Soon after we brought Olivia home from the NICU, we began to realize what products were absolutely necessary to our every day routine and what ones we could do without.
Swaddling Wraps
We received several of those Swaddle/Sleep Sack wraps that velcro into place to keep baby swaddled. This is an alternative if you’re dumb like me and just can’t get the regular blanket folded correctly so the baby is swaddled. We had probably 4 or 5 of these in various colors, designs and shapes. There are two downsides to having a ton of these on hand:
1.) If your newborn is too big or too small to fit into them (even with the sizes they offer)
2.) If your newborn doesn’t like to be swaddled
I know that number 2 sounds weird, what newborn doesn’t like to be swaddled? Well, mine. Her personality, since birth, is that she doesn’t like to be tangled up in blankets and wants her limbs, especially her arms, free. We also had issues because even the small sizes were way too big for Olivia. She was 3lbs, 15oz when we brought her home from the NICU and once she’d gained enough weight to even fit into one of these, she didn’t want to be wrapped up in it because she was a month old and totally over the whole swaddling thing. My advice is if you want one, get just one and see how the baby does before purchasing more.
Diapers and Wipes
The day my water broke we didn’t have a package of diapers or wipes in the house. She came so early we were ill-prepared; the nursery still had all of my baby shower gifts strewn all over the floor, we had the room painted and it had furniture, but that was it. We didn’t have bottles, baby wash or even a thermometer. We still thought we had 6 weeks to get the small things that I didn’t receive at my baby shower.
We soon learned as we visited Olivia in the NICU that she wasn’t wearing normal sized newborn diapers. The ones they gave her in the NICU were Pampers Swaddlers Preemie and they fit her perfectly. When we got home we tried other brands of preemie or newborn and they all leaked. As she grew bigger and her legs got chunkier we switched to Pampers Swaddlers Newborn. At that point I decided to try other brands again; Huggies, Luvs, Target, Costco, etc. as they were all cheaper. Every single one of them leaked. What I thought was weird was that a lot of my mommy friends swore by Huggies and said they were the best diapers ever. I guess it was at that point I realized that just like underwear or pants for adults, every diaper fits every baby differently depending on their size. Olivia’s legs were so thin when she was little that the Huggies diapers just bulged on her, causing leaks. As she grew bigger and bigger and went through the sizes (1, 2 and now 3), Pampers have always fit her the best. I can’t really say if there’s a winner for best diaper, because I honestly believe that it’s what fits your kid.
I do however believe there’s a winner for best Baby Wipe. My friend once told me that “Pampers are the best diapers, but Huggies by far have the best wipes.” After trying about three different brands of wipes, I’d have to agree with her. Huggies are the most durable and are quilted, so they seem to “absorb” more. They also smell better and you can buy a gigantic pack of 1,000 at Costco for around $23.
Burp Cloths
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I registered for all sorts of cute and pretty burp cloths, but our most favorite find for newborn to nine months are cloth diapers. You can get a 6 or 12 pack of Gerber brand at Target for $10-$15. They’re durable, absorbent (meaning less gets on YOUR clothes) and also a good teething item once they’re older.
Newborn Clothing
I also mentioned in an earlier post that Olivia had a closet full of clothes when she came home from the NICU – none of which she could actually wear because she was so small. One of our greatest finds for preemies and some good information for mom’s with regular newborns is the Gerber Clothing line. Their sizes run extremely small, which lucky for us, allowed Olivia to fit into their newborn size. Their newborn sizes were smaller than any preemie clothing we picked up along the way. Their onesies were perfect for her. So for moms with regular sized newborns, don’t buy the Gerber newborn size because it will be way too small.
