What did you 'give up on'?

[lovepiggie]

This is intended to be a lighthearted discussion I don't mean things like hopes and dreams, just little things!

For example, before my son was born, I really wanted to make sure he had all organic clothes. I understood that the likelihood of receiving organic clothes from family/friends was slim, but I told myself that I would only ever buy him organic clothes! From independent boutiques! No Toys'R'Us for me! But that didn't work out :P

I also wanted to give him only simple, wooden toys. Nothing that needed batteries, or played music. And as I type this, my son is sitting in his exersaucer playing an out-of-tune version of "The Ants Go Marching..." for the 15th time!

What about you?

[AFWife]

All wooden/cloth and NO PLASTIC or BATTERIES One of his favorite toys is both.

[melon]

i said i would never leave him in the bucket seat just because he was sleeping. i would pick him up and put him in the stroller/sling. The bucket seat would stay attached to the base in the car!

Yea right, if he's sleeping, i'm gonna wake him up before going into the store? LOL

Also, with this weather, it's much easier to buckle him into the bucket in the house, zip up the Bundleme, and go, than to try to get him into the winter jacket first!

[vitar82]

Oh goodness, we gave up on a lot
-Pasifiers --> I have frieds who swear by them by my DD refused them from day 1, so if she is upset I need to deal with it with nursing, holding, rocking, etc
-cereals --> she loves yogurt and baby food but will not eat rice ceral or oatmeal anymore, she just lets it fall out of her mouth its kind of funny
- when i was preggo I gave up on eating all organinc, trying to get 8+ h of sleep every night and avoiding caffeine 100%, I just could not realably make those commitments
- reading books every night. I tought I will read to her from day 1, but at 7mo she does not care and all she want to do at bedtime is nurse and go to sleep. Any other stimulus just annoys her.

[melon]

oh yea cereal.
we weren't gonna give it, but he is underweight so we tried it at dr's rec. turns out he LOVEs it. we stick with the baby oatmeal or the whole wheat one.

[lifeguard]

Wool diaper covers. Never worked out.

He WOULD be sleeping in his own bed through the night. Hahahahahhaha!

[4myfinn]

We said we'd never have him in our bed- just in a cradle next to our bed and then in his crib. He was in our bed by the third night home from the hospital and has never left, nor do I want him to! I had no idea how much we would all love co-sleeping!

[Llyra]

Mine are older now, but my big thing for a long time was the plastic crap toys. I still don't buy them (with rare exceptions when a child has his/her heart absolutely set on something), but I can't stop people from buying them, or my kids from falling in love with them. I do frequently purge them from the house, though, once the kids lose interest.

[sapphire_chan]

Plastic toys. It went from me sewing her toys to handing her anything and everything in the house.

[mommajb]

I'd have to agree on wool diaper covers, especially after table food was intorduced. I mean I was so worried about the dumb things getting dirty on the inside or on the outside. We should have ec'd and EBF until they were all 12 but then there wouldn't be 5 of them.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by melon

zip up the Bundleme, and go, than to try to get him into the winter jacket first!

FYI, the Bundle Me isn't safe for use in car seats. It can compress in an accident loosening the straps and allowing the baby to be ejected from the seat. It also affects how the straps come out over the baby which further hinders proper tightening of the straps. Ask on the safety forum for better ways to keep your baby warm in the car and save the Bundle Me for stroller trips.

[Carhootel]

soooo many of these. battery operated noisy toys - um yea, we don't have tons but we do have some and he LOVES them. Pacifiers, gah, I didn't want him to have them and now I WISH he would take them, I've tried SO many different kinds and he doesn't want them!

The other one I'll add is ONLY giving organic food to ds, um, ooops

[_ktg_]

no plastic toys, batteries, loud ones...etc.

No 'sposies _ever_ yeah luckily its emergency use only (like OMG we forgot to wash the load of diapers!!)

no t.v., again out the door, but its not in excess. I'm just done beating myself up with guilt for turning it on.

[Angelorum]

I thought I would babywear all day in the house. Turns out, this kid is heavy! And either I'm weak or I need a different kind of carrier. We babywear out and about shopping, and it's great, but at home, I hold him, or he plays on the floor or in his bouncy seat. He takes really long naps though, so that's when I can get stuff done.

