Category Archives: baby gear

Car seats from 0 to 6

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My sons are 2 and 5 so my research for safe car seats ends around age 6.

Infant Car Seat – Graco Snugride (age 0-1)
I still remember vividly when we brought our first child home.  We were both overwhelmed. My husband said, “They actually let us take him home?  We have no idea what to do with a baby!”   Then again, the only requirements to bring our baby home were to sign our baby’s birth certificate and  have a properly installed car seat.

gracoBefore I was discharged, the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital car seat fitting station helped install Graco Snugride in our brand new Toyota Highlander.  It  was one of the best rated infant car seats on the market.  Today Consumer Reports gives it a “Best Buy” rating, which means it offers the best combination of performance and price.

The convenient bucket style allows you to carry a sleeping baby without unbuckling at each stop.  Because babies sleep 20+ hours in the early days,  it’s best not to disturb them.  Although the Snugride can hold up to 30-35 pounds, our children eventually outgrew their it because of their height, not weight.  We knew it was time to upgrade when their feet dangling outside of the bucket seat. Continue reading →

Newborn essentials

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From the moment we brought our oldest son home 5 years ago, we experimented with nearly every basic:

In a newborn’s life, it’s all about “Eat/Drink”, “Pee/Poo”, and “Sleep”.  Let’s get right to it.

Eat/Drink
Two of the best bottle lines are Dr. Brown and Born Free. My lactation consultant suggested using Dr. Brown and the slow flow nipples.  Because I had to heat up stored milk, I was really happy when the glass bottles were introduced a few years ago.  My sisters love Born Free for their children.

Pee/Poo
I fell in love with Huggies Pure & Natural diapers, which came onto the market when my second son was born. He’s now 2 and half and had only gotten rashes a couple of times using this diaper.

PRIMO EuroBathBabies don’t get dirty from sleeping 20+ hours a day.  It’s okay to bathe them a few times a week, according to Mayo Clinic.  When you do, use PRI EuroBath tub. We started out with a “First Year Sure Comfort Newborn-to-Toddler Tub”.  It was too narrow to accommodate average sized babies beyond the first 2-3 months with spare room to maneuver.  After research, I found a plain Primo Baby.  It was perfect.  For babies who can’t yet sit, the incline side is wide and comfortable.  Once a baby can sit, he or she has plenty of room to play with rubber ducks and other inflatable toys.

Sleep
swaddling_blanketAs for sleep, keep in mind not to use loose blankets or leave any stuffed animals in the crib.  In the first month, we swaddled our boys using SwaddleDesigns’ receiving blankets. At some point, your baby won’t like being constrained, switch to organic sleepsacks from HALO. Get the micro-fleece ones for winter, cotton for summer.

My husband always says that taking care of a baby is like following a flowchart. Perhaps we’ll actually create one at some point.