Questions for people with infant care experience.

[rivka]

Here's what curiousangel and I have for the baby so far:

two nightgowns
one bib
one stuffed dachshund (thanks to geekchick)
one book of original nursery rhymes (thanks to papersky)
I Am A Bunny (board-book edition)
Touch And Feel Baseball (board-book edition)

It occurs to us that this might not be enough.

Tomorrow we're going to a Baby Products MegaStore to start familiarizing ourselves with our various options for gear. We're still far from buying, and even far from registering for gifts, but we want to get out there and actually handle various kinds of equipment.

So, those of you who have had infant experience, as a parent or daycare worker or babysitter:

What baby gear was absolutely vital?
What was a waste of money and space?
Are there any particular products you swear by?

(Quick rundown of current parenting plans, because I'm sure that they will affect gear recommendations: Li'l Critter will be breastfed. We disagree about cloth vs. disposable diapers. Li'l Critter will not sleep in our bed. We have a car, but also travel by bus and light rail.)

Comments

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Do not bother with any clothing that buttons up the back. Baby clothing should not button. Ideally, it should zip; second-best is snap. There must be openings up the crotch and down both legs. You undress a baby's bottom half a lot more often than its top.

You'll need an infant carrier/car seat, the kind where the carrier snaps out of the seat. Test-carry the ones in the store and see which one is least painful to your back.

Bassinets are handy for a very limited period; see if you can borrow one or buy one second-hand rather than buying new.

I got a lot more use out of the collapsible umbrella stroller than out of the full-size stroller. The collapsible one works with short-term last-minute errands; the full-size one takes more preparation.

Don't bother buying stuffed animals. People will give them to you. Boy, will they ever.

Baby spit-up STAINS. Bright colors are your friends. Pastels show every spill of Amoxicillin and nastier things.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Baby clothing should not button. Ideally, it should zip; second-best is snap. There must be openings up the crotch and down both legs. You undress a baby's bottom half a lot more often than its top.

This is why my mother got us baby nightgowns instead of sleepers. They have elastic at the bottom, so they keep the baby covered normally but you can also easily push them up to the waist. She said, "you really don't want to have to try to make snaps line up in the middle of the night."

Don't bother buying stuffed animals. People will give them to you. Boy, will they ever.

I'm guessing we won't be buying many clothes or toys. :-) My mom also said, "you should buy the baby a cute little outfit right now, before you start receiving gifts. I didn't get to buy anything for your oldest sister until she was a year old, because other people bought it all."

[geminigirl]

My experience all comes from babysitting/daycare stuff...so I may express radically different ideas than other people.

Whether or not you use cloth diapers to diaper the baby, they've always been incredibly useful for other things-as burp rags, to wipe things up, etc.

I hated the wipe warmer. I thought it made the wipes smell even worse, and made them extra slimy.

[nex0s.livejournal.com]

while i don't have a child, i've baby sat *alot* in my time.

just remember that babies, like all humans, are bags o' drippy stuff. urine, gelatinous poo, vomit, spit... you name it, babies make it... and they get it all over everything.

everything you own should be easily washable (except for the cute sweater i'm going to make you guys :) in the washing machine. you should have multiples of everything unless you want to do laundry once a day for the next two years.

as for disposable vs. cloth diapers, remember that you will be changing your baby's diaper between 2 and 7 times in a day (probably less than 7, but i'm being generous here for a reason). now, imagine the stacks of laundry, even with a service. the gas and electricity (we still use coal for a most of our electricity here in the 'states) it takes to get the cloth diapers to and from the cleaning service... etc. and so forth. be green by using a reusable coffee cup when you get a cup on the run, don't make yourself crazy with cloth diapers. if you are 100% for cloth, understand that it's still easier to carry and use the diaposables if you are leaving the house for any leghnth of time. including 10 minutes.

if you like, i can give you a very amusing story about a friend of mine who ran out of diapers for his baby at a convention in 20 minutes time....

n.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

One diaper issue that nobody tells you -- I found that cloth diapers leaked much more than disposable, even with the special diaper covers. That meant that diaper changes required clothes changes more often when I was using cloth.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Most important thing:
Happy Baby food grinder (now sold under the Kidco brand, I think, always made by them)
It's cheap, and once the baby's on soft solids, you never have to make pr buy baby food as long as you have access to healthful foods.