Bottle Warmer/Cooler
Feeding a newborn every 2-3 hours is insanely exhausting, especially if you bottle feed and have a two-story home. Going downstairs to heat up a bottle when you feel like a zombie is not fun. After we were home with Olivia for a few days, I couldn’t take going downstairs at night anymore, so we went to BabiesRUs to purchase a bottle warmer/cooler. We bought a First Years Bottle Warmer that also had a place in the back to hold an ice pack. This allowed us to keep two bottles in the cooler section from 12am – 6am and then heat them when she was ready to eat. For the most part this is a great invention; it has little vials of water that hook on the side. When you’re ready to heat up the bottle you turn it on and pour in a vial of water. The vial of water has to be filled up to certain points depending on how much milk/formula you’re heating up. The directions would say that if you’re heating “X” amount of ounces, fill the water line up to “6.” Whenever we followed the directions, it never worked. So we began testing it and seeing what worked for us. Randomly we’d have the bottle heat up and formula would come out of the nipple and dribble down the side of the bottle, causing the warmer to burn on the bottom. We think this is attributed to the type of bottles we used, but we’re not sure. Either way, a bottle warmer/cooler is a must-have. I never thought I would use it, but it ended up being a staple of her nighttime feedings.
Seats
One of our most favorite things was our Infant Seat. It’s different than a Bouncer Seat because it doesn’t bounce and ours was around 2-3 feet tall, so we could pull it up to the bed or the couch and it would be at the same level as us. It’s similar to this one, but ours was taller and it was much more solid with legs thick like a high chair. During her first month as a newborn, she spent a lot of time during the day in this and once she couldn’t sleep flat on her back due to her GERD, she ended up spending most of the night in it too.
In addition to an infant seat, I purchased a simple Bright Starts $25 bouncer seat off of Amazon after I spent two weeks at home alone (during the day) with Olivia. The infant seat was big and bulky and not realistic to carry up and downstairs every day when I needed to shower or do laundry. The Bright Starts bouncer was inexpensive and AWESOME. She’s 20lbs right now and we still use it on top of the counter when my husband and I both need to get ready at the same time. The grippers on the bottom are great and no matter how big and how strong she is, she can’t even get the thing to slide a centimeter. This is a must-have for new parents, especially if you want to take a shower and have no one to stay with the baby.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
A Baby Registry Done Wrong - Part Deux
Breast Feeding
I registered and received the Evenflo Comfort Select Performance Single Electric Breast Pump. At first it wasn’t too bad, though I thought it was odd that it was more painful than the one I used in the hospital. After a few days of pumping every few hours its motor would make weird noises and it would slow down a little at times. It was also not contoured very well to my breast, so I’d have to sit a certain way to make sure it didn’t leak and I didn’t lose colostrum. On about the fourth or fifth day after she was born (and I was carting it back and forth from home to the NICU) I was getting frustrated because I felt like it wasn’t getting as much out as it could. I was under a lot of pressure to give her everything I could because she was so small (she was 3lbs, 15oz when we brought her home from the NICU) and needed to get big and strong. My aunt gave me some money and I went to BabiesRUs and got the Medela Swing Single Electric Breastpump. This is second from the bottom of the Medela line and is excellent. The cost is somewhere around $150 (which is pricey, especially compared to the Evenflo), but if you really want to be a breastfeeding mom, you must invest in a good, comfortable pump that is going to last you. Right after I began using this, I noticed more milk and I was no longer in pain while I was pumping; it made a huge difference. As I’ll talk about later, I only ended up pumping for a few weeks before the milk dried up. Since Olivia was a preemie, she had a hard time latching and when she did, she had no energy to get anything out. She was losing weight and in order to keep her healthy, we had to switch to formula.
Diaper Bags
I really wanted one of those super chic Petunia PickleBottom bags, but since they were so pricey, I had to find something at the mall. I ended up getting an Eddie Bauer Diaper Bag from JCPenney’s. It was khaki and messenger style so both my husband and I could wear it. It was big and for the first 8 months of Olivia’s life, it held almost everything we needed although it had a shortage of pockets and wasn’t “cute” by any means. My biggest issue was that once she got older we switched to our Maclaren Stroller and since it’s more compact than the Graco, her diaper bag would not fit in the bottom or around the handle bars because it was GIGANTIC. Since she was older and was requiring less to travel, I went on a search for a durable (but cute) diaper bag that would fit around the handle bars or in the bottom of the stroller. It also had to be neutral colors so my husband could wear it. I wanted either a messenger or backpack style so it would be easy to carry. I ended up getting a Skip Hop Diaper Bag from the Gap (they retail also at Target and many other stores too). Although a little pricier (average cost is around $57.99) than the Eddie Bauer bag, it is light years better. There are tons of pockets and even a pouch in the back with a travel diaper changer. There are two bottle pockets that fit not only bottles, but every sippy cup we own as well. It has clasps to hook to the bars of the stroller or it fits nicely around the top. It also fits in the bottom and is a lot easier to lug around. I remember my best friend telling me that I’ll always need a couple of different sized good diaper bags around and she was right!
