East Bay Mama: Baby and Mama Gear List

Baby/Mama gear list from an East Bay Mama

Baby Registry advice? Don’t register for too much stuff.

Babies don’t need much. You won’t know what you’ll need until you really need it. And baby stuff is so gently used you can always spend the little bit on a gently used item and save your money for stuff that needs to be brand new, like disposable diapers, wipes, bottle nipples, or pacifiers. So if you’re like me, you’ll probably end up returning most of it to get gift cards that you can use for things you’ll find you need later.

It is nice though to sign up for a registry at various stores so that in case someone buys you something you don’t need without a receipt, you can usually take the unwrapped unused item to the store and ask for store credit in exchange (“Someone bought me this but there’s no receipt… can I still return it for store credit?”) If they carry the item and you have a registry it’s usually not an issue. Buy Buy Baby and Target have been awesome for this. Actually, Target doesn’t even require a registry to do this. As long as they carry the item, most of the time they just need to see a photo ID and customer service can give you a gift card equivalent to their last sale price on the item. I have done this plenty of times for randomly received toys or clothes which you WILL receive a lot of.

Ideas for where to register? Babies R Us, Buy Buy Baby, Target, Amazon. Some of these feature a completion discount. Other places include Giggle, and Pottery Barn Kids.

That being said, sorry to anyone who has given us gifts before and has had their gift returned or exchanged. It’s the thought that counts, and we appreciate your thoughtfulness :). What to buy brand new? I’d suggest the crib and carseat, although even those are debatable depending on who you talk to.

Where to buy gently used baby stuff?

Here are some suggestions for an East Bay Mama:

1) Craigslist (http://sfbay.craigslist.org/)

Sure, it takes a little travel and time, but I found the best time to get stuff was at the beginning of the year after people get their Christmas gifts and are ready to donate or sell their old “treasures” for cheap! Talk to the moms who are selling their stuff to find out about mom’s groups, places to swap, products they like, etc. Be safe and be careful though and meet at neutral and public places during the day.

2) Kindercycle (http://www.kindercycle.org)

Pay $5 or $10 admission to this locally run swap in Berkeley and grab whatever baby or mama things you need! I had most of my stuff by the time I learned about this, so I never went, but I found out about it from a mom in Berkeley selling me her infant toys. They hold swaps I think once a quarter.

3) John Muir Women’s Center’s BiAnnual Share-a-thon

Usually held once in April and once in October, it’s located in downtown Walnut Creek and I scored a TON of stuff (like cloth diapers, formula, clothes, toys) all for FREE! I’d suggest just calling in at 925–941–7900 to ask when it’s being held since they don’t publicly advertise this event. You don’t even need to have delivered at John Muir Hospital to be able to go to the Share-a-thon events. This year, it’s being held on 4/21/16 from 10:30am to 2pm. John Muir also has free Mommy-and-me classes for 0–3 months, which you should sign up while in your second trimester. They’re awesome for building connections with other moms and getting out of the house once you have baby. It carries into the 3–6 mo classes which are typically held during the day for a $5 fee each session, and there are also free weekly evening sessions for those babies up to 12 months. The center also holds other classes which are great for before baby arrives (like Breastfeeding, Checking your Carseat, Newborn care, etc. Check your Flexible Spending Account eligible expenses and some of these can be deducted through your FSA account!)

4) Babies R Us The Great Trade-in Event (http://www.toysrus.com/shop/?categoryId=4346706)

They usually have this once (maybe twice?) a year, but it’s awesome to score a deal on a big ticket item like a crib or carseat. Trade in an expired crib, strollers, or carseats and get 25% off a brand new purchase. They held their trade-in event all of February 2016, and the next one may be in the fall although we never know when it happens until it actually happens. I was able to use Baby #1’s old carseat to trade-in for a sweet double stroller for Baby #1 and Baby #2 to share! Call in to ask about what exclusions apply.

5) Contra Costa Moms of Multiples annual sale (http://www.ccpom.net/)

They have an annual sale where they sell all sorts of toys, clothes, and gear for awesome prices! Also it’s good to network with other moms who have had multiples. This year, it is coming up 4/1/16 and 4/2/16 in Concord.