Cloth diapers can be easy if you have a diaper service, which (usually) costs about the same as disposables.

If I used public transit a lot, I'd absolutely have some sort of snugli.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

(And when you do register somewhere -- Target isn't a bad choice -- let us know?)

Ooh, boy

[wiredferret.livejournal.com]

Need:
Carseat
Diaper bag (Kelty sells swanky ones which I covet)
Crib (buy used, but carefully)
More crib sheets than you think you need
Really good breastpump. I use the Medela Pump N Style. This enables you to, you know, go to movies during the first four months.
Set of rearview mirrors so that you can see into a rear-facing carseat without turning around. Cheap, but oh-so-useful.
Lots of clothes. For the first 2-3 months, the diaper bag always contained an outfit per hour. Because sometimes that was needed. They don't have to be designer, they just have to be clean and weather appropriate.

Sanity savers:
Battery-powered swing
Baby simethicone
Baby monitor
Sling
Bouncy chair/exersaucer
Emergency bottle and formula
Good nursing chair (shop for this now, or after the baby. Good for pregnant and good for nursing are entirely different.

On diapers:
My mom cloth diapered us all. I was going to follow in her footsteps until she told me I was crazy, pointed out that she had a laundry woman with the first two of us and was home for my brother, and said that modern disposables are much more comfortable for the baby. Compelling arguments, all. Also, at least here, licensed daycares cannot do cloth diapering.

I wish I'd had:
A changing table

On evolution:
Eventually, you will need things like a high chair and a stroller. I advocate buying pretty much everything at whichever form of used-baby-store you have. The stuff is nice, cheap, and usually safe. You don't need a climbing castle or most of the large bulky objects yet. But you'll know as you get there what you need. Right now, I need to buy Baz long-sleeve 3T shirts and a musical keyboard. Two months ago, he didn't need either.

Dear god, why:
Crib bumpers. They block your view, and then when they'd be really useful, they become dangerous to the kid. Don't bother.
Shoes for babies who don't walk yet -- why? we should start footbinding early? Baz had some neat little slippers with elastic ankles for when it was cold, but for the most part, he went barefoot.

[ailbhe]

We need cot bumpers now - and for the past 6 weeks - because Linnea was sticking her legs through the bars and hurting herself when she then rolled over. She's never needed them for her head, or across the top of the cot at all - we use one down each side.

Linnea went barefoot until the recent cold weather; she now has soft shoes which keep her socks on. Soon we expect her to learn how to get those off, and then it's dealing with tights every change...

[castiron.livejournal.com]

What I couldn't have lived without:

Nursing pillow. (I liked the "My Brest Friend" pillow in spite of the cheesy name.) Makes it much easier to keep kid in a comfy position.

Flannel-coated rubber changing pads. With these, any surface is a changing table.

Because I was working outside the home and nursing, Medela Pump In Style pump.

Those nightgowns with the elastic bottoms -- easy to pull up for diaper changes, but tend to keep the kid's legs more covered.

A ton more nightgowns and onesies than I'd ever dreamed we'd need. (We had to change the clothes at least every other poopy diaper, sometimes every poopy diaper, and in the first months, the boy had ten poopy diapers a day.) (Stock up on your preferred laundry detergent by third trimester.)

A sling. We also used the Snuggli carrier, which worked very well except that it was hard to get the kid out (ok when he was awake, problematic when he was asleep).

Stroller that fit in our trunk -- we didn't use it much when he was an infant, but by time he was pushing 20 pounds, it was very helpful.

Stuff I could live fine without:

Special baby towels. Our regular towels (or sometimes hand towels) dried him off just fine.

Changing table. Never had one. We just used the bed or the floor.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

"It occurs to us that this might not be enough."

Yeah. You'll also need at least one stuffed otter.

B

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I have a stuffed otter that attaches to a stuffed baby otter with velcro. That's probably the kind you want. Sorry I can't give a source for it...it was a gift.

