To continue about the stuff we've encountered on this fabulous baby ride, as promised, in this installment, I will discuss bottles, breast pumps, car seats, shopping cart covers, bouncy chairs, and bumbo seats. Here we go!
Bottles
We opted to use Playtex Drop-Ins Nurser bottles, partially because Joe's sister gave us a ton of them and partially because they are soooo easy to use, clean, and (supposedly) help to prevent colic. We discovered that the medium flow nipples worked best for our kiddo, he was always frustrated by the slow nipples and the fast nipples were super messy, they leak like crazy. The bottles have "drop in" liners which are disposable (sorry, environment, they're going to have to hang out in the landfill with the disposable diapers that we also happily use). We use the up & up brand liners from Target to cut down on costs. We hand wash the parts and dry them on the following super product:
Boon Grass Countertop Drying Rack
I have to say this one of my most favorite and most useful baby items. We use this puppy every day and luckily it's cute enough to leave out on the counter! And at $14.99, it's a steal. If you've got a baby on the way, go to Target. Now.
Medela Pump-In-Style
It was my grand plan to breastfeed my kiddo. Reasons? Good for the baby in terms of nutrition, great bonding experience, and supposed to help mommy drop a couple pounds after putting on enough to have triplets. Reality? Izaak didn't latch on well (not to me anyhow) and he was HUNGRY. Right after birth, the nurse in the hospital insisted that we give him bottles until my milk came in and it really never did. I used the pump to get some milk but the attempts were pathetic. I used the breast pump for a couple months to supplement the formula that Izaak was happily slurping down but it came to a point in which things were just NOT working and the process was becoming increasingly more painful for me and less fruitful. I have more than enough breast tissue but for whatever reason, things didn't work out in this realm. You probably have no idea what it's like to want to feed your infant and he's screaming at your boob because it doesn't work as well as a bottle. I won't beat myself up over it anymore, my kiddo is thriving and seems to be no worse for the wear! As far as the pump goes, it's pretty easy to use and I liked that it was self-contained in an inconspicuous bag. It comes with most everything you'd need including bottles and a convenient to-go case. If I were to have a brother or sister for Izaak and try breastfeeding again, I'd rent one of the Medela pumps from the hospital though until I was sure that things were all systems go since the price is pretty steep on these brand new (even with a 20% off Babies 'R Us coupon!) and I didn't feel ok with buying a used one. I did, however, feel ok selling it on Craigslist and sold it to a very nice girl who had a first baby on the way.
Graco Travel System
This is the pattern we chose for the travel system (and the Pack 'N Play). While I enjoyed the cute little owls, I neither loved nor hated the carseat or stroller. They both did their jobs well enough but I felt like the handle on the carrier was kind of awkward and the stroller always tended to have squeaky wheels, regardless of WD-40 application. The stroller folded with one hand, which was nice, but I often ended up scraping the tray on the pavement and needed two hands to get it in the trunk of the car anyhow! We bought an extra base for the babysitters when they were picking him up in the mornings so it was convenient. We used this set for about 9 months and bought it brand new - saved up all of our gift cards to Target from Christmas plus a little more. While I feel we got a lot of use out of it, if we go for Baby 2.0, we'll just get a carseat that goes with the jogging stroller that I finally decided on (more on that later).
"Big Boy" Carseats
As with most things, there are the more expensive models that would be lovely but then we get real and look in our price range. Izaak's "big boy" carseat is the Graco My Ride 65. This was one of the first things we picked out after finding out we were expecting and I very patiently waited until it was on sale to buy it. Target had it on sale for $100 one week, woohoo! It had good safety ratings and seemed to be the most comfortable in our price range. I like the colors too, always helpful. It seems to work well, it is monstrously huge compared to the carrier carseat and it's frustrating that he's rear-facing when he's throwing a fit while you're driving because you can't see what is wrong. I can sort of halfway dislocate my shoulder (not really, but it is an awkward stretch) in order to try to comfort him but if he's tossed his binky, we're in trouble. The air conditioning doesn't reach him as well either so the poor kid just sweats like a monkey, especially if he's sleeping. This doesn't sound like a positive review, but I actually really do like this carseat, just don't like having to have him rear-facing. We'll keep him that way for safety's sake as long as we have to though, of course.