Burp Cloths
I registered for so many cute little pink and polka dot frilly Gerber burp cloths that I thought were adorable. I even got cute little oblong shaped ones with duckies on them from Carters. All of these were completely useless to us! They weren’t realistic, especially for a child with GERD (she spit up A LOT). As I’ll talk about more in a later post about our favorites, the most useful burp cloth any mom could ever use is a cloth diaper. Thick, absorbent and durable! Not cute, but definitely cheaper and more useful.
Clothes
Newborn
I only registered for a few newborn clothes: sleep n plays, mittens, socks, and a couple packs of onesies. The grandma’s supplied Olivia with plenty of clothes long before she was born, so it wasn’t really necessary. We didn’t have a lot of newborn clothes on hand because we thought she’d be a big baby that was born late, but she was a small baby that was born early. Because of this, none of her clothes fit her the day she was born. My advice for registering is to register for 0-3 months and above and then go shopping after the baby is born. He or She may need Newborn size or they may fit straight into their 0-3s. Since all of the clothes have to be washed in Dreft before you put them on the baby, you may end up with a closet full of clothes you won’t use and can’t return. In our case, we ended up buying tons of Preemie Stuff and Gerber Newborn (which is smaller than most Preemie sizes).
Returning Gifts
A lot of my friends and family bought Olivia clothes for my baby shower. She got tons of cute outfits (it’s really easy to shop for a little girl). One of the issues I had was that I got a lot of summer clothes in the 3-6 month size, which was the middle of winter for us. Although I live in sunny Southern California, most winter days it’s anywhere from 40-60 degrees and it gets into the high 20s or 30s at night. A lot of the clothes I got I didn’t get gift receipts for either. Some stores like Gymboree and BabiesRUs are really good about taking things back for a store credit, so be sure to at least try! I know Target has a pretty strict policy about returns without a receipt (they let you do it once a year and they scan your Driver’s License). If all else fails and you can’t return something and you know your little one won’t use it, give it to a friend who will! I’ve swapped clothes, food, coupons and cans of formula with lots of my mommy friends. It’s great if someone can get use out of something you can’t rather than just donating it.
Receiving Blankets
We registered for some of these at Target (Circo Brand) and ended up with double the amount of what we registered for. These receiving blankets were pretty useless, especially with the quantity that we had. My daughter was a small baby and even as small as she was, we couldn’t wrap or swaddle her in any of these blankets, they were too small. We ended up using them on the floor in our family room to change her diaper on. After a month or so I gave up on them and used a larger sized blanket for her diaper changes and for her to roll around on. I recommend something a little larger than 30x30 as it falls just short when you try to wrap the baby. The blanket we used the most for this purpose was the one she came home from the hospital in. It’s perfect size to wrap an infant and probably around 40x40.
Pacifiers
Pacifiers are a lot like bottles as every baby prefers different ones. Olivia looked so awkward with a pacifier because she was so small; it was quite a sight to see! We tried a few different brands, starting with First Year’s Soothie’s, then Gerber and she finally ended up liking Nuk (which is now owned by Gerber anyway). These are shaped more naturally than other pacifiers, so she took to it really easily, whereas she spit the other ones right back at me. They also come in different stages and a big plus is that they have super cute designs. We’re very lucky that she didn’t attach to a pacifier for very long. At around 3 months she wanted nothing to do with them and hasn’t used them since. The only issue we had with these is when we left them in hot water (in the sink) or boiling water (in a pan) too long, they ended up cracking (we didn’t exactly follow the directions on the package). Also, sometimes the water gets inside of the nipple part, so after I boiled them I would turn them upside down.
