Registry Help: Time to Play and Getting Dressed

This is part of my series of posts of registry advice.  I've gone through the Babies R' Us registry checklist and given some advice on each category.  Check out my posts about On the Go and Sleepy Time.

Time To Play

• For a swing, we have the Graco DuetSoothe Removable Swing and Rocker.  I like that it does everything.  It swings in all directions  and plays music.  The swing itself can be removed from the stand and used as a bouncer and can vibrate (with the use of batteries). This has been a great place to set him when I need a few minutes to get something done.
• We have 2 play mats in our house - one for upstairs and one for downstairs.  Jackson loves them both!  They're great for tummy time and just for daily entertainment (I usually put him on one of these so I can go shower and get ready in the morning).  We have the Fisher-Price Rainforest Music and Lights Deluxe Gym Playset and we also have the Fisher-Price Kick & Play Piano Gym (we have a second one of these at the grandparent's house too).  
• My absolute favorite toy (which Jackson also LOVES!) is the Fisher-Price Kick & Play Piano.  It's small and super portable.  It also has strings on it to tie it to wherever you want.  
• We have the Evenflo ExerSaucer Jump and Learn Jumper.  We picked this over a door way jumper because it's portable and can be used anywhere.  I also wanted one that had the pad below their feet since our floors are all hardwood and don't have any cushioning.  It is highly reviewed, but I can't give you my own review yet because he can't use it until he has better neck control (so in a few more months), but it looks like a lot of fun!  
• We didn't bother buying any other specific toys because people just picked out odds and ends and we didn't bother with specific books since people brought them to the shower.   If you're looking for other toys though, any of the Lamaze ones are great - the more colors, movements and noises in one toy, the better!

Getting Dressed

• I didn't bother registering for any clothes because people will buy what they want.  If there is certain seasonal stuff that you'll want (like hat and mittens or sunhat and sunglasses, I'd maybe add those).  Also if you decide to put clothes on, the zippered Sleep N' Plays are the best!  The button ones are a pain in the butt when you're sleep-deprived and trying to quickly change a diaper and get back to bed.  These are pretty much all Jackson wears unless we're going out somewhere and we want to put "real" clothes on him.

First Road Trip

Our first official road trip with Jackson was this weekend and things went better than I had expected!  What is normally a 7 hour trip, took 10 hours, so not too bad.  We stopped about every 2 hours to take Jackson out of the car, feed and change him, and stretch our legs.  He basically slept most of the ride, which was pretty convenient.

Registry Help: On the Go

To give more in depth registry advice, I've broken down the Babies R' Us registry check-list by category and given my opinions.  Check out the Sleepy Time section here.

On the Go

Car seats/Strollers:

• We have the Chicco Bravo Trio Travel system.  It includes the infant car seat, the base for the car seat and a stroller that the car seat can click in to.  The Chicco car seats are rated as one of the safest on the market, so that's the brand I wanted.  Some people opt to go straight to the convertible car seat to save money, but it's nice having the infant one that I can pop in and out of the base and carry him in to where I'm going.  The convertible ones stay in the car and you just pull the baby out.  You'll probably also want a base for the car seat for each car that the baby will be frequently riding in (we have one for mine, one for my husbands, and one for his parents).
• The one downside to the stroller that came with that travel system is that the seat doesn't fully recline.  Again, I'm crazy about safe sleep, etc. and the guidelines say that the baby should only be sleeping on a flat surface whenever possible.  So I really didn't like the idea of popping the car seat into the stroller and letting him sleep in that (since they're not supposed to be in the car seat unless they're in the car) and the stroller itself doesn't lay flat.  I ended up caving and purchasing the Maclaren Quest, which is lightweight and lays completely flat for the baby to sleep.  If I could do it over, I would have only bought the Chicco infant carseat and the bases (not the whole travel system) and then the Maclaren stroller, but that's just my personal preference.

Diaper Bag:

• I LOVE my JuJuBe BFF.  It was expensive, but totally worth it.  I can't say enough good things about it.  

Babywearing:

• We already talked about this, but we have the Baby Bjorn One and the K'tan Active and I like them both.  These are definitely something that you'll want to go and try on because I think part of it depends on your body type.  We got the Baby Bjorn because it was simple to get on and it fit comfortably on both my husband and I.   I wanted the K'tan Active because it can be easily thrown in the diaper bag in case you need a carrier last minute and it's mesh so it's good for a hot day.  The problem is that is not a one size fits all.  Again though, go and try out the carriers and see what works for you.  