6) Facebook groups

I found a lot through the various “Treasures” groups, and have met a bunch of moms this way. There are lots for near where we live. “Walnut Creek Treasures,” “Walnut Creek buy/sell/trade,” “Lamorinda Treasures,” “Lamorinda buy/sell/trade,” “Concord/Clayton Treasure Finds,” “East Bay Babymamas Swap Meet,” “Central Contra Costa Treasures.” Request to join the groups and you’re usually approved in a couple days.

There are also lots of other interest Facebook groups like “The Mamahood — SF East Bay” or “Walnut Creek Kaiser Mommies” (if you delivered there), “Bay Area Breastfeeding Support” (if you breastfeed), “East Bay Tiger Moms” (if you’re interested in Chinese immersion and culture), “East Bay Moneymamas” (for those seeking financial advice), where you can vent or ask questions, organize play dates, or get encouragement… as a new mom you need all the encouragement you can get!

7) Mothers groups

If you’re living in the Lamorinda (Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda) area, you can buy membership for $55 into the Lamorinda Moms group and not only does it include awesome family holiday/seasonal events throughout the year, but also you can get meal deliveries through a volunteer setup called MomDins for right after delivering your baby, AND you get access to a BigTent forum, which we found invaluable for finding our AMAZING nanny! There are other moms groups like the Iron Horse Mother’s Club (serving Dublin, San Ramon, Danville, and Alamo) and Mt. Diablo Mothers’ Club (serving Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Clayton and Concord).

8) Good Will / Consignment shops

Here are a few nearby stores but I’ve actually never checked them out.

A Wee Change (http://aweechange.com)
Once Upon a Child (http://onceuponachild.com)
Growing Pains (http://www.yelp.com/biz/growing-pains-concord-2)

My favorites include:

- Nifty Thrift (http://www.yelp.com/biz/nifty-thrift-lafayette) — While it’s not exclusively for babies or mamas, this is a great place to buy clothes cheap as they often have “Everything half off today” sales so what is usually $5 goes down to $3!

- Good Will (http://www.yelp.com/biz/goodwill-pleasant-hill) — I love this location and have been able to find items like a toy organizer, baby bottle sanitizer, swaddle blankets, all for 50% marked down retail!

9) Hospital

I can’t speak on being an Alta Bates or Kaiser mom because I didn’t deliver there, but if you deliver at John Muir Hospital, you’ll receive a cute Vera Bradley bag. :) Also make sure to grab some wipes, diapers (newborn and size 1), diaper cream, nipple cream, maternity pads and mesh pants, anesthetic spray for peeing (Dermoplast pain relieving spray), while you’re there! If you sneak away a few receiving blankets, you can use them to roll up and cushion your newborn’s head in the carseat, since baby is so tiny and doesn’t have any neck support to keep his/her head from bouncing around.

What to get? List of baby/mama gear:

Disclaimer: I don’t know the latest and greatest on everything out there (for that you should read some other sites like http://www.lucieslist.com/), but I’ll just share what I know and have experienced to have worked or not worked for me and fellow friends of East Bay Mamas.

Maternity Clothes:

Borrow if you can, but if you must buy, I’d suggest Good Will or consignment shops. I tend to actually buy most of my clothes from moms nearby from the Facebook groups listed above. They’re so much cheaper used than new because most moms will tend to sell their clothes in batches and are very ready to give to another mama in need. Ross Dress for less and Target have great stuff (Ross usually being cheaper than Target, and both conveniently next to each other in Pleasant Hill). A Pea in the Pod and Destination Maternity in downtown Walnut Creek sell maternity clothes for ridiculously expensive prices.

The pants with long tall bands that cover the entire belly are good for throughout pregnancy, whereas the pants with elastic waists are generally only good for early to mid pregnancy. If you don’t want to shell out right away for maternity clothes, you can probably get by getting some waist extenders or pregnancy “Belly Bands” to cover up your growing belly as your shirts will tend to ride upwards and your pants won’t be able to cover that extra muffin top! You’ll be wearing maternity clothes for a while after pregnancy too until you lose all the baby weight. How long a while? “Maternity pants foreva!” Hah just kidding.

Travel Gear:

Carseat —

You’ll need something to bring baby home in from the hospital and we went with Chicco Keyfit 30, which was #1 rated for safety and ease of assembly from Consumer Reports (although I don’t remember which year) — and can fit babies as light as 4 lb, meaning it’s perfect also for preemies. Almost everyone I knew got this. It is easy to use, wash, carry, and can be used until baby hits 30 inches or 30 pounds, usually being the former at around one year old.

