I saw the most disgusting product at a baby shower - Page 2

[Bella's Mama]

My dh and I were shopping for a rocking chair recently (we're expecting again in Sept) and we saw this highchair that was unbelievable. We were looking at it in horror, and the sales person came over to tout all the benifits of this horrible thing because she thought we were interested in one. She actually told us it would accommodate a newborn(someone tell me why you would put a newborn in a highchair) through toddler. The seat reclined so the baby could sleep in it: it played music, it had a sunshade so the baby could sit in it outside, there were plastic toys on the tray... I guess potentially you could put your infant in it in the morning and leave them there all day...how sad!

[oceanbaby]

Gurumama - you just made the hairs on my arms stand up at the thought of an AP babyshower. If anyone throws me one for my 2nd baby, I'm thinking about requesting it be an AP theme! We can send out little explanations with the invites. I mean, if someone can request a Winnie the Pooh theme, why can't I request an AP theme? Would it be rude to ask for nothing but cloth dipes?

Plus, then you educate everyone else about what AP is! See, it's the others that I'm thinking of, being the selfless person that I am.

[patnrose]

Unbelievable!

[seraph]

My family threw me an AP baby shower. We got lots of cotton clothes in a variety of colors, a baby sling, a car seat, a subscription to Mothering, cloth diapers and covers, and some really nice wooden toys. My aunt must have been pretty specific with all the guests because we didn't get anything we wouldn't actually use. It was lovely, my family rocks. (It helps that my auntie is a lactation consultant and raised her kids is a mostly AP kind of way, before she'd ever heard of the term AP.)

[Dragonfly]

Originally posted by mamajulie
And all of these moms were like, "Oh, wonderful, now you can feed him mush and he'll sleep through the night," etc.

Oh my goodness - however did you hold your tongue? I think something sarcastic like, "Oh, wonderful, now you can totally wreck your baby's digestive system just so he'll be a little less inconvenient to you!" would have popped out of my mouth before I could have effectively engaged the brain-mouth filter. :

I gave the new momma a sling, BTW! (It was her only "AP" gift.)

But I didn't know anyone there very well--including the new momma--she's just a distant friend--so I didn't speak up about the dumb gifts she got.

That's such a difficult position to be in - sorry you had to go through that Maybe she'll start using the sling you gave to her and it will send her careening down the slippery slope into AP as it does for so many others!

[whateverdidiwants]

Originally posted by gurumama
Imagine an "AP" baby shower.

The mom would get a sling and a boatload of cute cloth diapers. Some Lanisoh and nursing bras. Mother's milk tea, oatmeal, and flax seed meal. A Boppy. A carseat. Some cotton clothes. Maybe a breast pump and some breast pads. Som Dr. Sears and other AP books. An organic baby food book.

I actually gave a co-worker the Sears Baby Book as her shower present a few weeks ago. When I saw her again last week I asked her what she thought of it and she loved it - said it all made perfect sense to her.

[LunaMom]

Just to play devil's advocate, Bella's mama (and that highchair does sound ridiculous...are there really babies who spend that much time in one? )...the only reason I can see for putting a newborn in a high chair (I never did, btw - I didn't even get one until dd was ready to start eating solid food!) is if you want the baby to join you at the table. When dd was that tiny, dh and usually took turns holding her, and I usually nursed throughout the meal and ate with one hand! However, if we needed both hands or we were eating something hot that could fall on her little head, we would sit her in her bouncer seat on the table so we could talk to her while we ate.

[Evergreen]

Yep, my baby is in her boucy chair on the table at dinner and in it in the bathroom when I am in the shower. She likes it,and I absolutley hate it when I come out of another room and see her in it while dh is reading or something like that. His excuse is always, 'well, she was fussy.' Then you HOLD her and talk to her until she calms down. ERRRR...

[mama2girls]

I know exactly how you feel! Dh piles toys around M and then sits next to her on the floor watching Sports Center. Grrr that doesn't count as interaction! In the mean time A will be dancing around trying desperately to get his attention while I'm trying to explain that I really don't ever watch TV during the days!

[Chi-Chi Mama]

ahhh.. the AP shower...

I'm doing one of those my little sis.. (she is 15 , hopefully I have some time ) whether she likes it or not ok, I"m just kidding.. I know this wouldn't work on my middle sister, but I think by the time my lil' sis gets around to a having a baby shower, I'll have her "on my side"

[LunaMom]

Hmmm, this is such an interesting idea! After all, if people don't consider it tacky to include a Babies R Us registry card with a shower invitation, what is wrong with indicating that the mother and father intend to breastfeed, sling, co-sleep, etc.?

[gurumama]

Can you imagine people freaking at the idea of spending $18 on an AIO? I did at first. The DH pointed out that's about what you pay for a 80 pack of newborn disposable diapers, and that you'll probably use the AIO more than 80 times--plus it'll be there for future kids.

Now I want someone I know to be pregnant and into AP so I can organize a shower! (but my womb says no vacancy for now--too busy with the 11 mo and 4 yo...)

[Foobar]

What is AIO?

Anywho, I can't imagine these things. We play with our dd when she is swinging (she LOVES the swing) and in the exersaucer (latest trick, toss the toys and watch mom pick them up!)
AND she eats her crackers in the high chair while we have dinner so we eat as a family.

A syringe for rice? Puleese! How terrible!

[Pigpen]

I think I'm going to have to have another baby so someone can throw an AP shower for me. I ended up just returning most of the Babys R Us stuff, and getting what I wanted! You can register at Ecobaby and maybe even at Natural Baby, maybe some others. So, why not just include that info on the shower invite? This is such a great idea! I always give the weird gifts that the others look at and say "oh, that's interesting , what is it?" Like slings, some people have strange ideas about them. I actually had one woman say, "don't you think the baby would rather be in a comfy stroller?", "no, I think baby's would rather be held". : I also like to give good children's books. You can't have too many of those!

[~Tookasmama~]

I wanted to add that...

my mom swears by those "feeder bottles" if they still even sell them. They're like 4-6 ounce bottles, with big holes at the nipple and sort of sryinge like action to them. (That is, the bottom pushes the cereal/food up through the nipple if baby isn't sucking it down quick enough) She threw a package in the cart when I was pregnant with dd (4 years ago now )
"Oh you need one of these. I couldn't get you to eat without it...."

Would the fact that I was 4 months old at the time have anything to do with that, mom. Geesh... Needless to say I didn't buy it.

[LunaMom]

As far as the AP shower gifts go, I have to say that many times I have wanted to buy "AP gifts" like a sling for a non-AP-oriented mom-to-be, and I haven't because I would hate to spend myu money on a beautiful sling that won't even be used. So I usually wind up getting something like a diaper bag or a baby bathtub or something mainstream but neutral, or I'll get quality wooden or cloth baby toys.

That's great that you can register at Ecobaby - I had no idea!