The Most Useful Baby Items

(Last Updated April 2003)

These are the items we found to be indispensable as first time, second time and third time parents.

Most of the prices are based on 1998 prices and are approximate.

I'm listing the stores where I know the products are available. There may be (most likely are) other stores that have the products, too.

Just a side note: one of the cutest but, unfortunately not very practical, gifts you can give are stuffed animals that cannot be washed. The baby or child drags it all over the floor, coughs on it, sneezes on it, drools on it but you cannot clean it.

---

Moderately Priced (listed alphabetically)

The Baby Book by Dr. Sears and Martha Sears, RN

• Written by a husband and wife team, another Mommy recommended this book to me while I was browsing in the bookstore. Her glowing recommendation was right. Everything you wanted to know about babies in a clear, easy to follow, book with easy to read type and lots of illustrations. Everything from what to do about a fever to favorite games for different months. The book is about an inch thick with a baby's picture on the cover.
• Cost: $22 (in 1998)
• Store: any good bookstore should carry it

Baby Clothes

• Baby clothes are so cute! Better too big than too small. We got a whole bunch of clothes for the first three months. The baby doubles in size in a short time. You might consider buying past the first three to six months if you want the clothes to be worn awhile.
• Undesirable items in baby clothes: all polyester (too hot), buttons or snaps down the back (hard to put on, uncomfortable for baby), large collars (interfers with breast feeding and keeps getting in baby's mouth), scratchy embordiery designs in front (not good on tender skin), and attached footies (cannot be worn as the baby grows, all baby feet are not that small).
• Cost: varies!
• Store: Any major department store like Macys, Sears, etc. and baby/children stores like Kids R Us, the Carter outlet in Gilroy, etc.

Bibs

• Babies don't eat solid food for several months (depending on the baby). However, bibs are also great for drooly babies. If the bib is not used for drool now, it'll be used for food later. DuraBibs work good on catching food the child drops becauce they have a pouch at the bottom. You rinse them off and use them again. My little boy likes rice pudding. Most of it ends up in the mouth now but the DuraBib keeps most of the droppings off his pants.
• Undesirable items in bibs: slick surfaces that allow the food to run down, very small bibs that don't catch much food, and bibs with ties are hard to put on (velcro is much easier).
• Cost: around $3 and up
• Store: Any major department store like Macys, Sears, etc. Toys R Us, Target. The Carter Outlet in Gilroy, California

Bjorn Carrier

• Babies love being carried. As babies grow, they get heavy. We tried a cheaper carrier but it didn't work at all. I go for walks with my baby all the time. She can face forward or inward toward Mommy. The carrier adjusts as the baby grows. My baby loves it. The carrier is a bit pricey, but it is well worth it.
  (Note: If you buy a used one before 1999, make sure you get the retrofit kit from the Bjorn Company for the legs. They had trouble in certain instances with small babies able to fall out the bottom.)
• Cost: $64 and up
• Store: Talbots in San Mateo, The Right Start

Consumer Reports Books Guide to Baby Products, Sixth Edition (1999)

• Everything you wanted to know about picking out a crib, choosing a high chair, unsafe car seats, etc. Lots and lots of good information.
• Cost: $15.95 (in 1999)
• Store: Consumer Reports Books, 101 Truman Avenue, Yankers, New York 10703 or the Consumer Reports web site.

Diaper Genie

• Your house won't smell like the baby. It looks like a standing cylinder.
• Cost: About $21, refills about $5.50
• Store: Toys R Us, Target

Diaper Genie Refills

• One refill lasts a long time but babies go through diapers fast, especially newborns with little tummies.
• Cost: About $4.50
• Store: Toys R Us, Target