It comes with a travel system, but we used a universal BabyTrend single Snap ‘n Go as the stroller frame because I heard the Chicco stroller caddy is just more bulky. We loved our Snap ‘n Go so much I had two and kept one in our car trunk at all times for grocery shopping while I carried Baby #1 in an Ergo. Believe me, one of the last things you want to do after bringing baby and groceries to your car is leaving your baby unattended to return a shopping cart.

Crib —

I know a bunch of mommies who have gotten Pottery Barn’s Kendall cribbecause of the Consumer Reports 2012. But honestly, I don’t think you need to pay $400+ for a decent crib. Just make sure you buy something that has been around several years and been around so-to-speak, and make sure to buy all parts if you plan on actually converting the crib later, because cribs are discontinued and recalled all the time. After doing our research, we got theKalani 4-in-1 Convertible Bed with Toddler Rail from Babies R Us using the Trade-In event. We didn’t start using it until Baby #1 was about 5 months old.

To save on space we got the Delta Children Portable Mini Crib for Baby #2 until we transition Baby #1 to a twin or convert his current crib to a toddler bed. Although... Baby #1 at age 2 is starting to show signs of wanting to crawl out so we’re not sure how much longer we can keep him in there!

Stroller —

You probably won’t need any of these for a while because baby has to learn to sit up and support his/her head before you can go jogging.

BOBs are great for going on ANY terrain but can be somewhat bulky and heavy — and yes they’re expensive at $400. People are selling BOBs and double BOBs on Craigslist all the time. We got an older generation BOB for dirt cheap, and I wish the front wheel had the option to swivel. A fixed front wheel is great stability for jogging but the really hard on the wrists when you’re just walking, so check the model if you get one of these.

Maclaren’s are great everyday compact umbrella strollers that serve a great function for travel too.

Because we are expecting Baby #2 now, we actually now use a Phil and Teds double stroller. It’s like a BOB which you can jog with because you can lock or swivel the front wheel, but you can fit two kids instead of one! If you think you’ll have more than one kid, you may want to just go straight to a doubles stroller that can convert to a single stroller. :). We got ours used from a nearby mom… and the only thing we wish we had on that was a hand brake for steep hills.

We also recently purchased a City Select double stroller, so we can seat our Baby #1 (at 2 years old) and our Chicco carseat on for Baby #2.

High Chair —

Fisher Price Healthy Care Deluxe Booster Seat is great, portable, fits on a regular chair, and grows with baby to become a booster seat. When we were starting solids around 4 months, we really liked our Fisher Price seat… so much that we got two so there was always one for a baby guest. It’s great to have some sort of splat mat but we managed for a year with a $1 shower curtain from the Dollar Tree.

We now use the Fisher Price seat to keep Baby #1 seated in the living room as I give him haircuts and he enjoys his treat to Jeopardy on the TV. :)

Once Baby #1 hated staying in the booster seat (around 1 year old), we got this Yochi Yochi harness which has been invaluable for walking on busy streets, or bulking him to his restaurant high chair when we go out to eat.

Carrier —

My favorite is the original ErgoBaby + Infant Insert which is better for mom/dad back support and gives better posture for baby (but doesn’t allow baby to face outward). You can seriously use the Ergo as kid grows into a toddler. Ergo just came out with an Ergo360, but it uses velcro instead of a clip, which some moms love and some hate. What I hated about the Ergo360 is that the clip on the back is SO low that it’s hard to buckle by yourself. Now that we have Baby #2, I’m seriously considering purchasing the Lillebaby carrier (airflow mesh), which is similar to the Ergo 360 in versatility, but it’s much easier to use.

BabyBjorn is better built for men, but allows baby to face forward, backwards, and in front of you or on your back. It kills my back if I wear baby too long in the BabyBjorn.

Moby and K’Tan are great fabric ones with different wrapping techniques; Moby can be annoying with the long fabric whereas K’Tan is easier. I loved the K’tan so much I got two. It’s awesome for newborns and let’s you have two free hands while carrying a happy sleeping baby. Heard Beco is another, but nobody I know has tried this.

Pack ‘N Play —

Graco is a popular brand. Good to have one the first floor to use as a changing table and sleeping area so you don’t have to take baby upstairs every time for changing (if you keep your changing table upstairs). It’s also an alternative to paying for an Arm’s Reach Co-sleeper if you want baby in same room as you the first months.

