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Computer Scientist, Data Munger, Doctor (PhD), Math Geek, Bargain Hunter, Baker, Budding Photographer, Crafter, Domestic Diva Wannabe and 
Posts Tagged ‘Baby Gear’
August 23, 2017
Baby Gear, Round 3!
It’s time to start thinking about baby gear! Z3 will be here before we know it.
A New Baby Monitor System. I loved our old monitor, really I did, but it’s showing it’s age and barely functional at this point. The parent console often loses signal and sometimes can’t process the image feed. We’re left with a ghostly white image that lingers on the screen. I’ve gotten used to enough that I can guess what’s going on in the room. Usually. If that’s not enough of a draw back, the night time vision of one of the cameras is about half power, and whenever the parent console is connected to that monitor it picks up an intermittent buzzing that keeps me awake. Since the girls are in the shared big girl room, we’ve just been using the working camera.
A new high chair. I hated our old one. We were going to pitch it and replace it before Alexis was born, but my frugal tendencies took over and saved it from the dumpster. The padding is now ripped, so I think I can finally give myself permission to part with it. I have no idea what kind of high chair I’ll look for next aside from cheaper and simpler.
A crib. The old one is ok, but with the non standard screws I can make a case why it should be replaced. It’s also been chewed on quiet heavily, and shows the wear of having been used for two kids already. Normally I’m fine with cosmetic defects, but I know I’m going to want to take photos of a sleeping baby in her crib.
A bottle warmer. These things always seem to get so gross. Looks like each kid will be getting her own.
Another rocking chair. One can never have too many rocking chairs. The first one we purchased is downstairs in our living room, and still comfortable but showing it’s age. We purchased a second one that is currently in the nursery, but that’s in the middle of the house. And also not very comfortable, if I’m being honest. I’m thinking about getting a third one for the master bedroom since Z3 will probably sleep in there for a few months (I know, it’s a total splurge.) I figure I’ll use the new one to replace the one downstairs at some point.
I’m kind of amazed that the jumperoo is still in good shape, and Alexis’ activity gym given how Nicole destroyed hers. It sometimes feels like those are the only two things that survived. The rock n’ play is doing okay, but the fabric just isn’t as nice as it once was. Alexis’ changing pad is also in ok shape. We recently purchased a new crib mattress before moving Alexis to a twin size, so at least we’re good there.
Posted in Shopping | Tags: Baby Gear, Pregnancy - Z3
July 23, 2014
Out of Stock leads to Sticker Shock
My planning for Ziggy is so far as been for naught. Nearly everything on my list is no longer easily available. Most of the items have newer versions, so to buy the previous version you have to pay the rare-item premium. That sucks because I don’t like those newer versions!
The bjorn baby sitter bouncer. I really wanted the brown/beige one that would match our living room. It looks like it’s no longer a color being produced, however. At least it’s not shown on the website. They have similar ones, but are either too dark, or too light. I’ve been searching for one for months and it looks like if I really want that particular color I’ll have to spend between $50 to $100 more, or buy from a non-name company without much of an online reputation. Neither I’m particularly willing to do.
I decided to do the snugabunny bouncer second-hand from someone at work. It won’t hold her as long as babysitter balance will, but I suspect that is probably okay. Nicki was an early sitter. While Ziggy is not Nicki, (and is already proving to have a different personality), she is made from the same two sets of DNA, so I think there’s a chance she’ll also be an early sitter. I also think it’s unlikely she’ll be a super late sitter. By buying the bouncer second hand it really wasn’t that expensive, and I can always course correct if we need something capable of holding a bigger baby.
Since the bouncer is nice and round, I think I can drape blankets over it and make it a nice nest like area for newborn photos. Double win. I paid a cheap enough price for it that if all I get out of it is cute pictures, I’ll still be happy.
Motorola Spare Camera. Motorola has come out with a new line of camera baby monitors (Motorola blink1) that do not have the handheld unit. Instead they broadcast to your smart phone. Sounds like an awesome deal except the reviews are lousily. I’m used to most baby products having an average 4 star review or higher. That’s because a lot of them are rated and reviewed when mom to be gets them at her shower, rather than when the baby arrives. Usually the review goes like “This is adorable, I’m so excited to use it!” (Not really that helpful, but I do appreciate knowing when things are super soft, or not.)
