Baby gear is for adults

I love baby gear.

The pretty colours.

The nice design.

The variety.

Swings and cribs and bouncers and jumperoos...

Carriers and travel systems.

Yum!

Those things are too cute.

Of course, the baby doesn't care a bit about the pictures on her infant seat.

Or about the pattern of her fitted sheets.

She couldn't care less if she 's dressed in blue or even black. If her hat matches her socks and sweater.

If her diapers have nice little Sesame Street characters on them

Me on the other hand?

My brain short-circuits at the sight of a decently priced playpen.

Not to mention when seeing a nice little outfit with flowers.

Flowers AND ribbons? Yes, please, now we are talking.

I  might not be able to choose my baby's temper.

How and when she sleeps.

If she'll be a good eater or not.

But I can sure as heck dress her in a cute outfit.

And nothing can stop me! (Except the terrible twos, probably).

I can make her room the way I want to with all the nice little stickers and toy boxes and organizers.

You just can't have enough organizers and baskets.

Most of the stuff we bought for Loud Baby is second-hand.

And most of it was a success.

Here's my top 5 also known as the life-savers during the first year:

1. Carriers (an Infantino and Moby Wrap to start with and graduating to an Ergo Baby which is still in use).

2. The jumperoo (Loud Baby loved it; we even took it on vacation with us).

3. The bouncer (it was both a napper and a place to play with Loud Baby).

4. The playpen (it has two wheels; good for practically everything).

5. A white noise machine (which is also a projector, a nightlight and a lullaby playing piece of machinery that is awesome in covering up any outside noises and turns into a great toy later on).

Plus 3 things that were a failure:

1. The Bumbo seat (Loud Baby was not a big fan of this one; bought it on craigslist, sold it on craigslist for the same price 2 months later)

2. A super awesome 3 direction cradle-swing with floating lambs and nature music and more bla bla.

The story behind this one is that at one point, I was having a lot of trouble  with getting Loud Baby to nap.

Once when we were on a playdate, I put her in the cradle-swing  which belonged to her little friend.

Within 5 minutes she was asleep.

"Must. Get. Swing" me thought.

So I did.

And she hated it. Fiercely.

Thank God for craigslist.

3. A playmat

It was ok, I guess. It just wasn't that much of a big deal. Loud Baby would probably use it for maybe 10 minutes a day.

So all this stuff for babies...they don't really need it.

They need mom and (occasionally) dad.

But it just might make a parent's life easier if the little one is entertained for a bit until you pay a bill or two.

Still, it really doesn't need to be all colour coordinated and brand new anyway.

One more thing.

Never ever buy something because of the picture on the box.

That scenario is not going to happen.

Baby playing peacefully in the playpen while dad is reading a book on the couch while wearing a clean white shirt and everything around is spotless.

Aha. Sure.

Try: baby plays in the playpen for a bit, the carpet is filled with toys and possibly puree stains, dad or, more likely-mom, in her pajamas is eating something from a frozen-food container while trying to pick up laundry from here and there.

Until: whaaa!

Next: improvise.

No baby gear will do that for you.

You can have the fanciest crib/co-sleeper/bassinet and the baby will most likely sleep on you for the first few months.

The more you spend on something, the more she'll hate it.

But you can still get the stuff just for fun. It does look nice in the photos :)