Baby Gear Advice for New Parents

This post is mainly directed at our friends Dustin and Abby Terpening who are expecting their first child in August. I decided to post it publicly in case any other soon-to-be-parents out there might find it useful.

Too Much Advice
One thing you will notice when you are expecting your first child is that everybody and their dog wants to give you baby advice. And everybody is convinced that their advice is pure gold.

The truth is, every baby is different, and every parent's approach to parenting is different. You really have to take it all with a polite grain of salt and figure out what works best for you and your own baby. Give yourself permission to disregard most of the advice you're given while you explore the exciting world of parenthood. (Except, of course, for my advice below, which is pure gold.)

That said, Kristi and I find great joy in researching and finding the best solutions to life's challenges, and we approached the challenge of parenthood no differently. We found some products and ideas that worked very well, and some that did not live up to the hype. Below are the products that we have found most valuable so far in our extensive 9 months of being parents:

"Baby 411" Book - $11 (Amazon)
The item that hands down belongs at the top of my list has to be the Baby 411 book. Don't let the busy/ugly cover fool you: This book is the most useful book we found on the topic of parenting. It's like an owners manual for babies. Laid out as a reference book, you can quickly find and dispel most of the common fears and questions that come up about your baby, including, "Should I take my baby to the doctor??" The advice within is thorough and well rounded, including brief explorations of multiple viewpoints on the more controversial issues. The chapter on establishing a sleep routine was particularly helpful. We have nearly worn ours out from frequent reference.

"Happiest Baby on the Block" DVD - $18 (Amazon)
There is also a book by the same name, but being able to watch this guy's technique for soothing a crying baby on video is where the real value is at. This guy can take a hysterically crying baby and completely soothe it in in a few easy steps. And the best part is, it works in real life too! These techniques were a life saver for us during the first 3 months of parenthood. And along with the DVD, you're also going to need...

Swaddling Blankets
Part of the Happiest Baby technique involves swaddling your baby, so you'll need something to do this with. You can buy a retail product called the SwaddleMe by Kiddopotomus that will accomplish this, but we found that some thin, square blankets that a good friend made for us worked better and were more versatile. They gave us 8 or 12 of them, and at first we didn't know what we were going to do with so many blankets, but soon after Ava was born we realized how handy they were. Need a clean place to put baby down outside or on someone else's carpet? Lay down a blanket! Suddenly getting breezy while out in the stroller? Throw on a blanket! Baby spits up on the current swaddling blanket? Grab another one! If you know someone that can surge the edges of cotton fabric, have them make you some. I believe they were about 36 inches on a side.

Along Comes a Baby - store in Bellingham (website)
This is a locally owned store on Bakerview up by the Guide. We have found the people who work there to be very knowledgeable and friendly. They tend to carry only products that they believe in, which is a nice diversion from your typical retail store. Plus, they have a much better online baby registry system than Babies 'R' Us. And if that wasn't enough already, by purchasing what you can through them you'll be supporting a local business. Doesn't that feel good??

Diapers.com - online store (website)
Along Comes a Baby (above) deals mostly in baby gear, not supplies. So for diapers, wipes, formula, cereal, and many other miscellaneous items and toys, we really like Diapers.com. Many people will probably point out that you can also go to Costco, and might even save a few dollars by doing so, but Kristi and I prefer this website for four basic reasons:

1. It's really easy to find what your looking for and almost every listing includes helpful reviews from other customers that have already used the product.
2. You don't have to fight the crowds and find parking, don't have to drive all the way out the Guide, and don't have to pay a yearly membership fee.
3. Free next day shipping if you order over $49 worth of stuff. I don't want to spoil any surprises for you guys, but it's extremely easy to rack up more than $49 a pop for baby supplies if you plan ahead even a tiny bit. In fact, I don't think we've ever paid them a dime for shipping. And it get's delivered right to your door the very next day!
4. The last reason we use Diapers.com instead of Costco... Honestly? We don't have a Costco membership. We've talked about it many times, but each time we figure out something we need from Costco we add on the cost of the yearly membership and then can't justify the price. We might think differently if we had storage space for the extra 30 lbs of "whatever" that Costco tends to deal in, but as it is we're Costcoless.