The blink cameras reviewers have an average 3 star review, much lower than it’s predecessor, with reviewers citing software and connectivity issues. Our wireless is spotty, which will likely compound the issue. Additionally, since there’s no hand held unit, the camera costs a bit more. Instead of $100 for an extra camera, I’d pay $170 for a single camera that our hand held unit wouldn’t work with it. Or I could pay $340 in order to have both kid’s viewable from the same app. No thank you. I’d rather buy a new lens with that kind of money. Or a new knife set.
I actually called Motorola’s customer support. They are still making the cameras, even though they’re out of stock everywhere, and no longer show the spare camera on their website. I ordered one from amazon so that I could reserve a spot on the wait list, and am keeping an eye out elsewhere to see if I can’t snag a better deal.
It would suck not to be able to use a 20% Buy Buy Baby coupon on this one – I figured I would only be paying $80ish for this one – but I refuse, refuse to spend more than $100.
Baby Neptune Ocean Adventure Gym
This one probably makes me saddest of all. I was really getting into the ocean gym theme for Ziggy much the way I loved the space theme for Nicki. I loved the orca toy with high contrast for developing baby eyes, and the octopus with dangly legs to grab.
The Neptune Ocean Adventure gym has been replaced with the Nautical Friends Gym. The Orca is now a blue whale, complete with lower contrast, and the octopus has been replace with a little turtle. Rather than spending $40 for a new Neptune Ocean Adventure Gym I can expect to spend $80 for a used gym, or $100-250$ on a brand new one.
I’m hoping a new gym will strike my fancy after a trip to the baby store. At least if I find one in store it’s likely not to be discontinued yet.
April 17, 2014
Rethinking Baby Gear
I think I’ve talked myself out of buying a second crib.
We’re planning on moving next spring/summer. Our lease is up around the fall, just before Ziggy is due. I really don’t want to add moving stress to the mix, so we’re planning on waiting until Spring to start house hunting again.
Another move means disassembling the new crib, and I’m a bit gun shy about it. Besides, Nicki is already in a toddler bed. It wouldn’t be a big deal to switch her to another toddler bed, or maybe even a twin bed with a safety rail, and convert her bed back to a crib for Ziggy. This time I made sure to save all the parts! I do question the safety of a 3 time reassembled crib (or at least of our crib) for an active older baby, for a mostly immobile newborn I’m sure it will be fine.
Our thinking is that we’d ditch the crib when we move, rather than reassemble it an additional time. If we move in spring/summer, Ziggy will be between 6 and 9 months old. That’s possibly crawling and standing up. With a more active Ziggy I will feel more comfortable with a new, once assembled with all it’s original hardware, crib. We’d probably get a very simple/cheap crib for the new house, since I’m not sure how much use we’ll get out of it. Who knows, Ziggy may be an early climb escape artist like big sister Nicki!
Another item I’m scratching off my list is the breast pump. It turns out my health insurance covers the cost of a breast pump (a new perk this year thanks to the health care law.) A double electric breast pumps even! It’s not the same brand as I was thinking of getting, but I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Besides, as much as I liked the old one it’s always possible this other brand will work out even better for me. It’s not like I test drove a bunch of different pumps last time…
I’m adding to my previous list two new items we didn’t get last time: a boppy and a bouncy seat.
With Nicki I was on the fence between the boppy and the breast friend pillow. There were a number of reviews that said only one of the two pillows worked for the reviewer, and I wasn’t sure which one would work for me. Time got away from me while I was debating and the next time I knew Nicki was a few months old and too big to breastfeed on a pillow. I didn’t want to purchase something I wasn’t going to fully utilize, even though the boppy kept being useful at daycare, first as a tummy time device, then for sitting support. I figure even if it doesn’t work for breastfeeding, we’ll get use out if.
Last time we didn’t use any kind of bouncy seat or swing for Nicki. She was held _a lot_. Obviously Ziggy will have to share parental attention. Having a safe place to put Ziggy down with an active toddler around is a must.
Posted in Shopping | Tags: Baby Gear, Pregnancy - Ziggy
April 12, 2014
Thinking about Baby Gear for Round 2
Our Amazon gift cards have arrived, and I’m distracting myself from my morning all-day sickness by thinking about baby gear, and bargain hunting.
I used my previous post as a starting point, and set up some price watches. Right now we’re leaning towards the Baby Einstein Neptune Ocean Adventure gym. I decided I wanted a change it up a bit with the gym theme. While I liked the water concept, and was very happy with our Lamaze Space Symphony Motion Gym
, the pond version just wasn’t as neat.
