Expectant First-Time Father

[dailydriver]

In a few short months, I'm going to embark on the journey of a lifetime. So, what do I do to prepare?

Do I buy a crib and changing table? Stock-up on diapers and formula?

Heck no! I traded-in the 2dr Civic for a 4dr Accord. Well, I have to have somewhere to put that car seat :D

Hmm... car seat... I really should get one of those. Anyone have any suggestions on a preferred model?

[mwmcginn]

Ha ha, thats how I ended up in my 06. Good luck. I'd just get a graco infant seat and two bases. One for each car.

They are very vomit resistant.


You have a lot to look forward to.

[alpha]

Congrats on being a father! and on the new car! Great choice of vehicle and color also!

[digitalh3lix]

congrats. do you know if its a boy or a girl yet?

[Jake07V6]

Congrats!

most important things you need:

1. Breast pump if your wife is breast feeding....You can measure how much breast milk ur infant is getting also eliminates ur infant from jaundice. It's best for the baby than any formula...atleast for the first few months and switch to formula.

2. diapers...get pampers never leaks and don't settle for no name brand. Get cheap baby wipes.

3. Yes. we had a cheap safety first brand baby seat but bought Graco thats a lot more secure and comfy.

4. Vaseline / anti-fungal cream. apply to the baby's neck, armpits, and around around diaper area. These area's are prone to rashes.

5. Good baby bottle set that eliminates air bubbles. Dr. Browns is great brand.

6.Water boiler the electric ones and of course bottle warmer.

7. Glider or electric swing...babies love it so u can sleep.

8. Infant multi-vitamin / Polivisor brand.

9. Get your windows tinted. eliminates UV rays and reduces heat by up to 75%.

[mwmcginn]

most important things you need:

1. Breast pump if your wife is breast feeding....You can measure how much breast milk ur infant is getting also eliminates ur infant from jaundice. It's best for the baby than any formula...at least for the first few months and switch to formula.

Don't over focus on this. If it turns out it doesn't work, its not the end of the world.

2. diapers...get pampers never leaks and don't settle for no name brand. Get cheap baby wipes.

We had the best luck with pampers. It seems though, as they get older, the other brands start to work better.

3. Yes. we had a cheap safety first brand baby seat but bought Graco thats a lot more secure and comfy.

Don't buy anything used here. There are so many recalls.

4. Vaseline / anti-fungal cream. apply to the baby's neck, armpits, and around around diaper area. These area's are prone to rashes.

We never had a rash problem with our girl. So we didnt have to do this.

5. Good baby bottle set that eliminates air bubbles. Dr. Browns is great brand.

We used the cheap evenflows because thats all she would use. We tried the "better" ones and she refused.

6.Water boiler the electric ones and of course bottle warmer.

We served everything at room temp. She was used to it, and it works well when traveling. We used formula though, so with breast milk you might need it.

7. Glider or electric swing...babies love it so u can sleep.

Our daughter was not a fan

8. Infant multi-vitamin / Polivisor brand.

9. Get your windows tinted. eliminates UV rays and reduces heat by up to 75%.

This is the best reason for tint, ever. It does really help.

[stevel]

1. Breast pump if your wife is breast feeding....You can measure how much breast milk ur infant is getting also eliminates ur infant from jaundice. It's best for the baby than any formula...atleast for the first few months and switch to formula.

don't count entirely on this. the hospital we used, huge on pushing breast feeding, put our daughter on formula almost immediatly because of her size and blood sugar levels. but.... don't stock up on formula as your child could be milk/soy intolerant, like our daughter. you don't know what they'll tolerate until you try.

2. diapers...get pampers never leaks and don't settle for no name brand. Get cheap baby wipes.

different diapers fit different kids differently. don't stock up.


3. Yes. we had a cheap safety first brand baby seat but bought Graco thats a lot more secure and comfy.

check out child seat forums (http://www.car-seat.org/) many CPS techs (child protection seat) will give you input on that one. we used a combi infant seat. Recaro is coming out with an infant seat, that one will be wonderful.

don't go cheap on this one. read what those techs say, they know their stuff. saving a buck is not worth your kids safety from morons on the road. and get your install inspected by a tech.

