Renting snoo, tripp trapp high chair, bjorn bouncy chair, guava travel crib, uppababy minu (so light and easily foldable and great for travel, baby will need to be a few months old but you can get a car seat converter), skip hop travel changing pad (we just put this in a tote and don't need a specific "diaper bag").

When they're a few months old, I think the activity table is worth it (we have a skip hop one). And a bit later, those standing tower/ kitchen helper things are fabulous - I wish we knew about them earlier (my son tried one at a friend's house). And an outdoor water table.

Trip trap highchair.

Anonymous wrote:A Snoo is a ridiculous expense that is 100% worth it.

If you rent it, you get all the benefit for a fraction of the cost.

Or you can buy and if you take decent care of it, recoup a lot of the cost in resale. Because they are so pricy, there is a massive secondary market for used ones. They sell fast and usually for what people ask, unlike a lot of baby gear that can be hard to unload even if high quality.

Just don't break it.

A Snoo is a ridiculous expense that is 100% worth it.

Anonymous wrote:I think about things in terms of cost per use.

Uppababy Vista, Stokke Tripp Trapp - totally worth it. Built to last and used every day, multiple times per day.

Yup both those things are worth the hype.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of the kind of “non essential essentials” here are mine.

The trip trap chair is worth it.

The expensive strollers are worth it, but you can buy used.

A bucket infant seat with a base in the car is worth it imo. The Chico KeyFit is good.

For me, a video monitor is worth it.

Blackout shades are worth it. You don’t need them until later.

Pack and play or equivalent is worth it, but you don’t need any of the attachments and doodads.

Just want to mention that these pop up on buy nothing all the time so you don’t even need to buy one! Also, co-signed: they’re great!

Just be careful of model - some have been recalled.

Anonymous wrote:The one baby gear category where I felt like everything we bought was worth it, and buying the "best" items is worth it, is baby carriers. I had four -- a K'tan (actually we had two because DH and I wore different sizes), a sling, a soft structured carrier, and a hiking backpack. It sounds crazy but we used all four a ton and I would get all four again because having the right carrier for each age and situation just made so many things easier -- maternity leave, vacations, the daycare run, you name it. I'm a carrier evangelist.

Meanwhile, I think strollers are kind of a dime a dozen and there is no platonic ideal stroller, and they take up so much space. The nice big ones that are really easy to push (we had a Cruz) also take up a ton of space and can be annoying to take anywhere outside your neighborhood. The nice travel strollers are super portable and lightweight (we had a Yoyo) but become unwieldy as your kid gets older and are less comfortable to push. So you wind up dedicating space to both and not loving either. I never loved our strollers.

Honestly, other than carriers, there was nothing I loved. I think a lot of baby gear is kind of a rip off. My best advice is that when you are selecting gear, value washability and get the pattern/design that is visually appealing to you because it has a genuine impact on your mood.

+1 love this post

I am one of the PPs but didn’t and to write how “meh” I am about all strollers and carriers because op didn’t ask what we don’t recommend, but since someone else went there, I totally agree that there is no perfect stroller. I have a Bugaboo Fox 2. I tested every popular strollers at all price ranges and got it because I found luxury strollers are sooo much easier to push. But it’s heavy, hard to fold, the seat is too shallow so i think toddler is uncomfortable, etc. Like PP my lightweight travel stroller has bad suspension and hard to push. Just get literally any stroller in your budget and take the good with the bad.

Anonymous wrote:Depends on your lifestyle and specific details

Suburban or urban or rural? (In city, stroller essential IMO—esp if you don’t have a car and/or don’t drive much—in suburbs not as much.)
Nanny or daycare or SAHP? (If SAHP, might be more likely to want a nice stroller or carrier for long walks to occupy the time.)
Assuming this is your first.. Do you plan to have more kids? (Might be worth it to get a more $$ high chair or stroller if multiple kids will use it)
What time of year will your baby be born? (If born in summer, you likely wont want to use a carrier as much outdoors cause it’s too hot to wear the baby)
Do you travel a lot? (Pack n play is not important unless you plan to travel and stay at people’s houses often. Even if you travel but just use hotels/Airbnbs, you don’t need a pnp because hotels and rental houses will have one so you don’t need your own. We had a pnp and kept it at my parents’ house since their house was the only place we used it.)

We are more minimalist and frugal than most here. Get things second hand on buy nothing groups or cheaply on FB marketplace or at consignment stores. Only things we bought new: car seat, crib mattress, bathtub, pacifiers and bottles.

Major +1 to this - you need to answer questions like these before I can advise you on gear. There is no "best" - there's only best for your lifestyle.

I would add to that list of questions - how much storage do you have, and what's your budget generally (obviously people want the best thing for the least cost, but there's a lot of gradients here). And what's your goal sleeping arrangement.

For us (city people, very limited storage space, planning for 3-4 kids (ended up with 3), nanny share, no car, some travel but not much, starting with a winter baby, some flexibility to register for mid-to-high $$ stuff, wanted the baby in the room with us and our cats for the first few months, and then in a crib in his own room):

-If you don't have a car, ChiccoFit2 is the car seat for your (unless you want to shell out for a Doona)

-No car, lots of public transit - City mini stroller. We ended up also getting a (used) Uppababy Vista once we had 2 under 2. We still use both all the time. If you're in the city, stroller is a place to really focus on, you'll get a ton of use out of it.