Of course setting up price watches didn’t take long, and I soon found myself thinking about other types of gear specifically for baby number two.
Additional Monitor
Hands down the best baby gear purchase I made was for a video baby monitor. It’s been useful at all stages, from newborn days to now in the toddler bed. We can hear Nicki just fine without any monitor – in fact, the audio has been off for over a year now! – but the ability to see what is going on is a sanity savor.
We have the Motorola MBP36 Video Baby Monitor
Amazon’s lowest price for the additional camera ($79.99) does not beat Buy Buy Baby’s price with 20% off coupon ($79.20). Depending on what Amazon’s price is in November, I might be able to get a better deal with the registry completion code. The 15% completion discount would make the price tag on amazon $81.16. If the price in November is better than average, I win by waiting, otherwise I don’t. Roughly even odds, I’d say.
The other thing we’ll need is a new battery. The current re-chargeable battery doesn’t hold a charge for too long any more. Either that or a second power cord.
Second Crib
I’m kind of at a loss with this one. I like symmetry and the notion of having the same crib for each child is aesthetically pleasing to me but I’ve been really frustrated with Nicki’s crib, with the non-standard parts and all.
On the one hand I think I’m being overly critical. From what I’ve read and been told by folks at the hardware store, that’s pretty common across all furniture makers. So I’m not sure I will have a better experience with a different manufacturer. Besides, I’m partially to blame. I should have been more diligent about saving all the pieces. I just never thought I’d switch it to a toddler bed. I figured we’d get her a new toddler bed when it was time for the crib to have a new occupant.
Then again the price is up nearly 30% on the same crib! Looks like the price is all over the map! I’ll probably end up with the same selection process this time around as last time: add four acceptable cribs to the registry and see which has the best price when I receive my registry completion code.
Double Stroller
I think I’m going to pass on this one. If I was a stay at home mom, a double stroller seems like a necessity. In our current arrangement, I don’t really see myself taking the kids out on outings by myself. Two single strollers seems like a adequate solution when you have two sets of hands to push and are just out for an evening walk.
On the other hand, a double stroller seems much more convenient than two single strollers in crowded situations. My childhood zoo did not allow strollers inside the buildings, only outside when walking around. If we ever make a trip out to disneyland, we won’t be able to take the stroller(s) in the attractions. Having one stroller seems much more convenient when you have to check it. But these places also rent double strollers for very reasonable prices. The zoo rents them for just $10 a day! Going to the zoo will give us a nice try-before-you-buy feel for the value of double strollers.
Posted in Shopping | Tags: Baby Gear, Bargain Hunting
October 3, 2013
My One Baby Purchase Regret
Everyone’s bound to have at least one baby gear regret. Domingo and I were doing so well at first. Sure we had some products we didn’t use often (the sleep sheep
There’s one purchase I really do regret, even though we use it frequently.
The high chair
I was so excited about it. It was pretty and pink and girlie, but not too girlie, and soft. So so soft. At first I was worried the seat cushion would be difficult to clean. They most coat the seat cushion in scotch guard because even tomato sauce came out with just a damp towel at first.
So why do I regret it? Because all the extra ‘features’ ended up being way more of a nuisance than a feature.
It started with the straps. They got grimy easily between the creases, and were difficult to clean. The straps seemed superfluous anyway. It’s not like Nicki could fall out through a foot hole, or would stand up and tilt over the side since she was barely sitting at the time. The straps were the first thing to go.
The now empty strap slots were new places to pocket grime. When we moved on to table food for evening meals, (and more and tomato sauce), the seat cushion was in a constant state of mess. It needed to be washed nightly, and the tomato sauce was getting harder and harder to get out completely, especially in the fabric edging. After a couple nights of forgetting to move the cushion from the washer to the drier (and thus Nicki had parked her bottom in the high chair sans cushion several times already) I decided to forgo the cushion during ‘saucy meals’. But after a couple days, I simply stopped putting the seat cushion back on all together.
That lead to a new problem. The seat cushion blocked food particles from the grooves of the various plastic and metal pieces that formed the seat. The high chair was fully adjustable, which meant many parts that could collect food between them. In theory an adjustable high chair is an excellent idea, but in practice we never changed any of the settings. We needed it to be table height, that’s it. I traded washing the seat cover every night, to trying to knock out dried pasta sauce in the foot panel.
This week we were shopping for new furniture and it finally dawned on me. I had effectively turned my $100 high chair into a $20 one. I am sure there are plenty of people out there who will get great use out of a high chair like this one. Evidently, we are not them.
