Car Seats

A pregnant friend recently asked me about the baby stuff you really need. She was feeling a little overwhelmed by Pee Pee Tee Pees and the like. Anyway, the first thing that came to mind as an absolute necessity was a car seat. Here's what I think about car seats.

1. Buy new. This is your baby's #1 safety item. Do you really want something that has been cooking in someone else's car, possibly traveled through airport security, and had who knows what leaked onto it? No. And you want the latest and greatest. So buy new.
2. Infant seats sure are convenient. Those click-in, click-out kind. You can buckle baby up in the comfort of your house, and then just snap in the seat and you're on your way. More importantly, the sleeping-baby-in-the-back-seat can become the sleeping-baby-in-the-living-room or -in-the-restaurant without becoming the screaming-unhappy-woken-up-baby.
3. The Britax Roundabout (and others, I'm sure) does work from tiny infant to big toddler. If you chose to ignore #2 above, you can save money by buying a single car seat that can face backward when they're little, and forward when they're bigger.
4. Consider getting two car seats. One for each car, or one for you and one for your caregiver. It is also extremely helpful to have two when traveling.
   
5. Get the installation inspected!!! I'm an engineer, as is my husband. We read the car seat instructions. We read the owner's manual instructions. We installed the car seat. We took it to get inspected (see seatcheck.org). We had not done a good job. At all. There were several major things we missed such as not using latch in the middle seat. Who knew? Get it inspected. Or AT LEAST have an experienced parent look at it.

Diaper Choices

A while ago (OK ages ago) a reader requested a post on diaper choices. There are TONS of good resources out there, so I won't try to duplicate them. I'll just explain our personal choices, and my view of some of the pros and cons.

DISPOSABLE
We are currently a 100% disposable diaper household. This does cause some eco-guilt among the adults in the house, but we console ourselves slightly by using Seventh Generation.

Pros:

• Easy easy easy
• Can use at day care (our day care required disposable diapers)
• Rarely if ever leak
• Not too expensive, especially if you buy using Amazon Subscribe & Save
  

Cons:

• So much waste!!
  

PARTIALLY DISPOSABLE
When the little man was born, we used G-Diapers. These are partially disposable, partially cloth diapers. We liked them, but stopped using them for two main reasons - 1) could not use them at day care, and 2) as he grew older, they tended to leak unless you changed every hour or two. They definitely did not work over night, even with two liners.

Pros:

• Much less waste, and all the waste is flushed down the toilet
• Cute cotton covers looked great with just a t-shirt

Cons:

• DO NOT USE the flushing option if you live in an old house or have touchy plumbing (you can just throw out the liners)
  
• I suspect that if everyone used G-Diapers, the sewage treatment plant would not be happy, therefore it's probably a sustainable option only if not too many people use it (which is kind of dumb)
  
• Initial investment required, and disposable liners only available at certain stores (eg Whole Foods) or online
  

CLOTH
We have not used cloth yet, but I am definitely considering going to part-time cloth diaper usage. This is an idea I got from my neighbor. It's less intimidating than full-time cloth diaper usage, but still reduces waste. Now that the little man's bowels are more predictable, we could use the cloth during the times he's only likely to pee, or times when we need to change his diaper, but it's only a short time until his bath or something.

I can't really speak to the pros and cons of this since we haven't done it yet. I can say that the initial investment for these is quite high, too, but I believe you'd save money in the long run. Here are some good websites that I will consult before choosing any cloth diapers.

• Getting Started with Cloth Diapering by Inhabitots
• Finding the Right Cloth Diaper for You by Inbalitots
• National Association of Diaper Services (find diaper service in your state)

What are your diaper experiences?

Best Baby Carrier Ever

The Ergo Baby Carrier is the best baby carrier ever. I can carry my little man with it even when my lower back is out of whack and killing me. Awesome!

http://www.ergobabycarrier.com/

Learn Your Baby's Language

This really works: Dunstan Baby Language

I am not kidding. It is SO cool. Get it when your baby is just a few weeks old, and you will be so much less frustrated!! It's totally worth the $40 to have a clue of what your baby needs!

Must Have Baby Items That You Won't Get at a Shower (Part 1)

So there are some good but boring things that you're going to need when the baby arrives. These are not the show-stopper amazingly adorable outfits that fit for two seconds if you're lucky, but rather the unadorable stand-bys that you'll use for months if not years.

1. Hydrocortisone cream (used for every baby blemish and highly effective)
2. Aquaphor (petroleum jelly based intense lotion)
   
3. Lap pads for on the changing table (reduces the number of messes that end up on the changing table cover)
   
4. LOTS of cloth diapers (assuming your baby is a spitter - and BONUS if you get cute embellished ones)
   
5. Good baby nail clippers (I like the ones in this kit)

I'm sure I'll think of more but I can't remember right now. Unfortunately you can't put sleep on this list. Lack of sleep makes you so forgetful.