Baby Needs:
Car Seat - We do need one of these and because I don't have other things to research, I'm afraid I've gone crazy with the car seat research. I love our MyRide but it's a fairly deep seat and since Lucy is still rear facing with a good 10lbs or 3-4 inches before she switches, we'll have to put someone rear facing behind the driver so I think we will go with either a Roundabout55 or a Radian (putting Lucy in it with the angle adjuster). The local place that sells the Radian will let us take it out to the parking lot to try it out before we buy it which is very helpful since not only is the rear facing recline an issue, but some cars seem unable to have the Radian installed forward facing at all - and how frustrating would it be to spend $250 on a car seat only to find out it won't work after a few months! Update I wrote this several days ago but just got a Roundabout 55. Craig hasn't tried it out yet but I like the look so far.
Diapering - Don't really need anything for the first few months. Our prefolds are in excellent condition still and since Lucy outgrew her size 1 Thirsties Due covers at about 4-5 months, they are still in really good shape too even though I didn't expect any of the covers to last two kids. The size 2 covers are still in use over undies when we travel so they have been in service for 20+ months and will probably need to be replaced when Dewey gets that big. I'd also like another wet bag since I keep one available for potty accident cleanup and Lucy and Dewey may occasionally be in different places and I could use a few more wipes but still that puts our second child diaper needs at about $13x5(covers) + $20(wetbag)+$10(wipes) = $95. Not too shabby.
Clothes - We are set for the first few months. All of our newborn clothes and most of our 0-3 mon clothes are gender neutral. They are being washed as we speak and will soon fill up Dewey's drawers.
Others - We definitely have enough burp rags and receiving blankets and we didn't really use them much last time. Lucy was a big spitter until 12 weeks when I figured out I had oversupply and got a little help from my hormones slowing things down but we mostly used prefolds for that. We did have a miracle blanket that we used at the beginning. Craig loved it but I wasn't really a big swaddler and recently I've been reading more and more about the negatives of swaddling so I don't think we will be swaddling Dewey much if at all.
Sleeping location - We have our co-sleeper. The only time we used it with Lucy was for the first few months if I put Lucy down for an hour or so before going to bed myself. I think it might get used more this time since Lucy still joins us in bed in the morning and I'll need to keep them safely separated.
Carrier - Although I don't really have an Ergo anymore, or never did or whatever - I do have a moby and a sakura bloom ring sling.. I love them both for the first few months. But we will be getting some sort of ssc in the future, I really don't think I can do two kids without one.
Fairly Reasonable Baby Wants
Diapering - I'm pretty sure I'll be getting rid of most of our pockets. I will keep our newer pockets since Lucy still uses those pockets night but the rest are going and I just got and the three brand new all-in-ones I got for free (one one-size, twoi newborns). I just couldn't turn down free diapers but I really don't like pockets/all-in-ones and really want to switch to all natural materials, especially those that actually touch baby skin. I didn't think I would like fitteds but I actually love them so I would like to add a few more of those as well as more wool covers. My favorite fitted and the only bumgenius diaper I truly love was, of course, discontinued, but I just bought a firefly fitted to try and I'll probably try out a few other brands too. I want to go a little more off the beaten path with the diapers I choose from now on. In an ideal world, I would do all wool covers but realistically, I don't have the money to pay for them or the energy/time to make my own and I still prefer a PUL cover for riding in the car situations (or swing, exercisaucer type situations except we don't really do those things). But I would love to have enough wool for overnights at least - perhaps a lanacare sleeper plus a disana cover and/or pants in every size? I'd like to try a firefly cover but they have always been out of stock when I look.
Clothes - I'll say it. I hate onesies. Okay, I hate onesies for newborns and little infants because I'm always snapping and unsnapping to change diapers or take off spitty clothes and they are annoying. And I hate onesies after 9-12 months because babies start crawling away while I try to snap them and we start doing potty learning anyway so they just get in the way. So I guess I don't mind them in size 6 months :-) I love tees - kimono style for newborns and lap tees for older babies. They work well with wool bottoms and if it gets cold, I can just put baby legs on. If a diaper is untucked, no wicking onto a onesie leading to an entire outfit change. Perfect baby attire - so why are they are so hard to find?! I don't blame people for always buying us outfits with onesies because 90% of what you see in the store is a onesie. I am so happy Lucy finally made the switch to 2T because finally finally we can get away from the onesies. I guess I'm in the minority with my onesie hatred but if anyone knows of a good source of cute colorful (and preferable not ridiculously expensive) t-shirts for babies, please please please let me know! I know many people like american apparel but there are aspects of that company I'm not very comfortable supporting. Update: Someone recently shared this company's information with me. I haven't ordered from them but at least it is an option!
