1st pregnancy- some questions

[drloretta]

Oct 11, 2015 10:11:45 GMT -5 milsaroo said:

Hiii... First time here. 16w6d, edd 3/21/16 and I apologize in advance for multiple questions for the next 18 years

1. I'd like to cloth diaper (not starting right away) and think I'd like to use AIOs out of convenience. When should I start stocking up and how much should I buy? (New vs used?)

2. Do I need an infant carrier/travel system? DH and I both plan to baby wear, if that matters. For MM reasons, an AIO car seat from 5-100lbs makes more sense and I can see myself taking the baby out of the car seat and wearing them but what about strollers when they're that tiny? I anticipate going on walks (anywhere from 5 mins-1 hour)

Fwiw, I was a nanny for years and loathed lugging around the infant carrier.

Congrats!

Some stores have cloth diaper starter kits. May be something for you to look into. You'll want to wait on that. If you want to create your own stash, I suggest used and start whenever.

Just consider thinking about what you'll do if kiddo I asleep in a car seat and you need to go somewhere

[anna7602]

I did not have a travel system. I didn't see the benefit of having either of my kids in a car seat when we weren't actually in a car. The times DS fell asleep in the bucket seat, I just carried it out of the car and dealt with it then, placing it in a shopping cart at the store (in the bottom, larger part) or on the floor of a restaurant or just coming straight into our home.

My DD wasn't a big fan of the car seat or stroller anyway as an infant and I ended up wearing her nearly everywhere for close to a year.

DS was happy in both the car and stroller and I still dont regret not having had a travel system. I was going to skip the bucket seat altogether with him, but received one as a hand-me-down.

Eta: for DS, I also received a bugaboo stroller as a hand-me-down and it had an infant cocoon-type insert that I used at the beginning. Not sure what other models of stroller have something like this.

[thatgirl2478]

1. I would buy a variety of diapers - not a huge amount of any one. You might find that one style/brand works better for your baby.

2. It's certainly easier to clip the car seat to a stroller & go, but it's not 100% necessary. I don't have any experience with strollers for smaller babies, so I can't make a recommendation there. I personally felt that the baby was more secure (particularly in the early days when the seem to be boneless) in the carrier on the stroller.

[kangaroo11]

I bought pockets and AIOs and ended up selling most of the pockets and doing bumgenius AIOs almost exclusively for a year. They might do a BF/cyber monday sale. I think I had 17 diapers that I'd wash every other day. We started using them around 2-3 months old.

[nessness]

You don't NEED an infant carseat, but I loved having one. DD used to fall asleep in the car all the time and the last thing I wanted to do was wake her up and then have to deal with a fussy tired baby while I grocery shopped or whatever.

I used a britax b-safe carseat and b-agile stroller, which cost about $350 together. I felt more comfortable using the carseat with the stroller when she was little, plus she liked to look at me.

[redpenmama]

I would strongly recommend against a travel system. The strollers are bulky and a pain in the ass. I do think the infant carseat is useful because you can transport a sleeping baby into stores or even into the house without waking them. My kids napped in them all the time. I would get a Snap n Go that is compatible with whatever infant carseat you choose. It's much more compact, cheaper, and offers the same benefits of the travel system without the hassle/bulk. Then, invest in a sturdier stroller like a jogger that is more multipurpose.

[magpie]

I didn't have a travel system, but I did buy a used snap and go , which was wonderful for the first 6 months or so. I bought it on craigslist for very cheap and was able to sell it to the consignment store for almost what I paid. We had a cheaper (graco snug ride) infant seat too. I didn't like lugging it around, but it was great when she was sleeping (oh how I miss the days when I could bring her asleep in a car seat to a restaurant for a long, quiet adult meal!). We switched to a convertible seat around 6 or 7 months, if I remember correctly.