Some people with king size beds have the space for co-sleepers that go between Mom and Dad on the bed (e.g. Summer Infant By Your Side Sleeper). We slept with Baby #1 on our chest for the first couple months… all against doctor’s recommendations to prevent SIDS, but he just slept longer that way.

We recently splurged on the Guava Lotus playyard which is lighter and easier to travel with than the Graco. We can’t use it as a changer though. Someone I know swears by their Rock ‘n play sleeper which keeps baby at an incline. I can’t speak on this because we never had one.

Nursing/Feeding:

Baby bottles —

Yes, “breast is best.” But sometimes you need to give baby a bottle. There are so many different types! Medela is by far most popular and easiest to buy. Then probably AVENT (classic or natural). Then Dr. Brown’s (natural and narrow). If you want to do glass, Lifefactory is an option (albeit expensive), as is Evenflo and Dr. Brown’s. Dr. Brown’s is great for preventing bubbles since it has an inner vent, but it’s so hard to clean because of all the parts involved (5 parts per bottle!).

There’s a big thing about supposedly BPA free plastic bottles that really aren’t BPA free… or they have BPS which isn’t necessarily safe either, so we’ve switched to warming bottles in glass now (I got all Lifefactory for a steal from a local mom… I love them because they can also convert to sippy cups with a the sippy spout for later.) At home we would use glass, but our nanny would still take a Medela plastic bottle out to the park with baby… she felt that it was just safer than carrying glass out the door. Luckily, Lifefactory and Medela necks are similar, so we could interchange the nipple/sippy spouts.

Formula —

Have some ready because your milk probably won’t come in for the first few days after giving birth and your newborn will be SCREAMING to eat. Some moms are ok with baby losing weight, but after our baby didn’t pee for 24 hours we had to give Baby #1 something to drink! We used Similac Alimentum and Gerber at first because they were all samples, but when we ran out, we switched to using Costco’s Kirkland brand, which was cheapest and in the end worked just fine too. If you sign up with Similac and Gerber online, you can get free coupons. We never tried the Gentlease because we didn’t like the idea of feeding Baby corn syrup =P.

Nursing pillow —

Boppy and My Brest Friend are popular and help with ergonomics. It’s good to get two slip covers so you can wash one while using the other. I used both depending on what kind of chair I was sitting in but plan to bring the My Brest Friend to the hospital for when I deliver Baby #2. I like the deluxe version which includes a clip to close the pillow around you instead of having to open up loud velcro every time I’m done. It’s so loud in the middle of the night.

Nipple cream —

Lansinoh is common, but I hear mommies like MotherLove because it helps with healing and is “safer” for baby to ingest. Earth Mama Angel Baby is another popular one that mommies love but it’s thicker than MotherLove. I only used Lansinoh since the hospital gave us lots; stopped using it after the first couple months. Your boobs just get used to breastfeeding… or not and you become an exclusively pumping mama which is fine too.

Nursing pads —

Disposable ones from Lansinoh are common but I hated throwing away disposable pads every time. You can also use fabric ones like Bamboobies, but they won’t be as absorbent as the disposable, even if they’re organic cotton or bamboo. I leaked through the cloth ones all the time while nursing. You can get a Milkies Milk Saver to save what milk you leak on the other side while nursing. It’s the most amazing thing ever. Save an ounce every time you nurse and it’s amazing what storage you’ll quickly build up! Hah like saving for retirement.

Nursing bra —

Bravado Body Silk Seamless Nursing Bra is highly raved about and is worth the penny… so I’ve heard. Get a size bigger than you think you’ll need because you’ll swell and get super engorged in the beginning after birth. If your boobs are small enough, you can just get by with a sports bra. Don’t use any bras with underwires, otherwise you’re bound to get clogged milk ducts! I usually just went with sports bras since they were so much easier than trying to unhook a breast with a screaming newborn. Nursing tank tops were my life for most of that first year of breastfeeding.

Hands free pumping bra —

Haha this is great. But you can apparently take a sports bra, cut holes for the nipples, and voila! You have your own hands free pumping bra. I have one from Simple Wishes, and I used it when driving long trips like Sacramento. There is another hands free pumping bra I saw on Amazon for cheaper and it can go over your clothes. I’d be interested in trying this out the second time around.

