whole experience a lot more pleasant if you don't fight it (I've know many a man to do so). Doesn't mean that you'll love getting up a 3 am to change a poopy diaper, but just accept it for what it is and move on.
And congratulations! Like all things worth doing, having a kid can be challenging, but I love it!
Don't stock up on 'newborn' size stuff. Not clothes, not diapers. I mean, have a few things on hand, but don't go nuts. You don't know what size the kid is going to come out and they will likely skip right over 'newborn' size and possibly '0-3mo' size as well if they are not premature.
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