A new Mom's search and recommendations on baby stuff

This might be a little lengthy (ok--REALLY lengthy), but I think might prove pretty helpful to those new Mom's out there.

First I want to say that something I really enjoy and find interesting is research. Online research is the best, but investigative research is great also. The reason why I am mentioning this is that when I was pregnant with Elodie I did a lot of research on the reviews of certain baby items. I did this through several websites, but found that Babies R Us and Amazon had the most reviews. I made sure to look at both the good and bad reviews of each item. If I couldn't find a review, I'd look on an online chatroom or board and get the info from there, sometimes having to post as an anonymous person to ask a question and get an answer.

We were given lots of advice from friends and family, and tips on this baby item or many gifts from our baby showers. Since this was our first child, we live in a small cottage for her first 4 months, we didn't want to go overboard on needless baby stuff, and we didn't require any frou frou or luxury items. we decide to just get the essential items that a newborn will need (i.e. bassinet, changing table, blankets, diapers, etc.), and then at a later time we can look at other stuff as we go along and learn.

So, I really paid attention to coupons and shopped around to get the best prices. True, I had to do quite a few trips back and forth with returns and exchanges, but in the end we ended up spending only a fraction of what we expected ($500 instead of $1500) for the essential items, as well as saved about $500 off these essential items by shopping around for the best deal (this meaning it would have normally cost us $1000, but with shopping around, we got the same items for $500-and I have the spreadsheet and receipts to prove it--lol).

On a side note, but just as important, I want to share with you the baby items that we have found to be so valuable and truly essential, those items that didn't come up to par, and the reasons why. I have put this in a Word Document, as so not to take up too much posting room. Click on the picture above and it will take you to this htm webpage.


Happy Baby time!
Jeyn