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Just because I need to warm up my belaboring-the-obvious muscles (I teach freshmen in about 15 min)...a car seat.

Also lots and LOTS of bottles; the Critter won't be breastfed forever.

My baby-having friends seem to get lots of mileage out of a Land's End(?) diaper bag. Maybe it's LLBean or Eddie Bauer. The removable changing pad appears to be a plus, though as an aunt I tend to give the babies back at that point. ;-)

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Nope, Lands' End. Our LE bag got us through two babies unscathed. Lots of storage space, conveniently organized, and a big ol' folding changing pad. I particularly remember the two bottle pockets on the outside; I nursed, but it was still nice to be able to carry juice and mushed food.

[ailbhe]

Clothing: Buttons are manageable. Zips are scary. Poppers are easy. Opening at the crotch is essential - I find snaps that go down the front and one leg easiest (rare), down the front and across both legs next easiest, and buttons across the back hardest (nearly useless). It's easiest to undress when it all unbuttons, but when dressing, having one leg that will stay on while you button the other one in helps a lot.

Vests / Onesies. It's possible to have too many, but difficult.

Everything needs to be washable at 60 degrees at least.

Old-fashioned cotton rompers are fantastic in hot weather, which we had in May and June just after Linnea was born.

I know a lot of people who combine eco-disposables and cloth diapers.

My breast pump is invaluable, especially when I'm ill, like now. Pump, and a few bottles, and a small steriliser - perhaps the travel microwave bag type. No point getting all the bottle equipment if you're only going to need them in emergencies.

Check the weight of the pushchair in the shop. Ideally, fold it one-handed with a bag on that shoulder - a bag over one shoulder, and a baby in the other hand, is what you need to simulate. Then you can pick it up and get on the bus. Mine actually comes with a strap for slinging it over my shoulder. I don't know how analogous my RSI is to your arms though.

I loved my moses basket until she could tip it at 6 weeks, and found a baby bath good as she's too big to wash in the sink. Now that she can sit up, of course, she fits in the sink, and rejects bodies of water too small to swim in. Such is life.

We love our changing unit a lot. We really do. And our purpose-designed changing bag for while out. We also love our monitors.

And the baby muslins - they are just the right size, unlike the money-saving dishcloths I bought instead. Oh, and we have some cheap teatowels to cover the changing mat instead of a custom-fit towel that velcros on; prevents wee going everywhere mid-change and since we have lots of teatowels in this particular pattern, it's easy to replace as needed. The custom towels are cute but could be a laundry nightmare.

What the baby actually needs, of course, is food, something soft to sleep on - an empty drawer with a folded towel in the bottom, for example - and something warm to be covered with when cold - like, say, the same towel. Anything else is to make your life easier, and thereby make you less likely to collapse in a heap of overwork after the first week. So if you think it will make your life easier, try it. Try it secondhand, if you like, but try it. If it fails, you can always find someone else with a baby who wants it second or third hand.

Later, we like the Bumbo a lot. And the playmat with arches - babygym, some people call them. The Baby Bjorn baby carrier is fantastic; we got it secondhand and it's machine washable easily and so on. Ebay Ebay Ebay.

Hard toys are a waste of space in the beginning; we had a hard baby toy arch thing and I've never used it because any infant who can hurt herself with a squashy ball toy can manage it with a hard monkey-shaped toy.

Lansinoh brand pure lanolin nipple salve. Washable breast pads with a lacy cover on one side to stop them sliding around inside the bra. Proper enormous sanitary pads. A simple mobile without too many shapes on it to begin with. A book of photographs of baby faces.

Baby bedding... Fitted sheets for the big cot, but don't bother for a Moses basket; then you can reuse the flat ones as drawsheets for the cot (um, possible dialect issue - I mean baby bed with high fence around it to keep Li'l Critter in). Waterproof pad for under the sheet just in case the baby ever does sleep with you - almost everyone takes the baby in for a bit on a weekend morning, or something. Also useful for last month of pregnancy when your waters might break; I found it very reassuring. Mine is very padded and absorbent on one side, waterproof on the other, and ok to sleep on.

