{"id":336,"date":"2009-11-07T15:42:56","date_gmt":"2009-11-07T15:42:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sashakoren.com\/oona\/?page_id=336"},"modified":"2009-11-07T15:42:56","modified_gmt":"2009-11-07T15:42:56","slug":"new-baby-must-haves-in-nyc","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/sashakoren.com\/oona\/?page_id=336","title":{"rendered":"New Baby Must-Haves in NYC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve sent this list to a few pregnant friends, so thought I&#8217;d publish it here for ease-of-finding later.<\/p>\n<p>Must haves:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Spend the extra money and get a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Braun-Thermoscan-Ear-Thermometer-IRT4520\/dp\/B000050FE0\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=baby-products&amp;qid=1257529799&amp;sr=1-1\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>BRAUN EAR THERMOMETER<\/strong><\/a>!! It&#8217;s like $55 which is insane, but when it&#8217;s 3am and your baby feels like she&#8217;s going to light the bed sheets on fire, it&#8217;s a REALLY bad feeling to have a crap thermometer which gives 4 different readings each time you try to take their temperature. Seriously, Dave and I have decided from now on that this is our default baby shower gift. It&#8217;s a must have. <\/li>\n<li><strong>Exercise ball.<\/strong> Great for your back while pregnant, but REALLY amazing at 3am when the baby&#8217;s crying and you&#8217;re 1\/2 asleep and the only way she&#8217;ll be quiet is by being bounced. Walking around the apartment bouncing gets really old, really fast. Get one that&#8217;s the height of a chair so you can sit up straight with your feet on the ground&#8230; Don&#8217;t get the smaller ones cause you&#8217;re squatting too much and they don&#8217;t feel as comfortable.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/s\/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Dbaby-products&amp;field-keywords=my+breast+friend&amp;x=0&amp;y=0\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>My Breast Friend<\/strong><\/a>. Even if you&#8217;re bottle feeding, the baby gets heavy, and this will allow you to have her at the right distance from your face so she can see your face in focus while she&#8217;s eating every 3 hours. Don&#8217;t get the Boppy &#8211; they don&#8217;t stay in place!! My Breast Friend has a strap which goes around your waist to keep it in place.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Fisher-Price-Papasan-Cradle-Swing-Natures\/dp\/B0001IU5HY\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Baby Swing<\/strong><\/a>&#8230; This saved my life. There are just times when you have to put the baby down, or times when you need a break, or times when they&#8217;re fussy and rocking them for an hour hasn&#8217;t worked&#8230; I had <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Fisher-Price-Papasan-Cradle-Swing-Natures\/dp\/B0001IU5HY\" target=\"_blank\">this one<\/a>, but I know there are other, newer models. The only suggestion I have is to get one that can be set to rock both forward and sideways (oona had a strong preference for side-to-side), and doesn&#8217;t have too many things within reach. As they get bigger, they&#8217;ll start to pull at stuff like netting, and you want to be able to use it for as long as possible.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Fisher-Price-Baby-Papasan-Infant-Seat\/dp\/B000WU5C6A\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=baby-products&amp;qid=1257527338&amp;sr=1-1-spell\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Baby Papasan Seat.<\/strong><\/a> It doesn&#8217;t matter if you get this one, but make sure to keep some sort of baby chair for your bathroom. It will enable you to take a shower or pee without having to leave the baby in the other room.<\/li>\n<li>The BEST swaddling blanket: <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.swaddledesigns.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;The Ultimate Receiving Blanket&#8221;<\/a><\/strong> which you can get pretty much anywhere. Get at least one of this brand and you&#8217;ll see&#8230; They&#8217;re exactly the right size, the fabric seems to stick to itself making it easier to swaddle, and they&#8217;re the right thickness for warmth, but not too warm&#8230; Others were either too slippery, too small, or too thin. (Muslin wraps are good too, but only get one pack.)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.giggle.com\/cc\/796\/c\/692\/viewall\/giggle-Better-Basics.aspx\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Better Basics<\/strong><\/a> infant clothing from Giggle. THE BEST!!! Lasted WAY longer than any other clothes. Thicker, softer cotton, warmer, cozier, the right fit, snaps in the right places, enough snaps to keep it closed. I can&#8217;t rave about their clothes enough. Here&#8217;s what I&#8217;d recommend for a newborn: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.giggle.com\/p\/21378\/c\/692\/cl\/796\/Bunting-Organic-Cotton.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">2 Bunting sleep sacks<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.giggle.com\/p\/21375\/c\/692\/cl\/796\/Footies---Set-of-2-Organic-Cotton.