re: First baby purchases

Rock and Play (3rd mention)

Combo stroller/car seat/carrier set that you'll use for about a year. Like mentioned you can also check with insurance as they offer some decent options sometimes. Also, many car manufacturers will list compatible car seats that fit in their vehicles (I had a two door coupe for the first year).

Diapers. Minimal Newborn, mostly 1-3.

I'd also suggest a glider or rocking chair. This thing got a ton of use in the first 2 years.

i wouldn't waste much money on clothes, especially early. They will wear them once and grow out of it.

Buy a crib that is convertible to a toddler bed, and then a full size. I'd recommend buying all the components now. We decided to wait and purchase the adult/full size rails later, only to have the company go out of business and the rails be unavailable.

Not every outfit needs to be super expensive Polo brand or something equivalent that they will outgrow so fast and you'll never get what you paid for. See if any family has baby clothes they could give you.

- Chicco carrier that has a separate base. Buy two (or three) bases. We have one for each of our cars and my MIL has one too.

- Bob stroller if you and/or your wife is any bit into walking/jogging. Much more durable with actual inflatable wheels and shock absorption. Get the attachment for your particular car seat carrier for when the baby is 0-4 mo old.

- Either go cheap on the furniture or get a nice set that converts the crib into a day bed and/or full bed. We use the heck out of our rocker too.

- Rock n play for the first few months is an absolute godsend.

- Pack n play for trips and/or when you need your child contained

- No need to go crazy on diapers, Amazon has them to you in 2 days and are much cheaper than the stores. Easy to gauge when you're running low.

- Those diaper pails are a waste. We've never had an issue just throwing them in our kitchen trash can that has a lid. Granted ours is still on breastmilk (and veggies, of course) at 8mo and my understanding is formula babies urine/poop is not as pleasant.

Clothes - Check out Carter's. There is always a sale going on.

Strollers - This gets tricky. You get what you pay for. We have 3 strollers. The umbrella stroller is a rough ride, but easy to fold and very mobile. We also have a Bugaboo Bee3, which rides like a damn Cadillac. Expensive and does not fold down to a small size. We just bought the double city mini select because of the second baby. It rides well, but nothing compared to the Bugaboo.

Crib - We bought the crib from Restoration Hardware during a great Christmas sale. Without the Christmas sale, we would have gone with a cheaper option.

Diapers and other crap - Amazon prime is your friend


ETA: Get a sterilizer. Cheap and easy to use for bottles. Also, most health insurances will give you money towards the breast pump if your wife plans on breast feeding. Give them a call.

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Go ahead and start buying diapers now. When you go to the store just grab a pack.

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This cannot be said enough!

My wife hated when people would ask what we wanted because all I would say is a pack of diapers or a check to deposit in their savings account.



Also, congrats.

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A swaddler sleep sack was my best purchase. Hated having to try and swaddle baby at 3am. Almost impossible..... This thing saved us!

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+1

things to remember:

-people have been having kids for thousands of years. don't freak out about not knowing stuff, you'll figure it out.
-that being said, there have been billions of people born. yours will be not much different than all of those. if people ask about your kid, share abundantly. if they don't ask, just keep it to yourself. no one like oversharing parents.

I've got a friend that swears diapers are cheaper at Sam's.

Thoughts?

Yes, I'm going to look now

ETA: looks pretty close and depends on make and size