The one piece of baby gear I can't live without is...

[charissa]

???

Just curious as I am due in April, and have put off really looking for any baby gear or purchasing b/c we wanted to see what we might get at our showers. :)

I'm sort of a minimalist, living in a ginomorous house, so space isn't an issue, in case that comes up.

So for all you Mom's out there, can you help a future mommy out? :)

Sorry if there is a thread already like this, I didn't see one with any posts within the last few days, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

Thanks in advance.

[phart]

Sling/baby carrier hands down

[goldengbridge]

Aquarium Cradle swing

boppy pillow

[Pookie]

For the newborn era, it was the boppy. Even though bfing didn't work out for us, DS LOVED being in it.

[jenjen0713]

A sling!! In the early days it was sometimes the only place my son would sleep. Even now three months later if he is really fighting going to sleep, the sling will do the trick.

[dzmattie]

Loved these things -

Quattro Tour system - Graco

Snuzzler - to put in car seat or swing to pad it more

Graco Sport Pack n'Play - used it later on to contain DS after he was crawling

[alienhost]

I'd have to say the Fisher Price Bouncy chair - allowed me to take showers early on with DD in the bathroom with me.

Eventhough you said one, I also love the Boppy. I never really used it to BF but DD "lounged" in it early on and now we still use it when she is sitting and playing if i'm not sitting with her on the floor. Although she sits up on her own, I worry about her throwing herself backwards and hitting her head.

[Mrs. M.]

Boobies :D

A boppy.

[Sasha]

For the first 5 months, the FP Papasan swing. In the beginning, it was the only place DD would sleep, other than our arms. Any swing, IMO, is a must. Also a bouncy seat, it was a great place to put her when I needed a shower!

[BooeyJ2]

Definitely the shopping cart/highchair cover

Sling, Boppy, swing, ect I could have (and did) do without....even though we had them all.


P.S - Charissa - Are you the same Charissa from WC who is from SD? Maybe i'm smoking crack?

[Jaycee]

Hands down it's the Fisher Price Natures touch cradle swing! Now I could go on to name a lot of other things we can't live without, but that is by far what she LOVES and uses the most and what helps us out tremendously!!

[AlisonCO]

A swing and a sling!

[jp'swife]

#1-Boppy....a BFers best friend! We have 3.
#2-Our stroller, the Bugaboo Frog. We absolutely adore it.

[gizzyntaz]

Boppy.

[kmmommy]

Definitely a swing.

[Jenyfer9]

A cradle swing (we got the FP Aquarium swing), a bouncy chair, stroller.

[catmom]

Boppy... no question. At 9.5 months I still use it to BF. Also:

-used it to sit on the first several days pp when my tush was sore
-used it as a "seat" for dd before she could sit on her own
-used it to prop DD for tummy time when she was little
-(wouldn't do this with a little baby, but for an older baby or tolder I think the risk is pretty small), DD had a respiratory infection this week, and we finally found that the ONLY way she could sleep was propped up on the boppy... she's napping on it right now. Before we found this out, she was awake 5 nights in a row. Last night, I put her on the boppy and she slept for 13 hours (not consecutively, but still).

[Chylynn]

Fisher Price Natures touch cradle swing- She still uses it and is 9 months old!

[littlebear]

FP Ocean Wonders Cradle Swing
FP Ocean Wonders Bouncy Seat
White noise machine
Baby Bjorn

All four of these things saved my sanity in the fussy newborn stages, and we still use the Baby Bjorn and white noise machine at 14 months. Used the other two until about 9 months because my DS was pretty small and under the weight limits.

[Dally]

It's hard to choose just one. Heck, it's hard to choose five. I have to at least say two: Boppy and sling.

Both essential at the beginning (boppy for nursing and baby lounging; sling for carrying, and more importantly, calming baby), and both still used quite a bit at eight months.

[kinaida]

swing & boppy -- swing allows me to get a break to eat lunch/shower/brush teeth. Boppy was essential in the beginning to get breastfeeding to work. It was one less thing to worry about when we were getting our bfing relationship established.

[deliciousjones]

boppy, sling and swing. :)

[SiValleySteph]

The two things I love the most are my stroller and my changing table.

There were some other things we really enjoyed (Aquariam cradle swing), but we are still using these two things every single day and he is 15mo old.

The Bobby & the Maya Wrap (sling) are the only 2 pieces of baby gear that never got used. Go figure! :)

[shirsty]

I love reading all these answers, everyone is so different. For me the boppy was useless in the beginning, and the My Breast Friend saved me from quitting breastfeeding. But I love the boppy now that my son is 2 months, he sits in it all the time. Our sling was definitely #2, allowed us to have him sleep on us (only way in the very beginning) but still be human and get some stuff done.

[charissa]

Definitely the shopping cart/highchair cover

Sling, Boppy, swing, ect I could have (and did) do without....even though we had them all.


P.S - Charissa - Are you the same Charissa from WC who is from SD? Maybe i'm smoking crack?

hahaha - nope you're not smoking crack, i'm the same one :) HIIII!!!!

[dana b]

The Bobby & the Maya Wrap (sling) are the only 2 pieces of baby gear that never got used. Go figure!
same here, i didn't care for either of them. for us it was a sling and a swing, the only 2 places she would sleep.

