Now, hear me out on the monitor advice. You don't need a video monitor until they start rolling around. I promise. When they're tiny, they don't move. No worries. However, when they start moving around, and particularly when they can roll over, they get stuck in some positions. Babies usually learn to roll over first, but it takes awhile to learn how to roll back over. On purpose. And they can roll over against the slats and it hurts their head. Hurts like it's uncomfortable, not hurts them really. Anyway, we got the monitor that is the picture I've shown. It's the Summer Infant 02620 Day Night Baby Video Monitor. And I feel pretty confident telling you that it's the most inexpensive video monitor out there. It was when I bought ours (around $80) and when I Googled it, the lowest price was $57. It works wonderfully as well. You can see so clearly what your baby is doing. We didn't like the tiny screens on the other monitors. And trust me, it's loud. We actually have a sound monitor that we use for audio and sit away from the bed. I sit the video monitor on my nightstand for easy access. There is a on/off button for the screen so the monitor can be on, but the screen doesn't have to be lit up.
We researched the car seats a bit, including Consumer Reports I believe. The Key Fit 30 by Chicco was highly rated and pretty affordable. Additionally, and THANK THE LORD given the large size of our child, a friend had a smaller weight limit and had to get a new carseat before hers was ready for the big seat. Glad for THAT advice. Plus, forget ANY of the warnings about installing the base/carseat and taking it to the fire department, etc. This one is very easy to get installed in your car yourself, and to take the carrier part in and out as well.
I've included the Pack N Play on my list because we've used ours a lot. We actually had two hand me downs when Emersen was born. We put one in our room and one downstairs. This allowed her to nap in something other than someone's arms but not be all the way upstairs. We had Em in our room until she was cleared to be left to sleep "through the night" once she got her weight back up. Thank you Jesus because I'm a light sleeper and her squeaks/breathing kept me up. Now, if we had had to purchase this ourselves, I'm not sure now if I would pay extra for the bassinet/diaper changing attachments/abilities. But they were nice to have, though only used for a month or so. The diaper changing area (on the right - white) was nice at night in our room, but pointless really once she was in her crib obviously. Similarly for the bassinet ability - the floor of the pack n play basically just raises up - we only used this while she was sleeping in our room and then lowered it after. And the other "pack n play" which was a Jeep brand was only one level and worked fine. The best thing about having one was traveling to my parents or taking Em to work and on vacation. Traveling bed. I didn't use mine as a playpen like I should have. DO THAT. Teach them to entertain themselves while sitting in there playing so you can have them stay put more.
Some other advice on what to get, based on personal experience only remember, is to buy a chest of drawers/dresser that is lower. We just added the diaper changing pad/cover to create a changing table out of the dresser. It seemed pointless to buy a changing table to use for like a year; instead we have the dresser for her to use as she grows up.
As for a crib, there are some super duper pretty and sturdy and massive cribs. We did not get one of those. We went pretty basic, made sure it wasn't drop side (which of course you can't even buy anymore), and were good with it. Our dresser and crib were Graco and ordered from Walmart.com, which is cheaper than buying in store at places like Toys R Us. My only complaint on ours is the stain is coming off on the rail where Emersen chewed on it. We didn't plan ahead to get the rail cover in place. Oops.
Other things we loved:
The Bumbo looks super weird. And you might think it's weird and silly to get. But I really thought it was a handy purchase given it's affordability. It obviously is easy to clean. And they can start using it early on to stay put and work on sitting up. Plus, it's easy to take along as a portable high chair and sit on the table. There is even a little tray you can attach but Em was pretty good at getting it off.
My last suggestion on what TO GET is to register for/purchase items that are fairly gender nuetral when it's a big ticket item. For example, the car seat, bath tub, bumbo, and strollers, which could all be used with subsequent children. You add children, but don't often get additional baby showers so be practical and plan as if there could be more and they might not all be princesses or vice versa.
I'll add a what not to get post eventually. May link up with a friend who wants to do a similar post next month as well so stay tuned!
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