We got sick of sleepsuits very quickly; Linnea is too wiggly. We like nightshirts with a slightly elasticated bottom hem; for one thing, they take longer to outgrow, and for another, they are easier to manage for a midnight nappy change or for dressing in the first place.

Salve for your cheeks; they start to hurt from smiling.

An imperative for breastfeeding

[samtosha.livejournal.com]

in my opinion is a sling baby carrier. These things are wonderful.
http://www.mayawrap.com/
That gives you an idea, they are VERY handy for nursing. I also found as Alex got older that a Snugli/Bjorn sort of carrier; the ones that sit on the front of your body; was an invaluable tool for when I needed both arms but also needed to rock a baby to sleep or wanted to have bonding contact.
My son and I have a very close relationship and I firmly believe we are so close because he was breastfed and spent a lot of time in the carrier on the front of my body. That is my one item that I would consider imperative. There is a company in Oregon that has come diaper covers that are VERY good if you are using cloth diapers. I will dig up the link if you are intersted, it has been almost 14 years, lol.

[ailbhe]

I wish we'd been able to use a proper sling :( but our baby was too big for the age-appropriate positions, given my small ribcage. We'll try again if I ever retrieve the sling I loaned to someone with a more in proportion daughter.

My arms are too short to usefully do anything while wearing the baby in the baby bjorn carrier. Rob, however, can eat or wash dishes in it.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Things I might have said have been pretty much covered by everyone else... Except lanolin or other creams for your breasts. They can get sore and chapped.

You won't need a high chair for a while, but when you do, they now make chairs that can disassemble and go in the dishwasher.

As far as cloth versus disposables, I'd say use both. Cloth for at home, disposables when you're going out. But only do cloth if you have a service. Cloth daipers make wonderful cleaning cloths as well: we still have a bunch in the house, and my youngest just turned eight. In fact, my local diaper service sells diapers that have been "retired" for just that purpose. My kids seemed to get fewer rashes from the cloth ones, even though they got changed just as frequently. Oh, and whatever type you go with, get a really good diaper hamper. If you go with disposables, don't bother with a Diaper Genie: plastic bags from the market work just as well.

A loved having a rocking chair while nursing.

[ailbhe]

Yes, I didn't mention the nappy rash issue, because I have friends who say their babies get more rashes from cloth - but Linnea never had a hint of it with cloth, and gets a mild case reliably if she has two disposables in a row.

Now that she's down to 10 or fewer nappies in 24 hours, cloth all the time, in and out of the house, is easy for us. We use buckets with tight-fitting lids, one for wet and one for dirty, as wet ones don't need as much pre-wash treatment.

For feeding mashed squish, we sit her on the table with us at mealtime, and when she seems to want feeding, she gets fed. She sits in a Bumbo seat. It wipes off really easily even if you give things 24 hours to dry in. Later we will need a highchair; dunno what kind yet.

Don't test rocking chairs until all morning sickness has worn off.

A breastfed baby's disposable nappies don't smell bad enough to warrant encasing them in yet another layer of plastic. Just empty the bin daily. Honestly, the smell isn't at all like adult smells - we have been known to think Linnea has filled her nappy just because we're passing a baguette shop that is currently baking or frying fillings or something. There are foods that smell like it. It's nicer than, say, Stilton, stinkwise.

A washing service is fantastic and I would strongly recommend it. Where I live, landfill is a serious issue and water and electricity are not (fairly clean electricity, though nuclear power isn't my top favourite thing, and lots of water around). We used a washing service for the first 3 months and now do a load of laundry every night as well as every morning.

Almost every time Linnea leaks onto her clothes, she leaks onto mine.

[puppytown.livejournal.com]

This is a very cool idea! I'm adding this post to my memories for future reference.

My minor contributions: I've heard tons of good things about the Boppy nursing pillow. My friend Lori (amerald) has this really great glider rocker and ottoman that she says was fantastic for nursing & reading at the same time. They come in not-hideous designs, too. This is Amy's review of nursing pads for bras.

Please let me know where you're registered when you get around to that!