Nursing cover —

Some moms are comfortable with breastfeeding in public, but I was never so unless I was already with a group of other breastfeeding moms. For outings, I loved my Bebe Au Lait which has a wire top so you can see baby underneath feeding. Pashmama is kinda neat because it’s a cover without being blatantly obvious that it’s a nursing cover, plus you can use it like a shawl/cover well after nursing. InfinityMOM also has a neato scarf which can double as a nursing cover.

Breast pump —

Call your health insurance to find out the locations from where to get your free pump and how to get it before you deliver. HAVE YOUR PUMP BY OR BEFORE THE TIME BABY ARRIVES.

I recently got the Spectra 2 from my health insurance and am kind of excited to try it because it’s a lot quieter, more efficient and still hospital grade. It does need a plug so I am also considering getting the Spectra 9 from Amazon which is portable and has a rechargeable battery.

Last time I got the Hygeia Q. It’s pretty big and loud compared to Medela Pump in Style (which I never had), but it’s really strong and it has a higher resale value, more environmentally friendly (can be recycled), and is a closed system (no bacteria gets to motor). AVENT classic bottles will fit the Hygeia Q.

Most moms have the Medela Pump In Style (double electric) though, and I heard it has a “Let Down” feature that is patented to Medela, that supposedly no other pump has (although now Spectra has a similar setting). It’s an open system so theoretically you can’t share between moms, and there’s no way to recycle it so it becomes easy landfill.

Hand pumps can be tough on hands, but it’s a good backup to have since most double electric pumps need an electric outlet or the portable ones drain batteries like crazy. I happen to have two of the Medela Harmony hand pumps.

Freezer bag —

We got so many free ones that came with formula samples. But honestly, the only freezer pack worth using is the Pack-It freezable lunch bag, which you can fold and put in the freezer. It’ll keep things cold all day, they say 10 hours. We also got these slim cooler paks, to help keep things inside cold even longer.

Burp cloths —

Use cloth diapers because they’re so soft and absorbent! I’m using Osocozy cloth diapers. Any prefold cloth diapers are going to be fine too. Indian cotton is probably the best though in absorbency.

Bottle warmers —

Highly recommend getting one. We used to just use our Asian electric water cooker, but found that we were wasting so much water by throwing the water out once it got cold. We use an AVENT type, and you can reuse the water over and over again. We used to warm our Medela bottles in the bottle warmer, but since it gets pretty hot, we just converted to using Lifefactory baby bottles (without the silicone covering). The only thing we don’t like about it is that it doesn’t shut off automatically. So we would turn it on, change baby’s diaper, and after a timer set to about 1 min (or whatever the interval was), the milk would be warmed up and we would turn it off.

Bottle Sterilizer —

Philips Avent Microwave Steam Sterilizer is popular. We actually don’t use one, but just boil the bottles in hot water every so often. I personally don’t like the idea of microwaving plastic and try to avoid that as much as possible.

Bottle brush —

Get one separate from other dishwashing stuff to prevent contamination of weird food particles into baby’s milk. I like the Munchkin type or Dr. Brownstype with a sponge at the end. The other Munchkin type is too stiff and would splash our faces every time we washed our bottles. The ones from the Dollar Tree were garbage and only last a month at best. We use Mrs. Meyers dish soap because it’s more “natural.” Method detergent would leave a weird fragrance behind and to be frank, doesn’t clean very well. We washed all our bottles by hand and never used the dishwasher.

Drying rack —

The First Years Spinning Drying Rack can hold a lot, compared to the Boon grass type (which is cute, but not functionally efficient). We also use a dish drying mat from the Dollar Tree which is cheaper than from Babies R Us.

Glider/rocker chair —

Dutalier is considered high end, and Monte even higher. This is so helpful for rocking babies to sleep in the middle of the night and can be good for keeping you comfortable while pumping or breastfeeding. You definitely don’t need one but even to this day it’s soothing for Baby #1 to be rocked and he’s almost 2.

Bibs —

Baby Bjorn soft plastic bib with pocket is easy to wipe down, and protects baby clothes from messes. Don’t go with any other knock off brand when it comes to feeding. Baby #1 would try to eat the thing or rip it off if he could. This thing is super sturdy! Any other bibs are great for when they’re teething and are super drooly!

It’s harder to travel with the Baby Bjorn one, so we used the Munchkin to gofor outings, which we really liked for the velcro opening, where we would also store a spoon and scissors.

