Baby gear: What do you really need?

I have a hierarchy—first Once Upon a Child (1.5 hour drive, so I usually only go when I also have something to look for), then the local consignment (seasonally picky so can be hit or miss), and anything leftover or mildly stained goes to donation store. More stained/destroyed goes to donation store in a bag marked “textile recycling”.

I was very lucky to receive an entire hand me down wardrobe from a friend that has needed only occasional supplementing for seasonal or other missing stuff. PJs especially we had different styles/sizes of kids, so that has been something I’m always looking for or put on Christmas/birthday lists.

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Oh brand question - any common brands for clothes you would highly recommend or avoid based on durability, quality, fabric feel (some sensory issues here and a friend tried to give me some hand me down stuff, the texture of which made me squirm).

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Sometimes it’s the stuff that tries to be fancy that feels the grossest (I think high polyester content), whereas standard brands like Cat and Jack, Carters, and Garanimals are mostly just basic cotton. Sometimes it’s dependent on the type of fabric it’s trying to be—anything fleece from Walmart gives my fingers the heebie-jeebies no matter what brand, but Target stuff is fine. (And Walmart is the only game in town, so it’s not like I never buy stuff there, just not fleece.)

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If you can get hand me down or cheap Hannah Anderson, I’ve honestly been blown away by the quality. I always get them pretty well used, like 4th owner, and they leave me in the same condition they came to me. Wildly solid color and fabric.

Target and carters fade FAST. Not an issue for small size clothes because babies outgrow so fast, but once you hit the first size they’re in for 6-12 months it really shows. We’ve been in 3T for a year and most of the carters stuff my mom bought her is too faded to keep wearing (unless it’s a beloved favorite lol).

Burt’s bees tends to fit very slim. Good if you have a slim kid, not if you’ve got a chunk, so I’d hold off until you know your baby spec :joy: that being said their PJs are a nice feeling cotton and a good weight.

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I also love Primary for quality. I’ve gotten a few things first hand and a few things second hand and they’re great! Definitely long/slim in pants and footies though so the PJs didn’t fit great when Pipsqueak was short and round.

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Omg and there are some adorable patterns too.

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We are these people. The clothes have to start somewhere, and by the time Duckling was 12 months I had decided it was going to be us. It turns out I will chuck on my kid anything from their drawer BUT I am super fussy about what is bought to go in the drawer in the first place (fit, feel, no odours from other peoples washing detergent, no gross slogans, no frills and super easy to actually put on). I dont let grandparents buy much for the kids either because of this, they got them some wildly unsuitable items (which normal people would have just accepted, i am certain).

I am about to purge every long sleeved shirt because all of them are too skinny in the arms to get on my toddler easily. Unsure if all arms are too skinny because clothes makers dont think about how big hands have to be to get into the sleeve without toddler panicking, or just that I have a thing about anything that looks fitted on a toddler and is in any way vaguely difficult to get on them.

Oh and i have average/chunky kids and definitely some things here dont fit right because of that.

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On a related note - should I buy an Uppababy Vista with 2 seats, bassinet, and a piggyback stand? Someone is selling an older model (not sure what year) for $300 on FB.

I currently own:

  • baby jogger city mini GT2 with adapter for car seat, but only seats 1 - this was our daily stroller for ~ 2 years
  • joovy sit and stand (but no car seat adapter so can’t use until Baby #2 is 6 months) - got for free off of buy nothing
  • Step2 push car (bought used) - what we now use instead of a stroller for our 3 year old.

Child 1 is about 32 lbs at the moment and will be 3 1/2 when Baby comes. Fully capable of walking long distances but only when he feels like it (which is unpredictable).

The only piece I’m really missing is if I wanted to take both kids out to the park in the first 6 months by myself - but will I ever want to?

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A bassinet stroller was a must for me… but half the time I had to convert back to a toddler stroller and babywear. But we did go to the park lots with just me. For that price you could also easily get a graco or evenflo double/hopefully with bassinet or car seat options if you pass on the uppababy.

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I definitely wanted a bassinet mode but didn’t need it to check boxes for long term or overnight sleep - we need it only for situations where we know we’ll be there for close supervision, like walks or them napping while we’re at a friend’s house. After hemming and hawing I went with the Graco modes.

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Note on a great sale I got that with the bucket carseat for $230, so I think $300 for an UPPAbaby is pretty damn good.

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One counterpoint, the bassinet stroller was a terrible choice for my reflux baby and I wished we had a car seat adapter.

That being said, is have a very old UPPAbaby Cruz from a friend and it’s been great. I did have to replace the wheels at some point, but UPPAbaby stocks parts for much older models still.

Could you get a stroller adapter for the joovy, or a toddler stand for the cityjogger?

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I’m curious what you end up with! I’m leaning towards a ride-along board vs. a fully buckled 2-seater for us. My toddler is very independent, and half the time wants to push his own stroller, so I think that would be more likely to appeal for him. The current stroller can lay flat and has infant padding kit so that’ll be nice in a pinch, though in newborn days for #1 we primarily did babywearing and I’m guessing similar for #2.

I also bought a wagon on super sale last week, not assembled yet, because I like the idea of chucking everything/everyone in a giant box… even if I babywear the youngest until they’re more stable, the diaper kit etc. can go in the wagon.

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Just bought a vista used for the same exact reason… I wish I started with this stroller in the first place!! My 2 will be a lot closer in age though so it’s a must have for me.
A note that 300 bucks is a really good deal compared to the prices for used around here… the going rate is closer to 650- 700 in my area with all the attachments and such

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Ideally I’d just get a piggyback board for the baby jogger but our particular model doesn’t have enough room for toddler heads when used with a piggy back board.

I see multiple listings for uppababy vistas or full sized baby joggers in the 300 - 400 range so I think I’ll just wait. Who knows what kind of kid my 3 year old will even be in 3 months? My main thing with strollers is I want good wheels because our neighborhood is very hilly with few sidewalks, which is why I love our baby jogger stroller with the rubber wheels.

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This is the way. I let go of the “forever” stroller I agonized over picking because it went from daily driver to second fiddle, and the fourth-hand free stroller a colleague dropped off is now the daily driver. It’s always fine to use something that’s perfect just for a short time and return it to the stream.

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Easy come, easy go. :raised_hands:t2:

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Cat and jack is like 90% of my 4.5 year olds clothes. She will literally only wear leggings and dresses. If you ask her to wear a Tshirt you may as well be murdering her. Cat and jack holds up really well and is really cheap for the quality.

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We are the same here. My mum keeps giving her tshirts and I’m constantly asking if she has ever once seen her granddaughter wear a t-shirt after the age of 3.

Long sleeve tshirts are the exception. She would seriously wear the long sleeve school polo that is a 50% polyester all summer if I didn’t stop her. She would also certainly suffer heat stroke if she did.

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We have to buy long sleeved dresses because it’s cold here. She’s very warm in general so she will wear short sleeves dresses even if it’s -20 out…

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