Rockabye Baby!

So my sister in law introduced us to something called Rockabye Baby!, which are lullaby renditions of songs by popular artists.  She had Bob Marley, Green Day, and The Beatles, and from the second I first heard it, I knew I would be into it.  So you take a greatest hits playlist for each artist, record the music using bells, natural sounds, and soft tones, and you get Rockabye Baby!.  Now that my son is here, we keep this music playing when we give him a bath, feed him a bottle, try to put him to sleep, and I must say that not only do I find it quite relaxing, he does also.  It instantly calms him down when we get in the car (he hasn’t gotten used to the car seat yet…either that or up to now we really only leave the house to go to the doctor, where he gets repeated shots, so maybe he thinks that’s coming).  On top of that, it’s nice to listen to kid music that you can sing/whistle along with.  Not only do they have bands like The Beatles and Elvis, but they have bands like Tool, Metallica, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, No Doubt and tons of others.  And the topper for me was that they had Queens of the Stone Age (which is my favorite band, although I find the songs still a little too dark to play for the baby) and…drumroll please…JOURNEY.  And it’s totally awesome.  Every song on it is a winner.  And I’m fairly sure it’s my son’s favorite.  Or it’s my favorite and I’m forcing him to like it…whichever.

Seriously, head over to Amazon and check it out.  You’ll love it and your baby will love it.  Everyone wins!

Registering at Diapers.com

So I was telling one of my friends about the Baby Stuff blog, and we were talking about deals.  He mentioned that in addition to registering at Babies R Us, he indeed registered at Diapers.com to give people an option of ordering online.  That makes perfect sense to me, since I’m very spoiled with the internet and wish everyone registered online so I don’t have to leave the house.  He was talking it up pretty good, so I did a little research…

So first of all, you get a $50 credit back for every $500 people spend buying you stuff off the registry.  So you get money for people buying you things…that sounds pretty good.  You get free shipping on all orders, and you can arrange for delayed shipping so you can either send directly to the giftee or you can have it shipped to you right before the event so you don’t have to have a huge box sitting around.  Also sounding pretty sweet.  Free returns, price match to other sites, they provide checklists for moms and dads of items you might forget, and you get a 10% off completion coupon for whatever is left on your registry.    I’m a little sad that I didn’t get in on this when we registered.  Why not accumulate a little credit for yourself while everyone is buying you gifts?  And you’re making their life easier since all they do is have to click and buy? 

On top of all of that good stuff, they can use the code 15%OFF4U to get %15 off of all orders, coupled with the free shipping.  I would take a long hard look at throwing the registry on Diapers.com.  When you send the invites, let them know you registered at Diapers.com and even give them the coupon code.  I just wish I would have known about it when we registered! 

You’re welcome!

My Wife’s $.02 PART II

As promised, here’s the second part of my wife’s input to all of my original posts.

The Bundle Me keeps him totally warm in the winter, but they also make a Bundle Me Lite, which works for spring/fall weather for those of you expecting in those time frames.

Another note on the car seat comparison between Britax and Chicco, we read some reviews of people complaining that the bases for the Britax seats didn’t fit in their car.  Besides the weight of the actual chair, that was another decision point for us.

My wife wanted to reiterate that the Dr. Brown’s Bottle Warmer is fantastic for nighttime.  Our kitchen is downstairs, so we don’t want to have to go downstairs, get the bottle, then wait 10 minutes for it to warm up in a pot.  So we go get it, bring it upstairs, throw it in the warmer for 4 minutes, change him, and it’s ready to go.

Most baths DO NOT come with slings.  The model we bought is the First Year’s Infant to Toddler Tub, which is very highly rated and does come with a sling for infants.  Again, until the belly button falls off, it’s sponge baths only, but once it does, this tub works awesome.

We apparently didn’t use paper towels for his butt.  Goes to show how much I pay attention.  The doctors suggested using washcloths, but that gets gross real fast.  We were using the real thin ones…gross.

My wife suggested registering for a booster seat in addition to the high chair.  They won’t need it for a while, but the Fisher Price Booster seat, it grows with them and can be adjusted.  It comes in a bit of a big box and you’ll have to store it for a while, and it’s only $25ish, but she thinks it’s a good registry item.  I’m not as convinced, as I hate storing big boxes.

