Baby Stuff we own and like
Even though we had read a bunch of books and blogs, in the end, everything seemed surprising.
So we strated acquiering "baby stuff". After going through Medela breast pumps, Valco and Britax strollers, Graco high chair, a Haba toy - here are a few observations, while I still remember :-)
Diapers and Wipes
We were given a whole bunch of Pampers - and found them wanting. They simply did not absorb well.
Experimenting, we settled on Huggies - they do the job well, and are available almost anywhere.
Amazon has some of the best prices on Huggies - they certainly beat our local Babies R Us. Sometimes Safeway runs a huge sale - like 25% off - those are the best prices we have ever seen.
But Amazon is consistent in their pricing, so we know what the cost will be per month.
Obviously, we load up when Safeway has a sale, but
how much stuff are you going to buy - it's bulky. But no matter where you buy them, Huggies rule!!!!
We also like Huggies wipes - we try for no fragrance, but the cucumber stuff is pretty good too. While the wipes smell a bit funny, they work well, and our daughter never had any allergic reaction to them. Check them out below.
You will need diapers and wipes time and time again - kids use them up like there is no tomorrw.
Huggies Diapers, Gentle Care Newborn Diapers, Size N, Fits Up to 10 lbs, Super Mega Pack of 80
Gentle Care are great - served us well even when our daughter became a bit too big for them - we still used up everything we bought, before moving to next size.
Amazon Price: $30.99 (as of 11/30/2009) 
Huggies Snug and Dry Diapers Super Mega Pack Size 1 8-14 lbs.
You may try size 1 even though the Newborn still fit - it will save you from having extra left over when your kid gets too big for N size.
Amazon Price: (as of 11/30/2009)
Huggies Baby-Shaped Fit Diapers, Size 1-2 (Up to 15 Lbs), Disney, Pack of 192 Diapers
Amazon Price: $33.59 (as of 11/30/2009)
Huggies Natural Care Fragrance Free Baby Wipes Popup Refill, 232-Count Pack (Pack of 3)
Amazon Price: $38.88 (as of 11/30/2009)
Huggies Naturally Refreshing Cucumber & Green Tea Baby Wipes Popup Refill, 184-Count Pack (Pack of 3)
Amazon Price: $21.19 (as of 11/30/2009)
Milk bottles and stuff
It also helped that the plastic bottles made by Medella are free of PBAs. So by sheer luck, we ended up with the rigth stuff - even before PBAs became infamous.
As for the breast pumps - we found out that the model we rented in the hospital (yeah, you can rent those, but over time, the cost comes to the same as buying) was not available to the general public.
But Medela makes a variety of pumps, with higher priced models ( around $250 when we were looking) having the same pumping action as the hospital model. We must be "Medela people", since our friends also seem to prefer Medela, and it has worked great for us.
Medela - we really like their stuff
Medela Pump in Style Advanced Breast Pump with Backpack
Amazon Price: $255.00 (as of 11/30/2009)
Medela Breastmilk Storage and Feeding Set
We particularly like the big yellow cups - they fit over the screw-on nipple, so you can have the bottle ready to go, and the nipple is protected from dirt, being accidentally touched, etc.
Amazon Price: $29.95 (as of 11/30/2009)
Medela Valve & Membrane Kit for Pump In Style Pumps
Amazon Price: $7.49 (as of 11/30/2009)
Medela Breastmilk Feeding and Storage Set
Amazon Price: $11.95 (as of 11/30/2009)
Medela Pump & Save Storage Bags 50-pk.
Amazon Price: $17.75 (as of 11/30/2009)
Breast Feeding
there simply is nothing better than mother's milk for a small child. So if you only can, definitely breast feed.
Some women have nipples that are difficult for a baby to grasp - Medela ( yeah, those guys again) makes a nipple shield - it's an awesome idea.
It can be put on a nipple, and it shapes it so it's easier for the baby to nurse (it's got little holes so the milk can flow through it). Since it's made of silicon - it can be boiled (to sterilize) after use.
It can be used 2 ways:
a) to feed an infant before mother has milk -
can put the shield on a nipple, then use a small siringe to pump one of the commercial infant formulas inside the shield, so the baby gets to drink it as if it were coming from the nipple - it's a bit messy, but the baby learns to nurse and the nipple gets stimulated, which speeds up milk production.
b) some kids bite down hard on the nipple - the shield will protect mother's nipple
Either way, it's a wonderful invention, and inexpensive as well.
Here is the shield
Medela Contact Nipple Shield - Standard Size (24mm)
Amazon Price: $10.50 (as of 11/30/2009)
Medela Contact Nipple Shield - Small (20mm.)
Amazon Price: $6.99 (as of 11/30/2009)
Medela's PersonalFit 27 mm. Breastshields 2-pk.
Amazon Price: $12.60 (as of 11/30/2009)
Medela Soft Shells for Inverted Nipples
Amazon Price: $17.99 (as of 11/30/2009)
Medela 100% Cotton Washable Bra Pads
Amazon Price: $9.25 (as of 11/30/2009)
Strollers
Turned out to be a really good idea.
The smaller "supermarket" Britax stroller is perfect for short walks and shopping (since it has to share trunk space with the shopping bags).
The "real" Valco Tri-mode All terrain stroller is much bigger, it takes up more than half the trunk, but it's great for long walks, especially on a rough terrain (anything other than smooth asphalt or concrete feels "rough" in the smaller stroller). Valco has inflatable tires, so the baby has a really smooth ride even on grass or dirt paths.
The bassinet turned out pretty useful too.
