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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
stroller or no stroller??
Hey guys, I really need help.
My mother in law wants to buy my husband and I a stroller/carseat travel system. But I honestly cannot see myself using a stroller! I just would carry my baby around and when she is too big, she can walk. I mean, I can imagine going clothing shopping and using a stroller, but that's it!!
It would be almost $350 after tax and I just don't know if I'd use it.
How often do you really use your stroller and for how long (months to years)?
PLEASE HELP!!
Also, do I really need a crib? Or will the baby sleep with me and my husband? We have a queen bed but we both are bed hogs and I love heat and he likes it cold, I am worried we'd smash her or make her too hot/too cold. What do you think?
Re: stroller or no stroller??
My son is 13 months. We used the stroller a little when we went to the zoo when he was a couple of months old. I keep the stroller in my car and honestly, we barely use it. We have three strollers - a jogging stroller that I keep at home (and probably gets the most use!), the travel system stroller that stays in the car, and an umbrella stroller someone gave us that I hate and need to ditch for one I'd actually use so I can ditch the travel system stroller.
Your baby will get heavy, and your arms will get tired. I use various baby carriers to wear him (on my front, hip, or back) and that's what we use for ins-and-outs to the store or for short walks or even trips to the zoo.
There's a lot of different types of baby carriers, if you're interested in that kind of thing. You can see some here: http://www.theslingstation.com/ or join the forums here: http://www.thebabywearer.com (where you can also purchase used carriers from other mamas - which is definitely a more cost efficient route). When L was teeny tiny, I liked my Moby and my peanut shell. I still use the peanut shell for hip carries but stopped using the moby by 20 lbs. I have a couple of soft structured carriers with buckles that I do most of my extended carrying in now and plan on purchasing a woven wrap eventually.
Some parents really get their babies to sleep in cribs. It depends a lot on your personality and your baby's personality. I had every intention of putting Lukas in a crib to sleep, but he slept in our bed from day 1. It was easier to care for him when recovering from a c-section, it's made nighttime nursing sessions really easy, and my husband has only been kept up a couple of nights in the last year and that was because of teething baby or sick baby. Co-sleeping has been perfect for us. The crib gets some use, though. We sidecarred it to our queen bed and Lukas will sleep part of the night, most nights, in his own space. (This isn't my webpage, but it's a good example of sidecarring: http://www.freewebs.com/sidecarcrib/index.htm ) When we move we might put a twin bed next to the queen so Lukas can have more of his own space.
I wear my son a lot but I also use my stroller almost as often. For me, both a baby carrier and a stroller are a must. Only you know what works best for you but I cannot imagine carrying my child everywhere past about a year- too heavy. And I think it's impractical to assume a toddler is going to walk everywhere.
A crib is a must as well unless you are planning on bedsharing for a couple of years until you can put the child in a toddler or twin size bed. We currently bedshare as it's the only way to get DS to actually sleep at night, but we are working on getting him to sleep in his crib. We have a Cal King bed- I wouldn't be comfortable in a smaller bed with the baby in it.
I can't imagine not having a stroller. We didn't have the travel system though. We used a Chicco infant carseat with a snap and go stroller. BEST thing ever invented! Once she got too heavy for me to move out of the car in her carseat (from the center seat of a Ford Explorer) we moved her to a Britax Marathon and used her Peg Perego stroller. Once the Peg Pergo broke (damaged on our trip to Ireland last April) we bought a Chicco stroller. We use it almost everytime we go out. Sarah's super-active so it's a good way of keeping her with us. She's 24 pounds and just too heavy to wear plus, she hated being "worn" by us...even as an infant.
As far as a crib goes, we did not co-sleep. We had her in a bassinett (sp?) next to the bed for 8 weeks then moved her to a crib in her room. Since she didn't like to be swaddled she would move in her sleep, hit the side of the bassinett and it would scare her. We ALL slept better when she moved to her crib. If you're limited on space, you could always get a Pack and Play. BTW, DH and I have a queen bed and there's just not enough room for the 3 of us in the bed.
I used a snap and go stroller a lot in the very beginning, but now I mostly wear DD in my ergo baby carrier when I go shopping. I use my jogging stroller for runs and occasional longer trips out and about. I think when DD gets bigger we will probably use the stroller more. Toddlers get tired and don't always want to walk so that is something you need to consider. You probably don't need to to get a stroller right away and can wait and see how it goes to see what you truly need.
We started bedsharing (not by choice but by necessity). We have a queen bed and DH ended up sleeping on the couch. He had a hard time sleeping with her in the bed because he was not comfortable and we both didn't have a lot of space. If we had a king, then maybe we would have continued longer. We moved her into her crib a month ago and it is actually for us so much better. You will have to decide what is best for your family. There are cosleepers that you can get. It is a bassinet that attaches to your bed so that the baby sleeps next to you but still has his own space. They can't sleep in that forever, but that is an option. Had I known we would bedshare in the beginning I would have gotten a cosleeper rather than a bassinet.
I think that both a stroller and a crib are essential.
I used a baby Bjorn and the sling alot, but now that he's bigger I don't. And yes he walks, but not ready to just be on his own yet. We use the stroller on walks, Disneyland, shopping, etc.
As for a crib, he can't sleep with us forever and we all sleep better with him in there.
I am a baby-wearer who loves all of her strollers. There are times when she was little that it was too hot to wear her or it was inconvenient for some other reason. Now that she's 2, she doesn't want to go up in a carrier and refuses to hold hands at times and a stroller is the only way to get around. It's a slow process letting her walk places. The stroller is also good for holding the diaper bag, snacks, drinks, etc. It's also great if she falls asleep in the car or for long trips out so she can nap comfortably.
Crib really matters on how you plan to sleep. We have a crib that NEVER got used. She was in a co-sleeper and moved from there to a twin day bed that we side-carred to our bed.