"Diaper Dekor Plus" Diaper Pail - $45 (AlongComesaBaby)
Do you remember how revolutionary the Diaper Genie was when it came out? It was the must have baby product of it's day. And when was that, about 15 years ago? The Diaper Dekor is the new "it" for diaper disposal. I honestly never thought I could be so excited about a diaper pail. It takes all the functionality of the Diaper Genie and marries it to the convenience of a simple step top garbage can. It's much less fiddly to use, and uses less plastic per disposal. And when you're done you end up with a super-fun, poop-filled beach-ball instead of a poop-sausage like the 'Genie produces. Who would want a poop-sausage??


BOB Revolution Stroller "12 - $400 (AlongComesaBaby)
The BOB Strollers are somewhat expensive, but they are the best. Everything about it is carefully thought out and engineered to last. With the Infant Car Seat Adapter ($60) it will go from newborn to 70 lbs(!) which makes it literally the only stroller your child will ever need. The "12 model has smaller wheels that make it easier to pack into your trunk, but even still the large, air-filled tires glide with equal ease along supermarket isles and our abundant NW rail trails. The front wheel can be locked and adjusted converting it into a very capable jogger. A fleece seat liner accessory makes it viable for winter use, as does the very effective rain cover. You will not find many of these on the used market simply because people do not give them up. I can not gush enough about this product.

Bonus Fun Fact - BOB is an acronym that stands for "Beast of Burden". This hearkens back to their original product, a mono-wheeled bike trailer (which I've heard is also excellent).

Boppy Pillow - $30-45 (AlongComesaBaby)
This is a "U" shaped pillow that helps you comfortably hold a baby while nursing or feeding it a bottle. Saves a lot of back pain. I'm not actually sure if you can have a baby these days with out getting one of these.

Itzbeen - $26 (AlongComesaBaby)
This is a small gadget that helps you keep track of how long it's been since you've fed, changed, given medicine, etc. to your baby. Seems like a simple enough thing to keep track of this stuff, but when you've got two overly tired people trying to co-manage a screaming baby it gets confusing really quick. Add to that a hospital nursing staff that wants to know how long it's been since ____ every ten minutes... This gadget quickly becomes worth it's weight in breast milk. If you get one a little early you can also use it to time contractions (another simple job made difficult under stress). It was also really handy for us while we were establishing a sleep routine because two minutes of your baby crying in the other room feels like half an hour or torture - this device helped us keep our perspective.

"Blender Baby Food" Book - $14 (Amazon)
Store bought baby food is very expensive and it's pretty easy to make an argument that it's not as healthful as making it yourself. This book makes it easy to make recipes that are age appropriate as your baby grows, and you can freeze the finished product for future use. You'll need a food processor - if you don't have or want a full size one I recommend this 3 cup one by Cuisinart ($45). These baby food freezer trays by KidCo ($10) help you divide the food up into measured portions, and these matching travel dishes ($8) make it easy to transport the frozen food-pucks to day care.

Free Stuff - Free!
By now you are probably getting the idea that having a baby comes with a lot of extra expenses. Regardless of the products I've listed above, taking what ever you can get for free is a huge help and I highly recommend it. Except for advice, which is almost always worth what you've paid for it. (Except for my advice, as discussed above.) Just make sure to do a little Googling and make sure the hand-me-down you're receiving hasn't had a safety recall.

A Good Couples Group - Priceless
Remember back when I said that the Baby 411 book belonged at the top of this list? Well, it does, but it's not the most important thing your baby will need. The most valuable thing you can give your baby is the example of a loving, healthy relationship with your spouse. And an invaluable tool for maintaining your marriage relationship is getting into a supportive group of other couples focused on the same goal. Pay the baby sitter and take care of your relationship - the returns on your investment will be impossible to measure.

Got a piece of baby gear that you're particularly fond of? Share your golden wisdom in the comments!