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">4 footies<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.giggle.com\/p\/21335\/c\/692\/cl\/796\/Long-Sleeve-Baby-Body-Organic-Cotton.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">2 long sleeved body<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.giggle.com\/p\/21331\/c\/692\/cl\/796\/Short-Sleeve-Baby-Body---Set-of-2-Organic-Cotton.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">2 short sleeved body<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.giggle.com\/p\/24190\/c\/692\/cl\/796\/Striped-Mitts-Organic-Cotton.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">1 pair mitts<\/a>. Skip the hats, they don&#8217;t fit right. Skip the booties, you&#8217;re fine with socks. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.giggle.com\/p\/21319\/c\/692\/cl\/796\/Long-Sleeve-Tee-Organic-Cotton.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">3 t-shirts<\/a> for the first few weeks when the cord is still attached.<\/li>\n<li>A <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/s\/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Dbaby-products&amp;field-keywords=Dwell+Stroller+Blanket&amp;x=0&amp;y=0\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Dwell Stroller Blanket<\/strong><\/a>. They&#8217;re SO soft, and thick and delicious, but not too heavy, and the fabric on the back makes them stay in place. Other blankets slip off easily. I used them constantly over Oona while she was in the swing or in the stroller.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B0006L3BHC\/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&amp;pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&amp;pf_rd_t=201&amp;pf_rd_i=B0009S3X7A&amp;pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;pf_rd_r=1DA725XGDDHPBE8092AE\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Mustela Face Wipes<\/strong><\/a>. I had no idea you couldn&#8217;t use regular baby wipes on their faces, until I gave Oona a rash that lasted 3 weeks! These are awesome!!! They also sell a <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Mustela-Foam-Shampoo-Newborns-5-07\/dp\/B001RVDDFU\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=baby-products&amp;qid=1257529090&amp;sr=8-1-catcorr\" target=\"_blank\">foam shampoo\/body wash<\/a> <\/strong>which was great for the first baths as a newborn.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Phil-Teds-Traveller-Full-Size-Travel\/dp\/B0011Z13DG\/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;s=baby-products&amp;qid=1257529238&amp;sr=1-3\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Phil &amp; Teds travel crib<\/strong><\/a> &#8212; totally a must have!!!! It folds up tiny, it&#8217;s really light. It will fit in a suitcase. Skip a pack and play unless you want to leave it at a grandparent&#8217;s house. They&#8217;re useless to carry around.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.giggle.com\/p\/13222\/Simple-Secure-a-Toy-set-of-two.aspx?cc=LtGrayBlk&amp;s=1&amp;keyword=strap\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Secure-a-Toy Straps<\/strong><\/a> &#8212; It&#8217;s so helpful to have lots of little straps to tie stuff to the stroller are great when she starts tossing stuff out, and the snaps are in the right places on these. They also come in lots of colors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Strollers &amp; Slings in NYC:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>At first, just use a car seat and a base&#8230;\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Graco-SnugRide-Infant-Car-Seat\/dp\/B001Q1HZI2\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=baby-products&amp;qid=1257528438&amp;sr=1-1\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>The Graco Car Seat<\/strong><\/a> is fine. It&#8217;s light and relatively small and all adapters are made for it. Note that the selection of colors is much bigger online than in any of the big stores. Skip the travel system as the strollers are REALLY heavy and don&#8217;t fold easily.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Maclaren-Traveller-Stroller-Black-Silver\/dp\/B001LF3TRO\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=baby-products&amp;qid=1257527822&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Maclaren Easy Traveler Stroller Base<\/strong><\/a>: The thing folds with one hand and one foot. It&#8217;s light, easy, and cheap, and is really really small when folded. Unfortunately it gives a somewhat bumpy ride and you can&#8217;t steer it with one hand without it careening off in the wrong direction, but it&#8217;s far better than the Snap n Go or the universal bases &#8211; the wheels on those are pretty lousy and they have much smaller baskets underneath.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li> Or you can get a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Baby-Jogger-Single-stroller-NEWREDBLK\/dp\/B002KWQZ78\/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&amp;s=baby-products&amp;qid=1257527983&amp;sr=1-15\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Baby Jogger City Mini <\/strong><\/a>and using a car seat adapter. It&#8217;s heavier and has a really small basket underneath, but the wheels are amazing and you won&#8217;t feel any bumps. And, it folds with one hand! It&#8217;s the easiest fold of any stroller I&#8217;ve ever seen. When the baby&#8217;s little, it&#8217;ll sleep through anything, so the Maclaren is fine, but as they gets older, they startle more easily and won&#8217;t sleep through the bumps in the sidewalk.