Posted in Family Life, Shopping | Tags: Baby Gear
September 28, 2013
Baby Gear to be Left Behind
With our pending move we have been sorting belongings into the keep, donate and discard piles. I loathe waste. I hate getting rid of something I may want to use again later. It’s part of the reason I hold on to so much clutter. Hey, sometimes it’s useful! Like the backrest pillow. I bought it for college, but never really used it. It followed me from apartment to apartment and finally our home where it came in handy for Halloween photos with our 3 month old.
We’re moving into an apartment and won’t have room for everything. While we intended to buy gear that would last for multiple kids, not everything has held up as well as we might have hopped. It will cost more to store some of these items than it will to repurchase them. So as much as I hate waste, I’m afraid it’ll a fact of life.
Here’s the gear that we were very happy with, but won’t be making the trip with us (and what we expect to repurchase for the next baby.)
Nicki loved her gym, and continued to play with it beyond 7 months. It was definitely one of our best purchases. Alas, she expresses her love in the form of destruction. Since she loved her gym for so long, she got quite good at manipulating it. She loved to bend the bars over her head, and yank the off the toys. The sad little motor that sways the bars no longer has enough strength to do a full rotation.
Beating up her beloved gym. (7 months old.)
After much debate we decided to donate the gym. The mat is still in good shape and there are plenty of gyms where the bars don’t move, so a dead motor shouldn’t be a deal breaker. We’ll likely replace this one with another Lamaze Gym.
I was so excited about the blooming bath, but it didn’t fit in any of our sinks. Instead we ended up using it as a soft spot to dry her off on the blooming bath. When she was big enough to sit in the tub on her own, I would also kneel on the blooming bath to spare my knees from the hard floor. After over a year of use the seam is starting to become undone.
There’s nothing cuter than wrinkly post bath baby toes. (And wow, my 14 month old still has tiny feet, that’s a recent photo!)
Since the seam is busted, I’m afraid it isn’t in good enough shape for donation.
We were warned in our breast feeding class that most pumps are designed to last for one baby. The motors just aren’t strong enough to last much longer. I used my pump way more often than the typical case due to our breastfeeding troubles. In fact, there was a time I was pumping eight times a day. By six months the motor was struggling. By nine months I was getting so little with my pump it hardly seemed worth it.
I plan on keeping the accessories and getting another pump for the next child. Obviously the pump cannot be donated.
After a year of use, the bottle warmer started to look gross. The reservoir was hard to clean, and over many, many, many uses stuff just built up. I was happy enough with the bottle warmer, but it was a last minute purchase (I expected to breastfeed more and not need it as often.) Next time I will probably do a little more research before picking one. Another non-donatable item.
The Snap N’ Go lasted up right up until our Christmas vacation (5 and a half months). The morning of our trip out the handle release got stuck, and we couldn’t fold the stroller without a great deal of force to go through security. We managed to force it to open and close during our trip, but that was the end of it’s useful life. Conveniently, that was also around the time we switched over from an infant bucket seat to a convertible seat.
July 26, 2013
Favorite Baby Gear Age 12 Months
Books
Okay, it’s not technically “gear”, but man have we been enjoying our books lately. My favorites are the Llama Llama series
We also purchased Llama Llama Holiday Drama
Nicki’s favorite book is Chu’s Day
Toys
There’s been a cognitive explosion as of late. Nicki loves her knob puzzles, can assemble mega bloks creations, and cuddles her stuffed animals. For her birthday, my sister got her Jumbles
We splurged with the activity tables three months ago. I justified the splurge thinking that she would use them for a while, long after she was standing and walking. I wasn’t sure the same would be true of a walking toy, so when Amazon had a 50% of sale on select Fisher Price toys, I jumped on the basic activity walker
Organization
We purchased this storage organizer and two fabric drawers. In the dark brown drawer we put the toys she had clearly outgrown, and in the light tan one we put the toys she wasn’t as interested in. It’s not that novel an organization scheme (or technically baby gear), but it makes the list because of how Nicki interacts with it. Daycare encourages the kids to put the toys away, and she’s taking the lesson home. She’s constantly taking toys out and putting them back. She had her secret binky stash in one of the drawers. As I type this the knob puzzle pieces are all in the top shelf.