Electric Blanket

• One winter day I caught the flu and couldn't get warm despite being in a comforter and blankets; I sent my husband to buy an electric blanket. Having my baby born in the winter, let me tell you I should have bought that electric blanket as soon as my baby was born. I would climb into bed after nursing and rocking my baby asleep in a cold room, be on the cool side myself and climb into a nice warm bed. I fell asleep sooner and used the electric blanket a lot. Of course, you have to be careful to turn it off before you fall asleep. I would turn it on when the baby got up and by the time the baby fell asleep, I would turn it off and climb into a nice warm bed.
• Cost: about $60
• Store: Longs Drugs

Electric Breast Pump (Medela)

• My breast milk came in sudden and fast. My baby couldn't nurse enough at first which left me with breasts so full of milk that they started to hurt. Another time the baby was not getting all the milk out; one of my milk ducts got blocked which left a hard, tender spot. Pumps are also good for pumping that bottle so Daddy can feed baby at night while Mommy sleeps. (At least that was the theory; none of my babies would take the bottle in the early months. Oh well.) Another time my baby got so congested he had trouble feeding, Mommy pumped and we dribbled breast milk into his mouth. Don't waste your time and hurt your hands with the manual pumps. Our lactation consultant said she's seen many different brands but this is the best.
• Cost: single pump, about $60 double pump (well worth the time saved), about $110
• Store: The Right Start

Gerber Booties

• Socks are hard to put on moving footies and moving footies end up in dirty diapers which soils the socks. These booties look almost like a cloth shoe with the tongue velcro-ing in place to hold on the bootie.
• Cost: about $2
• Store: Target

Hooded Towels and Little Washcloths

• Daily bathing of at least the diaper area cuts way down on diaper rashes and red little bottoms. A baby in a hooded towel looks pretty silly/cute; that's one of the highlights of the bath for this Mommy. Besides, a regular towel usually isn't soft enough and is too bulky.
• We use at least two washcloths for a diaper-area-only bath: one for soap and one for rinsing. For a full bath, we use two more for a total of four washcloths per bath.
• Carter makes some good quality, nice soft ones that survive many washings.
• Cost: around $10
• Store: Any major department store like Macys, Sears, etc. The Carter Outlet in Gilroy, California

My Breast Friend, breast feeding cushion

• Perfect for the breast feeding Mommy. No more struggling with blankets and pillows that shift, this securely velcroes around Mommy's waist with a back support section and a front section that the baby lies on. Indispensable. I can even walk around while my baby is feeding.
• Cost: about $25
• Store: The Right Start

Padders Booties

• Industrial strength booties, these will keep little footies warm.
• Cost: about $10
• Store: Talbots in San Mateo, Target, The Right Start

Receiving Blankets

• You wrap the baby in the blanket, you put a blanket underneath the baby when doing a diaper change, you wash the blanket after it's been burped on and/or drooled on and/or peed on and/or poohed on, you use the blanket as a burpie cloth, etc. You get the idea. Carter makes some good quality, nice soft ones.
• Cost: around $10
• Store: Any major department store like Macys, Sears, etc. There's a great Carter Outlet in Gilroy, California on Leavesley Road. Their regular prices are the same or better than the department store sale prices.

Silverware, Stainless Steel

• Oneida makes stainless steel silverware for infants and children under the "Love Lasts" label. My toddler especialy loves the 3-Piece Child Set (knife, fork, spoon). Her silverware is just like Mommy's and Daddy's except it's smaller. She has a couple sets. For babies, they have the infant feeding spoon and the slighter larger infant fork and spoon.
• Cost: around $8.99/toddler set (knife, fork, spoon), the baby price varies depending on how much baby silverware you buy (only the feeding spoon, only the infant fork and spoon, etc.)
• Store: There's a great Oneida Outlet in Gilroy, California on Leavesley Road. Also at the Oneida website.

Toys
These recommendations were my baby's favorite toys. She played endlessly with them:

• A soft rattle that the baby can bang themselves on the head and not get hurt. This is good when baby's hand coordination is just starting.
• A rattle in the shape of a ring. One is made by "ambi toys", a white ring with a yellow teddy bear on it. Great for gumming.
  Cost: about $5
• A baby Gund caterpiller, bright colors, small size. Great for little hands to examine, bend and rattle.