[red and lulu]

Great thread!

Strictly organic went out the window for us, too... It's expensive and she grows out of it so fast. Most of her clothes are from h&m and old navy. I take what people give me!! Also, I was adamant about "no pink," but it's found it's way in.

Cloth wipes...we use both, but mostly disposable... it's just easier! And I gave up on prefolds pretty quick. We still do cloth (all in ones) but did a tour of 'sposie town for a week or two on the way there.

We've maintained so far on the no plastic or battery powered toys, though she does have a musical mobile from grandma that she loves.

The pacifier... I was very anti-pacifier, but I offered it about a month ago, worn our from marathon nursing and she liked it for maybe a day... she's not really into it (she likes to chew on it) but I still offer it all the time.

I didn't want to pump, and was convinced I wouldn't have to. I ended up getting a manual one so that there's a little something there just in case for her if I'm out without her-- it's allowed me to be comfortable leaving her with dp for an hour or two.

And delaying solids... I wanted to wait, but she's ready to go and so we've been letting her play with stuff for a couple weeks (celery, carrots, apple, sweet potato).

[melon]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

FYI, the Bundle Me isn't safe for use in car seats. It can compress in an accident loosening the straps and allowing the baby to be ejected from the seat. It also affects how the straps come out over the baby which further hinders proper tightening of the straps. Ask on the safety forum for better ways to keep your baby warm in the car and save the Bundle Me for stroller trips.

i will look into it, but it doesn't seem to make sense....the straps come right through the holes and it doesn't affect the tightness at all. the straps are at the same adjustment as they are without it.

[Comtessa]

Originally Posted by CJsMama

I was adamant about "no pink," but it's found its way in.

Me too!!! Sigh. DH loves her in pink, it's the only thing he'll put on her if he's getting her dressed. Good thing we still don't have much!

We weren't going to get any New Stuff. Everything baby used was going to be hand-me-downs or purchased secondhand... no contributing to the great capitalist baby buying bonanza for us! Except that we forgot about aunts and uncles and cousins and Grandma. Buy the baby stuff from the thrift shop? We must be joking.

I was never going to get a stroller. Then July hit and wearing the poor kid in the sling was giving us both heatstroke. (I don't know why that never occurred to me before.)

I was going to do a ton of research about vaccinations before she was due for any, and make a decision about each one independently, with the help of our thoughtful and well-informed pediatrician. Yeah, not so much. The night before her first well-baby visit, I was doing frantic research online with one hand while nursing the baby, while DH tried to convince me that everybody we know has survived their vaccinations just fine.

I was NEVER going to use baby food from a jar.
Or disposable diapers.
These are still "emergency-only" activities, but we do seem to have an awful lot of emergencies. Especially when DH is changing diapers.

[Beauchamp]

Originally Posted by Comtessa

I was never going to get a stroller.

I was going to do a ton of research about vaccinations before she was due for any, and make a decision about each one independently, with the help of our thoughtful and well-informed pediatrician. Yeah, not so much. The night before her first well-baby visit, I was doing frantic research online with one hand while nursing the baby, while DH tried to convince me that everybody we know has survived their vaccinations just fine.

This.

We love our BOB stroller, but we also wear her a lot, too.

And as for vaxes...at least I found a ped who does an adjusted schedule. It's one of those things I feel really guilty about not fully educating myself about.

I guess mostly I gave up on stuff for myself...I don't get out as much anymore, I don't work out like I thought I would, etc.

[BrittneyMarie]

Originally Posted by 4myfinn

We said we'd never have him in our bed- just in a cradle next to our bed and then in his crib. He was in our bed by the third night home from the hospital and has never left, nor do I want him to! I had no idea how much we would all love co-sleeping!

[lovepiggie]

Originally Posted by 4myfinn

We said we'd never have him in our bed- just in a cradle next to our bed and then in his crib. He was in our bed by the third night home from the hospital and has never left, nor do I want him to! I had no idea how much we would all love co-sleeping!

I wasn't sure about the cosleeping thing, but now I feel like I wasted so much money on a crib and organic mattress! He's never slept in it... The cat does, though!