4. Vaseline / anti-fungal cream. apply to the baby's neck, armpits, and around around diaper area. These area's are prone to rashes.

never had issues in these areas except an occasional diaper rash. rare for us.


5. Good baby bottle set that eliminates air bubbles. Dr. Browns is great brand.

Dr. Brown's are the best. :thmsup:


6.Water boiler the electric ones and of course bottle warmer.

bottle warmed great if you want to store pre-made bottles in the fridge.


7. Glider or electric swing...babies love it so u can sleep.

our daughter hated the swing, biggest waste of money for us........

[anysia]

if you plan on daycare, wait to find out what the baby likes "gadget" wise from there. you can save a bundle of money that way! lol! we would've saved about $100 on a stupid swing that she hated every single time we put her in it. on the other hand she loved the bouncy seat, which so many will tell you their babies hated! go figure. she preferred the $20 contraption to the $100 one....

diapers and formulas and even bottles & pacifiers can be so baby dependant. resist the urge to stock up. HOWEVER, if you haven't done so yeet, sign up on website for free formula and coupons! check out similac, enfamil, parent's choice, nestle good start, etc. some will send free samples and others will send coupons that will get you a small can in a store for free or next to nothing. we did have a huge stockpile of this stuff! also, once the baby is born, if you go the formula route, always check with the pediatrician's office for samples from them too.

we ran into diaper rashes and major blowouts and leaks when we tried various brands of diapers. the only 2 that worked for us were pampers and luvs. but they don't work for every baby and sometimes what works changes as they grow too!

don't stock up on tons of toys. they won't do much, if anything at all, with them for quite some time!

avoid buying a changing table. most will tell you that it is useless. a changing pad on top of a dresser works. the changing table on the pack n plays works, and when you're confident they won't pee every time you change them, a simple recieving blanket on the floor works just fine.

don't skimp on carseats. get your install checked and make sure you know how to use the seat. buy a "shower cap" style cover for the infant seat because you cannot put a bundle me or any heavy coats or anything on the baby. it may impact the safety of the seat and even void your warranty on the seat. (to remedy, you use blankets over them and one of these shower cap style covers to keep the blankets on them.)

try out strollers before buying. i have heard way too many complaints about how this one is too bulky to wheel through store aisles or this one is to heavy to close and load into a car easily. or it doesn't fold up easily. or it's not good for jogging or going anywhere without pavement. etc....

get a video monitor if the budget allows. it helps SO much and gives you more peace of mind than a plain noise one.

lots and lots to cover. and then when the baby is born, there may be more!

congrats on the new car and baby on the way!

[mwmcginn]

The video thing reminds me:

I am not trying to sell a service, but one thing I just thought of was something I am using. www.attrm.com is a monthly service, I use it to monitor the house, but also to watch my little girl run around. Its pretty dang cool to see what she is up to. Its nice not to call unless you see that the baby is up. I have it send me an email when there is motion in the main room, so I know I can call.

If you just want the camera function, you might try one of the web enabled panasonic cameras. They have pan/tilt on many of them and you can access them though the web.

[dailydriver]

Thank you everyone for all the advice! You guys answered questions that I didn't even know I had. I truly had no idea I would get such a response.
congrats. do you know if its a boy or a girl yet?
No, we don't... my wife wants it to be a surprise and I'm happy with either. Don't get me wrong... I'm all about technology and would love to take my wife over to one of those "4d" imaging places, but on the other hand... if I knew, I think I'd have a hell of a time not letting something slip... especially when we start doing the shopping. So, it's gender neutral baby-shopping for us!
1. Breast pump if your wife is breast feeding....You can measure how much breast milk ur infant is getting also eliminates ur infant from jaundice. It's best for the baby than any formula...atleast for the first few months and switch to formula.
We are definitely going to try breast feeding. I rarely got sick as a kid (or as an adult) and attribute that in large part to my mothers milk. That stuff worked wonders.
2. diapers...get pampers never leaks and don't settle for no name brand. Get cheap baby wipes.

