SWINGS, BOUNCERS AND STUFF THAT TAKES UP SPACE

I have a bunch of friends who are pregnant right now. They are either having their first or their third. The "newbies" have asked me what sort of gear do you need for the little bambino. Sometimes there is a problem with space... what do you REALLY need and how can we save on space since the place is small. Well.... that is a pretty tough question since these kids take up so much room in the house. If you come over to my house it looks like a Fisher-Price/Graco bomb exploded. We were okay for a little while but now that we have our third, all the baby gear has come out and has taken over the living room, dining room, bedrooms and bathrooms.

When I first registered back in 2006, I swear everything on the market was Aquarium themed. For some reason I have the FP Aquarium bouncer, travel swing, big swing, crib soother. I remember that I had to have everything match. No idea why. Now, I just want what's best and I don't care if it clashes. My nursery doesn't totally match any more. I have gotten rid of most of the original decorations that were in my oldest's room. Now, we are just looking for what takes up the LEAST amount of space and what works.

We have alot of gear. Travel swing, big swing, several bouncy seats, high chair, tummy time mats, bumbo seat, rocker seat, 2 pack n plays, travel booster seat, hook on chair for table, back pack baby carrier, Moby Wrap sling, Baby Bjorn. Did we need it all?? Well, no. Probably not. The problem is in our past two houses, we had two floors that we used regularly (well this house we have three) and we needed gear on each floor. I did NOT want to carry a bouncy seat up the stairs. Not gonna happen. It was bad enough I had to carry the baby, I can't handle carrying the seat too.

1. I need a bouncy seat in the master bathroom.
2. You have to figure out if your child has the head control to be in a certain seat... meaning, there is a FP Aquarium bouncer seat that my child could not be in right after birth.... she did not have the head control, she would just flop over. Not a good thing.
3. How many rooms do you have in your house? Do you have alot of room?


Big Swing
One thing that I use daily... probably the most used piece of equipment in my house is the big swing. I know several mothers who never used their swing. I remember my first bean sleeping in there for about 4 hours at a time. I was so tired for her being up all night. She would go down for her first nap of the morning and I would just keep her in there and sleep on the couch. If the swing stopped, the baby woke up. So I kept the swing going. I think we used that swing more after we had more than one kid. It was my spare set of hands. Even now, while I am typing this and watching re-runs of NCIS, my youngest bean is in the swing.... cooing and hanging out. She will fall asleep soon. Our big swing is great. Its kind of this one. The only difference is ours is an aquarium pattern. Now, they mostly have "cradle swings" which are rounder. This is one of the newer versions.

These swings are nice because you can put a little baby in it. Our version was great too but the mini baby was pretty small going in there. The newer versions might be a little more comfy. Either way, I recommend that a big swing is key. They are expensive but worth it!!!

Bouncers
We have two bouncers. One we keep in the upstairs master bathroom, the other one we keep downstairs, either in my husbands den or the main living space. My hubby usually does the "lateshift" with the peanut so he keeps her in the seat until she goes to bed at night for the last time.
Our BEST seat is a wonderful papasan seat.

The reason I love this is right out of the gate she could go in it. The downside is that she won't be able to be in it for as long as the other ones. Another problem is you may not be able to find it very easily these days, but think about this one:

FP Newborn to Toddler Rocker. This would also be great right out of the gate. Newborns look pretty comfy.

Our papasan lays a little flatter than this one, but I think that FP replaced it with this:

This one is a little higher and it looks like the baby can be in it more than a few months. Ours I think the girls need to come out as soon as they start to wiggle. Which everyone you get, make sure they can use it right when they are born and not flop around.

As for a second seat, you should get a REAL bouncy seat. Bouncy seat is a term because the more they kick, the more the seat actually bounces and usually activates some sort of music or wheels or something. The more the music plays or the wheels spin, the more they kick etc. When my little bean wants to go to sleep but can't quite get there,  I put her in this one and she falls asleep.

FP Rainforest Bouncer

Of course, our bouncer was an aquarium bouncer. It played fishy music and there are bubbles. This one is a good one because it has rainfall "music". It will keep the baby entertained. In my opinion.. a lifesaver. Keeps the baby occupied so Mom can actually get a shower. 

Pack n Play and Sleepers

Everyone needs to have a pack n play. Or two. We have a full size one and a Pack n Play Lite. Not sure why we registered for the second one but it has come in handy. The Pack n Play Lite is just a smaller version. It takes smaller sheets. We keep that one downstairs right now and the bigger one... well we haven't broken that one out yet with this baby but previously it was in the master bedroom. We have take it on many trips. The girls used it until they were 2+. We got the Graco one. Everyone needs to have at least one of them. They are pretty sturdy. I recommend you get the QUILTED SHEETS. As you will find out, those sheets are not soft. They are crunchy even if you wash them a million times. I would NOT recommend the regular sheets made by Graco. QUILTED. GET QUILTED. 

We received a wonderful present for our third baby. It's a FP ROCK N PLAY SLEEPER. This has changed my life. The smallest peanut has slept THROUGH THE NIGHT at 7 weeks old in this thing. 

Our youngest has been in this since she came home from the hospital. I know she should be in her crib but she just does so well in this thing. I got the SNUZZLERto put in it. It's an accessory that you can put in a car seat (I don't recommend since it alters the crash rating of a car seat) or a stroller. She is still in it. It makes it a little more comfy for her and keeps her snug. Just a tip, use the colored side up with the Snuzzler. There is a piece of velcro at the head and it doesn't scratch the kids head if its colored (our side is black) side up - you will see what I mean when you get it. I am going to make this gift my go-to shower gift. The Sleeper. Every parent should have one. Our little one sleeps in her own room but with this. If you breastfeed you could just put this next to your bed. How great is that. Very portable. We already took it on a few trips.


The only other thing I can recommend is a JUMPEROO!!!!

Starting at 4 -6 months the child will jump jump jump themselves until they are tired. Great lifesaver. You can also do a stationary exersaucer. We have both. Again, start thinking of how many floors you have and how much room. We had the room and people went crazy getting us stuff, so we had both. I love the Jumperoo. They also make a Jolly Jumper which is a doorway jumper but we didn't have door frames in our first house so that didn't work. We went with the stationary one. Love it. If you can get both, get both. After a while, they get tired of the jumperoo and cry, so you can try the Exersaucer. Doesn't really matter what brand... Evenflo makes a good one too.

That's enough on the gear. I could go on for hours, but that should do you for a bit.

Happy baby thoughts:)