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

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.

My son was a very large baby

[samtosha.livejournal.com]

8lbs. 2oz. and he was 6 weeks early. Granted this was almost 14 years ago, but the sling worked well for us for quite a while. Just FYI

[ailbhe]

I had a 98th centile baby while being a 9th centile mother; it just meant that I couldn't do the supporting-baby's-head positions, because her torso was too long compared to how wide mine is. So I loaned it to someone who had a normal-proportion baby and she found it fine and hasn't returned it yet.

I do wish I'd been able to use it; it would have left one arm totally free to use, where the baby bjorn, though wearable, means I can't use either arm for much more than getting my wallet out and opening doors.