The One with all the Baby Stuff

As a new mom, I am learning. I imagine that I will be learning for the next 18+ years, but for now I learn a lot every single day from the smallest person I know. She has taught me more about myself in the past 9 months than I've ever known. And each day as she learns, I learn.

But for now, I'd like to only share with you what I've learned about baby products thanks to the addition of our new little guru. No matter how much research goes into the purchase, it seems that I always seem to buy something that I later wish I didn't. The exception being the Pack-n-Play. That was a smart purchase. But here are a few things that I either purchased or specifically picked out to have someone else purchase for me that now make me think, "That's just silly."

1. The travel system. I picked out this Graco travel system because it was the safest according to Consumer Reports so it wasn't that silly. I liked the brown accents instead of the usual green and gray, and I didn't mind the blue even though I was having a girl. Blue and brown is a very popular combo. Basically, it was the most stylish system of a number of very plaid choices. Plaid isn't my first choice, but when you're handed lemons you should make lemonade, right?

By the way, my mother very generously purchased this for us, and I am very grateful because without it, we would never be able to leave the house with the little lady. So, Mom, please don't think I don't like your gift to us. I just sometimes wish that I'd found something a little less plaid, like this:

Honestly though, it might be more stylish, but it wasn't rated #1 in safety by Consumer Reports so I'm still 90% happy with my first choice. But look at what they've come out with in less than a year since I was looking--how cute!

2. The high chair. Well, I knew I didn't want anything plaid, so I bought this one. It is green to match my decor, and it folds up so nicely to match my lack of storage.

Today I had to completely dissect the thing and was finding food that the little lady hasn't eaten for weeks in crevices I didn't even know existed! It was disgusting. I should've gotten this; it would've been much easier to clean.

3. The bathtub. Our infant bathtub has been wonderful--as wonderful as infant bathtubs can be. I registered for it because it was fancy, and it turned into a bathseat. Well, turning it into a seat has been long overdue, but we finally did it this week. I find it to be very unnecessary and hard to give a bath in. She sits up just fine without it so what's the point?

I think we could've gotten away with something like this:

And it folds up!

4. The bottles. After my baby shower, I thought I needed to go to Babies R Us to buy everything on my registry that I didn't get. That was a $500 mistake. I bought these:

I bought them in a package that included a bottle warmer along with a bottle sterilizer. I bought all of this even though I had every intention of breastfeeding. "Why?" you ask. (Well, maybe you don't, but my mother has asked me.) And the answer is because they were on all of the checklists that you find online and in magazines when you're an expecting mother. Hellooo! I said I was just learning here. So, of course, the little lady hated them, and this is what works.

$3.00 for a package. Oh well! Live and learn.

I suppose that I didn't need to buy that baby sunblock on my $500 Babies R Us trip either; it made sense at the time--living in the Sunshine State and all. I think that I even stood there and read on the bottle that I couldn't use it until she was 6 months old and by then, the sunscreen would be expired! And just so you know, we have 2 swings and 3 baby carriers in her closet.

You'd think I've learned my lesson by now, but I haven't. I try to think long and hard about what I'm about to purchase, but I usually end up buying it in the end. If I'm unhappy with my decision, I simply will return it or spend an hour writing a blog post about it.