3. Yes. we had a cheap safety first brand baby seat but bought Graco thats a lot more secure and comfy.
Admittedly, I'm somewhat of a brand-whore... so, I don't think this will be a problem.
avoid buying a changing table. most will tell you that it is useless. a changing pad on top of a dresser works. the changing table on the pack n plays works, and when you're confident they won't pee every time you change them, a simple recieving blanket on the floor works just fine.
We've been considering the pack'n'play, but I'd really like to find something that has a full cover (not just a partial hood). I have 2 cats and want to take every precaution I can to ensure that neither of them cause any harm.

Well everyone, thanks again for all the input. I will surely be putting it to good use this weekend when we hit the stores.

[anysia]

we have two cats too. amazingly just the half hood over our combi playyard was enough to keep them out. the one is too ditzy to be able to get in there anyway. but the other is quite the mischievious cat and i was completely surprised that she had no desire to get in there..... now that our daughter is in her crib every night and nap time, we shut her bedroom door. (this is where the video monitors come in handy! :yes: ) the cats generally stay our of her crib anyway. they'd rather bug us at night!

other suggestions i found to deal with cats is buy one of those cheap wood screen doors and put it on the room that the baby is sleeping in. there isn't a solid door between you and baby that way, but it will still keep the cats out!

one downside of almost everything is that my one cat loves to scratch her declawed paws on everything.... so she'd go over to the playyard and rub her paws on the side alot.... luckily it never seemed to bother melia....

we had a cheap "bassinet" that had a full tent cover and it seemed to freak our daughter out. she screamed bloody murder when we tried to lay her in it. the cats loved that bassinet though because it ended up sitting by the living room window in the sun. :lmao:

i've also heard of people deterring cats from the cribs and bassinets and playyard before the baby is born by lining them with things like alluminum foil, which is supposed to scare the bejesus out of the cat and cause them to want to stay far far away. my one cat just thinks things like that are funny and for her enjoyment/amusement. weird cat. she also loves bitter apple spray....

anyway....

on breastfeeding, be sure to get a highquality dual, electric pump if mom plans on breastfeeding and working.... the horror stories of single pumps or manual ones make it sound like the cost savings are definitely not worth it at all especially if the mom works and can't spend all day pumping. the cheaper ones apparently have motors die frequently, which negates their cost savings as well. (but still, no matter the outcome, don't be worried or distraught if breastfeeding doesn't work out.... maybe i wasn't so determined to do it because i was a formula fed baby, as well as all 3 siblings, and we're all perfectly healthy and have been for our entire lives too. ;) )

[princess]

Welcome & congratulations!!:D

I managed to raise 3 kids without a swing, changing table, playpen, breast pump, very few "pampers", baby wipes, diaper cream, only 4 bottles, no bottle warmer, no microwave, no dishwasher, no monitor with or without video..... it's a wonder they survived!!!:lmao: Most didn't even have a carseat!!


The grandkids had a swing they loved....but parents took advantage of it. No changing table....a pad on the crib, couch or floor worked fine. They've all been Huggies Surpreme kids....I bought them. The babywipes had to vary depending on their skin. All but one was breastfed. One had a pump...we bought it & it was a very good, but pricey one. The name started with an "M", but I don't remember what it was. It worked very well for mom's working schedule. Good carseats changed with the times... One had a great stroller/carseat combo when tiny & mom loved it. I hate strollers, so I'd take them for walks when they started toddling by holding their hands. The walks got farther as they walked better. I never used them in stores accept when I was the fulltime caretaker of 3 grandkids at 5, 8 mos, & 6 mos. I got a double one for that. That way I could get the kindergartener to school on time!

Craddles are beautiful, but useless. Grandpa made a wonderful one for one of them....but it's kinda been a white elephant. It was used, but now it a space hog!!

I like the idea of not knowing in advance.:thmsup:

I totally agree with not stocking up! Buy no more than 2 weeks of stuff at a time. You never know how fast they'll grow or if they'll have a bad reaction to something. My son couldn't wear ANY disposable diapers!! He reacted to the stuff they were made with.

Some people love the diapers genie things... a way to deal with the dirty ones. My daughter had one with her boys & I found it easier to just take the few steps out to the trash can.