I forgot to mention the Bumbo seat.  I guess it would go in the category of “Not needed right away, but may want to register for”.  It’s a little plastic seat that teaches the baby proper sitting posture and props them up.  Needed, but maybe not right away.  Up to you if you want to register for it and store it for about 6-8 months.

We received a lot of bath toys.  They’re all very cute and will be fun when he’s old enough to play with them.  But be careful with these…some of the squeaky toys have small holes and they squirt water, but that’s a recipe for disgusting mold.  We registered for the cups that drain water and they seem to get good reviews and can be dried afterwards.  We kept most of the toys we got too, but we’re going to be very cautious not to let him squirt water in his mouth or eyes or anything.

Make sure anything that is plastic that you register for or buy is BPA free.  You would think most items these days would be BPA free, but they most definitely aren’t.  I’ve noticed that a lot of the “Especially for Baby” brand products are not labeled as BPA free.  I know there’s some debate as to whether or not it actually causes any problems, but why take the chance?

My wife wanted me to reiterate that we’re big on the Soothies brand pacifiers.  The hospital uses them, the baby seems to like them, and they’re BPA free.  My son loves when we put our finger in the hole in the middle and he munches on it.  Boy, that last sentence really doesn’t sound good…

We’ve been using a lot of Johnson and Johnson stuff, and it’s all pretty great.  The shampoo, the moisturizer…all good stuff.  We registered for the Huggies gift set, which was a waste, but the Johnson and Johnson set was money.

Make sure you get a pretty spacious diaper bag…you’ll need a lot of stuff.  My wife started throwing a lot of information at me about how to pack a diaper bag, but I’ll make a different post for that.  The other thing is to make sure you get a neutral one.  We have a plain black Skip-Hop bag that works great and doesn’t make me feel like a woman.  My wife was nice enough to not register for one with flowery prints all over it and whatnot.  Ours also came with a changing pad, which was a nice addition.

We don’t use one of those diaper trash cans…we just use the disposable bags.  They work great, but make sure you get a lot of them. The Summer Infant ones come 75 in a pack for $4, and I buy 8 packs at a time.  That last me about a month and a half.  My son craps…a lot.  The Especially for Baby ones from BRU have a pretty strong smell, that was nice at first, but was making me nauseous very quickly.  The Summer Infant ones have a very slight odor that I still haven’t grown tired of.

Babies R Us might be the better option to register at.  Buy Buy Baby might be a superior store, as they make returns a breeze and you can use Bed Bath and Beyond coupons to save 20%, but most people have a Babies R Us right near them.  Buy Buy Baby stores are few and far between, and they charge shipping ordering online.  Remind people they can also order from Amazon and Diapers.com if they want to order something off the registry, and then just call the store (BRU or BBB) and they’ll mark the item as purchased on the registry for you.

My Wife's $.02

So after showing my wife the blog, she had some really good comments of some stuff I forgot or stuff she wanted to add that could be helpful.  These are kind of random, but all great points.  I actually had so much to write, I'm going to have to split it into two seperate posts.

Plan to get a diaper stacker, unless you plan on using a drawer in the dresser you purchase.  We do indeed use a drawer in the dresser with the changing pad on it, but we also have a tall dresser, so we don’t really need the drawer space.  But diaper stackers also work pretty great to keep them handy (which they need to be).  They take up a lot of space, but are also used frequently.

My wife noted that she plans on using the McClaren stroller more than the City Mini stroller.  It is indeed lighter and likely more maneuverable, so I guess that makes sense.  Her plan is to use the McClaren the most, and use the City Mini when he’s going to be in it for an extended amount of time (walks around the neighborhood, the zoo, etc).

Also while we’re talking about strollers, keep in mind a lot of the attachments are separate.  Trays, baskets, cup holders…most of those are separate.  Make sure to check out the attachments when registering.

She also had a good point about the travel systems I mentioned (as opposed to buying the carseat and snap-n-go separately).  The travel systems we looked at in the stores were very bulky and heavy.  My wife tried them out in the store, and found them to be too big for her to handle (she’s 5’ 2”, 110 pounds).  So we bought the Chicco Keyfit, which is under 10 pounds, and the snap-n-go fold up stroller that it plugs into.  The price is negligible for both of those, but the weight and handle-ability was better buying them separately.