Tip: Always carry a small pair of scissors for snipping up foods into smaller pieces once baby is ready for finger foods.

We also got a washable silicone mat for later when baby was starting to self feed, then upgraded to a silicone mealmat. There are disposable/compostable placemats but they felt like a waste to use and throw away.

Diapering:

Changing table —

Helpful for your back but not necessary. You can get by with a waterproof changing pad like Summer Infant Contoured Changing Pad and put baby on a table or dresser that’s waist high. We used to use our Pack ‘n Play as our changing table downstairs, but once baby started to roll, we switched to just using our changing table upstairs.

Disposable diapers —

Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive are great as are any of the other disposable brands, but they’re all great because turn a color when baby pees. The main problem with disposables though is that you get POOPY BLOWOUTS (i.e. poop leaks up the back) all the time because there’s no elastic to keep it bound in. But disposables can hold pee like crazy, so it’s awesome for overnight (when Baby starts sleeping longer).

If you want to go more environmentally friendly, Seventh Generation and Earth’s Best are good because they are produced without chlorine but keep in mind, they’re still disposable. No disposable diaper is biodegradable unless you go with compostable, and while throwing away compostable diapers is theoretically “better” than throwing away disposable, they won’t break down unless they’re physically composted (check with your city if they can take at least the peed-in compostable diapers, they never take poopy diapers), which leads me to…

Compostable diapers —

Earth Baby does a compostable diaper service, and you can do a trial month for free! Tiny Tots offers service for both cloth and compostable. Naty is a good compostable brand. We use them for if we really, really need to go non-cloth. They’re generally double the price of disposable e.g. 40 cents instead of 20 cents.

Last time I looked at monthly costs for a newborn… disposables can cost on the cheap end $50/mo, whereas using compostables or cloth service will cost $100/mo, and if you get your own cloth diapers you take the cost of buying the upfront diapers and calculate how your water bill will be affected.

For us, our water bill went up $10/month after Baby #1. I’m sure others pay more for water, but we don’t have a yard to water, as we live in a townhouse, and we do other things to conserve like using our shower water to flush our toilets. I got loads of cloth diapers as hand me downs so didn’t have to pay for them brand new. I’m a big proponent of cloth diapering… you might be too after you’ve thrown a week’s worth of disposable diapers out.

Baby wipes —

I got a bunch of different types as gifts and decided on the Huggies Natural Care wipes which you can get cheap at Costco, same price as the Kirkland brand. Sometimes there’s a sale and you can get them for <2 cents a wipe. Texture and size is AWESOME for wiping up poop, and it tears easily from each other. I was trying various flushable wipes, but spoke with a rep from East Bay MUDD who highly advised NOT to flush any wipes because they won’t break down like toilet paper. Read this! It is totally possible to go with cloth wipes, especially if you’re already cloth diapering, but the idea of reusing something that wipes off poop just never appealed to me.

Cloth diapers —

We use the Flip Bumgenius system, with Bumkins flushable liners. At night, we use more absorbent hemp inserts which I got off eBay. More recently I switched us to using bamboo fitted diapers with wool covers to avoid leaks. We rarely use compostable or disposable now except when we are out and about! For poopy diapers, we just throw the poop in the toilet and throw the liner away (don’t flush them). For more sticky poops, we use an Aquaus diaper sprayer (with a metal hose), which Hubby was able to hook up to our toilet very easily. We just turn the valve on and off when we need to use it to avoid the chance of water leaking out.

Wet bags —

Whether you’re using cloth diapers or not, these are just awesome to have to carry dirty clothes home. They’re lots of brands, but we use SkipHop. More recently, we’ve switched to using the Bummis kind, since it’s more compact.

Diaper bag —

You don’t need anything fancy. We just used a backpack for a long time. So many people shell out for Petunia Pickle, or Vera Bradley designer bags but you really don’t need them.

Diaper creams —

Aquaphor, Desitin, Butt Paste, Triple Paste Ointment (in that order of least to most effective) all for getting rid of or preventing diaper rash. Our nanny swears by Hydrocortisone with moisturizer in small amounts which will clear up a rash right away, in conjunction with washing Baby’s butt and patting dry before putting on a new diaper. With cloth diapering we rarely get a bad rash. We just buy the Kirkland brand now, which is the same thing: hydrocortisone cream with moisturizer. All diaper creams are actually really bad for cloth diapers. There are some “cloth diaper friendly” ones that I hear are out there but I’ve never tried.