[rivka.livejournal.com]

for future reference.

Yaaay!

[flyfreeizzie.livejournal.com]

I dont know if anyone mentioned it nor do I have a child however among the many baby showers ive gone to, one particular mother was enthusiastic over the most simple gift I bought and even commented years latter that it was extremely useful more than she realized at first.

Now, the problem is that I DONT know the name of it but can describe it.

Its basicaly a tericloth like material and it is rolled up towards the head area so basicaly it supports the infants head etc in the carseat, stroller, and anything else that is way to large for the baby at first. Plus it can... grow.. stretch.. whatever the word is... and adjust to infant growth as well. The mother I gave it to said she used it everywhere and it hlped to keep the babys head supported, etc...

hope that long description helps! :)

Izz

[papersky.livejournal.com]

What everyone said about snaps and changing bottom-halves. You will need more babygros/nighties than you think. I well remember going out into the night -- it was about three pm, but this was Lancaster in winter -- to buy an emergency babygro because he was on his last one. Z needed babygros rather than nighties, mostly, because he'd kick the skirt off and his little legs would get cold. Snap nighties sound like a terrific idea.

I didn't have a washing machine, and the launderette became mysteriously further away and harder to get to once he'd been born. I'd recommend a modern washer and dryer. Also proper heating.

Thing I wish we hadn't bothered with -- a carrycot.

A cot will last until the baby's about three, and it won't mind that it's too big to start with. There are gorgeous cot pads around, or there were in 1990 in Lancaster, Zorinth had an animal one in really bright primary colours and I remember taking ages choosing it. You have to take it off when they start standing up, but by then you're into a whole other set of problems. Somebody will probably buy you one, but if not, think about getting a hanging mobile to hang above the cot to be visual interest and focus-provoking. Not only is this good for the baby (and they do like it) but when we hung ours, about a month before Zorinth was born, it suddenly transformed our ex-study into a baby room, in a way that the cot and so on hadn't.

When looking for a "first" car-seat, look for one that can be carried into the house and used as a little "seat" indoors as well. We didn't have a car (still don't) but we needed a carseat anyway for taking him out in other people's cars, and having one that does double duty that way was a godsend. It means that when you go to someone else's house in the car, you can carry the baby in in the chair without waking it, and the baby has somewhere to sit when there.

Breast pumps: one word, Avant. The best customer service I have ever had with anything bar nothing. But I guess that's what crying on the phone does for you. Avant. Thoroughly recommended. Oh, and if by chance you have trouble using a pump with your small arm, the Avant pump is much better for using cross-armed, and/or lying down propped on pillows. (Boy have I done that.)

Also, remember that the baby is only going to be a baby for a year, tops, and then it'll be a toddler. The things you need for a toddler are very different things.

Oh -- and if the baby is going to be in daycare from the time you go back to work, the daycare will have a preferred list of what they demand you use -- and I bet it will be disposable diapers, and may even be a certain brand. Check on this now if you can, because if they insist on x, buying x now before you're invested in y is probably a good plan.

[saoba.livejournal.com]

Stressing that my own children were born so long ago we made do with stone knives and bear skins (and we liked it!), I would say the gotta haves include:

*Car seat. Look for one you can both carry/move easily. Infant seat/carrier: because babies get tired of lying down all the time and getting the car seat out constantly will drive you mad.

*Crib. Some are easier to put the sides up and down than others. Test drive this feature asking yourself 'Can I do this in a half-asleep haze?'. Nothing in the world looks tinier than a newborn in a full sized crib. Just sayin'. Night light or lamp for nursery.

*Sling. If you can't find one that adjusts easily and quickly to fit either of you, buy two. Non-twee colors can be a bit of a hunt. But there is something very satistfying about having your baby Right There.

*Cloth diapers get my vote. I had a service, a shower gift from a relative. With two of the kids it was mere swank, but one was prone to thrush diaper rash and the service treated the diapers with something that helped prevent recurrences. I still prefer disposables for out of the house.

*Diaper bag o' doom. I kept two, one for short jaunts, one loaded for treks of more than three hours. Both always included a change of shirt for me, because babies leak and so do nursing mothers.

