Your Hypothetical Shopping List

[Terrilein]

So, my DP will be in San Fransico on business next weekend for a week. I want to give him a shopping list so that he can pick up some things for us. What baby items can you absolutely not live without? What about pain relievers? Any other items that YOU would want? I'll be cross-posting to get ideas. Obviously, Germans have things like paracetamol for babies, but I've heard that Americans have got more concentrated drops than we've got. And imagine, they don't have wax paper or paper plate holders here, either. I've lived here so long now that I don't miss much anymore except good Mexican food and even that is getting better here.

[MSWmama]

Hmm... It's hard to answer that question without knowing what you have available in Germany, kwim? For pain relief we use infant ibuprofen and infant Tylenol. Otherwise I would tell DH to find a natural baby store and go nuts!

[expat-mama]

I am going to make a huge list of stuff too, Terri. Going back to Canada in a few weeks. It IS hard remembering what we do without now. Here in Dubai it seems like we have everything but every now and again I come across something that I just can't find anywhere! I'll let you know if I think of something for my list too.

[kittn]

chow mien noodles. i couldn't live without them. gripe water may b a good thing. though you have kinder eggs in Germany (yummy) so I am envious of that

[MamitaM]

Do you like Kraft Dinner? I missed that in Germany and also Tampax tampons.

[ZakareyasMama]

My friend in high school was an exchange student from Germany and she brought home a whole bunch of brownie mix. I dunno if they have that there now. When I lived in Spain I missed peanut butter and multipacks of markers. 

For you and your kids what about good sunscreen or a sun hat? Also maybe board books in English?

[Bird Girl]

In general, it seems like German kids' and babies' things are so much higher quality, I would be hard-pressed to offer tips. Do you have soothies gel pads for sore nipples? Those are nice--and easy to take back in a suitcase.

[P.J.]

Originally Posted by kittn 

chow mien noodles. i couldn't live without them. gripe water may b a good thing. though you have kinder eggs in Germany (yummy) so I am envious of that

Actually, I have a couple extra unopened bottles of American gripe water if you need them Terri!

I would say have him get a few bottles of paracetamol and ibuprofen drops (and yes you only have to give less than 1/2 the dose of what we have here). Also, and this sounds funny, but I like the sippy cups there better. They have a cuter variety of colors and brands. And if you want those bowls that have a suction cup to stick to the table, I have yet to find them here. Ditto for high quality bibs. In general clothes are way cuter and cheaper there. Tell your DP the baby's size (I would think 12-18 months for the summer) and send him to Gap and Old navy to look (they may even have good sales on). Target also has great deals, but I'm not sure if there's one right in the city of SF. But yeah, for me it's clothes and the pain relief drops. Maybe also some cloth diapering supplies, don't they have a much wider variety there? If I think of anything else I'll let you know.

[expat-mama]

Oh yeah! Cloth diapers, of course. I dunno if you have good ones in Germany but we don't here so I ordered all of mine from the US/Canada and had them sent. This summer I'm going to get a few to add to our stash. Some of ours are pretty worn by now!

[SeattleRain]

If you're wanting to buy pain relievers in bulk, I suggest you go to Target. They have a Target brand which is dye free and something like $1/jar. My 10 month old is 19lbs so he gets. 1.875ml of ibuprofen (a whole dropper) whenever he needs painrelief and you'd be shocked at how quickly you go through it when you have an illness. Daniel had a really hard time teething his first tooth and then followed it up with a week long virus that gave him 103+ fevers and we went through 2 bottles of ibuprofen in a week. So the moral of the story is that you should buy ALOT of it if you won't have access to it. Be sure to specify dye-free formulations.

I would definitely stock up on baby clothes (we love American Apparel stuff because it's generally affordable and really plain, but we also like Carters for basics).

[JudiAU]

I've never been to Germany so take that with a grain of salt...

BUT German/EU standards are generally much higher than the US for things like cosmetics/ toy safety/ etc. We actually buy a lot of European products as a result. I've heard that some of the safe/natural brands are actually cheaper in the US though so you might use currency exchange in your favor (Haba, Plan Toys, Kathy Kruse, Palumba, ) etc.

I've also heard that cute clothes can be cheaper in the US.

I know over the counter pain relivers are a little different but I don't which is better. In the US, you would either use Motrin (brand name) or ibuprofen (generic) http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/t088900.asp  or Tylenol / Acetaminophen http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/T089101.asp depending on what you wanted it to do. I buy it at Target because they offer a cheap dye-free generic.

[LeighPF]

Go to somewhere like diapers.com and have a good browse. You could even order it shipped to where he is staying.

Cloth Diapers for sure are easiest to get in the States.

[MamitaM]

oh yeah peanut butter!!! The Germans have no idea how to make peanut butter!

[MsDolphin]

My must have's:

Acetaminophen

Infant gas drops (not sure the medical name)

Ear thermometer

Honestly it's best to have this stuff on hand BEFORE you need it.

[nia82]

I'm a German living in the US, so here's the stuff that I would bring back home.

- Clothes. Baby clothes are so expensive in Europe. My parents buy TONS and bring it back to my nephews.

- I agree on the ibuprofen drops, they are more concentrated here

- I agree on cloth diapers, way more expensive in Germany

Other than that I really don't know. I miss food from home so badly here and the high qualiy, yet affordable toys and cosmetic products (all that stuff is much cheaper than in the US, like at DM the Alverde line). Maybe if you like Leapfrog toys there is a better selection in the US (my son loves those fridge toys and I haven't seen them back home).

[Terrilein]

Thank you ladies for all your input!

@nia82 - it's been so long since I've been back to the States. I've asked my DP to bring me back "real" wax paper. But talking with other expats here, they seem to think that the Butterbrotpapier here is about the same. In my memory wax paper was more non-stick and really good for rolling out tortillas, for example. What's your take on that?

[nia82]

Oh I have no idea what wax paper is..... Haven't used Butterbrotpapier in decades, but I think you mean stuff like parchment paper for baking? But I think you mean Backpapier... it is paper with an anti-stick layer for baking.

[HappyMommy2]

Kit Kats & other American chocolate.

[Terrilein]

@nia - nah, wax paper is different. At least with my faulty memory it is. I think it's more like Butterbrotpapier with the anti-stick effect of backpapier, but better.

@HappyMommy - I usually BRING chocolate to my family in the States because the chocolate in the States is so low quality. That said, you just reminded me of how much I miss peanut butter cups.

[nia82]

hm I have to look into that! I have no immediate application for that however.

Hm I agree about the chocolate... Plus, you can eat Kitkat in Germany any day ;) They have it too. And Mars, Milky Way, Snickers...