[December27JJB]

Definitely the swing!!! We've put many miles on ours!!! (I am going to miss it when we stop using it, probably at the end of this month.)

[cc8]

Boppy and our changing table. Oh and also our Snugrider (frame for the SnugRide).

You probably already know this but *every* baby is different. We didn't get a swing at first, but after reading raves about swings from everyone, we borrowed a Graco swing from DH's cousin. DD **hated** the swing with a venom (she was about 3 mos when we first put her in it). DD also did not take to a sling at all.

[EJH]

The Bjorn (the active one with back support)
Britax Marathon -- has to be our best investment. DD despised her infant carrier but loves her big girl carseat.
Contoured changing pad -- we had a changing table under our bassinet (it's 5 in 1) but we hardly used it. The pad we just had downstairs with us, it's been invaluable.

[ktdelsur]

You probably already know this but *every* baby is different. We didn't get a swing at first, but after reading raves about swings from everyone, we borrowed a Graco swing from DH's cousin. DD **hated** the swing with a venom (she was about 3 mos when we first put her in it). DD also did not take to a sling at all.


I second this. What will be essential for someone here, your baby may hate! It's trial and error, really.

But...the Boppy is essential no matter what! Even if you are feeding a bottle, it gives your arm a break if you have a linebacker of a baby like I do.

We love the Baby Bjorn too, so far. We splurged and got the one w/ the back support and boy are we glad!

I have the Fisher Price PORTABLE Aquarium Swing. Key word being portable. We can fold it up and haul it to Grandma's if we want to without taking it apart. It also can be easily carried (with or without the baby in it) to other parts of the house. I use it to swing DS while I take a quickie shower.

We have the Aquarium bouncy seat - and DS is only recently taking to it - and not for large amounts of time. For some reason, at first, he HATED it with a passion.

[lil_nance]

Bouncy seat/rocker

[HGMorgann]

MY SLING!!! Its always worked so many wonders, from putting her to sleep, gallavanting around the country through airports, and climbing up to our 4th floor apt!

[seattleguamgirl]

Miracle Blanket (used for four months!)
Bjorn (carried DS in it until he couldn't fit anymore--about 10 months)
DS's dresser/changing table with contoured changing pad (still gets used multiple times a day
bouncy seat (used for almost six months)

[daisysue62]

We couldn't live without our bouncer :) I'm really sad she's about to outgrow it :(

I also couldn't live without lily padz for the first 4 months. I leaked a LOT, and they really helped me not leak as much and feel more inclined to leave the house!

[Sarah]

Slings! I have 6 or 7.

Universal carseat stroller.

exersaucer.

[pixiecat]

When she was a newborn, we LOVED our Baby Papasan

Now that she is 3.5 months, we are loving the Bumbo Chair - she likes to sit up and watch what we are doing! :D

[catmom]

Oh! I forgot... also, a good nursing bra. (I like the yes! ones)

[jki]

Baby Bjorn
Swing

[Aug31]

changing table

Aquarium Bouncer

[JATTNJ]

swing (baby papasan)
baby bjorn
boppy (one per floor)

[Renrel]

I am sure there were other but the two things I remember needing were our swing and the sassy polkadot rattles. When nothing else would work the swing would calm my son and put him to sleep. But I lent my swing to a friend and her daughter hated it. The rattle was the first toy he cared about. It was just the right size and weight for a newborn gaining hand control. Not to heavy for when they bang themselves in the head. We had to get a second because we were in terror of losing it. It was the toy that worked when he got fussy out of the house.

I was very happy to have:

glider for nursing
a PIS
carseat/infant carrier with the universal thingy
playmat with little love chimes
fisherprice piano in the crib
bassinett that vibrated
A good solid stroller (zippy)

Oh, and an understanding hubby, Mom and MIL who were willing to take care of me so I could take care of my baby were the most priceless "things" but you can't purchase these, you either havem or you don't.

[Kanga]

Just one?

1. pacifier
2. sling/carrier
3.bouncy seat
4. boppy

[TheJules]

DD is running a fever and I was just saying to DH that I am so glad someone got this for us for a shower. We got one of those digital readers that goes into the ear and takes the temp is 3 seconds.

[srnka]

Baby Bjorn - DD didn't like to lie in the pram as she was from small on very curious and needed to see the world.

Bouncy chair - came in handy also when we started spoon feeding.

Anything with a tag on it - she could spend hours looking at them, tagging at them and generally wondering about it (should have gotten a tag blanket)

[QT Pie]

Bump!

[SiValleySteph]

The two things I love the most are my stroller and my changing table.
There were some other things we really enjoyed (Aquariam cradle swing), but we are still using these two things every single day and he is 15mo old.


Now he is 18 months and we are still using the changing table every single day. :)

I thought of another thing I have loved and we are still using - our glider. We have one of the Best Chairs upholstered gliders and also use it every day. Now it has expanded in uses to story time as well as rocking/breastfeeding!

The stroller is not seeing as much use anymore as he likes to walk more these days.

[Katie1]

Definitely the Boppy.

I also cannot say enough good things about the Fisher Price Aquarium line. We have the bathtub, portable swing, and highchair and they are terrific.