*A secondary travel kit containing any drops, ointments or potions required by infant. Nothing quite spells misery like realizing the gas drops are on the changing table and you are 25 miles from home.

*Simple unfussy clothes which can be put on and off Lil Critter easily. Some people love onesies, some people hate them. Darling little socks, forget shoes except for portraits until Critter decides to walk. Little hats, however, are wonderful useful things.

*Stroller. Must fold easily, fit in your car and not make your back cringe to think of lifting.

*Baby swing. Put this one on your registry and if the kid turns out to hate it, sell it. (I have heard of such things, but never personally met an infant who didn't love their swing.)

*Nursing bras, pads and clothes you can open to nurse while holding a distraught and insistent baby. At least one chair or seat on both floors of your house you can get into and out of while holding same.

*Baby wipes. Buy them by the gross, in cases.

*Those baby car keys on a ring. Dear God, my kids all loved those.

Personally, I used a bassinet next to my bed for the first 4-6 weeks, found a nursery monitor useful when one was to be had, bathed my kids in the sink or took them in the tub/shower with me, and used that baby nose-clearing bulb more than I would ever have believed.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

get a changing table. honest to pete. or make sure you set up a changing area on something that's a good height.

your bed is *not* a good height. trust me.

my gf and her partner change their kids on a king size bed, which seems ideal-- comfy, wide, hard to roll off of. but noooo. their backs hurt and so does mine whenever i'm over there helping. ow.

oh, porcinea has a maya wrap and it looked super handy for the pigletet. however, my gf and her partner didn't much use the slings they got.

um. what else.

i don't like the carseat/carrier things, but a) i don't have a kid, and b) it's a philosophical objection, so if one of those works for you, go for it. (if i ever breed, we'll see if my mind changes.)

[ailbhe]

We have a universal car seat - the kind that fits in any car using the seatbelt. It's called a Rock-a-tot, because you take it out and put it on the floor and it rocks. The main reason we got the one we did is that we don't have a car, but it's handy to be able to use it abroad and in taxis and buses. We've even used it on trains and planes so's not to have her on our laps.

The only carseat advice I have is to get the staff to show you how to fit it; I know someone who had their carseat fitted all wrong in spite of careful manual-reading, which is a scary thought.

Good lord, stop me responding now. Please. It's only because I'm bedridden and waiting for funeral information.

[ailsaek.livejournal.com]

Trying to remember what everyone else already recommended is making my head spin, and I know if thos were me asking the question, I'd be noting down everything everyone says and making hashmarks by each repeat, so here goes:

#1 and most desperately important: carseat. Not a used one. The rules for what is necessary for a carseat to be considered safe change a lot. My mom picked us up a used one for David, and the hospital wouldn't let us take him home until we went and got a new one (MA state law - no infant is released unless an acceptable car seat is brought in).

After that, the order is more "stuff as I think of it"

• get as many onesies as you think you need, then buy that many more
  
• at least two boxes of diapers, but don't buy them yet. Find out how big the Dr. thinks the baby is at your last visit, then buy that size - or send DH out to buy them after the baby is born but before you come home
  
• lots of baby wipes
  
• at least one package of cloth diapers to use as spit-up rags, etc.
  
• I really liked my Diaper Genie, and used it until I wore it out. Others don't like it as much, but to me it is the most useful of the new baby paraphenalia they've come out with in recent years
  
• one of these just because sooner or later you will fall asleep while nursing or just be too darned tired to walk back to the baby's room, and this will help you feel safer - and you can use it as a changing pad and as a place for the baby to sleep when you're away at cons; we didn't have one for David because we were pretty broke, but if I ever find msyelf pregnant again and make it to the third trimester, I'm buying one
  
• infant anti-gas drops - you may never need them, but if you do, they're a sanity-saver, and you almost always need them when all the stores are closed
  
• clothes you don't care about
  
  • first off, unless you have a c-section, lochia is much much worse than the worst period you ever had
    