The Chicco pack and play we purchased also vibrates, plays music, has a soft light, and a mobile.  Those are all features our son loves and I didn’t mention them…she smacked me.

Don’t bother registering for clothes.  People are going to buy you whatever they want anyway, so don’t waste your time (except for the sleep gear and the side snap shirts).  You’ll get a ton of clothes, but likely it won’t be what you registered for.

My mom wrote on the shower invites to bring a book instead of a card, and my wife loved the idea.  We got a fantastic selection of books for the baby, and they both cost roughly $3-$4 for smaller board book or a card.  My mom also suggested people write a note to the baby in the book, which worked out awesome.  To have a personalized message from family members and friends for when he gets older is priceless.  My sister bought him the Dr. Seuss Alphabet book, and the letter A was Aunt Annie’s Alligator (her name is Andrea), and she signed it to him there.  How awesome is that?

My wife is convinced the wipe warmer is a waste.  I like it, and I’m sure my son’s butt appreciates it, but she has a point that when we’re out, they’re not warm and he could be used to the warm wipes.  It’s not like we keep them in a fridge, so they’re not freezing, so maybe this one is a waste. 

Diapers.com Deals

Diapers.com gets some pretty solid deals.  They ship from NJ, so for us NYers, you’ll get your order a day or two after you order.  They also have free returns.

30% off any brand of diaper for the first three months after you sign up for the site: DIAPERS30PCT

Then use 15% off your first order for all other items, with free next day shipping code: 15%OFF4U

I’ve created a couple of different accounts so that I could use the code over and over.  You can only use it once per account, but if you have a couple of different email addresses (or you can create them at hotmail.com), you can use it over and over.

I’ve also distributed the 15% off code to all my family and friends that were looking to buy us stuff off our registry.  Diapers.com carries a ton of items, has very competitive prices, and ships instantly…can’t beat it.

Amazon Mom Deals

Sign up for Amazon Mom.  After the Diapers.com 30% and 15% off combo runs out after three months (even though you can resign up under a different email), you can jump over to Amazon for diapers and wipes.  Amazon Mom is free, you get free prime (next day) shipping, and if you subscribe  (they automatically send to you in predefined intervals), you save even more.  So you save 15% for being a member, then another 15% if you subscribe.  Example: Seventh Generation diapers are $12 a pack in Babies R Us.  Amazon has them for $39 for 4 packs, then you get 15% off for being a member, then another 15% off if you subscribe.  And you might as well subscribe, cause it saves you the problem of going to the store…and trust me, you will need more diapers.  So for like the price of alittle under 3, you have 4 delivered to your door.  It’s a no brainer.

Buy Buy Baby and Babies R Us Deals

On that same thought, sign up for a Toys R Us/Babies R Us rewards card.  You get money back in the form of gift cards.  No brainer.

Also, save up your Bed Bath and Beyond coupons…you can use them in Buy Buy Baby as long as they haven’t expired.

Tips and Tricks

• My wife had our son a full month early.  Thank Christ we went the weekend before and bought all the stuff that was left on our registry so at least we had most of it.
• You’ll probably have to register in both Buy Buy Baby and Babies R Us.  We found they carry different styles of the same thing…like BBB would carry all the boy colors and Babies R Us would have all the girl colors, or vice versa.  Very irritating.
• Take the prebirth class.  Take one that gives you a walkthrough of the hospital.  That was extremely helpful to know where to park, where to go…etc, because when it actually happens, everything is a panic.
• Keep the sidesnap shirts with mittens on him until he’s at least a month.  Kids have very sharp nails that are hard to cut and they will scratch themselves and you.  The second their hands come out of the mittens, they dig right into their own face for some reason.
• Unless your baby comes way early, buy everything in size small and not newborn.  Even being a month early, my son was only in newborn stuff for a couple of weeks.  Same goes for diapers…only get a couple of packs of newborns, cause they’ll be in size 1s very soon.
• Feed the baby on demand.  There is no schedule to when to feed or how much.  The rule I’ve learned is to never increase too much at one time (I increase a quarter of an ounce no sooner than a week apart).  If they spit up, that’s ok.  If they projectile vomit, it’s not ok…scale that back.  But there’s no guide for “they should be eating this much at this age” guide.  Trust me, I’ve looked everywhere.
• So the newborn is ready to go to sleep, you have it swaddled.  Roll up another blanket and put it under its side so the baby slightly turns its head when sleeping.  So if it spits up it comes out instead of stays in its mouth and causes a choking hazard.
• We also had alittle problem with reflux, and the doctor told us to prop the mattress with a towel so it’s tilted head to toe slightly.  This helps keep the formula down.  I also remember the nurses doing that to the little plastic cribs they were in in the hospital, so that made sense to me.
• Don’t be surprised when you get probably one quarter of the stuff you register for.  People prefer to buy you whatever they want, and we barely got any of the stuff on our registry.  But do know that wherever you register, they will send you a completion coupon about a month before you are due so you can go and make one giant purchase and get 10% or 15% off the whole thing, as long as the item was on your registry.  I was slick enough to bring my iphone and register for things that we wanted but didn’t register for while we were in the store shopping, so when we checked out, it was on the registry.  Me smart.