Registry Help: Sleepy Time

I've already told you about all of my favorite, must-have baby gear, but I recently helped a friend work on her registry and have some more in-depth advice.   I've taken the Babies R' Us registry check-list category, by category, and given advice.


Sleepy Time

Furniture:  

• We bought a crib and a dresser with a changing pad topper for his room.  I didn't want to buy a stand alone changing table because that wouldn't get as much use as an actual dresser. 
• We have the Graco Pack N' Play Playard Simple Solutions. We keep it set-up downstairs for daytime naps (since all of the bedrooms are upstairs) and we also use this for when we go to a friends house or travel anywhere.  It folds up easily and very compact.  You can get ones with more gadgets, but I didn't think they were necessary and they were more pain to assemble.  We bought a set of Graco waterproof sheets to go with it.  I find that depending on how wet something gets, it still goes through the sheets a little, but overall they keep the mattress in good condition.  Some people buy a special "comfy" mattress to put in the Pack N' Play, but we are using what came with it and it works just fine and folds up for travel.
• I can't recommend the Fisher-Price Soothing Motion Bassinet enough!!!  It was a lifesaver for us.  In the beginning Jackson hated to sleep anywhere except on us. This helped us get him used to sleeping on a flat surface and we actually still use it.  This is what he sleeps in every night in our room.  It's nice and small and fits nicely next to our bed.  It's also nice and tall, so I can just roll over and grab him out of it when he needs to eat at night.  This was great when he was waking up every hour or two to eat.  The downside is that the vibrate function uses batteries quickly.
• On a related note, a heating pad was another lifesaver for us. If you don't have one, it may be a good thing to pick up.  We put it in the bassinet while we're getting him ready to sleep to get the mattress nice and warm.  We would let him fall asleep on us while he was nice and cozy.  Once we he was asleep, we'd take the heating pad off the mattress and then lay him down - it definitely helped!

Bedding:

• A crib bedding set is super unnecessary.  Most of them include a fitted sheet, a quilt, a diaper stacker and a dust ruffle.  We didn't use the diaper stacker at all, it's just a pain in the ass honestly.  They can't have a blanket in with them until they're over a year old, so the quilt is just sitting in the corner as decoration.  We have the dust ruffle on right now, but I don't know if we'll keep it once he starts sleeping in the crib.  Every time that you need to change the fitted sheet (which will be often) the dust ruffle will need to be adjusted, so I don't see that lasting very long.  I'd just get a bunch of cute fitted sheets and any blankets you want separately.  
• Changing table pad covers - we have 2, but a 3rd would definitely be nice.  There have definitely been nights where both of them have gotten dirty and then we had to through a blanket down to hold us over until we did laundry.
• Blankets:  They can't use them until they're at least a year old, so they're purely decorative at this point.   They all just sit in a basket and take up space in the nursery.  I did like having one smaller, but heavy blanket that I use to put over him when he's in the car seat.  I also don't let him sleep in the car seat when we are out eating, so I use the same blanket and lay it out on the table for him to sleep on.
• Swaddle Mes are the best thing ever!  Babies will startle themselves awake while sleeping so having them wrapped up as tight as possible prevents that.  You can just buy blankets and wrap them up like they do in the hospital, but we weren't very good at it and these are so much quicker and easier when it's 3AM, dark, and you've only had an hour of sleep.  We had 4 of these and that was a good amount .  I also wouldn't bother with any size bigger than the small since they aren't supposed to be swaddled once they are 8 weeks old.  Also, I only got cotton ones (not fleece) because I could always just add layers on underneath if it was cold.
• Receiving blankets - we have about a dozen of these and use them for anything and everything  (we have one four pack of the Aden +Anais muslin ones and the rest are fleece)  
• Gerber Prefold Birdseye 3-ply Cloth Diapers - again, we use these for everything.  Our changing table is upstairs in the nursery, so we used these as "changing pads" to set up a mini changing station downstairs.  These were also good to keep in the diaper bag to set down on whatever surface we were changing him on.  We have one 10-pack and that's sufficient.
• Changing Pad Liners - These were nice to lay down on top of the changing pad covers.  They protect the changing pad cover and we don't have to pull of the whole cover and can just wash one of these.  We have 3 packs of 3, so 9 total, but 6 would be sufficient. 