Diaper pails —

Diaper Dekor Plus and Diaper Genie are popular. We used Diaper Genie for the first month, but stopped after we converted to cloth diapers. See how long you can stand throwing out a week’s worth of disposable diapers… it’s really gross. Now we use step trash cans with removable buckets to store cloth diapers before washing. We wash every 3–4 days now. In the beginning it was more every 2–3 days.

Portable changing pad —

Any is fine as long as it’s waterproof and can be wiped down. Helpful if it has pockets to put diapers in. We use a SkipHop Pronto Changing Station. Choose your color. We use compostable bags (Naty or Arm and hammer doggy bags) for on the go. We hate throwing away plastic, can you tell?

Nursery/Sleeping:

Clothes —

Get hand-me-downs as much as you can because baby outgrow these so fast. Carters is a popular brand and tends to run small though. $0.50–1.00 is a good deal used. Moms will tend to sell boxes of clothes for cheap. I almost never get brand new clothes for Baby #1, but grandparents and friends can’t help themselves so he gets new clothes that way :P. One piece sleep and play footies with zippered fronts (forget the snaps!) are the best during cold months. Onesies for hot months.

Swaddles —

Aden+Anais 4-pack swaddle blankets and muslin blankets are popular because you can use these to swaddle newborns, and cover carseats, and use for tummy time.

Miracle Blankets are great for when babies are a little older but stop being effective when baby can roll. Baby kicks out of the swaddle usually by 6 months and sometimes earlier.

Halo brands come with sleep sacks, which are for when babies don’t need to be swaddled anymore.

If your baby loves the swaddle, you can use the Woombie, which is expensive but it supposedly works because there is NO WAY the baby will get out.

Once baby learns to roll, and wants out of the swaddle you can use the Baby DeeDee sleep sack which is awesome for keeping baby warm at night and is easy to put on… there is a lite version and a heavy version. Highly highly recommended.

White noise machine —

Dohmie NSF The Sleep Baby Bundle is highly recommended and can last the entire night. Use a timer if you don’t want it to. My pianist friend has one for both her kids in her small home. Newborns love it, but actually even I LOVED this as a new mom trying to get sleep without hearing our baby in our small home. We love this so much we got two. It’s unlike the apps on your phone or electric static on radios because it’s really just the sound of air flowing through the device.

Cloud B Sleep Sheep (option Sleep Sheep on-the-go) or Cloud B Twilight Turtle —

These are cute toys that act as white noise makers too. I like that I can actually just take the white noise machine out of the sheep doll and use it separately when we’re out and about and baby needs to sleep. We keep a sleep sheep on the go on the infant carseat or in the car so we always have it with us outside the house. We don’t have a turtle but know friends who do.

Humidifier —

This is a must for when babies get sick and when it’s cold in the winters. Mommies write about the Crane Adorable Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier, but I don’t know if it’s because of how great it is functionally or just how adorable it is. We got a couple PureGuardian humidifiers from Costco. A cool humidifer is a must because a warm one can get hot and is dangerous with kids around. We used to have a Vicks one and it melted the paint off one of our nightstands.

Baby Monitor —

You don’t need to have this if your house is small enough to hear baby. When we decide to use ours, we have an AngelCare type that is solely audio; it stays off until the baby makes noise then it transmits and lights up. We didn’t think the visual monitor was necessary for us, although I know plenty of moms who have them. For video we now use Foscam, which unfortunately gets a bad rap for security hacks but for the benefit of reliability it’s worth the risk. We love that we can install the Foscam app on our Android phones/tablets/computers and check up on baby sleeping. Other people we know have baby video monitors that don’t last beyond a year or two.

Health and Hygiene:

Hand sanitizers

Keep these everywhere in the house and on all your bags. We love the Purell jelly wraps. We will also try to wash our hands when at home or use wipes when we are out and about.

Snot sucker —

Nosefrida The Snotsucker Nasal Aspirator works great even though it looks and sounds gross. Read the reviews on Amazon. I never thought Hubby would use this, but it works soooo much better than the little bulbs that the hospital gives out. Baby #1 hates it though haha.

Nail clippers —

Babies will scratch themselves so they need to be manicured often. Safety First is great because it has a little LED light to make seeing the nails easier! Get a bunch of emery boards since you will need them to file Baby’s nails before you can even clip them!