More to come!
I registered and received the Evenflo Comfort Select Performance Single Electric Breast Pump. At first it wasn’t too bad, though I thought it was odd that it was more painful than the one I used in the hospital. After a few days of pumping every few hours its motor would make weird noises and it would slow down a little at times. It was also not contoured very well to my breast, so I’d have to sit a certain way to make sure it didn’t leak and I didn’t lose colostrum. On about the fourth or fifth day after she was born (and I was carting it back and forth from home to the NICU) I was getting frustrated because I felt like it wasn’t getting as much out as it could. I was under a lot of pressure to give her everything I could because she was so small (she was 3lbs, 15oz when we brought her home from the NICU) and needed to get big and strong. My aunt gave me some money and I went to BabiesRUs and got the Medela Swing Single Electric Breastpump. This is second from the bottom of the Medela line and is excellent. The cost is somewhere around $150 (which is pricey, especially compared to the Evenflo), but if you really want to be a breastfeeding mom, you must invest in a good, comfortable pump that is going to last you. Right after I began using this, I noticed more milk and I was no longer in pain while I was pumping; it made a huge difference. As I’ll talk about later, I only ended up pumping for a few weeks before the milk dried up. Since Olivia was a preemie, she had a hard time latching and when she did, she had no energy to get anything out. She was losing weight and in order to keep her healthy, we had to switch to formula.
Diaper Bags
I really wanted one of those super chic Petunia PickleBottom bags, but since they were so pricey, I had to find something at the mall. I ended up getting an Eddie Bauer Diaper Bag from JCPenney’s. It was khaki and messenger style so both my husband and I could wear it. It was big and for the first 8 months of Olivia’s life, it held almost everything we needed although it had a shortage of pockets and wasn’t “cute” by any means. My biggest issue was that once she got older we switched to our Maclaren Stroller and since it’s more compact than the Graco, her diaper bag would not fit in the bottom or around the handle bars because it was GIGANTIC. Since she was older and was requiring less to travel, I went on a search for a durable (but cute) diaper bag that would fit around the handle bars or in the bottom of the stroller. It also had to be neutral colors so my husband could wear it. I wanted either a messenger or backpack style so it would be easy to carry. I ended up getting a Skip Hop Diaper Bag from the Gap (they retail also at Target and many other stores too). Although a little pricier (average cost is around $57.99) than the Eddie Bauer bag, it is light years better. There are tons of pockets and even a pouch in the back with a travel diaper changer. There are two bottle pockets that fit not only bottles, but every sippy cup we own as well. It has clasps to hook to the bars of the stroller or it fits nicely around the top. It also fits in the bottom and is a lot easier to lug around. I remember my best friend telling me that I’ll always need a couple of different sized good diaper bags around and she was right!
Burp Cloths
I registered for so many cute little pink and polka dot frilly Gerber burp cloths that I thought were adorable. I even got cute little oblong shaped ones with duckies on them from Carters. All of these were completely useless to us! They weren’t realistic, especially for a child with GERD (she spit up A LOT). As I’ll talk about more in a later post about our favorites, the most useful burp cloth any mom could ever use is a cloth diaper. Thick, absorbent and durable! Not cute, but definitely cheaper and more useful.
Clothes
Newborn
I only registered for a few newborn clothes: sleep n plays, mittens, socks, and a couple packs of onesies. The grandma’s supplied Olivia with plenty of clothes long before she was born, so it wasn’t really necessary. We didn’t have a lot of newborn clothes on hand because we thought she’d be a big baby that was born late, but she was a small baby that was born early. Because of this, none of her clothes fit her the day she was born. My advice for registering is to register for 0-3 months and above and then go shopping after the baby is born. He or She may need Newborn size or they may fit straight into their 0-3s. Since all of the clothes have to be washed in Dreft before you put them on the baby, you may end up with a closet full of clothes you won’t use and can’t return. In our case, we ended up buying tons of Preemie Stuff and Gerber Newborn (which is smaller than most Preemie sizes).