Cost: guessing about $7
• Tiny Love rings. Not quite shaped like a ring, Mommy originally bought the rings because Mommy was getting tired of picking up dropped toys. Surprise, surprise, my baby loves to rattle them and gum them. The rings securely click together, you can attach toys to the rings and the rings to a stroller. There are other, cheaper brands but they are more easily pulled apart.

Cost: about $4/package of 10 rings
• Hacky Sacks. Perfect for little hands to grab, they are soft and easily held.

Cost: about $5/each
• Little Tikes Nesting Pots and Pan Set. My baby especially loves that mirror at the bottom. When she was older, she liked to stack and nest the pots & pans.

Cost: about $12
• Earl E. Bird by Early Years International Playthings. Lots of areas to chew for teething babies. It looks more like a rooster than a bird. My baby used it "early" on and re-discovered Earl at a year and a half as more of her teeth came in. This time she practiced making Earl sit down, dance, and hop besides chewing on Earl..

Cost: about $10
• Balls, balls and more balls. Light inflatable balls, bouncing ones, soft cloth ones. My baby loves to say "Ba!" The KTEH Store has a great set of three that are smaller replicas of the real thing: a soceer ball, a basketball and a football.

Cost: about $2 to $25 (set of three replica ones)
• MagnaDoodle for the toddler. The toddler can doodle on a magnetic board with an attached "pen" or stamp shapes. The board easily clears. Unlike drawing with markers, no paper to clean up or toddler to clean up.
  Cost: about $13

Waterproof Crib Pads

• These can have other uses besides strictly being used as a crib pad. Mommy can lie on one so her breast milk doesn't leak all over the bed sheet. You can cover the changing table top with one. (It's a lot easier to wash the crib pad than clean up the removable changing table pad.) If you sleep with the baby in your bed (we did the first month), you can put the crib pad underneath the baby on your bed.
• Cost: about $10
• Store: Any major department store like Macys, Sears, etc.

Camcorder

• Get a good one that fits comfortably in your hand.

Camera, Autofocus

• Forget a manual focus with a baby; babies do not poise. An autofocus 35mm SLR camera or the new digital cameras would be fine. Consider investing in something other than the standard 35mm lens to get those close-ups and baby escaping shots.
• We opting for a 35mm SLR camera; the digital cameras were still too pricey in 1998 and we liked sending pictures to people. After comparing features, feel in the hand, quality, etc., the Nikon N60 works great.

Camera, Point and Shoot

• Although great for people shots and moving babies, you can never get the really cute close ups & compositions with these. On these types of cameras, what you see in the viewfinder is not exactly what ends up on the film.

Changing Table

• With a baby, you do a lot of bending over. Your back will get used to it. However, a changing table saves your back from extra leaning over plus everything for diaper changing is all in one place. You're already doing a lot of bending over; give your back a break.
• Cost: about $150
• Store: Sears had a sturdy maple one. Hoot Judkins Furniture Store in the Bay Area has them you can finish yourself. A lot of them are cheaply constructed and wobble; some poor baby is going to get hurt. Get a changing table that's not going to move.

Crib

• New cribs run $200 and up. We bought ours used for $150. Some hardware was missing. I called up Simmons, gave them the model number and got the missing hardware. I also bought a new mattress. My parents have a guest baby Childcraft crib, also bought used. The Simmons crib is a better quality crib.
• The Consumer Reports Books Guide to Baby Products, Fifth Edition (1999), has lots of good information on buying a crib. That book saved me from making a wrong purchage. I went to buy a used crib a woman had bought three or four years ago and the crib slats were too far apart; a safety hazard.
• Note: cribs with spindled bars (rather than straight slates) are easier for baby to grasp when learning how to pull up, stand, and "cruise".
• Cost: about $200 and up
• Store: Toys R Us (very limited), Sears, JCPenney catalog, Lullaby Lane in San Bruno

Crib Mattress

• A good crib mattress is well worth the investment; long lasting with good back support. There's lots of cheap mattresses you can buy; I feel sorry for the baby's back with those.
• Cost: about $100
• Store: Sears had Sealy and Serta crib mattresses, good quality mattresses.