Posted in Family Life | Tags: Baby Gear, Baby Toys
April 13, 2013
Favorite Baby Gear Age 9 Months
Babies grow too fast. Once again I find myself behind, playing catch up. This time it’s with toys! Despite the fact that she loves to play with the remote, and we have a up purposed keyboard for her to bang on, I didn’t realize we were ready for toys with buttons and dials until we were at the baby store last month and Nicki started playing with a piano
This month it’s all about the developmental toys.
Without a doubt, one of my favorite baby gear purchases to date has to be the Fisher-Price Musical Table
The down side to the huge shift in her new found abilities, however, is this means she’s already out grown the jumperoo. I don’t regret the purchase as she did enjoy it previously and I think it was helpful in strengthening her legs. I’m just surprised it didn’t last us longer. The playmat
We actually have this table and the LeapFrog Musical Table
Next up, a baby remote
We can’t forget the fill and spill toys. Nicki loves these. We still have her Easter basket with the plastic eggs out and she loves playing with them. Her friend also has a shoe box full of all plastic container lids which she was having a grand time with. (We are totally stealing the shoe box and plastic lid idea!). We previously had the Lamaze soft sorter
Last, but not least, we got a ball popper
Posted in Family Life | Tags: Baby Gear, Baby Toys
January 21, 2013
Favorite Baby Gear Age 6 Months
Babies change so much so quickly. Six months is a whole new ball game from 3 months with a whole new set of gear! The theme this time around: toys, toys, toys!
Activity Toys
Nicki has (mostly) outgrown the Lamaze Space Symphony Motion Gym
Learning To Sit
Our house has hard wood floors. Not only are they uncomfortable to sit on, but I was worried she would hurt herself when she feel over. We needed something soft, or at least softer. Enter the Skip Hop PlaySpot Floor Mat
When Nicki was just learning to sit independently we were also on the search for tall toys that she wouldn’t have to lean forward (and possibly fall over) to get. Two good ones were the Lamaze Multi Sensory Soft Sorter
Teething
For teething it’s a three way tie between the Manhattan Toy Winkel
I love the alien because it squeaks so easily. Have it pretend to walk across the table and it’s chirping all the way. Give the body a good squeeze and it extends and bobbles its head with a loud squeal like a cartoon character. Nicki will squeak the alien by squishing it’s head when chewing its ear (antler? antenna?). It was her favorite last month, but now Sophie is giving it a run for it’s money. She’ll squeak Sophie by squeezing her neck when chewing on her ears. I have to admit, I’m kind of amazed she has the dexterity to do that. The molecule has a little rattle sound, but it’s subdued and sometimes stops which I think that frustrates her. She can get a good chomp going on the tubing that is also easy to grab and shake, which is why it’s still in our top three.
Honorable mention would also go to the Bright Starts Silly Sounds Safari Rattle
If I had it to do over again…
If I could go back in time I would get a Graco Snugride instead of a Snugride 30. Nicki hasn’t outgrown the height or weight limits of the Snugride 30, but the combination of her and the seat is just a little too heavy for me to carry comfortably. I’ve been leaving the seat in the car and taking in her in and out. It would have been nicer if we could have used the bucket seat a little longer. Ah well. Hindsight is 20/20 and all.
Posted in Family Life | Tags: Baby Gear, Baby Toys
November 15, 2012
A Seat At the Table
When I was pregnant with Nicki, we purchased mostly gender neutral gear for two reasons. Even though three separate ultrasounds confirmed she was a girl, there was always a chance they we were wrong. Secondly, there is a good chance that we would want additional children, and that those children would not be girls. To a lesser degree, I also didn’t like the overly pink/princess girl motifs.
Now that Nicki is here, my resolve to avoid the pink princess girlie gear is weaker. There’s now a face to a name, whereas “future kids†is still an abstract concept. I’ve also learned that babies are much less gentle on their things than you and I, and many items may not survive to become hand me downs. Nicki also looks darn cute in a splash of pink.
This month we’ll be starting rice cereal. Nicki is showing the signs of being ready. She watches us intensely when we eat. She is extremely interested in what we’re doing with our mouths, and makes a similar chewing motion. She sits well, and mouths everything she can fit into her mouth. But the biggest sign of all is it’s getting harder and harder to keep her satisfied with just breast milk alone.
I decided on Monday to go ahead and purchase a high chair, bowels and spoons. I couldn’t help myself and bought the Disney Princess Silhouette High Chair
Since it’s November, and Black Friday is getting earlier and earlier, Babies R’ Us was running a series of awesome deals. First, they were offering Sophie the Giraffe
Posted in Shopping | Tags: Baby Gear, Online Shopping