[boiler717]

I'm also planning on BG AIOs. I'm not sure how many, but I've been buying with $5 BBB coupons so $15/diaper (or $10 because some colors were on sale). I think I have 6-8 on hand now, hopefully will get more from showers and then planning on using a registry completion discount or BF sale for the rest.
I feel you on the infant carrier. I despise lugging them around and don't think they are great for babies to stay in outside of the car anyways. Given the fact that my baby is due in the middle of winter I'm going to use one just so that I have a warm spot for transfer vs trying to put the baby in a carrier outside while it's snowing or something. If you do a convertible I'd make sure your stroller has a bassinet or lies flat in case wearing the baby isn't possible for whatever reason.

[thebreakfastclub]

Bum Genius will do a sale on Black Friday and I also bought discontinued prints at a discount.

I personally like the bucket seat for the ease of taking a sleeping baby from the car to a shopping cart and back to the car without them waking up. I had a snap n go frame.

I wore the baby a handful of times. I think I would have been in trouble for a few weeks post c/s if I had to have a baby on me like that.

[pooh8402]

The others have already covered how easy it is to carry a sleeping baby around in the infant car seat, so I won't touch on that.

Another thing to consider: what if your baby doesn't like being worn? I've tried to wear E from birth (started with a k'tan when he was just a few days old), and he's not really into it. He'll tolerate certain carriers (ring sling, lillebaby) for short periods of time, and other carriers not at all. I had planned to wear him everywhere too, but that hasn't worked out for us. Instead, I'm having to train him. So that's something else to think about.

[awkwardpenguin]

I'll be the dissenter and say I think you'll be fine with a convertible car seat and babywearing. You can always decide later you want an infant bucket. However, it does mean you'll need to carefully pick your car seat and stroller. Many convertible car seats say they can last birth to booster, but few actually can, especially if you want to do extended rear facing. I think the Graco 4ever is one to check out. @fivedogs, any other suggestions? It's worth noting that one expensive car seat may not provide a big MM advantage over a few cheaper car seats.

For the stroller, you'll need something that reclines nearly flat to use with an infant. I know people use the City Mini with newborns, although Baby Jogger says it's for 6+ months. There are strollers with bassinet attachments but they are $$$$. If money is a concern, definitely buy your stroller used.

[meij]

I bought all my BG one size AIO at cloth diaper clearance .com seconds section when they were marked down to $10 or $12 a piece.

I didn't have an infant car seat with either kid. I didn't miss it with DD, she was easy to transfer and liked being worn. Also since she was the only kid, we never HAD to go anywhere. With DS I regretted it and it made his newborn days SO hard. I had a four year old so we had to go places, he didn't transfer well, hated being worn and it was just a lot harder to go places with him because I couldn't just drag a sleeping DS in his car seat anywhere.

I did get a stroller that turned into a bassinet so he could lay flat. I loved that stroller and once I got that it was easier to transfer him from carseat to stroller and keep him sleeping.

[estrellita]

1. It all depends on how much money you want to put in. AIOS are typically more expensive so it might be better to buy used or from a co-op. There are tons of groups for these on FB. I'll be honest, I love AIOs but they take forever to dry! I would look for ones that also have a pocket so you can add inserts if needed. Sometimes the sewn in insert isn't enough.

2. The main reason we went with the travel system was so we could easily switch cars. It's also really easy to use in other cars when we're with my parents or something. We have a SSC and wrap but honestly use the stroller more. He just gets so heavy and warm when he's in there for a long time. We use the carrier mostly when using a stroller doesn't make sense. So it's more of a personal preference if you'd rather push baby in a stroller or only use the carrier until they're big enough for an umbrella stroller. Personally I'd suggest a travel system, but that's my preference.

[estrellita]

Oh and for how many diapers, that will depend on how often you want to wash them. 12-15 you'll have to wash probably daily, 24-30 or so every other day, etc depending on if they are in them all day (as opposed to something else at daycare or something). I don't even know how many we have right now because we bought like 7 to start, then we've been slowly buying them here and there from co-ops.