Baby Item Endorsements!

My sister is going to have a baby! When this family starts reproducing, it really doesn't stop. My parents will now have a grandchild in 2008, 2009, and 2010. So far, that is, 2011 is still a possibility. Not for us, um, no freaking way. On my side of the family, we are pretty close to our cousins. One of them had twins in June, making Henry the third youngest at the ripe old age of 9 months. Now my sister and another cousin are pregnant so by January, little 16 month old Henry will be the FIFTH youngest in the family and my grandma will have 11 great grandchildren. This is a seriously fertile family.And the baby talk reminded me that I need to send my sister a list of a few things we really feel like we needed/loved in our 10 months with Henry. Less is more when it comes to baby stuff, this I have learned. That and Craigslist is your friend. You use the big, expensive stuff for such a brief time that it doesn't make a lot of sense to invest in anything big and new- except for the car seat and the crib mattress, if you use a crib at all (we didn't until recently).
So I have decided to make a post of what we had, used, and what I'd recommend if asked what you really need for a baby.
1. Car Seat.
This is actually a 2 item category. We have used the infant seat and the convertible carseat. I really don't think you need to go high end, but some research into safety is important.
We opted for the Graco Snug Ride 32. We also got the travel system that includes the carseat, one carseat base, and the stroller that matches and attaches to the carseat.
In hindsight, I'd still have gotten the Snug Ride and one base for each of our cars, but I'd have skipped the travel system. That is a waste of money. We've used it about 10 times, and I think our money (actually not ours at it was a gift!!) would have been better spent getting the car seat, bases, and a stroller frame which is just a little cart that the car seat can snap into.
Then later, when your little person outgrows that infant seat, if a stroller is still needed, I would recommend either a jogging stroller of your choice (we don't have one, so I'm not sure about the best brands!) or an inexpensive and very portable umbrella stroller.

All these carriers on wheels pale in comparison to what I have discovered is the best way to carry around a baby of any size and is the reason I don't endorse spending a pile of cash on something that keeps your kid at a distance from you, takes up storage space, and is heavy and cumbersome to transport: to wear your baby!
This brings me to the next must have:
2. Baby Carriers

I say plural carriers, though my favorite one can probably be used from birth until toddlerhood. I didn't have it, though, until Henry was 6 months old and my favorite newborn carrier was the Moby Wrap. I used the newborn wrap, the Moby comes with instructions but I felt like I learned more from youtube, watching actual parents wrap actual newborns in this wrap. The Moby is essentially a long strip of fabric and you learn quickly how to fold it around yourself to keep your baby close. It is ideal for the newborn days when the floppy little warm bundle needs lots of support to be close to your body. I never learned to nurse inside the wrap, though it is advertized that this is possible. The upside to this is legion, you have your hands free and your baby close and I wore Henry in some really, really cold weather and he would sleep soundly and not even notice the winter around him. Despite what Moby advertizes, you should NEVER, EVER wear a baby in a Moby Wrap on your back. This is not safe.
When he got to about 15 lbs, the Moby got really stretchy and I felt like my bigger baby was hanging lower and lower when I wore him for an hour or so and I needed something new. By then, Henry could hold his head up and it was time for something big, something that would last a while and all my research led me to my favorite baby accessory yet,The ERGO!!! This pricey carrier is an investment I do not regret. When I decided this was the carrier for me, I searched high and low for a used model. They simply to not exist. Not at baby resale shops, not at yard sales, not on Craigslist. A new Ergo will run you about $100 but with the dearth of used Ergos, I imagine you could recoup almost every penny if you tried it out and decided it was not for you.
I have no photos of me wearing Henry but Rob finds the Ergo to be a pretty good fit for him and here he is hiking on a family trip to Carbondale when the little man was 6 months old. The Ergo can go on the front or the back, and there is a built in pocket for a diaper or your keys. There is also a little hood that can protect your baby from the sun or hold his head steady if he falls asleep as you are walking, as you can see from the photo.
To be continued, because there are more items that we rely on every day!