Buy At Least This Many...

These things are all important, but alot of my friends have no idea how many they need.  From experience, here are my recommendations.

• Waterproof pads: 8
• We use these things for everything.  One in the crib, one in the pack and play, one on the changing table.  This way if they wet it, you just change the pad instead of the whole thing.  DO NOT buy the Koala Baby brand…they shrink big when you wash them, which makes them curl.  Buy the Boppy brand…they’re much better.
• Crib sheets: 2
• Waterproof mattress liner: 2
• DO NOT buy the Babies R Us brand (or Everyday Baby I think it’s called).  Buy the Serta ones…the Babies R Us and the Everyday Baby ones have plastic that melts in your dryer when you wash them.  Not cool.  The Serta one is all material.
• Pack and play sheets: 3
• Pack and Play changing station pads: 2
• Swaddle Me: 3
• Sleep Sack Swaddle Me: 3
• Sleep Sack: 3
• 4 ounce bottles: 6 (you’ll only use these for a couple of weeks)
• 8 ounce bottles: 8-10
• Pacifiers: 6 (we like the soothies brand)
• Burp clothes: 6-8 (get big ones)

Get These Items Now

These are all the items that are important to have as soon as the baby arrives.  My son came a month early, so don't waste time because you never know!

Breast Pump:  We bought the Medela Freestyle that comes with a fashionable bag (like you’re bringing this thing as a purse with you anywhere).  This one is up to you.  You can start using it in the hospital right after you give birth and the nurses can help with it.  Most doctors recommend breast feeding for at least the first couple of months, and if that doesn’t work for the baby (or you find it creepy), then a breast pump might be the way to go.  It sounds like a lot of money (a good one is in the $200-$350 range), but with the money you’ll burn through on formula, it’s a wash or more cost efficient to buy a pump.  Or you can be like my wife who wanted to try it, did it for maybe two weeks, and now it’s a $250 paperweight.

Car Seat: We had it narrowed down to the Britax Chaperone and the Chico Keyfit.  We ultimately went with the Keyfit because it was slightly lighter and my wife is a weakling, and the Chaperone didn’t fit with some other pieces we were planning on buying (see Snap and Go Stroller below).  These are the two highest rated chairs in the market…the Chaperone is rated slightly higher in safety, but I have to believe that’s negligible, as there are standards they all must pass. 

Car Seat Base: Buy one for each car…you don’t want to have to switch them in and out.  Local Police Precincts have people that can check to make sure you install this correctly.  Have this done BEFORE the baby comes.  With our son coming a month early, I got to get up on discharge day and try to figure out how to install it.  It’s not tricky once you do it, but when you’re in a rush, it’s confusing.

Snap-N-Go Stroller:  We haven’t used this yet, but I’m blaming the ridiculous arctic weather.  Basically, the car seat comes right out of the car and snaps on to this to make a stroller.  Graco makes travel systems that’s basically the car seat, base, and snap and go type stroller, but we chose to go with the Chicco Keyfit and the snap and go which is the same effect.  Not waking the baby to put them on the stroller is a beautiful thing.

Bundle Me: Depending on when you’re due, this thing is awesome for the winter.  It’s basically a giant furry sac that goes in the carseat.  No need to get them in ridiculous snowsuits…just dump them in this thing, put it up, and you’re good to go.

