Essential Equipment - Page 2

[Finch]

Once I got my supply established (that is another tale of woe entirely...), I leaked a lot. I was a faithful nursing pad user until ds was about 9 mos. old. I'm getting Lily Padz this time, I hear they are da bomb.

[DoulaLMT]

Originally Posted by sunflwrmoonbeam

A question about nursing pads; I don't wear a bra, and that will not be changing ever. Are they still worthwhile?
.

LilyPadz can be worn without a bra. You might want to look into them!

[WishingNHoping]

Originally Posted by Finch

Once I got my supply established (that is another tale of woe entirely...), I leaked a lot. I was a faithful nursing pad user until ds was about 9 mos. old. I'm getting Lily Padz this time, I hear they are da bomb.

Everyone I know who has tried Lily Padz has ended up with Mastitis I hope they work out better for you. We were actually just discussing this on another board.

[frogleymom]

We've never used a changing table either and I've never seen a need for one. We've got all our diaper stuff in a cupboard under the TV and we just change them on the floor in the family room.

I liked my infant carseat, but so far I've always had a baby to put into it before my infant grew out of it... so we just keep handing the carseats down to the next kid and buying a new one for the oldest.

Our umbrella stroller is awesome, even with two kids it's almost all I ever use, and most of the time it's just holding my stuff and not the girls.

As for the co-sleeping stuff. I'd recommend a bed rail so you can comfortably sleep with the baby on the outside. For naps, something simple like a small moses basket is plenty. That can also be taken to grandma's, or she could get her own for when you're visiting. When we're visiting family and our girls need to sleep, we usually just put them on a blanket on the floor somewhere. If the house is totally not baby-proof, and you can't find a good place to put them, a pack-n-play might be a good investment. I've just never found a need for it.

Emily

[Ooey]

car seat - also have the britax but we choose to get the snugride for the beginning. I aslo saw no reason to get two but after researching it (I am a research hound) and saw some simulated crashes and stuff I got the snugride for the first 2-3 months because they fit better in that type of seat.

Just a FYI for anyone wanting a convertable car seat, the britax boulevard is awesome for a newborn, it has a pillow insert that makes it nice and snug. I'll try and see if I can dig up some pics of Whilder in her's as a newborn...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...daysold003.jpg

[Ooey]

Originally Posted by sunflwrmoonbeam

A question about nursing pads; I don't wear a bra, and that will not be changing ever. Are they still worthwhile?

I second the lilypadz idea. I never wore bras before having a baby either but found that I'd rather wear one than walk around with a wet shirt. The lilypads were great, I could wear them without a bra and feel comfortable walking around.

http://www.lilypadz.com/index1.html

[pampered_mom]

When I was nursing my ds and was going to be out and about I loved the Lansinoh Disposable nursing pads. : Yeah...yeah...I know...disposable really isn't the best idea, but I loved that they were thin and really worked well. They are kept in place with a sticky tape so it's probably possible that they may work if someone was sans bra.

[AmazoniaBelly]

Hi-

Congratulations! I wanted to add something to the must-have list. Perhaps you already have it. A KING SIZE FUTON. We have ours directly on the floor.

[sunflwrmoonbeam]

Why a king size futon?

[AmazoniaBelly]

Hi,

I suppose it doesn't have to be a futon....I have slept on one my entire life so I say "futon" instead of "bed." If you plan on cosleeping, it is just nice to have a little more room. As small as they are in the beginning, even a newborn can use a large part of the sleeping space because sometimes they spread out and sleep with their limbs stretched out like an X. We put ours on the floor rather than in a bed frame so that we have no stress during the night or nap time that a little one is going to roll off the bed. When our daughter was 4 months old we bought a bought a king-size futon and it was soooo worth it. Also, after having several of our friends visit (we live in Europe) who have small children, several of them also traded their beds back home for a large (king-size) sleeping area near to or on the ground. I think this is one of the top things on Dr. Sear's list as well.

Rachel

[sunflwrmoonbeam]

We have a queen sized bed. I don' think we'll be replacing it any time soon, but we might. We do plan to co-sleep.

[frogleymom]

I think the necessary bed-size totally depends on what you're used to and how much space you personally need when you sleep. Before DH and I got married, neither of us had slept on anything bigger than a twin, so our brand new queen size bed felt huge to both of us. We've co-slept with both our girls in our queen. When visiting family we've even been known to co-sleep with one baby and both of us in a twin size bed. (That was quite cramped, but we don't generally roll around a lot while we sleep so it really wasn't that bad.)

My sister on the other hand, got a queen size bed to herself after I moved out of my parents bed. When she moved out on her own, she bought a queen size bed so she wouldn't have to go back to a twin. When she got married, her in-laws bought them a king-size bed and they still have trouble fitting the two of them in the bed. I'm sure that when they finally have kids, the only way they'd consider co-sleeping is with a crib side-car, because the three of them wouldn't "fit" in the king-size bed.

We won't be replacing our queen bed until we buy a home (which probably won't be for another two or three years). By then, our queen bed will probably go to our girls so they can share-sleep on it. That way we won't have to buy them twin beds for a while.

Emily