I’m currently in the 12th week of my pregnancy. Almost into the second trimester! Woohoo! That means I’m almost one-third of the way through. It doesn’t feel like I’m very far along until you put it that way. I’m thankful this time around that I have a little bit of experience. I mean, when you walk down the baby aisles of a store, it can be kind of overwhelming. There’s so much stuff! How are you supposed to know what you need (or what would make life a little easier), and what is just a waste of money? Two important things I learned the first time around are 1) it depends, to some extent, on the individual baby (your first baby might love being in the swing, and the next one might hate it), and 2)some of the things I thought were dumb before I had kids turned out to be some of the most helpful, and some of the things that sounded brilliant turned out to be useless.
The dumb-turned-helpful:
Pacifier wipes. Before I had Dinah, I thought, “Dude. Just walk over to the sink and rinse it off.” After I had Dinah, I realized that sometimes you’re in the middle of the zoo and there isn’t a water faucet anywhere in sight. I also realized that it’s handy when you want to wipe off the table and the high-chair where your baby is sitting in the restaurant, because she puts her mouth on absolutely everything she comes in contact with. At least mine did. Her crib and our window sill had the teeth marks to prove it.
Pacifier wipes. Before I had Dinah, I thought, “Dude. Just walk over to the sink and rinse it off.” After I had Dinah, I realized that sometimes you’re in the middle of the zoo and there isn’t a water faucet anywhere in sight. I also realized that it’s handy when you want to wipe off the table and the high-chair where your baby is sitting in the restaurant, because she puts her mouth on absolutely everything she comes in contact with. At least mine did. Her crib and our window sill had the teeth marks to prove it.
The brilliant-turned-useless:
Pacifier thermometer. What a simple way to take the baby’s temperature, I thought. No worries of keeping the squirmy little doll still long enough to get a good reading. What I learned (and I’m thankful my sister-in-law pointed it out to me before I wasted the money) is that when a baby gets used to one pacifier, they don’t generally care to switch to a different kind. So, unless the thermometer is shaped like the pacifiers they are used to, they aren’t going to keep it in their mouth.
Pacifier thermometer. What a simple way to take the baby’s temperature, I thought. No worries of keeping the squirmy little doll still long enough to get a good reading. What I learned (and I’m thankful my sister-in-law pointed it out to me before I wasted the money) is that when a baby gets used to one pacifier, they don’t generally care to switch to a different kind. So, unless the thermometer is shaped like the pacifiers they are used to, they aren’t going to keep it in their mouth.
Things you don’t need to register for:
Blankets and bibs. Sure, these are both things you’ll need. They are also things people enjoy buying, and everyone knows you’ll need. Now I tell people to register for other things you need, because you’ll still get plenty of these two items. Dinah had about fifty blankets, and a thousand bibs. That could be a slight exaggeration.
Blankets and bibs. Sure, these are both things you’ll need. They are also things people enjoy buying, and everyone knows you’ll need. Now I tell people to register for other things you need, because you’ll still get plenty of these two items. Dinah had about fifty blankets, and a thousand bibs. That could be a slight exaggeration.
Something I didn’t find necessary:Diaper Genie. We take our trash out often enough that it didn’t have time to stink up the place. And, if we did happen to have an extra-potent smelling diaper, it wasn’t that far to the outside trash. We found it easier than having an extra trash can to buy bags for and empty.
Something I wish I’d had:Diaper bag dispenser. This little gem is a little dispenser that holds diaper-sized trash bags and clips onto the diaper bag. There are times when you are out and about or on the road and have to change a dirty diaper, but don’t have anywhere to dispose of it. How nice would it have been to have a trash bag right there to tie it up in and contain the smell until we could get to a garbage can? Occasionally, I would actually take an old Wal-Mart bag or something for that, but you know how often I actually remembered? Not often.
If you have kids, what did you find helpful or not-so-helpful? If you don’t, what do you imagine you’d want?
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