Side snap shirts: BUY THESE.  A LOT OF THEM.  Getting a newborn’s head through a shirt hole is the single worse experience ever.  These things are great.  Every time I go to the store, I buy more of them. They’re just plain white shirts by Gerber.  Buy them in long sleeves, short sleeves, with mittens, without mittens…you’ll use them under outfits, to sleep in, in the sleep sacks.  They’re great. 

Dr. Brown’s Bottles: PROS: no colic and no gas. CONS: take freaking forever to clean.  There’s 5 pieces per bottle…if you plan on washing them by hand, god bless you.  I did it for the first couple of weeks before I caved and started washing them in the dishwasher.  My poor raw hands couldn’t take the 45 minutes a day to wash them.  So I do nipples by hand, all the rest in the dishwasher, and then sterilize them in the Dr. Brown’s sterilizer once a week or so.

Dr. Brown’s bottle warmer: We tried doing it just in a pot, but that takes a while and is torture at night.  I tried the Simple Years warmer and it spit boiling water everywhere.  The Dr. Browns one is great.  Just make sure you clean it every couple of days cause it gets gross.

Swaddle Me: You will learn to swaddle.  That’s how newborns sleep.  The first week or so we just kept him in a blanket swaddled.  Then we moved him to Swaddle Mes and he loved them.  They’re like sacks that have wings that you Velcro around him with his arms in, so he feels snuggly.

Sleep Sacks: Basically a potato sack with arm holes.  Giant, very warm, and since you can’t use blankets, these are the way to go.  These are really for when they get bigger and don’t need to be swaddled anymore.

Swaddle Me Sleep Sacks: Swaddle Me + Sleep Sack = Swaddle Me Sleep Sack.  Great middle ground for converting them from Swaddle Mes to Sleep Sacks.

Lots of blankets:  Especially when first home, you’ll just keep them in blankets.  You can’t put them in the blankets to sleep in (unless swaddled tight), but they definitely come in handy.  Just the thin receiving blankets are perfect.

Itzbeen:  Best invention ever.  It’s basically a stop watch for diaper changes, feedings, and sleeping.  Don’t get confused and think that you’ll remember…trust me, you won’t.  We use this thing as the bible.  If one of us changes or feeds him, we can just check it and see when the last time was.  It’s either this or write everything down, but this is way better.

Breathable Crib Bumpers: The bumpers that will come in the bed set are great for show, but you can’t keep them on the crib when the baby is in it for suffocation reasons.  Get these instead.

A regular humidifier:  We registered for a cutesy frog humidifier by Crane and it looks great.  The problem is it didn’t do a god damn thing.  And within two days, there was disgusting mold growing in it.  How do I know it wasn’t doing anything?  I theorized that it wasn’t doing anything, so I bought a weather station that monitors humidity, and guess what…nothing.  I bought a Honeywell Germfree Large COOL MIST room humidifier (make sure it's cool mist) and it keeps the room about 10% to 15% more humid than the rest of the house.  And I don’t know how it works, but I can’t find any mold on it anywhere, and I check it ever couple of days.

Diapers: Seventh Generation diapers are the best, hands down.  As someone who has tried them both huggies (terrible) and pampers (less terrible, but not great), Seventh Generation ones are the best.  No leaks, no chorine or chemicals, comfortable to the touch. 

Vibrating Chair: We got the Fisher Price Little Lamb Chair.  It vibrates and plays music, and it’s small and light, so it can be easily moved around the house.  He really likes the vibrating.

Video Monitor: We bought the Summer Infant handheld color monitor and it works pretty good.  The picture is clear, the sound works great, but the battery works for crap.  Otherwise it’s perfect.  You can even see if the baby spits up on the sheets somehow.  I have it mounted on the wall, which works great.

Heartbeat Sensor:  This is one of those items that is not a must, and I thought for sure was a giant waste of money, but has actually helped me sleep at night.  So it goes under the mattress and detects if your baby stops breathing.  It’s amazing to me that it works.  It gives you a warning beep at 20 seconds, then blares and vibrates at 25 seconds, causing you to jump out of bed and poop your pants as you run into the room.  If the baby rolls way off it though, it will also sound, which isn’t cool.  It has happen to me twice so far in 11 weeks.  But it does let me sleep better knowing it’s there after one experience with him choking on reflux.    You need to buy a piece of masonite board from Home Depot for like $5 to put under the mattress if you want to use this by the way…nobody told me that until I couldn’t figure out why the alarm kept going off and read the book.  It also comes with two monitors that monitor room temperature and can be used as sound monitors, which is cool, but I think it was like $200.  Angelcare Heartbeat Sensor Deluxe System.