Accessories:

• I didn't bother buying hangers because I just used the ones that came with the clothing.  And we change clothes so frequently, that we don't hang up his current size, I just keep those in the dresser.  
• Hampers - I didn't buy any specific for him, I just threw his clothes in our hamper.  We did (and sometimes still do) laundry every day, so having just a single hamper of dirty clothes was sufficient.
• Humidifier - you can buy one of those cute animal ones - they have good reviews.  We had a spare, so we just stuck that in the nursery.  
• Monitor:  We have the Infant Optics DXR-8 and I think it works extremely well.  It's nothing fancy, but does what it needs to do and had excellent reviews.  
• I am paranoid and was terrified of SIDS, so we got a Snuza HERO and recently bought the Owlet 2.  I use them both and I think they were both worth the cost for the piece of mind they provided me with. 

Maclaren Quest Review

We started with the Chicco Bravo Travel System (affiliate link), which was super convenient.  I loved that you could just snap the carseat into the stroller and go. Or if you're running a quick errant that doesn't require the stroller, you can just carry in the carseat.  However, with our Disney trip approaching, we were longing for something more compact and lightweight.  And with Jackson getting heavier and heavier, the convenience of just grabbing the carseat for a quick errand was fading.   

This led us to the Maclaren Quest (affiliate link).  It's compact and folds up like an umbrella stroller and weighing in at 12.6 lbs., it's not much heavier than one.  When folded, the Maclaren Quest sports a very convenient carrying strap.  

Unlike an umbrellas stroller, it actually has some storage.  There is storage both below and on the back of the stroller.  When going to the mall or the grocery store, I find that there is enough storage space that I don't need to carry in the diaper bag, which is an added bonus.  

The stroller has a 50 SPF waterproof sunshade featuring a peek-a-boo window so you can protect and check in on your little one.  Additionally, the stroller comes with an easy to attach rain cover, which is compact enough to stow away in the strollers basket.  

For safety, the stroller has a 5-point harness and 4 wheel suspension.  And finally, my favorite feature, the stroller has multiple reclining positions.  It can fully recline to allow your little one to sleep safely and comfortably.  

Merlin Magic Sleepsuit

If you're new to this whole parenting thing, the idea of a swaddle is to to dampen your babies startle reflex, so they won't wake themselves up (as often).  This reflex is stronger at birth and then lessens over time.  At the hospital, the nurses were master-swaddlers - turning our son into a baby burrito in a matter of seconds.  We were not as talented and opted for the easier route - SwaddleMes (these are the best, seriously, you need these).

Unfortunately, once your baby can roll or is 8 weeks old (whichever happens first) you can't have their arms inside the swaddle anymore.  We tried to use the SwaddleMes with Jackson's arms out, but he was a little Houdini.

Like any new parents desperate for sleep, we scoured the internet for a solution and discovered the Merlin Magic Sleepsuit.  I like to call it the "next level" swaddle.  The heaviness of this suit helps to lessen your babies reflex to prevent those extra wake-ups.  People will commonly ask me if Jackson is too hot in the suit.  We have the cotton suit and he sleeps in it in either just a diaper or a diaper and a onsie and we've never had a problem with him overheating.  The fabric actually seems quite breathable.  As for safety, babies can stay in this suit until they are able to roll while wearing it (I am not looking forward to that day).

I know that it really depends on the baby, but the Magic Sleepsuit really works for us.  Jackson seems to like going in it and he sleeps so well in it.  We were using it just for bed time, but started using it for naps as well and he instantly napped about 10 minutes more than normal.

If you're impatient and don't mind paying full price, then you can purchase the sleepsuit from Amazon for $40.  OR, if you don't mind waiting a little longer, you may be able to snag an open-box suit for half the price!  All you have to do is call the company and ask if they have any suits available in the size and material that you need.

The one downside to the suit is that you can't put it in the dryer, you're supposed to air dry it and it takes FOREVER to dry.  We pull it out of the washer as soon a possible, flip it inside out and hang it on a hanger in an open area and even so, it takes almost the full day to dry.  With that being said, I strongly recommend purchasing two suits!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from my snuggle bunny!!!