Our daughter would often fall asleep in it - so coming back from a walk, we would just let her sleep. And when we visited friends or family, she would have her own little world - familiar world, to sleep in. Now, that she is bigger, we use the bassinet to store all her infant stuff in the garage - in case she gets a little sister or a brother :-)
Valco has one annoying feature - printed instructions. They suck.
Fortunately most of it is self explanatory, or you can find videos on the internet.
Other than that, it's a great find.
The Little Britax Stroller and The "Big" Valco Stroller
Britax Preview Stroller Onyx
I seem to remember that the Britax was cheaper then - and it had a great plus - it could be used with the Britax car seat that we bought - so first 3 months or so, we would strap her in a car seat, put the car seat on the stroller, and off we went. [2009] Someone put up a price of $499 - that about 5 times what we paid for ours. Looks like a typo to me.
Amazon Price: $499.95 (as of 11/30/2009)
Runabout Stroller Bassinet - Harlequin Black
Seemed expensive, but it really made our life a lot simpler.
Our daughter could sleep during walks, when at home, and when visiting - babies like familiar environment - since she was used to the bassinet, we never had a problem with her sleeping when we were visitng family or friends.
Amazon Price: $170.00 (as of 11/30/2009)
Universal 3-Wheel Rain Cover
I seem to remember that the cover came with the stroller - maybe it's available as a spare - come to think of it, I can't remember where I put it last time :-(
Amazon Price: (as of 11/30/2009)
High Chair - the one we got
Looked at all the local furniture stores - nothing.
Drove 30 miles to IKEA - found out that their concept of a high chair was a flimsy thing, maybe 3 feet tall - so sitting with us at the table, she would have her eyes at the level exactly matching the edge of the table - wow, what a view of the world.
Finally, after looking on the internet, my wife hit the jackpot. She found the Graco high chair.
It is almost perfect- I say almost, because even though it's wooden, it came with a plastic seat cushion and belts that had such a strong chemical smell, that we instantly dumped the seat cushion.
Belts are needed, so we let them air out in the backyard for a couple of weeks - it's ok now.
But the chair itself if great. It's sturdy, stable ( v. important when the baby bounces around in it - and she does bounce!!!) .
And the chair is tall enoguh that her face is only a little bit lower than our faces - so she can look down on the table and look at us and feel like she is participating in the meal.
It also has both a small built in, and attachable - much bigger - top, so that baby has lot's of table space for herself. She loves it.
Graco high chair
Graco Classic Wood Highchair w/Seat Pad in Butter Pecan
We bought it on Amazon - except for those cushions we dumped, it's great. We could not be happier. BTW: My wife assembled it. I came home and here it was, ready to go. Cool!
Amazon Price: $148.87 (as of 11/30/2009)
Super Thermometer from Exegren
We bought it for $ 50 when our kid was sick - and absolutely love it. We never liked the idea of using a rectal thermometer - difficult and dangerous. This one you simply slide over child's forehead and you get a readout within seconds. We have calibrated it with 2 other thermometers and it's accurate. And our kid loves it. She considers it a toy!
Instead of fighting with her, trying to measure her temperature, we have fun. Think about it - your child is sick, miserable - and then she lights up because you are checking for fever. The toughest part is putting it away - she wants to keep playing (so we usually do for a couple minutes).
And it uses a normal 9 volt battery that you can get in any grocery store (though so far we have not had to replace it after more than a year of use).
To top it off, it is made in America! This makes a difference to us, since it comes in contact with child's skin - we don't want stuff made who-knows-where-from-who-knows-what.
Super product. Love it!
Get the Exegren from Amazon ( and at a discount - we paid full price)
Teethers
Just about the time we were getting the high chair, we also realized that our daughter needed teethers -little toys that she could chew on to help her deal with the pain and itching of teeth coming out.This was a problem, because we definitely did not want anything made in China - as were all teethers at Babies R Us. The thought that our daughter could be chewing on teethers possibly coated with lead based paint did not appeal to us. In the end, we stumbled on a delightful toy made in France - Sophie the Giraffe.
She has been a life saver. Made for decades, it's been popular in Europe and US. Sophie has a variety of surfaces, so the kid can match what to chew on to the particular tooth, places where it itches, etc. The toy can also be boiled to sterilize.
BTW: If you are looking for toys not made in China,
click here.
Where to buy Sophie
Vulli Sophie the Giraffe Teether, Brown/ White
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Amazon Price: $18.49 (as of 11/30/2009)
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Haba toy our daughter loves
Haba Trix Toy
Haba makes this simple toy - yet both myself and my daughter have spend hours upon hours playing. The pieces are connected by a string - so you can flip them around, creating many shapes. You can squeeze them into different shapes, or just wear it as a bracelet :-)
Worry not - the string is strong, after a year of play, it hasn't broken.
Amazon Price: $10.79 (as of 11/30/2009)
Book to get
Never bothered looking for anything else.
What to Expect When You're Expecting: 4th Edition
Amazon Price: $7.48 (as of 11/30/2009)
Do you know of any great stuff to get for a child?
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Reply
- Ash-ley Ash-ley Aug 4, 2009 @ 6:49 pm
- Great Lens, well organized. Thanks
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Reply
- chris57 chris57 Jun 9, 2009 @ 1:34 am
- Hi there, we bought a lot of similar stuff. I just recently made a lens about Breastfeeding and featured your lens on it. I think your lens is really informative. Thanks for sharing.
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Reply
- Teddi14 Teddi14 Jul 15, 2008 @ 9:39 pm
- Funny, I forgot all about the breast pads until I read your lens. LOL. I could not go without my boppy pillow. It was great while I was nursing and I loved that I could prop up my son in it on the floor. I have a lens that you might be interested in. Baby & Kids Freebies I am giving you 5 *'s.n BTW, I bought two strollers just like you did...worked well for us too.
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