Show Us Your Life-Baby Gear

Kelly's Korner is doing a tribute to baby gear today. Angry Toddler is almost four and a half now, so he's not quite a baby anymore. But it hasn't been that long since he was a baby. I definitely remember my haves and have-nots.

I will start with my must-haves:

The Swing:

We had the 2005 version of the Fisher-Price Papasan Swing. Angry Toddler had reflux so he took many naps in his swing. We used it daily until he was about six months old. He then got way too heavy, and we heard this awful noise when it was swinging. I sold the swing on Craig's List as soon as he grew out of it.

The Exersaucer:

We had the 2005 version of the Graco Baby Einstein Discover & Play Activity Center. I'm not going to lie about this one. I admit that we plopped him in the exersaucer, so that we could get things done. He loved watching videos. I liked taking a shower. It worked for us.

Pack N Play:

We used this in our bedroom when Angry Toddler was first born. We were paranoid as first time parents of a premature reflux-y kid. But then, the kid started snoring, like loud. We moved him to his crib after that. We used the pack-n-play portion all the time though, especially at my parent's house. Angry Toddler climbed out of the pack-n-play at about eighteen months old. It was a very sad day. We had one similar to this, Graco Pack N Play. Except it was green.

My Have-Nots

Stroller System-Have Not, Stroller Frame-Haves:

We had the whole stroller system with the matchy-matchy infant seat and stroller. It was a pain to assemble. I could never get the infant seat to click in right. If I had to do it all over again, I would buy the simple stroller frame, that you can just use with the infant car seat. Angry Toddler was only in the infant seat for four months. This stroller frame would have been much easier.

Baby Bjorn:

Angry Toddler hated the Bjorn. He fussed and cried every time he was in it. And to make matters worse, he had relux. Nothing better than puking baby in Bjorn. It wasn't pretty. Plus Angry Husband refused to Bjorn-it. If I had to do it all over again, I would totally use one of those wrap-thingys.

Bouncer:

Useless. Seriously he didn't bounce. We just used the swing. He loved the swing.

Wipes Warmer:

Common sense. We received one as a gift. I probably even registered for it. Don't judge. I was a first time mom. I registered for everything, and listened to no one. Thankfully, we thought about it before we used it. It got returned.

Bottle Warmer:

Angry Toddler liked his formula cold and/or lukewarm. He was a very easy baby to feed. We just had to make/mix the formula and pop it into a bottle.

You are probably thinking, why is Angry Julie doing a post about baby stuff. There are tons of first-time moms reading blogs, looking for advice and information. I was one of those. I read all the reviews on the products I was registering for. I spent so much time online, my head hurt. I talked to my friends, I stalked people at the baby stores, but eventually I learned.

I thought I would participate in this little carnival to share my personal opinions of what worked for us. What worked for me, might not work for everyone though. So it's just my opinion.