The World According to Mommy

Now this is definitely not the most frugal way to raise a baby, but there are a few things I've discovered over these past nine months that have proven to be very useful. Here is my list of baby gear that is definitely not needed but makes life a whole lot easier:

1. Baby furniture – If you have the space definitely get a crib, changing table, and glider (or rocking chair). We knew ahead of time that we would not be co-sleeping with Nate, so we knew we would need a crib. I found ours on Craigslist, and it was in perfect condition. After we purchased it we found the exact same crib being sold at Babies ‘R Us for twice what we paid for our used one. It’s a gorgeous crib that will later be able to convert into a toddler bed then into a full-size bed for when he’s older. The changing table we bought has little side rails on top to make it a changing table, but these can be removed, making it into a dresser later on. He’s going to have a whole bedroom set! And the glider…for me, maybe one of our best purchases. We didn’t spend a lot of money on it (I think it was actually the least expensive one at Babies ‘R Us), but it is so great. I have spent a lot of time in that glider, especially for the first four months when Nate had to be rocked for about an hour before he was completely asleep and could then be placed in his crib. I did this multiple times a night. The glider became my best friend. Get a glider.

2. Three changing pad covers – You will need a cover for the changing pad which will be on top of the changing table. You would think having two covers would be sufficient, but you would be wrong. Invariably your sweet little angel will pee just as you are pulling the dirty diaper off and putting the new diaper one, resulting in a wet changing pad cover which now needs to be changed. Then, during the very next diaper change, you will somehow get Sweet Angel’s poop on the changing pad cover while trying to clean up a disastrous diaper blowout. You will not have done laundry since the first diaper change, so you now have two dirty changing pad covers and nothing with which to cover the changing pad. Your child rather likes the warm, soft cover and will vehemently object if you try to lay him down directly on the cold, plastic changing pad. Get three covers just to be safe.

3. Sling – Before Nate was born we bought a Baby Bjorn, because I didn’t really know there were other options for wearing your baby. After now having tried other babywearing alternatives, I can say with confidence that the Baby Bjorn is awfully, terribly uncomfortable. Look into the Moby Wrap, and then buy it.

It is the greatest thing ever. It looks really complicated as it’s just one very long piece of fabric that you wrap around your body several times, but when I got mine I just looked up “moby wrap” on YouTube and found very helpful videos on how to put it on. Nate loves this thing. Sometimes in the evenings when he’s really fussy, I’ll put him in it and he is instantly happy. If you don’t get the Moby, then get something along the lines of the Hotsling. Not as comfortable as the Moby, but still comfortable, and it’s much quicker to get on and off when you are out and about.

4. Boppy pillow – This was really great when I was nursing, but even after I stopped, I still used it when I gave Nate his bottles. It was also great when I had to rock him to sleep every night, because I could put this on my lap, then put Nate on the pillow, then it would free up my arms so I could read while Nate was falling into that deep sleep. I got a lot of reading done during those four months.

5. Pack ‘n play –

We have this set up in our living room at all times. It’s great for when I’m coming back from the grocery store, because I can put Nate in it and know that he’s safe while I run back and forth from the car bringing in groceries. It’s also great for other short periods throughout the day, like when I’m vacuuming, when I can put him in there and not have to worry that he’s going to get hurt or get in the way while I’m doing some quick chore. You can also take this with you when you visit family and friends, as it’s the perfect portable crib. We actually have a second one that we just keep permanently at Matt’s parent’s house for when we visit.

6. Nursing cover – OK, yes, you could use a blanket to cover yourself while you nurse, but the great thing about this is that you slip it over your head and then you don’t have to worry about it falling off. I wasn’t able to nurse for very long, but I used my nursing cover a lot while I did. I obviously used it while we were out of the house, but I also used it at home when we had lots of company visiting those first few weeks after Nate’s birth. This thing was great.

7. Jogging stroller –

Forget the whole travel system where you buy the car seat and the stroller all together. We did that, and I wish, instead, we had just bought the car seat and then a jogging stroller. The jogging stroller I have (and I think most are like this) allows you to safely clip on just about any infant car seat. I prefer the jogging stroller over the regular stroller that came as a set with our car seat, because, obviously, I can use it for jogging, but it was also really great when we went to a local carnival that had lots of uneven terrain. I’m not sure if our regular stroller could have stood up to all that, and I think we will probably go to more things like this in the future. Also, I have read other lists talking about how to frugally raise a baby and they have mentioned skipping the infant car seat all together and going straight for the convertible car seats that they can use all the way until they are toddlers. I disagree with this. The infant car seat is critical. First, young babies sleep a lot, and usually in the car. With the infant car seat you can take the whole thing in the house, hopefully without disturbing the baby, and then leave the baby in the car seat to finish his nap. With the convertible car seat, you have to take the baby out of the seat (which stays hooked in the car), and this means you might wake him from a much needed nap. Also, you can take the infant car seat into stores and set it in the shopping basket, again, without disturbing the baby. With the convertible car seat, I’m not sure what you do. Put the baby in the Moby while you shop, I guess.

8. Umbrella stroller – Jogging strollers are huge, and are not easily transported (with ours you have to actually take the front wheel off to fit it into the trunk). So once your baby is about three or four months, you can put him in the umbrella stroller, which you will leave in your car at all times and use on trips to the mall and other stores. We have a Maclaren, and I’ve been very happy with it.

9. BabyLegs –

I bought these when I was pregnant thinking they were ridiculous, but also ridiculously cute. I wasn’t sure when (or if) I was ever going to use them, but now that I’ve used them for the past month or so, I’m completely sold. It’s sometimes kind of chilly in the house, so instead of pants, I will put on Nate’s BabyLegs. When Nate has on pants and starts crawling, he usually ends up pulling the pants down as he crawls, then when he goes to stand up, he ends up standing on the now pulled down pants, and trips himself. This doesn’t happen with the BabyLegs because they stay in place. (Yes, your child may end up looking kind of ragamuffin like mine does in this picture, but hey, his legs stayed warm and he didn’t trip over his pant legs!). I also found a blog called Little Birdie Secrets which gives a super simple tutorial on how to make your own BabyLegs. So be frugal in this one area and make your own!

Happy baby-raising!