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li> Bugaboos and Stokke are beautiful, but don&#8217;t fold well.<\/li>\n<li>Heard horrible reports about Quinny.<\/li>\n<li>Hear great things about the Bob, but I haven&#8217;t used it.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mayawrap.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Maya Wrap<\/strong><\/a> for the first 2-3 months. It&#8217;s much easier to get around wearing the baby close to you. They&#8217;re a little more expensive than other wraps, but the shoulder is padded and there&#8217;s a zippered pocket.<\/li>\n<li>After the baby outgrows the sling (some always like it, but mine got too squirmy around 3-4 months old) get the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ergobabycarrier.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Ergo Baby Carrier<\/strong><\/a>&#8230; It&#8217;s AMAZING!!!! It&#8217;s light, comfortable and carries all the weight on your hips. Oona&#8217;s heavy and I don&#8217;t feel like I&#8217;m carrying anything extra with this&#8230;<\/li>\n<li>I also had the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.babybjorn.com\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Baby Bjorn<\/strong><\/a>, which is nice looking, but it really isn&#8217;t made for a woman&#8217;s body. It carries all the weight in the shoulders, so while you may be fine early on, eventually you&#8217;ll end up hating it. Dave liked it a lot though.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Other good stuff:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.giggle.com\" target=\"_blank\">Giggle<\/a><\/strong> is a great store! Go to their expecting parents night, they go over the gear and will answer questions and give you freebies.<\/li>\n<li>Similac formula sucks!!! Get the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.earthsbest.com\/products\/infant-formula.php\"><strong>Earth&#8217;s Best Formula<\/strong><\/a> instead. It has the same consistancy as breast milk (thin) and smells fresh and is 100% organic&#8230; Similac gave Oona gas pains (moaning, rolling around, whining and crying at night) and a lot of constipation and very hard poo&#8230; I wished I knew about EB earlier, and I can&#8217;t recommend it any higher.<\/li>\n<li>JJCole has a great stroller muff called the Bundle Me&#8230; SO soft and thick and great for the dead of winter.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Tiny-Love-Gymini-Super-Deluxe\/dp\/B000067K0L\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=baby-products&amp;qid=1257529667&amp;sr=1-1\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Gymini<\/strong><\/a>. It&#8217;s a must have, but after 4 months old. And all the little toys are great, cause you can unclip them and put them on the stroller&#8230;<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Fisher-Price-Laugh-Learn-Busy-Table\/dp\/B0015KOOHO\/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;s=baby-products&amp;qid=1257529569&amp;sr=8-3\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Standing music table.<\/strong><\/a> Best toy ever from the moment they start crawling.<\/li>\n<li>Pampers are better than Huggies.<\/li>\n<li>Get a changing table that has room for wipes and diapers on the top, next to the pad. Also, don&#8217;t get an open-bottom changing table because as soon as they&#8217;re crawling they&#8217;ll start to pull everything out of it&#8230;<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.giggle.com\/p\/14610\/c\/561\/cl\/602\/Infant-Bath-Seat.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">This infant tub was horrible<\/a>!! She slid around and we ended up tossing it after the first use.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve sent this list to a few pregnant friends, so thought I&#8217;d publish it here for ease-of-finding later. Must haves: Spend the extra money and get a BRAUN EAR THERMOMETER!! It&#8217;s like $55 which is insane, but when it&#8217;s 3am and your baby feels like she&#8217;s going to light the bed sheets on fire, it&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-336","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sashakoren.com\/oona\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sashakoren.com\/oona\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sashakoren.com\/oona\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sashakoren.com\/oona\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sashakoren.com\/oona\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=336"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/sashakoren.com\/oona\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":337,"href":"http:\/\/sashakoren.com\/oona\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/336\/revisions\/337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sashakoren.com\/oona\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}