Thermometer —

Don’t get the forehead type or pacifier type. Just a plain digital type from Target that will read the temperature quickly (like 8 seconds) will do. You’ll stick the thermometer at their armpit, or measure rectally for the most accurate reading. We’ve only used the armpit.

Meds for baby —

Infant Tylenol and vitamin D drops (your doctor will recommend Vitamin D drops because baby has no way to get this from breastmilk). Gripewater does nothing for gas.

Meds for mama —

Tucks hemorrhoidal pads, stool softener, ibuprofen, Dermoplast pain relieving spray for peeing and pooing (the hospital will give you some). For breastfeeding moms, foods or herbs that might help to bring on the milk are:Mother’s milk tea, Fenugreek supplements, oatmeal, barley water, brewer’s yeast (get this at Whole Foods and add it to anything), and of course just staying hydrated with water (have bendy straws and an easy cup to drink from while breastfeeding). I never KNEW THIRST until I breastfed the first time.

Cord banking —

I’ve heard it’s not really worth all the money that you’d have to pay for the small chance that it can help future baby. It’s not currently recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Bath tub —

Puj is pretty neat because it’s easy to store, but expensive, and it only fits in round sinks. The First Years Infant to Toddler Tub with Swing is extremely popular on Amazon. We have one that I got for free off Craigslist. Some swear that the Primo Eurobath is the best… I guess it’s bigger so baby can use it longer. When Baby #1 started to outgrow his bath tub around 1 year we switched to using a big Igloo portable ice cooler to save water and not use the big bath tub.

Babyproofing stuff —

Some parents lock some cabinets but they don’t put babyproof their house because “you can’t expect everyone’s house to be babyproofed when you go to visit. If baby hurts him/herself, then s/he’ll learn not to do that again!” We do lock some cabinets, but really North States superyard baby gates have been a lifesaver for us keeping stuff like TV, bookshelves, computers away from Baby #1. As baby becomes mobile you can see what areas you can just fence off.

Activity:

Swing —

Fisher Price Cradle ‘N Swing is popular. Plays music and can swing in two directions. You can often get as hand-me-down because not all babies will take to it and mommies are trying to sell. Just be careful if baby DOES like it… babies can get flat heads if they sleep in swings or carseats for hours and hours! Baby #1 never took to the swing so we returned ours. Also it took up too much real estate in our small space. There are travel swings that sing and vibrate. Those might be cool to have it at least try.

Bouncer —

BabyBjorn is popular but expensive. We loved this because we could put baby down, and use our foot to help bounce the baby while we were sitting tending to something else… like eating or pumping!

Activity Gyms —

There are lots of different kind like LaMaze, Skip Hop, Fisher Price and they’re all great. Not necessary but great for keeping baby occupied while you do something else nearby. When Baby #1 got older like 8 months and wanted to stand we got him an Evenflo Exersaucer for free, hosed it down, replaced the batteries, and he loves it even to this day!

Websites:

Amazon.com —

Amazon Prime is awesome ($100/yr). We used to have the student membership ($45/yr). Get discounts with “subscribe and save.” Prime Now is delivering to more locations in the East Bay.

Diapers.com —

Sign up and get FAST shipping, sometimes even faster than Amazon Prime’s 2-day from what I’ve heard. We actually don’t use this, but will sometimes use Google Express ($95/yr) for quick deliveries.

Boxed.com —

Great for buying stuff in bulk, but need to order at least $50 for free shipping.

Books:

“Happiest Baby on the Block” by Dr. Harvey Karp — covers methods for soothing baby. Hubby and I studied this, but none of it really worked on our baby. =P
“Nursing Mother’s Companion” by Kathleen Huggins — recommended if you’re planning to breastfeed.
“Twelve Hours’ Sleep by Twelve Weeks Old” by Suzy Giordano — haven’t read yet but I heard good for sleep training when the time comes.
“Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child” by Dr. Marc Weissbluth — haven’t read yet but I heard good for sleep training when the time comes.
“Baby 411 6th edition” by Dr. Ari Brown — lots of quick answers to common questions, great for reference.
“What to Expect the First Year” by Sandee Hathaway — recommended by several mommies. I haven’t read yet it, but heard it’s also great for reference.

(I actually only read the Happiest Baby on the Block and Nursing Mothers Companion.)