Second babies mean a little more knowledge and (hopefully) a lot less spending. But, with any new baby some shopping has to be done. Luckily, were were very gender-neutral with Avery in terms of gear, so we are set there except for a jogger which I've already picked out. Little boy bedding has already arrived, and I'm slowly working on some clothes. Poor Sam's wardrobe is a little slim! With Avery, we weren't given any hand-me-downs, but I had several showers. This time, no showers, and we've been offered a few hand-me-downs but not many. I still need to get the poor boy some clothes.
There are a few things we're replacing or doing differently, so I'd love some other mothers' opinions. The first is a monitor. We now have a traditional monitor, and I plan to keep a monitor in Avery's room. We have to get a new one regardless because these aren't holding a charge. I initially thought we'd go video, but there's a hefty price there. I also don't know if I'm the mom who needs to see her children all the time. I like to think that if all's quiet, all are asleep. In a two-story house, it will save me some steps though, I think. I like to have a monitor with 2 parent sets: one to leave plugged in by the bed, and one to charge as needed for around the house. There are very few video monitors that come with 2. Then there's the part for the child's room. There are no audio monitors that allow you to monitor 2 rooms with 1 system, as you can with an extra camera for the video type. For audio, I think I'd have to buy 2 complete systems and hope for no interference problems. For video, I know it will switch between rooms. I'm not paying for two video systems. Avery sleeps with white noise and Sam will as well, so hoping Sam's monitor will pick up Avery is out of the question.
So, with all that rambling done, I'd love to know what other mothers with 2 children using monitors are using. With video systems, how does it work monitoring between 2 rooms? And, if you have a video monitor that you've had good results with, please share. If we go in that direction, I'm leaning toward the Summer brand. Of course, the one with the best reviews is the one with the highest price.
The other thing we're switching up is bottles. Whether I BF or not, we'll use bottles at some point. Avery used the Playtex Drop-Ins with no problem, but we measured the formula with a measuring cup before each bottle since I didn't trust the liner measurements. I'd like to get rid of that step this time. I'm debating between the major brands right now: Dr. Brown's and Avent. I like that Avent has fewer parts, but reviews for leaking are terrible and they're kind of wide. Dr. Brown's has more parts, but the slender, traditional bottle packs better. Of course, there are many who prefer the wide-neck Dr. Brown. If you have experience with either of these, or another great brand that has measurements marked on the bottle, please let me know. I know a lot comes down to baby's preference as well, however, I didn't really give Avery a choice and she did fine.
Decisions, decisions and money, money! You think when you're not buying gear that you won't have so much to purchase. But there are all the nursery accessories that now need to be blue instead of pink. Plus, there's an extra crib, mattress, etc. for Avery. It's still lots of fun, and I'm enjoying it all, I just need to get shopping. Your trusted mom opinions are welcomed and greatly appreciated!
Park City Utah
4 years ago
7 comments:
New mom alert! LOL! But I will share what I know so far...we use Avent bottles and LOVE them! William has used them from the day we got home with no problems at all. I really don't have an issue with them leaking. Every now and then, when I am shaking it up, a little comes out but it's usually from me not putting things on tight enough haha!
We have a video monitor that we love! It's a Summer Infant baby touch color video. I'm pretty sure you can add cameras too, but no experience there haha. It works great so far and I can really see very well, especially in the day time when he's napping. You can also turn the video off and just be audio if you get tired of staring ;) When it's on the charger the video will stay on constantly, when off, it cuts off after a few min to save battery...but it can be turned back on with the touch of a button! Very easy to use I think!! Hope my rambling helps!
I only have one child, but I thought I would comment anyway. I have a video monitor that I loved for a few weeks when Gracie first moved into her own room, but to be honest, I don't even use the video portion of it anymore. For us, an audio monitor would have worked just fine, but if she was crying, I was going to go in there regardless, so I didn't necessarily need to see what she was doing. Also, we use the Avent bottles and love them. Gracie was never picky about her bottles, but Avent was my favorite because they were so easy to clean. I still BF her 2 x a day so I make sure when she does get a bottle, she uses a nipple with a slower flow so she doesn't get used to the fast flow and refuse to nurse
At first I thought I would REALLY want a video monitor, but we were cheap and didn't get one. I've never felt like I needed one, and I'm glad we saved the money. We use two entirely different monitors in the kids' rooms now (different brands even), and we just set one to channel A and one to B and it works fine. I don't know what we'll do when we add a third, because I still want one in Aubrey's room. As far as bottles, we used Avent, and I liked them. We didn't pack them a lot, though, so the size wasn't an issue for us :)
I guess that I am odd mom out because Avent bottles did not work with either of my kids. Henry loves the Breastflow bottle - it has a soft nipple inside the larger one. It is the only bottle that he will take.
We love out video monitor and could not live without it. I got it at Costco. It allows us to see and hear both kids at the same time. I like to see if Henry is asleep and make sure that Evie is not taking off her clothes. My favorite feature is the intercom that I can use to tell her to lay down etc.
Like, I told you my biggest blunder purchase was the double stroller. Such a waste of money! It makes me sick. Maybe I should use it more. We were given a double jogger and I love it!
Let me know where you find cute boy clothes because it is so hard. Henry has been hard to fit and is already wearing 9 month in many things since he is a chubby baby.
Firstyears Breastflow is the brandname. Sorry for leaving that part out.
Whit- I finally started using the Avent bottles and they've been fine. The only leaking is due to Davis not taking in as much of the nipple as he should, so it's not the bottle itself. They are wide but I've adjusted to that compared to the Dr. Brown Lindsey used. I do have a hard time reading the marks/lines on the Avent bottles when trying to figure out just how much is in there. Maybe I didn't read the instructions to figure it out.
Phillip really wanted a video monitor but due to price, we never bought one and now, I don't think we need one. But we also don't have a two-story house and Davis' room is just steps away from ours. I do like Jennifer's comment about the intercom and can see where that would come in handy.
Not a mom of two, but there's my thoughts.
Hey Whitney! We loved Avent bottles, yes, sometimes they leaked, but my husband discovered a neat little trick: if you make a bottle and it's leaky, take the top off/nipple out/ and run it under water, then put back together. It used to seal ours and stop the leak. I hated Dr. Brown's with a capital H, all those pieces (ugh!) and they did nothing to help with our reflux problems. Don't have any advice on monitors: we had cheapies and managed:) So exciting that your sweet little baby is on the way and the Christmas pics of Avery were precious!! Love that Gator;)
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