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

[fairoriana.livejournal.com]

One other point -- if you ever leave your child with a babysitter, be sure to have disposables. My brother had cloth diapers and we dropped him off at the church nursery one day. He was very whiny/crying when we got him back. The nursery attendent, who had obviously never seen cloth diapers before, pinned them THROUGH his skin.

[tammylc.livejournal.com]

That's just awful! Thankfully, modern cloth diapering systems don't require pins. (Let's hear it for velcro!)

[baratron.livejournal.com]

I was going to ask whether the curiousangel and rivka knew that you can buy washable nappies that are basically the same shape as the disposable ones now... but I guess they do. Oh well.