You'll need plenty of "burb-rags". Many breastfed babies dribble down their chin. Making both mom & baby uncomfy. We've used cloth diapers, small receiving blankets, actually burp cloths..... even breastfed babies need burping. No one told me that & my first one ended up quite the spitter-upper!!

You have so much joy & heart ache ahead!! Too bad you can't store sleep & energy!! :lmao:

We expect pix now that you've joined our family here!!:D

[anysia]

:lmao: the diaper genie..... stevel HATES that thing so much he's giving it to his sister! he'd rather go outside and toss it in the trash. we have a regular trash can (with lid) for wet diapers, but poopie ones go outside. i've heard the diaper champ (i think that's what it's called) is much nicer than the diaper genie though. might be worth a look.

princess, is the pump name medela? i think that's the "good" one. it's pretty pricey-like $250 or $300 or something like that, but it's supposedly one of the very few that are worth even purchasing if you need to pump often.

we STILL have a stack of some size newborn and 1 & 2 diapers that we couldn't use. some were because melia got instant diaper rashes and some were because she just outgrew the size too quick. we stashed them in a closet. size matters when it comes to diapers! after a few blowouts, you start scratching your head and going, hmmm, maybe the diaper is too small or not holding as much as she's putting out. :lmao:

burp rags, princess is right on there! don't buy into the cutsie wootsie high priced things that are labelled "burp cloths"! :paranoid: so not worth it at all! we grabbed a pack of cloth diapers (llike 12 for $10) and used those. best thing is, you don't care if they get stained, which will happen with spit up!

burping is another story though. with the reflux we battled we eventually found it easier to not force melia to burp. she would scream nonstop if we did. for most babies, burping helps eliminate air bubbles that eventually will cause a big spew! but for some bona fide refluxers who have pain with those burps, spit ups, etc, well, burping is painful for them. forcing it causes them to scream and take in even more air which causes more pain, etc. it was the first time i met a baby that did better without burping though, so our daughter is in a minority there!

GRIPE WATER!!!! buy it, use it. find an organic store or walgreens. in walgreens it's called "tummy soothers" not gripe water though. for some babies this works a ton better for releasing gas bubbles (out of both ends!) than the standard mylicon drops do. for others, mylicon works better.

(can you tell we have a one year old and this stuff is really fresh on our minds?!?! :lmao: )

[princess]

Yeah, that's the brand & we paid nearly 300. It worked VERY well. We tried a couple of others before, (technically daughter #1 did) nothing worked as well.

[anysia]

Yeah, that's the brand & we paid nearly 300. It worked VERY well. We tried a couple of others before, (technically daughter #1 did) nothing worked as well.

that's what i've heard about pumps too. basically it's not worth the savings to get a cheaper pump. it's an area where if you are planning on breastfeeding & needing to pump, you better just lay out the money now and spare yourself the headaches later.... i don't know why noone else has gotten a good one out there for less $$$ yet though........ :dunno:

[Greg S]

If you are going to breast feed then investing in a good pump is worth it but wait to see if it is going to be possible. In my family it would have been worthless. My mother was unable to supply enough to keep up with my appetite, my wife was unable to keep up with either of the kid's appetites. both my girl were on formula within a week or two and downing 8-12 oz. at a time. If you do fornula test them out in small quantities. We found Enfimil to work best for them, they also liked Nestle's Good Start but it make the stinkiest poops I have ever smelled.

Again, spend money on the car seats. We've had the best luck with Graco.

Be happy you don't want to know the sex yet. We found out and up until the day my first child was born it was a boy. Then the nurse said, "you have a beautiful baby girl.":eek: Thankfully it only took a few minutes to come up with a new name.

Get a sampling of a couple different diapers to test out and see what works best for you. We had the best luck with Huggies.

Also if you have a Costco near by get a membership, if you don't already. it's worth it's weight in gold for large bulk purchases of thing line diapers and formula. You can do the same at Sam's club, but I hate Walmat on principle.

Oh yeah, the most important thing. Congratulations and have fun with it. You'll be taking care of them for years to come.:thmsup: