Registering for bottles/diapers/etc help needed!

[muirhejs]

Hi everyone,

My wife and I just started registering at BRU for our first, due at the end of May. We are absolutely overwhelmed! We spent at least an 1 1/2 hours just in the first section!

A few questions for all of you:

* Should we register for bottles? We think it's generally a good idea (our friends have recommended Dr. Brown's), but we have also read that the baby may not like specific kinds of bottles. We don't want someone to end up wasting their money on bottles our baby may not like. My wife, Christina, is planning on breast-feeding if she can.

* Same goes for diapers. We've heard that having people bring diapers to the baby shower is great, but is this something we should wait on and see if our baby likes a specific kind?

* Should we register for a sterilizer? How do you sterilize nipples? Christina's sister uses the dishwasher sometimes; sometimes she uses a bowl of hot water, and we also see all these sterilizers available to register for.

I'm sure we will have many many more questions as we go. We appreciate all of the advice!

Thanks!

[Radosti]

We registered for bottles for DS and ended up using them. He loves his Playtex drop-is. But, we did try a number of other bottles/nipples and he hated them all. Had to stick with Playtex drop ins with latex nipples. Go figure.

We did not use a sterilizer. The outer bottles as well as all of our glass breastmilk storage bottles got washed in the dishwasher. The nipples got washed in hot soapy water. That was it. I think formula is a completely different ball of wax. Breastmilk has immune properties, so we weren't as worried.

[deannanb]

I would register for the newborn diapers - those came in handy when I ran out of the supply from the hospital. I used both Huggies and Pampers swaddlers (newborn) - ended up using Pampers in larger sizes.

size 1 is too big for a newborn.

- I'm assuming you were talking about disposable diapers and not cloth.

I did register for 2 packages of Gerber "cloth" diapers - which I used as burp cloths -


My suggestion is to read the different boards here - it will help you get a better idea of what you need and don't need. That is how I found the best advice.

HTH

[SnuggleBuggles]

Bottles- I would look to bottles not made out of #7 plastic (which includes Dr. Brown's and Avent). They contain a chemical in them that can be dangerous. More info here (as well as safe alternatives) on the "Baby Bargains'" blog:
http://baby411.typepad.com/babybargains/2007/08/consumer-alert-.html

I wouldn't go crazy buying/ registering for a ton of any one kind of bottle. I am expecting any day now and I have 1 Playtex bottle, a 10 pack of drop in liners and 2 nipples. I will be breastfeeding so I just don't think I need to have more bottle stuff around. It's not like someone can't go to the store after the baby is born. :)

Diapers- ask for gift cards instead. You never know what brand you'll like or how big baby will be at birth. If you do get a bunch of diapers keep them sealed so you can exchange or donate them later if necessary.

Sterilizer- I wouldn't bother. A dishwasher is supposed to be good enough. I usually boiled things though. Believe me, the less baby crap you have to store between kids the better, imo. :)

Have you read the book yet? It really helped me the 1st time out. Happy shopping and congratulations!

Beth

[o_mom]

I would wait and see on the bottles - maybe buy one or two of the kind you would pick first. I have an embarrassing amount of bottles and three kids who hardly used them. We only used them to store breastmilk that they never drank other than DS1 for a few weeks when he was a slow gainer.

Diapers I would get one small pack of newborn size and one of the next size. You will get some from the hospital and then the one at home should get you through a week. Many babies outgrow that newborn size in the first week or two anyway (some never use it) so you don't want to be stuck with a bunch and you don't know what you will like. I would suggest trying some of the generics - Target, Walmart, etc. - as many people find them just as good or better than the expensive ones.

The sterilizer is actually something I used more than the bottles. I had thrush with all three kids and I used it to sterilize the pump and anything else they came in contact with. I used the Avent microwave one and it was very easy.

[muirhejs]

Thanks everyone for your great feedback so far!

"Have you read the book yet? It really helped me the 1st time out. Happy shopping and congratulations!"

We got the book about 6 months ago (latest version). It has been one of our main sources of information when it comes to making sure we are getting the right baby stuff. As I'm sure you can agree, it is incredibly dense though!

I think we will probably pass on the sterilizer.

My wife won't even consider trying generic diapers (I think that *trying* them would be ok) & she thinks we may be too exhausted for one of us to go out and pick up bottles.

Christina's sister has volunteered some of her Avent & Dr. Brown bottles; we'll just have to buy the nipples, so that should answer that question!

Thanks!

- John

Read our Blog at http://thenewparents.blogspot.com !

[bubbaray]

You might want to research the Avent/Dr. Brown's bottles -- they are the yucky plastic that a lot of people are outright chucking.

In any event, if your wife is planning on BFg, I wouldn't register for bottles. Sure, grab a few (of the OK plastic or glass) yourselves (1-2 would be fine to start, particularly if you go with the drop in liner kind). But, if you register, you'll get a ton and you may not need them at all, KWIM?

FWIW, neither of my DDs took a bottle -- and we tried EVERY brand out there. Seriously. Some BF infants just refuse bottles. I ended up with a huge box of bottles and they were a complete waste of money.

