Registering for Baby!

Well, we did it. It was overwhelming, stressful and exciting all at once but we’ve (almost finished) registering for our babe! Even before we ventured to the store, I had pretty much completed our registry online based off of tons and tons of mommy recommendations, consumer reports, Baby Bargains book, lots of online research, etc. and we were simply going in store to see it all in person. Of course, a “quick trip” to test drive strollers turned into two Saturday’s worth of shopping, testing out products and further researching items.

So although these are the items we think we are going to use, please note these are only my opinions and every baby is unique, which can completely change your needs!

STROLLERS: Between our parent friends, blog friends, baby bargains
book, consumer reports, etc. we knew we were going to be choosing between the Britax B-Ready stroller and the Baby Jogger City Select stroller. Important factors to us when deciding was that the stroller must 1. combine to a double for the future 2. collapse with one hand 3. rubber handle (instead of foam) for easy cleaning and durability 4. under $500 and of course, 5. must be easy to steer/drive with one hand. Both strollers have a lot of the same capabilities and would work, but we chose to go with the Baby Jogger City Select!

And as we painfully learned, pretty much all of the accessories are sold separate for strollers so we also added the Baby Jogger™ City Series Child Tray, Baby Jogger® Universal Parent Console, Baby Jogger™ Single Stroller Mounting Bracket Car Seat Adapter and  Mighty Buggy Stroller Hook by Think King. Are we missing any other important accessories?

In addition to our main stroller, we registered for the Chicco® KeyFit Caddy Lightweight Aluminum Infant Car Seat Carrier Stroller for when we just need to snap in the car seat on the go. Plus this stroller is lightweight and compact so we plan to just keep it in the trunk of the car. 

I’m not a runner, so hopefully we can get by with just 2 strollers (and maybe an inexpensive umbrella stroller if later necessary). 

CAR SEAT: We decided on the Chicco® KeyFit 30 Infant Car Seat in Romantic after most of our friends recommended it, we read the amazing safety reviews, it’s lightweight and the super helpful store associate told us this is the #1 seller for various reasons.

Again, all of the accessories are sold separately, so we picked up an additional Chicco® KeyFit and KeyFit 30 Infant Car Seat Base for Matt’s truck, a Summer Infant DuoMat™ 2-in-1 Car Seat Mat,
Summer Infant® Deluxe PiddlePad™ Waterproof Seat Liner in Black, Boppy® Infant Seat Handle Cushion, Brica® Day & Nightlight Musical Mirror and Brica® Stay-on™ Window Sun Shade. If I’m missing any must-have accessories, let me know!

SWING: We are still undecided on the swing situation so as of right now we’ve registered for both the Fisher-Price® My Little Snugapuppy™ Cradle N’ Swing and the 4moms® mamaRoo® Plush Baby Swing in Silver until we make up our mind. We really don’t have any floor space for a full sized swing in our living room, so we’re leaning towards the mamaroo, but I’ve heard such mixed reviews – babies either love it or hate it and it’s such a gamble. Any advice on swings is welcomed!

SLEEPER: We also registered for the Fisher-Price® My Little Snugapuppy Deluxe Rock N’ Play Sleeper for Caroline to use while she sleeps in our room at first. The deluxe version vibrates, rocks and is super comfortable so we picked this one. It is also the #1 pediatrician recommended sleeper since the baby is positioned at an incline (good for after feeding).

BOUNCER: We selected the matching My Little Snugabunny Bouncer by Fisher-Price® for another activity when the babe is fussy.

CARRIERS: The most important thing to me when deciding on a carrier was back support. I am a small person so I need a carrier with optimal ergonomic positioning for both me and the baby. The most important factor for Matt was that he could carry the baby facing outwards in public “like the hangover.” Sooo, with both of those “important” factors in mind we decided on the Stokke® MyCarrier: 3-in-1 Multi-Use Baby Carrier in Cool Cream. 

 
You can learn more about this carrier {here}.

 I also knew I really wanted a Baby K’Tan® Small Baby Carrier in Black so we registered for one of those too. This is also the number one seller (with the least returns) at BBB.

PACK N’ PLAY: Will we really use this? And are they all the same? I’ve been told that the 4moms® Breeze Playard is great because it’s simple and super easy to assemble, but it is $200 more than the average pack n’ play that comes with lots of bells and whistles. So option #2 is Graco® Pack ‘n Play® Playard with Reversible Napper & Changer™ in Soho Square.

MONITORS: We registered for the Motorola® Digital Video Baby Monitor with 2.8-Inch Color LCD Screen but have also heard lots of great reviews from other mommies about the Summer Infant monitors. The Motorola monitor was the only one offered at BBB, had really great reviews, and offers the two-way communication feature which is important to us {so we can talk to Caroline as she gets older, and I can talk to Matt while he’s in her room looking for diapers in the middle of the night}.

So those are the BIG necessities that we registered for. Of course, we also registered for bath time supplies, diapers, nursing & feeding supplies, health & safety items, toys, clothes and nursery decor!

Would love your feedback on the swing, monitors and pack n‘ plays!