Carseat - Alternate
Joe rarely drives his car, it's a 1999 Nissan Maxima that doesn't have working A/C and makes all sorts of interesting squealing noises. We carpool to work so he doesn't need to drive his car much or trade in something that's currently paid off. That said, sometimes he does have to drive his car and he needs to be able to take Izaak with him. So, we bought a separate carseat for his car. Being that it doesn't get used as much, we opted for a less expensive (and less cushy) yet still has good safety ratings model, the Cosco Apt 40RF (around $55). As mentioned, this one was more about function and less about fashion. It is pretty similar to the My Ride and we're happy enough with it. It's rated up to 40lbs for rear-facing and considering Izaak is already around 25lbs, this is a good thing for longevity! My parents bought a similar model, they picked up the Cosco Scenera for our visits to Phoenix.
Shopping Cart Cover #1
We tried this one first, it's made by Eddie Bauer, wasn't terribly expensive and I thought it was pretty cute. Reality? It was a hassle! It didn't fold up neatly or have a carrying bag or anything so was just a bunch of tangled up fabric in the diaper bag - when I remembered to throw it in. It also was intended to be used for high chairs at restaurants but didn't really fit very well. Sold it on Craiglist after a couple uses.
Shopping Cart Cover #2
The next attempt is the Floppy Seat, which I like better. It's downfall? It is huge! It does have it's own bag, but you have to remember to bring said bag with you in to the store. I'm the type of person that has to go back in the house multiple times in the mornings to fetch things I've forgotten so this isn't completely ideal. It is nice and cushy, it's fashionable (as if that matters!) and I bought it for $10 at Once Upon a Child so I feel like we've gotten our money's worth at least. If I'd spent $40 at Babies R Us, I might feel a little differently about it. Note: this picture is one I found on Google (i.e. not me or my kid!) to show the pattern we have. We still have this and may use it a couple more times but Izaak is getting less "floppy" himself so the need has diminished.
Shopping Cart Cover #3
Izaak does like to put his mouth on anything that he can. He has no regard for germs. Shopping carts are gross so I like this final option, the Infantino Top and Play Cart Cover, it just covers the shopping cart handle and has some toys attached that he can chew/slobber on. I spent maybe $7 on this and even though I often forget it and it doesn't fit all carts, I'm pretty happy with it. While the Floppy Seat is good for younger babies, this option is great for nearly-one-year-olds!
Bouncy Chair
We found a used Rainforest bouncer on Craigslist and it worked great. The waterfall is adorable and we liked the "rainforest" sounds. It also matches the mobile and soother mentioned in the first installment about baby stuff. This thing saved our sanity on many occasions and was totally worth the $15 or whatever I spent on it and I've since sold it for $15 at garage sale so it was as if we were just borrowing it for a little while! My only complaint was that it didn't fold flat so I caught my toes on it more than once in our small living room... ouch!
Bumbo Seat
This is a must-have according to many, but our kid has beefy legs and has magical escape skills so we didn't use it for very long. I found it at a garage sale in the neighborhood across the street for $10 and it even had the tray so I don't feel terribly distraught about not using it too much. Since I sold it on Craigslist for $20, I even feel less sad about our lack of use :) I like the idea of it and appreciate that it helps to build the baby's core muscles and such but Izaak never seemed very happy in it and I wished that it had a strap or something so we could've used it more like a high chair when he actually did fit in it instead of only being about to use it on the floor.
I feel this post is probably long-winded enough so I'll save high chairs, toys, and more for the next installment!
