One of the initial dilemmas of becoming a parent (or even earlier - as an expectant parent) is what gear do I get my kid? Everyone of your friends, mother's friends, mother-in-law's friends and perfect strangers will tell you that you 'have to have' this type of carrier, stroller, toy, or other piece of baby equipment. Don't fool yourself - it is equipment - it comes with instruction manuals, disclaimers, warranties, and safety features (usually making the equipment much harder to assemble and use). Notwithstanding the overwhelming amount of advice I received about all of the baby-gear, I still could not make a decision about the baby papoose - Bjorn? Ergo? Moby? So like any good undecided parent, I registered for all of them and decided that I would figure it out later. This was actually my first 'smart' move, that I later outsmarted myself on. Had I merely registered for all three, received all three and then gone to a friend to try out the gear before opening my own - I would have been certified as 'brilliant mommy' and could set up shop as my own mommy-think-tank. However, that was not the case.
I opened the carrier that I liked (the Moby) and was determined to have my kid love it as well. As you can imagine - he hated it, hates it still and yet because he barfed on it and I washed it - I am now stuck with a very handy, organic, baby-friendly piece of fabric that does nothing more than take up space in my already cluttered closet. The Moby is a sling like device that is one really long piece of fabric that can be wrapped around your body in many different styles to create several organic holds for baby and mommy. Jack can't stand it. Jack likes the Baby Bjorn (which I originally returned), despite the rumors that it is not as good for babies' hips as the Moby or the Ergo due to the way the baby's weight is supported - it is the contraption my kid likes, so it is the one that we use! He likes being able to face out and see what is going on. We are just starting to try to use the Ergo - which is much more comfortable for the parents, in my humble opinion, due to the way it spreads the babies' weight over both your hips and shoulders (not just shoulders like the Bjorn). Jack is warming up to the Ergo, and with multiple positions for the baby (front, hip and back) - we remain optimistic that this will work for the whole family.
So, as more friends of mine get pregnant and ask my advice on what gear I love and could not live without, my recommendation is this: try someone's first! save receipts for everything and find a mommy friend who will let you stick your kid in their gear to see what makes him/her scream and what soothes them. It will save you countless trips to Target, Babies R Us, and Wal-Mart trying out and returning all the different 'must have' baby contraptions!
I was lucky enough to have a dear friend, Leslie, let me come over and plop Jack in the various chairs, play-yard/gyms, and contraptions until I found ones that he liked (it happened to be the least expensive and one that I would never have picked out on my own). Mommy friends are invaluable and priceless - it is more important to pick them up than any of the gear on a registry.
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