Mattress: Don’t buy an all Memory foam.  It can have a layer of foam over the coils, but make sure the whole thing is not memory foam.  Supposedly that is a SIDS risk, and you can’t use the heartbeat sensor if you want to get that.  Don’t chinse out on the mattress…your baby’s spine is developing so invest in a good firm mattress.
Buy a coil mattress that has at least 150 coils, 13.5 gauge steel coils, and 9 gauge steel border rods.  It’s scary that I still remember this for some reason.

Grooming kit: nail clippers, nasal aspirator, baby brushes…all things you need in one shot.  Just get the Saftey first kit and get them all.

Rectal Thermometer:  Get the giggling out of your system…the first time you stick this in your kid’s butt, you won’t be laughing if he poops on you.  They take the most accurate readings…don’t bother with the other ones…the ear one works better when they get alittle older, but for now, get the Vick’s rectal thermometer.

Basinet: This one is your call.  If you want the baby to stay in the room with you, you can either have the baby stay in a basinet, or use the pack and play.  We used the pack and play.  The padding in the basinets are not any better than the pack and play and at least it folds up when we’re done with it.  Basinets are huge and can’t be used for very long, so we went with the pack and play for the first month. 

Pack and Play: Continuing off the Basinet entry above, now that we’re done with it in the bedroom, we can fold up the pack and play, bring it with us, and use it where ever we need.  We bought a Chicco one that had a basinet attachment, changing pad station, and a mobile with remote.  It was $169 in Buy Buy Baby, but I can’t remember the model.  It’s pretty great so far. 

Glider Chair: I guess this isn’t a must, but you NEED a chair in the baby room.  The gliding action definitely soothes the baby.  We got the ottoman to go with it, which I was sure was a waste, but is actually pretty awesome.  It takes up a lot of real estate in the room, but we never use the chair without putting our feet up.

Things That You'll Eventually Need

These are the things that you'll eventually need, but don't need as soon as the baby comes.  You'll want to register for these.

Bath with sling: Just make sure that the plastic bath you buy has a sling.  I think most do, but just make sure.  He actually loves it now.  The sling keeps just his butt hanging in the water, although you still have to support him to make sure he doesn’t slide down.

Strollers:  So we got the snap-n-go that I described about, but once he’s outgrown that (at about 30 pounds) and ready for a real stroller, we bought the Baby Jogger City Mini.  You can’t use coupons on it at BRU or Buy Buy Baby, but this thing is cool.  It folds up easily, it’s lightweight, and it’s extremely maneuverable.  Check out a video for it on youtube and you’ll like it too.

We also got a McClaren umbrella stroller.  It’s only 11 pounds and folds up real small, so we thought it might be good to have for quick trips.  My wife is tiny and will have an easier time bringing the McClaren with her for trips to the mall, quick stops at stores and whatnot.

Wipes: The doctor’s told us not to use wipes for the first month or 6 weeks.  We made it three weeks before things got disgusting.  They tell you to dampen a paper towel, but that’s a lot of work and definitely hurts his butt.  Again, Seventh Generation are chemical free and worked great…no rashes.

Wipe Warmer: I’m on the fence on this one.  I think he likes that they’re warmer, it certainly makes sense, but the wipes are kept in this little humid box that I can’t imagine is germ free…even though I clean it all the time and it’s advertised as germ proof (Lionheart germ proof wipe warmer).

High Chair: We got the Graco Contempo, which gets great reviews, but we got it over other Graco ones because it’s very slim and can be tucked into a corner.

Bobby pillow: helps support the baby if breast feeding, but when the baby can sit up, it supports them to sit up on their own.

Things You'll Need In the Future

You don't need these things right away, so you may or may not want to register for them.

Convertible car seat: We registered for a lot of stuff, so we left this off, but once the baby gets over 30 pounds and outgrows their infant seat, you need one of these.  Britax gets the best reviews, but we haven’t really looked into it yet.  You probably won’t need one of these for a year to a year and a half, so why bother having a giant box laying around until then?