Big Sister Kit - This one is really for Lucy, but ties in with the new baby. She loves to take care of her baby right now and I have a feeling that will only increase when our new baby arrives. I'd love to get her a baby carrier of her own (like this little boba or a ring sling to match mine or maybe even a mini mei tai )) and I plan to make her a few doll sized cloth diapers since she currently uses her own pockets (or undies) but they are difficult for her to fasten correctly and dwarf her baby. And don't forget a big/lil sib shirt although I might go this direction instead.
from etsy seller Uzume
Misc - Amber teething necklace. I always meant to get one for Lucy but somehow never did. But I've heard from enough moms that I think they must work.
Not nearly as reasonable baby wants
Montessori mobiles and "toy" set - I wasn't nearly as "into" Montessori when Lucy was first born as I am now. I still don't think these are necessary, babies do just fine with a couple faces to look at for fun. That said, I can see this baby spending more time on the floor since Lucy doesn't like to play alone (she will play by herself but likes me to be sitting near her) and I do like them a lot.
from etsy seller Bella's Casa
,
This particular etsy seller, Bella's casa comes recommended to me but if I do get some mobiles, I'll probably stick with one of the smaller sets of say, maybe the blue gobbi and the dancer? Or I could try making my own. Kylie over at How We Montessori has just put up a few posts about mobiles that have inspired me to find a way to get at least a few. I'd also love a simple Montessori baby toy set like this.
Baby hammock - This would be a total splurge and should probably be in it's own "Super ridiculous baby wants" - at least for our family anyway, but they are so cool I had to include them. Amyb's are probably the most well known although I've heard awesome things about the kanoe. If I did get one, I'd probably go for a style more like the specialdelivery or magic cabin ones though.
Woven wrap - This was a mayb before the whole Ergo fiasco but since then I've actually decided I don't think I really want one. I love soft structured carriers and while they may not be as fancy(hippy) looking as a cool woven wrap would be, they are very practical. Still, they are beautiful and wearing Dewey in one would completely my hippy mom package.
Have any baby wants that have caught your eye lately (reasonable or not)?
I meant to give you my Disana cover cover when you visited but I couldn't find it. I like the idea of wool, but Jason gets confused when we have too many options, so I try to stick to just one system. If you'll email me your address, I'll send it along.
ReplyDeleteI also hate snaps! I think that it might be because I change diapers as soon as she's wet instead of on a schedule and have to deal with them more often than normal. I'm also not trying to cover up ugly disposable diapers but rather trying to show off cute cloth. I often put Eliza in dresses with bloomers which are much easier to pull on and off. Or just leave off altogether if we're at home.
If we have another girl, I don't think I can justify buying anything for the baby at all. :( But if we have a boy, I get to start over on clothes with the exception of a couple of neutral pjs and bodysuits. I've been wondering what to dress a boy in to avoid pants and snaps because dresses obviously aren't an option.
I have a similar list of like-mama toys for the girls. Zuzu's already repossessed my nursing cover and tries to put her baby in the Ergo, but it would be better if they, especially Eliza, had carriers their size.
What kind of car do you have? I'm trying to find a solution for rear-facing behind the driver and passenger seats so I can have Eliza and new baby rear-facing with Zuzu forward-facing in the middle. For what I've read, the Radian is the only one narrow enough, but it does have the installation problems you mentioned. I've seen three rear-facing across the back of a Yaris on a blog, but I'll believe it when I see it in person.
That would be awesome, thanks.
ReplyDeleteIf Dewey is a boy, we'll probably just do a lot of tees and only put on the bottoms when we actually leave the house or they make cute boy style baby legs nowadays so maybe pants are an option - for the under 1 crowd anyway.
I actually just found some metal rings today in the basement and thought I would try and rig up some sort of ring sling for Lucy. I wouldn't want to make my own full size one for safety reasons but it isn't the end of the world is baby doll falls on her head, it happens about 3x a day anyway and I'm sure I could do it for a lot less than $30 - I'll let you know if it works.
We have a Kia sportage, it's a small suv. And your reasoning was exactly why I was considering the radian but eventually we decided that if/when baby #3 comes along, we'll just bite the bullet and get a mini-van. We already fill this car up in storage quite often so with two extra kids and all their stuff, it's probably inevitable. I've heard that babiesrus will let you try out carseats (I'm not sure if that is everyday or only at the special car seat events) but maybe you could try three in your car there.
yeah, I understand your "i hate snaps" comment now. We need to get more lap tees, because Evelyn's head outgrows her t-shirts before her body does. I loved having an infant carrier car seat that had a stroller frame. I just kept the frame in the trunk and could just snap the car seat into the stroller and go! We just got a Britax Marathon for Evelyn's birthday, but haven't put it in our car yet.
ReplyDelete