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Sep. 25th, 2004 08:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivkaMiracle of miracles, I (a) was hungry this morning, and (b) had a specific idea of what would be good to eat. So we went to the Paper Moon, where I had a grilled mozzarella, tomato, and basil sandwich with garlic mashed potatoes. Mmmm. I've been wanting grilled cheese since yesterday - and not just any grilled cheese, but grilled mozzarella. Honestly? I think it largely boils down to salty. I wanted something salty, with little crispy grilled bits of cheese, and I was not disappointed.
Then we headed out on our Baby Gear Expotition, which was comprehensive as all hell. We looked at cribs, cradles, playards, swings, "travel systems" (combination carseat and stroller), regular strollers, and breast pumps, and rounded it all up with a swing through the baby clothes section to relax by cooing at the cuteness. The grand tour of the store was surprisingly helpful, mostly in developing our opinions of what we're looking for in gear.
Notes, mostly for my memory:
Crib
- Must have a one-handed mechanism for lowering the side rail. What possesses people to design a crib with a two-handed mechanism? Even if you don't consider the fact that I'll be carrying a baby (and why wouldn't you consider that?), my small arm makes it very difficult to grasp both ends of a crib at once. So lack of a one-handed mechanism is a deal-breaker, which is a pity, because the prettiest crib there was two-handed.
- Must have adjustable mattress positions, so that a teeny-tiny baby sleeps close to the top of the crib for ease of lifting in and out, but a bigger baby can't climb out.
- Ideally, would convert to a toddler bed/daybed.
Playard
Combination portable playpen/bassinet/changing table. We absolutely need one of these for our living room, not to mention for overnight trips. I like the Eddie Bauer version, but honestly, they mostly seem much of a muchness.
Travel System
You leave the base of the carseat firmly attached in the car, and the seat part of the carseat snaps into both the stroller and the carseat base. Or you can buckle in with just the seat part, in a taxi. A lot of them feel too big and bulky, and a lot of the infant carseats lack an ergonomic handle. Lack of an ergonomic handle is definitely a dealbreaker, because I bet we're going to be carrying the carseat around a lot. The ones with fully reclining seats are several inches longer, and the extra bulk seems to make a difference to maneuverability. The ones with one-handed steering are great. I'm still not sure we want to pick a travel system over a separate carseat and stroller. I'm also not sure to what extent using a sling completely replaces using a stroller, at least in the early months.
Breast Pumps
Boy howdy, are they expensive.
Clothes
Carter's brand is more expensive at Babies R Us than at the Carter's store, which seems backward. All the cutest baby clothes are "for boys," which means that if we have a daughter she'll start cross-dressing early.
We came back from the Expotition exhausted, and I took a long nap in front of the Orioles game. I don't know why I find it so soothing to nap in front of TV baseball, but I do. It was a conscious choice to sleep on the couch with the game on, rather than sleeping in our bed. Baltimore won, I am vaguely aware.
Now I'm making dinner: shrimp and green beans in garlic-sun dried tomato-olive oil, over pasta.
Good day.
Then we headed out on our Baby Gear Expotition, which was comprehensive as all hell. We looked at cribs, cradles, playards, swings, "travel systems" (combination carseat and stroller), regular strollers, and breast pumps, and rounded it all up with a swing through the baby clothes section to relax by cooing at the cuteness. The grand tour of the store was surprisingly helpful, mostly in developing our opinions of what we're looking for in gear.
Notes, mostly for my memory:
Crib
- Must have a one-handed mechanism for lowering the side rail. What possesses people to design a crib with a two-handed mechanism? Even if you don't consider the fact that I'll be carrying a baby (and why wouldn't you consider that?), my small arm makes it very difficult to grasp both ends of a crib at once. So lack of a one-handed mechanism is a deal-breaker, which is a pity, because the prettiest crib there was two-handed.
- Must have adjustable mattress positions, so that a teeny-tiny baby sleeps close to the top of the crib for ease of lifting in and out, but a bigger baby can't climb out.
- Ideally, would convert to a toddler bed/daybed.
Playard
Combination portable playpen/bassinet/changing table. We absolutely need one of these for our living room, not to mention for overnight trips. I like the Eddie Bauer version, but honestly, they mostly seem much of a muchness.
Travel System
You leave the base of the carseat firmly attached in the car, and the seat part of the carseat snaps into both the stroller and the carseat base. Or you can buckle in with just the seat part, in a taxi. A lot of them feel too big and bulky, and a lot of the infant carseats lack an ergonomic handle. Lack of an ergonomic handle is definitely a dealbreaker, because I bet we're going to be carrying the carseat around a lot. The ones with fully reclining seats are several inches longer, and the extra bulk seems to make a difference to maneuverability. The ones with one-handed steering are great. I'm still not sure we want to pick a travel system over a separate carseat and stroller. I'm also not sure to what extent using a sling completely replaces using a stroller, at least in the early months.
Breast Pumps
Boy howdy, are they expensive.
Clothes
Carter's brand is more expensive at Babies R Us than at the Carter's store, which seems backward. All the cutest baby clothes are "for boys," which means that if we have a daughter she'll start cross-dressing early.
We came back from the Expotition exhausted, and I took a long nap in front of the Orioles game. I don't know why I find it so soothing to nap in front of TV baseball, but I do. It was a conscious choice to sleep on the couch with the game on, rather than sleeping in our bed. Baltimore won, I am vaguely aware.
Now I'm making dinner: shrimp and green beans in garlic-sun dried tomato-olive oil, over pasta.
Good day.
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Date: 2004-09-25 08:01 pm (UTC)I asked her to write up a list of stuff that she recommends for you. Will also ask about the condition of her dual breast pump kit, and whether she'd recommend that brand. She hasn't had to use it in quite a while now, with Miss N. being past 2, but I'm sure she can provide an opinion.
The snap-in rear-facing baby seat is a great thing to have. The lower portion just goes into your back seat and stays there.
While slings are great, you'll want to put the baby down at times, thus the need for a stroller.
As far as strollers go, a lightweight umbrella stroller is useful for short distances and for providing a place for the little one to sit while you're doing things. The small wheels are problematic on anything but the smoothest pavement. For actual walking over any distance, the best strollers are the three-wheeled jogger strollers that are designed to be pushed by running parents. They work fine for walking parents too, and have the advantage of really good wheels and tires mounted on a strong flexible frame.
More as I can get info from 'Manda.