As for diapers, we are a Pampers house (that brand works best for my girls), but a lot has to do with fit. Grab one pack of Huggies newborn and one pack of Pampers newborn. That will get you through the first day (LOL!). Then you can figure out which you like best.

I never used a sterilizer, I just boiled the bottles before trying them. Ditto with the pacifiers (that my girls also rejected) and my pump (which I hated).

A bottle drying rack is handy to have, though. And, a dishwasher cage for all the "bits" is very handy too.

BTW, you won't be too tired to go out and get stuff, at least for the first week. You (moreso than your wife) will be running on adrenalin. The real fatigue doesn't hit you until you've not slept for 6m (or 3 years, but I digress).

Good luck!

Melissa

DD#1: 04/2004

DD#2: 01/2007

[o_mom]

I would also avoid the Avent/Dr Browns bottles - search for info on BPA and baby bottles. Even the Fields (BB authors) no longer recommned them. Having 2-3 new ones should be fine.

In all honesty, if she really wants to breastfeed, then you shouldn't introduce a bottle before 3 weeks old at the very least and more like 4-6 weeks. Yes, some people have and didn't have problems, but it is a real possibility that the baby can develop a bottle preference and cause problems with breastfeeding.

[crimsonowl]

I would skip the sterilizer and rely on a combo of your dishwasher and the Medela Steam-Sterilizing Microwave bags (which you can buy at BRU or Target --- they come in packs of 5, and each bag can be used 20 times). I loved these bags for the convenience of quickly sterilizing nipples, pacifiers, and breast pump parts.

And I agree, skip the Dr. Brown's and Avent bottles. Go with glass, or the Medela breastmilk storage bottles, or the Born-Free brand, which you can purchase at Whole Foods.

I do think it is a good idea to have 3-4 bottles available, though. I breastfed for 15 months, but my daughter didn't latch for the entire first month (she had a number of unexpected health issues), which meant that I was pumping and bottle-feeding her breastmilk for that entire first month. I hadn't purchased bottles in advance, which necessitated an emergency run to BRU. Not a huge deal, but one less thing you want to have to worry about!

Register for, and buy diapers. Really, babies don't have a strong preference about diapers. Sure, some brands may fit your baby better than others, but most people have great luck with Pampers Swaddlers.

Good luck!

[HHCs Mom]

Don't buy too many diapers as people will give those as gifts. Keep any gift receipts for the diapers since you'll figure out very quickly which brand you like and which fits your baby best. All of my friends used and loved Huggies so those are what we used first. DS1 blew out of EVERY SINGLE Huggies diaper he had on his bottom. They just didn't fit him right. Switched to Pampers and never a problem since! Same thing with DS2 --- we used some gift Huggies and he blew out of them all, which I expected after the experience with DS1. Started using Pampers with him and zero problems. Also, some babies can wear store brand dipes and others can't. It's all about experimentation but honestly if you find a brand that works and doesn't leak, you're hesitant to try anything else! :)

We love and still use Pampers. Love the Swaddlers and I was sad when we had to move out of them and into the Cruisers. :)



Kim
~ mama to a sweet boy named Harrison ~ April 2004
...and Davis ~ born May 2007!

[BeachBum]

Just wanted to ditto this info about breastfeeding. If she is nursing you wont need bottles except for when she pumps. My pump came with a few bottles and that is what we used. I never needed any other types.
If she is going back to work immediately, then I agree you'll need some. But still I would just experiment on my own with bottle types.

I also wanted to echo this info about the #7 plastic.

I also agree with the sanitizing bags. The brand we used were Medela.

As for diapers I wouldn't register for them. That is one of those things people will just buy or they wont. I would grab a pack or two for yourselves and be done.

[vonfirmath]

Our first was born in August

Having it to do over: I would not register for any of the above. (unless you are cloth diapering. Oh and one package of birds eye diapers to use as burp cloths is good.)

We registered for bottles, got the bottles we were registering for. And have never used any of them for anything other than storing milk. When we had problems breastfeeding adn went to the lactation consultant, they had specific recommendations as to which bottles to use, we bought one of those (have bought more since) and are using those now.

[Bean606]

Congratulations!

I recommend registering for just one of several different types of bottles until you see which kind your child likes. If your wife is going to BF and pump, you might want to make sure they are compatible with whatever pump she uses.

As for diapers, if you are a member of BJs or Costco, I have found that our Costco diapers are better than any Pampers or Huggies that we used in the beginning. But I think it depends on your baby's shape and size, so again, might want to register for small quantities of different brands until you know what works for you.

In general, unless your baby is a preemie or has medical issues, my ped. said a sterilizer is unnecessary, and in fact, many things can't be put into it, so it may be a money and space waster.

Good luck!