Returning Gifts
A lot of my friends and family bought Olivia clothes for my baby shower. She got tons of cute outfits (it’s really easy to shop for a little girl). One of the issues I had was that I got a lot of summer clothes in the 3-6 month size, which was the middle of winter for us. Although I live in sunny Southern California, most winter days it’s anywhere from 40-60 degrees and it gets into the high 20s or 30s at night. A lot of the clothes I got I didn’t get gift receipts for either. Some stores like Gymboree and BabiesRUs are really good about taking things back for a store credit, so be sure to at least try! I know Target has a pretty strict policy about returns without a receipt (they let you do it once a year and they scan your Driver’s License). If all else fails and you can’t return something and you know your little one won’t use it, give it to a friend who will! I’ve swapped clothes, food, coupons and cans of formula with lots of my mommy friends. It’s great if someone can get use out of something you can’t rather than just donating it.
Receiving Blankets
We registered for some of these at Target (Circo Brand) and ended up with double the amount of what we registered for. These receiving blankets were pretty useless, especially with the quantity that we had. My daughter was a small baby and even as small as she was, we couldn’t wrap or swaddle her in any of these blankets, they were too small. We ended up using them on the floor in our family room to change her diaper on. After a month or so I gave up on them and used a larger sized blanket for her diaper changes and for her to roll around on. I recommend something a little larger than 30x30 as it falls just short when you try to wrap the baby. The blanket we used the most for this purpose was the one she came home from the hospital in. It’s perfect size to wrap an infant and probably around 40x40.
Pacifiers
Pacifiers are a lot like bottles as every baby prefers different ones. Olivia looked so awkward with a pacifier because she was so small; it was quite a sight to see! We tried a few different brands, starting with First Year’s Soothie’s, then Gerber and she finally ended up liking Nuk (which is now owned by Gerber anyway). These are shaped more naturally than other pacifiers, so she took to it really easily, whereas she spit the other ones right back at me. They also come in different stages and a big plus is that they have super cute designs. We’re very lucky that she didn’t attach to a pacifier for very long. At around 3 months she wanted nothing to do with them and hasn’t used them since. The only issue we had with these is when we left them in hot water (in the sink) or boiling water (in a pan) too long, they ended up cracking (we didn’t exactly follow the directions on the package). Also, sometimes the water gets inside of the nipple part, so after I boiled them I would turn them upside down.
More to come!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
A Baby Registry Done Wrong
When I look back at my registry experience I think I got about half of it right. Those aren’t bad odds with the exception that I wasted other people's money (and my own) and forked over tons of cash for the things that I ended up using the most after Olivia was born. One of my close friends is due in two months and after talking with her, I realized that most moms follow a Target or BabiesRUs checklist about what to register for, but what I could have really used, was a little advice! I’m going to talk more in another post about our favorites and what has been great for us. In this post I want to focus more on the things I shouldn’t have registered for.
Bottles
My number one faux pas was Avent Bottles. Not only are these bottles pricey, but they leak really bad. The nipple was awkward, especially for a preemie. After trying one bottle, I quickly removed the rest from my registry and went on a search for different bottles. We decided to then go with the Playtex Ventaire which looked nice and had the right idea, but the slow nipple was too hard for her to suck and the fast nipple would release so much liquid, it would choke her (even months down the line when she was on stage 2s). Why Playtex doesn't have more than two nipple flows is beyond me and maybe they do now, but not at the time. The nipples were also square shaped, which didn't feel right to my daughter. We ended up being a huge fan of the Dr. Brown line which I will discuss in my next post about my favorites.
