So recently Matt and I have come up with a bunch of baby/ toddler products that we need/ want. Some of the things I'm pretty decided about what I want to get. Others, I have no idea about. So that is where you all come in. I am in the researching stage, so your opinions are part of my research. Let me know whatever you know about these things please. Here's what we want:
1 - We're switching to cloth diapers. We've talked to a few friends/ looked at a few blogs about it and gotten recommendations. We are looking at buying this starter kit:
http://www.diaperco.com/store/p/186-Ultimate-Sampler-Package.html
We'll probably start Amy on them as soon as we get them and the new baby when she's a few months old. Hopefully with the starter kit and Amy we'll decide what we like so we can buy what we need for the new baby.
2 - A potty. I know. I just said we're getting cloth diapers for Amy. I don't think she'll be ready to potty train very soon. She's only 18 months old. We just want to get a potty to start giving her the option. The only sign she's given us at all about readiness was today, so it could have been a fluke. She looked at me and said poopy and then made a pooping face. Sure enough, she was pooping. When I tried to sit her down in her chair for lunch, she said poopy again because she didn't want to sit in it. (I hadn't been sure if she had really pooped until then.) A little while later she pooped again and told me she was poopy. When I told Matt, he immediately suggested we buy a potty. I agree. But I have NO idea what good potties are and what good prices for potties are. Help!
3 - Baby gate - We have friends that recommended a gate that divides into sections. You can put together pieces of it for longer sections or take it apart for doorways/ stairways, etc. You can also make a circle out of them to section off a little play area. We want to gate off Amy's doorway and/or toddler bed - when we get a toddler bed for her because her door doesn't close all the way. We also want to section off our "office" area of our living room so she leaves the computers and desks alone. (That will make her mad.) And I would just love to give a section or two to my mom for her house. It would help a lot. So we want to get one like this, but we aren't too sure what options are out there for these kinds of gates. I need to look into it still. Any ideas out there?
4 - Moby wrap. I'm PRETTY sure that I want to get a Moby. I've heard great things about them, and I love the features. I found one on Craig's List for $20 that I might ask my sister-in-law to pick up for me. (It's close to her house and not to mine.)
5 - Toddler bed. Eventually. I don't think Amy's that close to ready for one. She can't climb out of the crib yet (thank goodness). She's still plenty happy in there, and we're happy having her stuck. However, when our new baby is a few months old, growing out of the bassinet and overstaying her welcome sleeping in our room, we'll need to switch Amy to a toddler bed to put Polar Bear in the crib. But as I said, we still have a while to research and shop.
Thanks for your help everyone!
My friend Bridget swears by her Woombie.
ReplyDeleteI like prefolds and BumGenius. We tried other brands of the AIO but they didn't work as well. Just a head's up. Also, Cottonbabies.com often has "seconds" (factory rejects) that you can buy for really cheap. They often have good deals going on.
I think toddler beds aren't worth the money...but they may be worth the space in your situation.
Baby gates are awesome.
Ummm...is that the kind of feedback you were looking for?
Also, my cousin sewed her own sling thing. I think it's really cute and she did it for super cheap. So if you know of someone who sews, maybe she can tell them how she made hers.
i have only one thought, and that's on the moby wrap. i would recommend a hugamonkey instead (http://www.hugamonkey.com). i just always feel bad for moms who i see taking 10 minutes to wrap the moby around them. the hugamonkey just slips on and they are WAY cheaper. i love mine! it looks like you've done your research on the moby, so go ahead with that if you want to. just voicing my opinion! :)
ReplyDeleteOh, also with the moby wrap I went to the fabric store and bought some material and that is my moby wrap. Finito. No sewing, and super cheap.
ReplyDeleteWe never used a toddler bed because we didn't want to have to move Naomi more than once, but we did get the bed "sides" (can't think of what they are called now) and that worked really well.
ReplyDeleteAlso with the potty, we just got the seat that went right on the existing toilet. I was not at all interested in having to dump out and clean a little toilet of it's..erm, contents. But we did get a stool so she could get up to the potty on her own. Once again, it made transitioning WAY easier.
So that's my two bits! Good luck!
Let me know how the cloth diapers go! You're brave. I have a hotsling and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it so much that I have sewn myself two more just like it!!
ReplyDeleteI second Nancy on the diapers. Prefolds (indian) and BumGenius are what I like. clothdiaper.com also has factor seconds on prefolds. That is where I got all of mine. They sell out really fast, but they have some right now. They are located in SLC, so if you want to just go pick them up instead of paying shipping, that's also a possibility.
ReplyDeleteMy SIL also got a "try it pack" and found that almost none of them worked. She now uses BumGenius.(I think it's a lot of money for them not to work out)
I also like cottonbabies.com because they show customers ratings of different products, but I usually buy my stuff from other site because I can usually find it cheaper if I search for each item separately.
Heather B. says she won't do a potty with any of her other kids because she used one with Ian, and he wouldn't go anywhere except HIS potty (bad situation when you're at a store, church, etc.) Just something to think about.