[brittone2]

Agreeing w/ the PPs. If your wife is planning on BFing, I'd probably pick up 1-2 bottles at most to start. I also agree w/ avoiding the ones containing polycarbonate (will be labeled #7 on the bottom) like Avent and Dr. Browns. I also agree with the PP that said some babies just won't take a bottle. DS was like that. He would literally swat at the thing and *hated* it, even if it was DH feeding him and I wasn't around. He never really learned to take a bottle, and we just eventually dropped the issue as I was a SAHM and there was no reason he *had* to take a bottle. I registered for a few initially, but I'm glad I didn't shell out a lot of money! With DD, I never even tried a bottle, LOL.

Ditto the diaper comments. I might have a few packs on hand, but don't go crazy. I thought we'd love pampers, and of course, Huggies fit DS much, much better as luck would have it. And then 3 weeks into things, we switched to cloth, which I didn't anticipate. DS never tolerated any baby wipes when he was a young infant. The "gentle"/"newborn"/"sensitive" ones all bothered his little bum, so we started using cloth wipes, and then moved onto cloth dipes. Again, I would not have anticipated wipes being a problem, but pretty much every store bought wipe was an issue for him. We eventually had good luck w/ generic dipes when we needed them for backup.

Personally, we registered for a lot of stuff we never used, so I'd urge you to not overdo it. For example, we barely used our swing w/ either kid, and barely used our PNP. Everyone's mileage varies in those departments, but once your kid arrives, you start to realize they sometimes have some very strong preferences, LOL. Oh yeah, and our crib was pretty much never used w/ either kid, LOL. We all did much better w/ cosleeping, which I didn't necessarily plan on while pg. So be open to surprises ;)

Good luck! You'll do just fine :)

[rgors]

You've received a lot of good responses already, but I'll add my voice...

- Bottles, don't register, just get a couple if your wife will BF primarily. That said, the most commonly recommended bottle for a nursing mom is the Playtex drop-ins -- the "slow flow" of their nipple line is VERY slow which encourages the baby to favor the boob. This is a good thing. So if you decide to try Playtex, you could register for the drop-ins.

You should also read about BPA / plastic #7 via the links provided here and determine if you are comfortable with re-using your SIL's avents and dr browns. My best friend gave me her old avents but I decided not to use them. She is actually planning to switch bottles for her next baby to avoid BPA.

- Diapers, why won't your wife try generics? We calculated that for the first year, the generic diapers would cost us about $350 while the pampers/huggies would cost us about $1200 (I forget the exact numbers but the difference was almost 4x). Generic diapers do come with cute prints and such. As other posters have said, you just can't predict which brand will fit your baby best. Pampers fit us best, but store brand fits us second best and it's not worth the difference in cost (except with DD is sick with horrid diarrhea -- we use pampers then as they fit her about an inch higher up the back -- and that inch makes a HUGE difference on blowout days :) )

- Sterilizer, skip. I bought one, I used it, and then I stopped using it. Now it takes up space in my closet. It really was an unnecessary step when we had a dishwasher which was clearly sufficient. Ours even has a "sanitizing rinse" which is extra-hot (not that we use it all that often).

[Melanie]

Congratulations! I think we spent 3 hours at BRU on our first registering trip, and I came back again without my husband.

>* Should we register for bottles? We think it's generally a
>good idea (our friends have recommended Dr. Brown's), but we
>have also read that the baby may not like specific kinds of
>bottles. We don't want someone to end up wasting their money
>on bottles our baby may not like. My wife, Christina, is
>planning on breast-feeding if she can.

I think that if your wife wants to Breastfeed it is most important to go into it with the attitude of she CAN do it! 95% of all breastfeeding pairs can successfully nurse if given the proper help. Along these lines I'd contact local Lactation Consultants NOW and find out who can help in your area. Even just finding this information when you ahve a newborn can be overwhelming so if there is someone she's already spoken to and has the number handy, it's very valuable. Many people get off to an easy start, I didn't and I waited 3 weeks before doing anything which meant it took over a MONTH to get back on track (with the help of the Lactation Consultant). Even if your insurance doesn't cover her fee, it's a drop in the bucket if you compare it to the costs associated with formula feeding. Also, you are her biggest cheerleader and helper! Please, never ever ever question her or put doubt in her mind when it comes to nursing. I could have never done it without my husband who never ever waivored. AND, to fall off my rickety soapbox and actually answer your question, if you want to have bottles on hand, the wider the latch-on point the better for breastfeeding babies. Check some breastfeeding websites or ask the LC for what they recommend. Also, it was recommended to me, too late with #1, to wait until you have 3 weeks of SUCCESSFUL exclusive breastfeeding before introducing a bottle. I didn't, and ouch that made it worse.

>
>* Same goes for diapers. We've heard that having people bring
>diapers to the baby shower is great, but is this something we
>should wait on and see if our baby likes a specific kind?

Sure, but if you are going with disposables (time for lingo: "sposies") they don't all fit all babies well. I'd register for a package or two of each brand in newborn and size one. The hospital will have a brand for you to use, too. Whatever you don't end up using, a local shelter or crisis pregnancy center will be grateful to get from you. Don't forget the wipes! The less scent the better. Baby's nose is so new to the world, that all those nasty scents in everything (don't get me started on "Dreft") can just cause problems.

Congratulations!!