Dishwasher Basket and Dry Rack
We’ve gone through two Dishwasher Baskets and both were a waste of money. When you have a newborn you’re going through bottles, their parts and nipples every 2-3 hours a day. The dishwasher baskets are so small that they only hold maybe 2-3 bottles worth of parts. I’d have to run the dishwasher every 6 hours, which is pointless. Instead we soaked and washed (with a bottle brush) the bottles and their parts in steaming hot water in the sink. We then air dried them on a dry rack. We used First Years Modular Spinning Dry Rack and it was sufficient, but not fantastic. It wobbles, but I liked that it was two levels so we could put the smaller stuff on top and the bigger stuff on the bottom. With this dry rack, it has a draining mechanism, but it wasn’t great, so we put a dish towel underneath it.
Sippy Cups
We registered for and received a set of Avent Sippy Training Cups. Olivia was able to pick them up and drink from them easily, but I ended up hating them and tossing them in the trash because they are impossible to clean. The non-spill spouts pop out of the plastic portion, but the clear rubber insert on the bottom of them that keep them from spilling don’t detach. This allows food to get trapped inside and I had to take a tiny little cleaning brush to attempt to get all of the food out. The brush I had wasn’t sufficient enough and I was worried about mold, so I moved on. Our sippy cup adventure didn’t end here and will be its own topic down the line. Most of my mommy friends use Nuby or Playtex but as I’ve learned in this journey and will mention time and time again, every baby prefers different things.
Gear
Selecting the Graco Travel System, Swing and Pack n Play was difficult. The patterns available at the time were not the cutest (I've seen much cuter since then). I ended up choosing a pattern online that I liked at the time, but despise now. I wanted a pattern that wasn't gender specific (even though I knew I was having a girl) because I wanted to save it for future children.
At first I liked the simplicity of the Graco Gear; it's really easy to move your baby from car to stroller or car to shopping cart. We also had a car seat base in each of our cars to make it even easier. My major complaint is with the stroller as the straps are not easy to adjust when your child is in the sitting position. The back part that allows you to tilt the infant downwards for a nap or upwards to sit never stays in place, even though it is locked down. Olivia is constantly strolling at a steep incline. The stroller has horrible alignment and pulls to the left like an old car.
As for the swing, it was pretty noisy and Olivia really didn't like it. We've actually been through two swings and the Fisher Price Starlight Papasan Cradle Swing worked better for her. Our biggest issue was her reflux and that's not typical for most babies. Being on her back isn't comfortable, so she especially didn't like the Graco swing because it wasn't comfortable for her.
The Pack n Play I can't review because I think we've used it all of ten times. As I spoke about above, Olivia could not sleep on her back, so she only slept in the bassinet portion of the Pack N Play for her first few nights at home. The only other time she's been in it is when we traveled to Nana and Papas house; she used the bottom, with a sheet for a bed. I do believe that her personality and how she hates to be restricted (since the day she was born; she was a no-swaddle baby!) is the reason we didn't and don't use it more. I know tons of moms that swear by the Pack n Play.
We used our Chicco Infant Carrier all of maybe 3 times. I preferred a sling due to Olivia’s small preemie size. The infant carrier never seemed to fit her correctly. She was always too small for it and once she was big enough for it, she didn’t want to be strapped down inside of a carrier. I think there are better carriers out there that are more adjustable; my advice is to hold off on registering for it and register for a good sling instead. Once the baby is a little older and can fit into a carrier, then check it out and keep your receipt. All babies are different and some may like it and some may not and designs may vary.
Bedding
Waterproof mattress pads are a must-have and you should always have at least two on hand. We registered for two Carter’s waterproof mattress pads and began using these after she was done co-sleeping with us at about 2.5 - 3 months old. Within a few weeks, one of them had the rubber lining snap making the pad useless as it wouldn’t stay on the mattress. I was furious and refused to buy the same brand again, so this time I took my handy 20% off BabiesRUs coupon and spent the extra two dollars to get a Sealy Mattress Pad instead. It’s much more heavy duty and like a lot of things, you get what you pay for. I have a feeling this will last her for years.
Grooming
When I registered for the The First Years American Red Cross Deluxe Healthcare & Grooming Kit I thought I was smart and had it in the bag. Twenty bucks for an 18 piece kit – wow, what a deal! So far, everything but the hairbrush and the teething toy have been useless. The thermometer takes forever to get a temp and the nail clippers are horrible. The “booger sucker” is not great and we just use the one we got from the hospital when she was born. I haven’t used the medicine dispenser but I hear the free ones from the pharmacy are better. Register for some of these pieces individually and get the rest as you need them.