On the toddler Bed, I totally fell in love with one at IKEA last week. We're in the same boat with Allison... she doesn't climb out of her crib at all yet and until she does she is welcome to stay in the crib. We've got a pack & play as a 2nd sleeping option for the "over-stayed-your-welcome-sleeping-in-our-room" issue. The toddler bed I love it white and looks like of like a day bed... it had a full rail along the back that was white and scrolly, and the rail along the front went about half waydown the bed, as opposed to only a third. Loved it. Don't remember the price, and being IKEA you might have to buy their mattress, but you'd need a 2nd mattress to use a toddler bed and a crib anyway I guess.
ReplyDeleteOn the potty (boy are we EVER in pretty much the EXACT same life phase or what... Allison did the same fluke "poopy" thing the other day!) I'd go with a potty seat that goes on the toilet with a step for her rather than a stand along potty. Becuase honestly, once you're on your way to done dealing with her poop and pee, do you really want to deal with having to dump and clean out the kiddy potty? I'm thinking not so much.
On the gate, sounds like you're talking about a superyard... I've seen them at Lowes and Walmart.
OK, I'm admittedly not an expert like all of these moms, but I was thinking that an extendable bed might be a good option. It starts out as a toddler bed (nice for saving on some space), and then extends out to a full-length bed as Amy gets older.
ReplyDeleteA few examples:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S39847516
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30128422
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S39827962
Since you asked, here're my thoughts:
ReplyDeleteToddler bed: We figured, why buy a little bed that we will just have to replace in a few years with a bigger bed? And they are small, so little ones fall out easier. Hannah figured out how to not fall out of a real bed very quickly (she actually never fell out, but she was in a double/queen sized bed), so even the rails are overrated, I think. Maybe if you could just borrow some for the first week or so, that might help. But I definitely recommend to just get a twin sized bed.
Potty seat: We tried both the potty with the steps and the removable cup inside, and the potty seat that fits atop the potty, and the latter is my favorite. It relocates to other potties easily, you don't have to mess with emptying a cup, it doesn't clutter the bathroom, and it gets the child into the right mindset for where we do our potty business. I agree that a stool will probably be necessary for the first little while.
Baby wrap: I know nothing about the Moby wrap, but I just got a peanut shell wrap, and it is absolutely adorable. Haven't used it yet since I'm still carrying my baby around internally, but as far as appearance goes, it's adorable.
Those are my thougts!
Thanks everyone for the comments, (and keep them coming anyone who wants.) I just want to respond to a few questions or thoughts. We are thinking a toddler bed is worth the money because of space. Amy and Polar Bear will be sharing a room til we move (time indefinite, probably not until we are expecting baby #3.) And the room just isn't that big. Besides that, we're wanting lots of kids, and I think the toddler bed would get lots of use out of it over the years. I'm picturing lots of beds in the house eventually.
ReplyDeleteI'll check out the hugamonkey and the hotsling and the peanut shell. Those sound good too. I just didn't like our sling we had for Amy, but I LOVE babywearing - the idea of it and all the benefits.
I'm actually not too turned off by the seperate potty for having to dump contents. I think poop is getting less and less appalling and more and more just part of life. However, I can see the benefit of having your kid actually be on the potty from the beginning. Good plan.
Lauren, good call about not trying out try it packs. Since I've heard SUCH great things about bum genius (and liked borrowing Rudy's for a night) maybe I'll just grab a few of those and try the prefolds. They won't be scary for long. I'll get over it.
Rosie, I LOVED the idea of the pac n play giving us extra time to get a bed. Thanks for that one. It takes up less space anyway. Then the girls can get used to sharing a room for a while BEFORE we switch Amy's beds - a transition in and of itself.
And the superyard...I've done a little more research and am not so sure. A lot of the reviews I read talk about toddlers being able to push them over or otherwise maneuver around them. And that sounds SO Amy-like. They have metal ones that look more secure which are tempting, but they are twice as much. Yikes! Still not sure what to do here.
Thanks so much everyone for all the advice!!! It's really helped. (And anyone can keep it coming.) We'll give you an update once we've actually bought some products. (I like to take a while in this process of simi-large purchases to make sure I get good things that are worth the money that Matt works so hard to earn.)
I totally agree with Nancy and Lauren on the diapering. Pre-folds and bumGenius. As for diaper covers, I'd definately try out the dappi (they're only $5 for 2) and then get a fancier one or two for kicks. We bought our first personally designed "try it pack" for close to $75, if I remember right. I think I bought like 12 prefolds, a pair of dappis, 2 Pro-wraps (the fancier, but not super cute middle of the road covers. I really really like them and think they're a decent price for the product-close to $8 if I remember right), one set of pins (which I prefer over snappi) one snappi, and two bumGenius. All I've added are more bumGenius, just for the convenience of leaving them with a sitter.
ReplyDeleteI don't really have many more opinions about the other stuff, except I did see a cool potty idea in the OneStepAhead Catalog, it's a regular toilet seat that has a smaller seat built in so that you can put it down over the larger seat(like you would the lid). Anyway, I'm sure you could check it out on their website. Rudy's still not agile enough to climb up, even with a stool, so we just have a typical training potty for him now. (not that he actually uses it...but he's at least experimenting. Today he peed NEXT to it.) :) Good luck!