The Baby List

Now that Caroline is 2.5 months old, we have been through the worst of early babyhood and have discovered what items and books are must-haves and what things we could have done without.

Books:
The Baby Book
The Birth Book
The Breastfeeding Book
The Pregnancy Book
The No-Cry Sleep Solution
Our Babies, Ourselves
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding

These are my favorite books. I continue to refer to them everyday. I don't think that any of them are priced over $10 on Amazon, so they are quite a steal in terms of price. Everything I have read by the Sears family has been quite good. I hope to buy the rest of their books eventually. Our Babies, Ourselves was a fascinating read about parenting styles cross-culturally. It's definitely a good book.

Books to avoid:
Babywise
The Mother of All Baby Books
The Mother of All Pregnancy Books

I recommend against buying or reading these books. Babywise is a highly controversial parenting philosophy. It is essentially military training for babies. It requires enforced scheduling and timing of feedings. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended against using this overly harsh method of parenting. The Babywsie method makes the formation of the early breastfeeding relationship difficult and has been shown to lead to dehydration in infants and a "failure to thrive." The other two books are just so-so by my measure. The Sears books are much better.

Baby gear that I recommend

Fisher-Price Ocean Aquarium swing
Amby Baby Hammock
Maclaren
Eddie Bauer infant carseat
Eddie Bauer stroller (if you want a travel system)
Ironman Jogging Stroller

The baby swing is a great buy; Caroline loves hers. She usually takes at least one nap in it everyday.

The Amby Baby Hammock is a novel approach to baby sleep--no more cribs with hard bare mattresses. This hammock provides a comfy swaddled environment for the baby to sleep in. Plus, the spring provides the baby with a womb-like movements. Carolein sleeps longer and better in this hammock. Even though it's expensive, it is definitely worth it. You can use it in place of a crib, too.

The Maclaren stroller is a sturdy lightweight stroller that is great for maneuvering around the city. It is easy to fold up for getting on the buses, plus it is small when it folds. Also, it is easy to carry down steps to get on the subway (a must, that even I didn't consider) by oneself. It is the ultimate item that gives you the freedom to get around the city without the exhaustion of pushing a heavy stroller.

We have loved our Eddie Bauer infant car seat. We bought the Snuzzler to put in the car seat. It is a must-have with an infant car seat. Caroline loves the snuzzler and it makes her fit in the seat perfectly. She loves to nap in the seat because she is snuggled up so well.

If you want to go the way of the travel system, consider this stroller.
If you buy the Eddie Bauer carseat, this stroller has a special bar that will allow the carseat to attach to it. It's very convenient for in and out of the car type of use. This sort of arrangement is not good for city walking, though. The stroller + carseat is a lot cheaper ($160) and smaller than the travel systems, which are $200. I have personally found the travel system to be invaluable for the first several months. I am now finding that it is too bulky to use in Manhattan and so I have switched to the Maclaren. My husband gets on my case all the time about my obsession with strollers. He is totally right. I AM obsessed with strollers, because they are the keys to freedom with young children. If a stroller is too burdensome to use, then outings become very unpleasant. I truly believe that you need different strollers for different occasions. Which brings me to my last an final stroller...

The jogging stroller is useful for runners. If you like to run or jog, I recommend the Ironman Bob Stroller. It is bright yellow, which is fantastic for being noticed around the city. The jogger has great shocks and large 16" wheels which are great for running. You should really wait until the baby is about 3 months old to use this stroller.