The bathtub we registered for we did so because it was really cute and not gender specific. It was the Fisher Price Rainforest Bath Center and was great in the beginning. It has a little sling that holds a newborn baby in place while you bathe them. It has a bar that allows you to hook it conveniently on the sink. However, once she had grown out of the newborn sling and was able to just sit in the bathtub, I began to hate this bathtub. The part where they lean their back against has no padding or gripper, so it was uncomfortable for her. As soon as she was able to sit up well on her own, I transitioned her to the Munchkin Inflatable Yellow Duck Tub, which has proved great with the exception that the plug has a hard time staying put and is also really tough to close. But for $14.99 it works just fine.
Toys
I was really excited to register for a baby aquarium for her crib. This was one of my number one choices as one of her very first toys. We registered for the Baby Einstein Neptune Soother. It is really adorable and I love the music and the animals that scroll across the screen. However, Baby Einstein didn’t take into consideration that most modern cribs have thick railing, not the really thin posts like the cribs of our generation. The straps on the back do not fit around her crib railing, so we couldn’t attach it for her to watch. It has a free-standing option, which is great for babies with a nightstand next to their bed, but Olivia doesn’t have room for a nightstand next to her crib, so we never use this product.
Look for more of our dislikes and our favorites in upcoming posts! Stay tuned…
Bottles
My number one faux pas was Avent Bottles. Not only are these bottles pricey, but they leak really bad. The nipple was awkward, especially for a preemie. After trying one bottle, I quickly removed the rest from my registry and went on a search for different bottles. We decided to then go with the Playtex Ventaire which looked nice and had the right idea, but the slow nipple was too hard for her to suck and the fast nipple would release so much liquid, it would choke her (even months down the line when she was on stage 2s). Why Playtex doesn't have more than two nipple flows is beyond me and maybe they do now, but not at the time. The nipples were also square shaped, which didn't feel right to my daughter. We ended up being a huge fan of the Dr. Brown line which I will discuss in my next post about my favorites.
Dishwasher Basket and Dry Rack
We’ve gone through two Dishwasher Baskets and both were a waste of money. When you have a newborn you’re going through bottles, their parts and nipples every 2-3 hours a day. The dishwasher baskets are so small that they only hold maybe 2-3 bottles worth of parts. I’d have to run the dishwasher every 6 hours, which is pointless. Instead we soaked and washed (with a bottle brush) the bottles and their parts in steaming hot water in the sink. We then air dried them on a dry rack. We used First Years Modular Spinning Dry Rack and it was sufficient, but not fantastic. It wobbles, but I liked that it was two levels so we could put the smaller stuff on top and the bigger stuff on the bottom. With this dry rack, it has a draining mechanism, but it wasn’t great, so we put a dish towel underneath it.
Sippy Cups
We registered for and received a set of Avent Sippy Training Cups. Olivia was able to pick them up and drink from them easily, but I ended up hating them and tossing them in the trash because they are impossible to clean. The non-spill spouts pop out of the plastic portion, but the clear rubber insert on the bottom of them that keep them from spilling don’t detach. This allows food to get trapped inside and I had to take a tiny little cleaning brush to attempt to get all of the food out. The brush I had wasn’t sufficient enough and I was worried about mold, so I moved on. Our sippy cup adventure didn’t end here and will be its own topic down the line. Most of my mommy friends use Nuby or Playtex but as I’ve learned in this journey and will mention time and time again, every baby prefers different things.
Gear
Selecting the Graco Travel System, Swing and Pack n Play was difficult. The patterns available at the time were not the cutest (I've seen much cuter since then). I ended up choosing a pattern online that I liked at the time, but despise now. I wanted a pattern that wasn't gender specific (even though I knew I was having a girl) because I wanted to save it for future children.
