Gearing Up
Chicco Cortina & Chicco Keyfit 30
Above you will see the travel system we have decided to get. Or possibly, maybe, probably, potentially get. Actually we’re not sure yet. But it’s the leading contender at the moment, and we even put it on our registry. For now. Which counts for something, right???
This whole baby gear thing is incredibly overwhelming. There are so many things you supposedly need, but half of them are things that experienced parties will tell you are totally unnecessary. As someone who often overshops, but is also frugal by nature, I am incredibly torn. I am such a sucker when it comes to things like this. I mean, we are talking about our child here! He or she has to be properly equipped!! So when Babies R Us and the other retail powers that be made a list of 8,000 items we absolutely positively must buy, I started to panic.
But then, I stepped back. I talked to my husband. I talked to Jen. I did some online research, and bugged my husband to put his Consumer Reports subscription to good use. We went to BRU to check out what they had to offer, and to “test drive” some strollers, and then to Target to do the same. I borrowed Baby Bargains from a co-worker. And it all started to come together.
We, my friends, are going to attempt the minimalist approach. From what I can tell, all we will really truly need *before* the baby comes into this world are the following: a place for the baby to sleep, a way to transport the baby home from the hospital, some clothes and diapers, and breastfeeding supplies. The rest can come gradually afterwards. Granted that is the REAL bare minimum. We also plan to furnish the nursery, and get some toys and blankets and whatnot. I am going to have a shower, and I’m sure we’ll be given things that don’t fit into the bare necessities category. Don’t worry, we’re not going to make our own baby clothes out of burlap sacks and rope.
But when it comes to the gear, the main things I want to focus on are the pack ‘n play, which is where our child will sleep for the first few months (in a newborn napper), the carseat, the stroller, some type of infant carrier (I’m thinking a moby wrap) and the crib. So far we have some leading contenders in all of these categories. But the hardest ones to decide on have been the stroller and carseat.
My friends who are parents all said one thing – get a carseat that snaps into your stroller, if you can. We were somewhat resistant to this, since so many of them look like these mammoth monstrosities when the carseat is actually snapped into place. But we decided it makes sense. Both Consumer Reports and Baby Bargains recommended the Chicco Keyfit 30 Infant carseat as the safest and most economical, as well as the most highly rated by customers. So that was a good place to start. The Chicco Cortina stroller also got excellent reviews, and it just so happens to come with the Keyfit carseat in a travel system. The whole shebang is about $300 at most retailers, it seems, and we decided that is a pretty good deal.
We don’t know our baby’s gender yet (hopefully we will in a mere six days!) but we both liked the red color, called “fuego,” best. We think red works perfectly for a boy or a girl. So I feel pretty good about this. We both do. Yes we might change our mind some time between now and February, but I hope not. I like feeling like I can visualize how we will be transporting our child. Picturing our little baby, who will likely have dark hair with a few wispy curls, and dark eyes with long long lashes, tucked into that bright red carseat makes me all melty inside.
So there is our highly scientific and tactical approach to choosing baby gear. Ha. If anyone has suggestions for some of our other categories, please share! Thoughts on infant carriers? Favorite type of crib? I already have my eye on this pack ‘n play, I think it is positively adorable. Words of wisdom are always welcome.
a little barefoot 
I really love the Moby wrap. There are a ton of videos on YouTube to learn how to do different carries. I also recommend the Ergo. Expensive, but very comfortable for mama/papa and much better for baby physiologically than carriers like the Bjorn. I’ve carried my nanny kids in an Ergo up to 30 pounds all around Portland with no discomfort.
If/when we have a successful pregnancy I plan on getting the Keyfit 30 as well. I’ve thought WAY to much about baby gear for a person who can’t seem to get and stay pregnant. 😉
That Pack ‘n Play is cute! We will probably get an Arms Reach Co Sleeper like this http://www.amazon.com/Arms-Reach-Co-Sleeper-Bassinet-Convertible/dp/B00198F1X8/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1314830759&sr=8-5 as we will co-sleep for the first few months at least.
You’ll have to update with pictures when you get all your baby gear. 🙂
Thanks for the recs, Breanna! I like the sound of the Ergo, too, we will definitely look into that.
Just think how well prepared you will be when you have your own little bundle coming :). I will definitely update when we have our gear!
That Pack n Play is cute! I was just at a friend’s last night and her 2 month old was sleeping peacefully in one. We never bought one because with two babies, we had too many things around, but we use one every time we travel and they’re really convenient. And, I think if your baby adjusts to sleeping in one, it will make travel easier. As for carriers, we bought the bjorns but you can only use those for so long and then your back starts to ache, around 10 lbs or so. So we bought the Ergos and LOVE them! We used them until fairly recently, and even now, I think we could use them to carry the boys on our backs, but they weigh so much, it’s not as appealing. One lesson learned on high chairs, I would go basic. We bought the fancy Svan chairs (used, thankfully), but they were hard to clean and on advice from other moms, I bought the ikea high chairs and love them! plastic, easy to clean and travel with…On cribs, we used consumer reports, and bought the Davinci Emily crib, it’s affordable and looks nice, and it has a high safety rating. Most children’s furniture is not great in quality and expensive, so this crib seemed like a good buy. We also bought organic mattresses. More expensive but high quality and worth it. We also love our glider. My sister gave us hers and we use it all the time, still at night when our boys get up, or just to sit and read with them…As for immediate buys, we really liked the infant seat/bouncer. Our boys slept in them, played in them, and we even fed them in those when they were little. You really don’t need much, and you will get tons from friends and family. Good luck!
thank you for that! i will definitely bear these recommendations in mind during our hunting & gathering of baby gear. 🙂
That’s the same stroller/car seat that we have registered [except in yellow] for and in fact it’s the ONLY thing we have registered for thus far! From what I hear it’s an excellent choice. Baby shopping is overwhelming. Good luck!