-Less is more on the baby containers - don't bother with those round bouncers, they're bad for baby. Look for bouncers or swings that fold flat for storage between babies. Also easy to get used ones for cheap.

-Stokke Tripp Trapp high chair. Worth every penny. Here's the thing - most baby stuff you're done with in the first year MAX, or you can just take it out when you need it. The high chair (and/or something like a booster) will be used 3-4 times a day for YEARS. The Stokke Tripp Trapp has a small footprint, looks nice, and grows with your child. We used it from 6 months to age 3, and then it went to the next baby. It's been a piece of furniture around our kitchen table for years and years. This is the best place to go high end, IMHO.

-Carriers are both baby AND parent specific. Hand me downs are great for this. We got a used K'Tan and a used Ergo. Get as many as you can and try them out. My first hated the K'Tan (and honestly, so did I, though other people loved it) but had reflux and needed to be held upright - we took him to the store to try a bunch and ended up with a mini baby Bjorn which he LOVED. Next one loved the K'Tan and wasn't a mini baby Bjorn fan, so I gritted my teeth and went with it. All my babies have loved the Ergo once they were bigger, and it was comfy for me until I was pregnant again (I think you can eventually move it to your back and carry like a five year old).

-With a cat, I'm a big fan of the Dream On My Karley bassinet. It has a mesh cover, so I didn't have to worry about a cat jumping in with the babies. It also folds flat, great for storage between babies. We're on baby #3 with it.

-SwaddleMe velcro swaddles. Swaddling with blankets is for suckers. Bring 'em to the hospital, use them from day one.

-Hatch Rest noise machine. Also has a night light and okay to wake clock function, which my older kids use.

-Get good black out curtains and do whatever you need to do to keep the light out of baby's room.

-Definitely get a video monitor, especially if you're moving the baby out of your room or sleep training on the early side.

-Especially for city dwellers or anyone taking public transit a lot - get a backpack diaper bag. When I had two under two, I could wear the baby on my front, the back pack on my back, push the stroller, then get the toddler out of the stroller, do the one hand fold, and get on the bus.

Mountain Buggy Nano stroller. Great for travel, never had to gate-check (fits in overhead or under seat).

Baby carriers were super important for us too because i walked everywhere and disliked the bulkiness of strollers for walks - I used the Infantino Together for a newborn and Lillebaby for older baby.

Depends on your lifestyle and specific details

Suburban or urban or rural? (In city, stroller essential IMO—esp if you don’t have a car and/or don’t drive much—in suburbs not as much.)
Nanny or daycare or SAHP? (If SAHP, might be more likely to want a nice stroller or carrier for long walks to occupy the time.)
Assuming this is your first.. Do you plan to have more kids? (Might be worth it to get a more $$ high chair or stroller if multiple kids will use it)
What time of year will your baby be born? (If born in summer, you likely wont want to use a carrier as much outdoors cause it’s too hot to wear the baby)
Do you travel a lot? (Pack n play is not important unless you plan to travel and stay at people’s houses often. Even if you travel but just use hotels/Airbnbs, you don’t need a pnp because hotels and rental houses will have one so you don’t need your own. We had a pnp and kept it at my parents’ house since their house was the only place we used it.)

We are more minimalist and frugal than most here. Get things second hand on buy nothing groups or cheaply on FB marketplace or at consignment stores. Only things we bought new: car seat, crib mattress, bathtub, pacifiers and bottles.

The one baby gear category where I felt like everything we bought was worth it, and buying the "best" items is worth it, is baby carriers. I had four -- a K'tan (actually we had two because DH and I wore different sizes), a sling, a soft structured carrier, and a hiking backpack. It sounds crazy but we used all four a ton and I would get all four again because having the right carrier for each age and situation just made so many things easier -- maternity leave, vacations, the daycare run, you name it. I'm a carrier evangelist.

Meanwhile, I think strollers are kind of a dime a dozen and there is no platonic ideal stroller, and they take up so much space. The nice big ones that are really easy to push (we had a Cruz) also take up a ton of space and can be annoying to take anywhere outside your neighborhood. The nice travel strollers are super portable and lightweight (we had a Yoyo) but become unwieldy as your kid gets older and are less comfortable to push. So you wind up dedicating space to both and not loving either. I never loved our strollers.

Honestly, other than carriers, there was nothing I loved. I think a lot of baby gear is kind of a rip off. My best advice is that when you are selecting gear, value washability and get the pattern/design that is visually appealing to you because it has a genuine impact on your mood.

Kyte sleep sacks are worth the money. They're great quality and last a while because they're very long. They have a semi-annual sale where you can get them 40% off, so keep an eye out.

Cruz is considerably smaller so if it is for 1 kid (vs two close in age) I’d recommend it over the Vista. Nothing match the Vista as a double stroller though.

The Cruz can be fitted with the standing attachment but the time frame for that is short

Any thoughts on uppababy Cruz vs Vista?

Ollie swaddles! Some people hate them because of the industrial strength velcro. YMMV.