  • two, baby spit-up can ruin clothes
    
  • three, if spit-up doesn't, poop probably will
    
  • and don't forget to bring a change of clothes for yourself whenever you leave the house with the baby for any length of time - this sounds like overkill, but I needed them three or four times during David's infancy

And some warnings:

• if someone gives you something especially cute that you want the baby to wear to look adorable for company, put it on just before answering the door for said company and take it off the second they leave
  
• this goes triple for anything pretty and white and frilly for a baptism, bris, or any other formal baby presentation event
  
• if baby is a boy, get ready to learn to duck and cover, or you will get your face peed in
  
• bring your own pillow to the hospital - hospital pillows are like sleeping on your wallet
  
• if you want something nice to receive admiring visitors in while at the hospital, get a nice bed jacket, not a nightgown (see above references to lochia)
  
• if your waters break, eat a good breakfast before going to the hospital - it could be the last food that isn't ice chips that you get anywhere near for the next 24 hours
  
• don't be in a rush to leave the hospital, it's the most rest and pampering you'll get for a long time
  
• lay in a stock of entertaining paperback books that take very little brain (and are preferably short-story anthologies) for late-night breastfeeding marathons

[geekymary.livejournal.com]

That is awesome! I may steal that idea - for myself.

[kate_nepveu]

A girlfriend's mom gives every forthcoming baby their first pair of jeans and a bath thermometer.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Oh! An ear thermometer. Don't leave the hospital without it! Believe me, you'd far rather use that then try to get your squirmer to sit still for underarm. And rectal? Forget it. The ear ones aren't as accurate, but they're good enough.

[suzilem.livejournal.com]

safety stuff. The little plastic stoppers that you put in electrical outlets. The thingamagigs that you put on cabinet doors and drawers to keep little fingers from opening them. Believe me, your child will be able to get into stuff long before you expect stuff to be gotten into.

Cloth diapers. Not to be used as diapers. Everything from burp cloths to emergency covering when the blanket you brought isn't quite warm enough to nice soft cloths when you have to wax the car. :-) (30 years ago, that's where the worn diapers disappeared to)

[snippy]

All this good advice, and the one thing I can think of to add is about clothes, diapers, and bedding:

Figure out how many you think you need for the baby for a day, and then how often you think you'll do laundry. Multiply the two, and add another day's worth of clothes--in case you don't get to the laundry when planned. Sure, it's possible you'll do the laundry when you planned (whether that's every day or twice a week or whatever), but what if you are tired and sick or just want to take a day off?

My older son once went through five changes of clothes in an hour, between one end running and the other (he was two months old at the time). Always have more than you think you'll need!

[starstraf.livejournal.com]

If you decide to go cloth diapers try Cloth Daddy (http://www.clothdaddy.com/)

Every one I know that has an infant ends up with the same two toys -

The red/black/white play on the floor mat Last picture on this page (http://www.aserve.com/holly/Rowan/OneMonth/onemonth.html)

The Exer saucer (http://www.evenflo.com/pr/ac/prac_portfun.phtml)

[tammylc.livejournal.com]

The cloth vs disposable thing is really hard to quantify. As other people have said, it's largely landfill vs energy. And while we think of the washing requirements of cloth diapers, don't forget that disposables (or paper diapers, as my husband likes to call them) required a lot of energy in their production (bleaching, processing, etc).

For most of our diapering needs we use cloth diapers through a diaper service. It's true that you have to change them more often - but I find this to be a positive, not a negative - I don't particularly want my baby sitting in a dirty diaper for longer than an hour or two (our average time between diaper changes now that Liam is older). For nighttime and going out, we use 7th Generation disposables.

Breast pads - on the recommendation of a friend who had a lot of leakage problems, I have a huge box of disposables plus a half dozen reusable ones. I've never leaked once. I'll send you a couple when I send you your maternity clothes - then, if you turn out to be a leaker, you can buy more later after you know you'll need them.

I highly recommend the book "Baby Bargains" - not only does it help you figure out *what* you need, it also helps you decide which one to get - what's worth paying a lot for and what's worth getting as cheap as you can.

Nursing pillows are great. Boppies get all the press, and I have one, but from everything I've read, the My Brest Friend actually has better functionality.

