Best/ most fun gear for baby? Please help me narrow down what to buy!

[ourbabygirl]

(Sorry Mods, just wanted to start this here for hopefully more traffic)

DC3 is due this winter, and since I thought we were done after our second, I gave away or sold almost all of our baby gear (especially toys). I haven't had a baby in almost 5 years, so please help me determine what baby gear items are the best or most useful/ fun for baby? I pretty much need to buy everything again, but am hoping to get everything possible used. Don't know how many of my friends still have baby gear they could lend/ rent to me , so I'm assuming I'll be getting most at garage sales, Craig's List, and kids' consignment sales. I could probably ask for one or two things from my parents for Christmas, if there are pricey things that I shouldn't buy used (I do have a non-drop-side crib from one of our kids, but will need to buy a new infant car seat). I'm also assuming, but not 100% positive (given this experience ) that this will be our last baby, so I want to make good use of our money- I don't know if this will get used again by us.

This is what we had before; please feel free to comment on if this is what you'd recommend, get something different, or skip it altogether:

(Not in order of baby's development):

*FP Jumperoo (both kids seemed to like this)

*Little Einstein-themed Exersaucer (both kids liked this o.k.)

*door frame Jump-and-go (like johnny jump-up)... not sure if we have enough door frames in this house to even get one- it's a very open floor plan

*Bumbo- both kids didn't like it much, so we didn't use it much

*Baby swing- had cheapie one with our first and baby didn't seem crazy about it. Bought a nice new one that rocked side-to-side and front-and-back for our second kid, but again baby #2 wasn't super into it- the person I sold it to got an awesome deal!

*Graco infant car seat.... I'm wondering if I should switch to Chicco or Britax, given the issues with Graco's buckle recall recently. They're all expensive, unfortunately. I would skip it and just get a convertible seat, but I do like being able to use the infant seat when baby falls asleep in the car, to tote him/ her inside, etc.

*had the FP (I think?) high chair that sits on top of a regular dining room chair and you buckle two sets of straps around the base. I liked how it was neutral, but may want to get an actual high chair this time, so we can keep the extra chair for adults. Any recommendations here?

*had two different 'play mats' that baby lays on to bat at the toys, look in the mirror, etc. Any recommendations for a good one here?

*Various toys, feeding accessories, etc.... any recommendations for things your kids have loved?

*Cloth diapers... I had a set of Bum Genius that I used off-and-on with both kids, but I wasn't crazy about them. Any other suggestions if I go this route at least part of the time?

I do have the new version of the BBB book that I've been reading, but also wanted to get your opinions.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[wifecat]

I'm in the same boat as you. We thought we were done and got rid of everything between 2 and 3, and now, I'm two weeks out from our induction date with #3. I have purchased some stuff, borrowed a TON from friends, and gotten some things off Craigslist/freecycle/a mom's list serv I'm on. Start asking around - it's amazing how many people haven't parted with their baby stuff yet.

This go round, we got a Joovy Kooper stroller, a bumbo, a rock n play (they didn't have this with my last kids - looks like it could be a nice soothing containment device), and a bouncer from one person who was moving and another who let me shop her basement. The handy thing about the basement friend is that she's saving stuff for another friend, so when I'm done, I can give it all back to her. Another friend gave us her crib and changing table/dresser. I bought an Ubi stainless steel diaper pail from Bloomingdales during a great sale.

My next door neighbor turned out to have a stash of 70 Bum Genius 4.0 diapers that were in excellent shape...that she gave to me. Score!

Neither of my kids used a playmat so I didn't try to acquire one.

Baby swing - I got one at Target for 70% off, which was less than what people were asking on Craigslist. Target has had some awesome baby bargains in the past 6 months, so definitely keep an eye out there for deals.

Infant seat - we skipped this with our 2nd and are skipping it with our 3rd as well (going straight to convertible).

I did buy some Aden & Anais swaddlers (the big ones) this time and they are so soft. I got a new Miracle Blanket, bought bottles because my kids want to try and feed the baby, and we made a wooden cosleeper modeled after the $350 one I spotted at a trendy baby site.

For toys, I tried to have less! We now have a Sophie, a Winkle, and a Lamaze Mortimer the Moose, which were our favorite toys with the other kids. A friend gave me some Haba wooden rattles, too.

I know my list seems huge, but this is SO much less than we had with the other kids, and we spent FAR less, too.

[gymnbomb]

DS is only 5 months old, but so far the things he likes to play with most are the FP jumperoo and activity mat we got from a friend and a Bright Starts toy that is a few fabric "pages" filled with crinkle material and "bound" with a handle meant to be chewed on. Gear I love would be my ergo, his Chicco infant seat, and the FP space saver high chair. Oh, and the video monitor! I thought that was an unnecessary splurge, and in a house with a different layout it may have been, but we have 2 floors plus a finished basement we use frequently and it has been very useful to me.

[basil]

Well, I'm only on #2…but things that my 10 week old likes are:
-FP rock n play: no idea why I never heard of this for my first! She sleeps really well in it and it is next to my bed sort of like a co-sleeper, but it was on the order of $40. Liked it so much I purchased another one for our vacation because I couldn't go a week without it.
-Various bouncy seats…we have one on each floor of our house now
-I have a few playmats from DS but they don't get much use cause I'm too nervous she will get trampled by DS or the dog running around, so prefer the seats, rocknplay, or swing
-I bought a new infant seat, a Graco Snugride 30. It was pretty inexpensive, $85 I think, has the new non recalled buckle, and it is lightweight. That's really all I look for in an infant seat since I switched DS to a convertible around 6 months and expect the same with DD.
-my big splurge was a double stroller, Valco Snap Duo, which I love and DH hates.
-my small splurge was a few Aden and Anais burp cloths/bib things…DD spits up a lot so is almost always wearing one of these. They are thick, have good coverage, keep her dry and are cute. And keep me (relatively) dry too!