Down Comforter

• Her grandpa made our baby a down comforter from a kit. Indespensible during those cold winter months. One comforter instead of lots of blankets. You can buy a high quality one at The Company Store done in different stitching with different colors. They have nice soft comforter covers, too.
• Cost: about $65 for the down comforter, about $35 for the comforter cover
• Store: The Company Store web site or they can mail you a catalog.

PlayPen

• Be cautious of used ones with protruding bolts, nuts, etc. that can snare clothing and cause choking. These are unsafe and have been recalled.
• A combination bassinet and playpen is very useful. A newborn can sleep in the bassinet right next to Mommy's bed. When older, Mommy and Daddy can put baby somewhere safe when cooking, getting ready to leave the house, etc.

Stroller
Depends on the Mommy:

• If you aren't going on long walks with your baby, an inexpensive stroller will do.
• Another option is to buy an infant seat by itself. You can buy an inexpensive, portable metal "stroller" by Snap 'N Go that you put the infant seat on. Much less bulky and lighter than an infant seat/stroller combination.
• If Mommy plans on lots of long walks with baby, paying an extra $100 or more for a stroller is definately worth it. Problems with an inexpensive stroller:
• Hard to navigate, especially with one hand. Often I would pick up my baby in the store. Pushing a clunky stroller with one hand is not good for the wrists and is not good for balancing a baby.
• Heavy. Heavy means hard to put in and out of the car.
• Most inexpensive strollers (and ones that allow the infant carrier on the stroller and convert to a regular stroller later) do not have the baby face Mommy. Mommy cannot see baby and baby cannot see Mommy. My little baby got scared everytime I put her in the inexpensive stroller; my baby couldn't see Mommy.
• The stroller can only be pushed in one direction. Where I live, the wind comes up in the afternoon. This meant my baby was directly in the wind depending on which way I was walking.
As you could tell, this Mommy took lots of long walks. Things to look for in a good stroller:
• The wheels. In order to push with one hand, the wheels closest to you must lock together parallel to each other. The wheels furthest from you swivel or are unlocked.
• Lightweight. I bought one of the lightest ones available, a Combi.
• Able to flip the handle "on the fly" so the stroller can be pushed from the "back" or from the "front." Important-- both sets of wheels (the wheels on either side of the stroller) can be locked together parallel to each other. Great for keeping the wind/rain out of baby's face.
• Tilting handle. People come in different heights; what's comfortable to one person may be uncomfortable to another.

---

General Opinions About Stores

Macys, Mervyns, Sears and Target all carry baby items and have a good selection.

JCPenneys' baby department is small and unimpressive.

Target has a good baby section with lots of small items like booties, bottles, toys, etc.

Toys R Us is not too good for small baby items. A lot of their baby stuff is low quality. Their diaper prices more expensive than Target's diaper prices; no deal there.

Talbots in San Mateo is great for baby toys, booties, books, Bjorn carriers, etc. You name it, they probably have it. The staff is friendly and helpful.

The Right Start can be pricey but their items are of good quality. I bought my Medela breast pump and My Breast Friend breast feeding cushion from them. The staff is friendly and helpful.

Lullaby Lane in San Bruno has the best selection of strollers I've seen. You can find the "higher end (over $150)" strollers with lots of selection. I bought my Combi Spirit there.

The Carter Outlet in Gilroy, California on Leavesley Road. There is also a Carter Outlet in the Great Mall in Milipitas. Their regular prices are the same or better than the department store sale prices. Lots of cute clothes, accessories, etc. (They always make money off of me.) However, really inspect their "seconds" (clothes that were not sewn right, the pattern doesn't match, etc.) before buying them. The price might not be worth the defect.