At first I liked the simplicity of the Graco Gear; it's really easy to move your baby from car to stroller or car to shopping cart. We also had a car seat base in each of our cars to make it even easier. My major complaint is with the stroller as the straps are not easy to adjust when your child is in the sitting position. The back part that allows you to tilt the infant downwards for a nap or upwards to sit never stays in place, even though it is locked down. Olivia is constantly strolling at a steep incline. The stroller has horrible alignment and pulls to the left like an old car.
As for the swing, it was pretty noisy and Olivia really didn't like it. We've actually been through two swings and the Fisher Price Starlight Papasan Cradle Swing worked better for her. Our biggest issue was her reflux and that's not typical for most babies. Being on her back isn't comfortable, so she especially didn't like the Graco swing because it wasn't comfortable for her.
The Pack n Play I can't review because I think we've used it all of ten times. As I spoke about above, Olivia could not sleep on her back, so she only slept in the bassinet portion of the Pack N Play for her first few nights at home. The only other time she's been in it is when we traveled to Nana and Papas house; she used the bottom, with a sheet for a bed. I do believe that her personality and how she hates to be restricted (since the day she was born; she was a no-swaddle baby!) is the reason we didn't and don't use it more. I know tons of moms that swear by the Pack n Play.
We used our Chicco Infant Carrier all of maybe 3 times. I preferred a sling due to Olivia’s small preemie size. The infant carrier never seemed to fit her correctly. She was always too small for it and once she was big enough for it, she didn’t want to be strapped down inside of a carrier. I think there are better carriers out there that are more adjustable; my advice is to hold off on registering for it and register for a good sling instead. Once the baby is a little older and can fit into a carrier, then check it out and keep your receipt. All babies are different and some may like it and some may not and designs may vary.
Bedding
Waterproof mattress pads are a must-have and you should always have at least two on hand. We registered for two Carter’s waterproof mattress pads and began using these after she was done co-sleeping with us at about 2.5 - 3 months old. Within a few weeks, one of them had the rubber lining snap making the pad useless as it wouldn’t stay on the mattress. I was furious and refused to buy the same brand again, so this time I took my handy 20% off BabiesRUs coupon and spent the extra two dollars to get a Sealy Mattress Pad instead. It’s much more heavy duty and like a lot of things, you get what you pay for. I have a feeling this will last her for years.
Grooming
When I registered for the The First Years American Red Cross Deluxe Healthcare & Grooming Kit I thought I was smart and had it in the bag. Twenty bucks for an 18 piece kit – wow, what a deal! So far, everything but the hairbrush and the teething toy have been useless. The thermometer takes forever to get a temp and the nail clippers are horrible. The “booger sucker” is not great and we just use the one we got from the hospital when she was born. I haven’t used the medicine dispenser but I hear the free ones from the pharmacy are better. Register for some of these pieces individually and get the rest as you need them.
The bathtub we registered for we did so because it was really cute and not gender specific. It was the Fisher Price Rainforest Bath Center and was great in the beginning. It has a little sling that holds a newborn baby in place while you bathe them. It has a bar that allows you to hook it conveniently on the sink. However, once she had grown out of the newborn sling and was able to just sit in the bathtub, I began to hate this bathtub. The part where they lean their back against has no padding or gripper, so it was uncomfortable for her. As soon as she was able to sit up well on her own, I transitioned her to the Munchkin Inflatable Yellow Duck Tub, which has proved great with the exception that the plug has a hard time staying put and is also really tough to close. But for $14.99 it works just fine.
Toys
I was really excited to register for a baby aquarium for her crib. This was one of my number one choices as one of her very first toys. We registered for the Baby Einstein Neptune Soother. It is really adorable and I love the music and the animals that scroll across the screen. However, Baby Einstein didn’t take into consideration that most modern cribs have thick railing, not the really thin posts like the cribs of our generation. The straps on the back do not fit around her crib railing, so we couldn’t attach it for her to watch. It has a free-standing option, which is great for babies with a nightstand next to their bed, but Olivia doesn’t have room for a nightstand next to her crib, so we never use this product.
Look for more of our dislikes and our favorites in upcoming posts! Stay tuned…
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