You've seen how much I love my slings, so obviously that's on my recommendation list.

More to come later, probably.

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

It occurs to us that this might not be enough.

*snerk*

Never, ever, ever - whenever leaving the house with Li'l Critter - forget to bring, at least, a change of shirt for yourself.

I imagine there's nothing else I could possibly add to what everyone else here has said. I'm very excited for you :):).

[beckyzoole.livejournal.com]

Get a new carseat, one for each car if you have more than one car. Don't bother with the kind you can take out of the car and use as an infant seat -- it's too difficult to install a carseat properly. Once it's in, keep it there. And ask a safety professional to check that your carseat is indeed installed properly.

If you buy a used crib, buy carefully. Make sure the slats are close enough together. Older cribs have enough room for a baby to wriggle its head out and get stuck like that, very dangerous. A newborn's head is small and squished and can fit into surprisingly small places. You should not be able to get your fist between the slats.

Get a baby bath for bathing your baby for the first six months, until he can sit. It's hard and scary to support a wiggling baby with one hand while trying to wash him with the other!

Get one of those wonderful baby swing with a bassinet, that you can take off and replace with a seat. When the baby is cranky it will swing to sleep in the bassinet. When the baby is older, it will be happy to sit and swing while you talk to it as you make dinner or whatever.

Get twice as many clothes as you can imagine you'll ever need for the baby. Lay in a good supply of cheap comfy clothes for yourself too. You will change the baby at every diaper change, and at every feeding. You will change yourself almost as frequently! Get lots and lots and lots of rags and junk towels to use to try to protect your clothes and other surfaces. Get lots of breastpads to slip in your bras, because you will leak and leak. Get a supply of cheap underpants, because you will leak and leak. Get a waterproof pad for your bed so you won't stain the mattress when you leak.

Get really big terry-cloth bibs, not the little cute ones. Get an enormous supply of laundry detergent. Rethink cloth diapers -- do you really want to do laundry all the time? Get another package of baby tee-shirts while you're thinking about it. And another set of sheets for your bed, and four or five extra sheets for the crib.

You might want to wait to get baby clothes until you know how big the baby will be at birth. Some newborns are tiny, others are huge. Normal weight ranges from 5 to 10 pounds at birth -- one is twice the size of the other! -- and too-small clothing will be completely wasted. Too-large clothing will eventually be used, but can be uncomfortable until baby grows into it.

Dress your baby in nighties and those tee-shirts that snap in front, and onesies that snap down the leg. Snaps are good. Snaps are our friends.

Used baby clothes are very good. Yes, they are stained and look awful. So will new clothes within a week. But used ones cost pennies on the dollar. Go to the local Salvation Army store and get stuff there.

Do not buy toys, especially stuffed animals. You will get more than you could possibly use as presents.

Get lots of baby wipes. Get a jumbo tube of diaper ointment. Get lots of cheap washcloths to drape over baby boy while changing him, so you don't get sprayed by the fountain of youth. Get another package of baby tee-shirts that snap down the front. And one more set of sheets, that one extra set wasn't enough.

By all means get the Lands End diaper bag. It's excellent.

Never read your toddler any book you will not love reading fifty times in a row. I recommend Goodnight Moon (by Margaret Wise Brown), and The Tale of the Fierce Bad Rabbit (by Beatrix Potter). My kids loved them, and they did not make me insane. On the other hand, I got stuck having to read "Cookie Monster and the Cookie Tree" every night for several months, until somehow the book got accidently misplaced in the trash. :-)

[beckyzoole.livejournal.com]

I forgot to second the recommendation to get safety stuff.

Get locks for the toilet lids. Toddlers have, rarely, drowned in toilets; they more commonly make a mess with the toilet water.

Get locks for cabinet doors.

Get stoppers for the electrical outlets.

Crawl around on the floor and put foam padding on any edge or corner at baby-height.

Secure or remove anything that can be reached and tugged on, climbed, or toppled from baby-height.

Get a lock for the basement door and get in the habit of locking it.

And as long as you're at it, make sure your smoke alarms have fresh batteries!