I have a compact stroller(graco breaze) and city select lux which I can use single or double(bench seat for my oldest) and 2 wagons. The compact one stays in my car and is used the most for day to day like school drop off/pick ups and running into a store/mall
my best advice is you really don’t need anything that’s insanely expensive if there’s reliable alternatives. i bought graco everything. i got a stroller from them for about $300 or so, it’s amazing. i live in nyc and walk everywhere, don’t even have a car, and it’s been lasting strong. it has room for storage so i can bring stuff when we’re going somewhere a little further away from home like to another borough, it’s not too heavy to pick up to walk up and down the stairs, and it’s great for walking on the bumpy sidewalk. i absolutely love graco so much. i bought a second super lightweight travel stroller with less storage space that’s even lighter to carry just because the graco stroller was cheap enough where i could get a second little cheaper stroller when i dont want to carry the heavier one.
as for bouncers, i got a free one secondhand that worked great and i got a gifted one that was roughly $50. my baby only ended up liking bouncers for a couple months. after he wasn’t a little newborn anymore around 4 months old, he hated bouncer or anything that constrained him or kept him trapped in one place. he likes to move lol. so i wouldn’t spend too much money on stuff until your baby is here and you see what they like. ESPECIALLY diapers omg i wish someone told me this!!!! my baby ended up with super sensitive skin and could only use one brand of diapers. we had so many diapers we had to return because they would give him hives.
clothes- you’ll most likely be gifted tons of clothes because people love to shop for baby clothes. once upon a baby, walmart, carters, there’s a lot of places with super cute really cheap baby clothes. also people are always giving away secondhand baby clothes on places like fb marketplace. i bought a few items that were a little more pricey that i really wanted, and then the rest i was gifted or got secondhand, or bought from places like the ones i listed. my baby had enough clothes he wore a lot of the newborn size, 0-3 months, 3-6 months clothes 1 or maybe 2 times because they grow so fast. he was in sizes 6m, 6-9m, 9m, 12m the longest so far. i also ended up with baby clothes in the wrong season for the size (or wrong size for the season?) because they don’t fit in the size that’s their age lol so i had 3-6m winter clothes when he was actually in 3-6m during the hottest months of the summer.
i invested in a good baby carrier because i baby wear and walk everywhere, but even then i spent around $40 on it and didn’t get the expensive name brand ones. the one i have i absolutely loveeee and it wasn’t one of those $200 carriers. no hate to anyone who gets them, i wish i could afford it! but i’m on a budget and the cheaper one works great for me.
my car seats were graco as well! they’re great i got an infant travel seat and a convertible car seat.
basically, don’t spend tons of money on items before the baby is here and you don’t know what your baby is going to like or prefer, and don’t feel the need to get name brand items or expensive items if you’re on a budget because there’s reliable affordable options. baby stuff is expensive but i think right now social media and other moms will make you think you need stuff you really don’t need, and there’s ways to get more affordable options that will still be perfect for your baby.
Controversial opinion: don’t get 1 do it all stroller. Get several “specialty” strollers, optimized for a specific purpose and buy them used/cheap (unless you have 1 type you want to splurge on). Example:
We bought a used graco click-lock that worked with his car seat. It lived in the car.
We did some travel, so bought a significantly cheaper knock-off version of the Bugaboo Butterfly.
Finally, we wanted a really good jogging stroller so splurged on a Bob All-terrain. Had an adapter for the car seat until he outgrew it.
All three of those combined NEW (even if you max out with the BOB All-terrain Pro) come out to less than the Bugaboo Fox 5. And you may not need all of those and/or can buy in stages.
The car seat can be good. I can see the benefit. I liked having the separate newborn car seat/stroller combo for the first winter - I was nervous I would slip/fall if I was holding her or baby wearing. If you don't live somewhere with snow/ice, it is less of an issue. On the plus side, if you plan on having multiple kids, you'll already have it for next time.
The combo pack and play / bassinet / changing table / crib was good for us. We used it a lot - it was downstairs at first so I had a central place for baby and then her nursery/our room had a bassinet / changing area upstairs. But if you live on one floor, I think you could easily get away with just that. We had it as a bassinet/crib after she rolled over at 3 months making our regular bassinet unsafe. We had a crib for her but I wanted to keep her in our room until 6 months due to SIDS risk. I got rid of the separate bassinet and we'll just be using this with our next, I think.
The stokke chair looks really nice, but we got a $45 high chair. She's 2.5 now and can still fit in it, but she's been on regular chairs for the past year or so. So I don't find that as appealing now - I like using the regular chairs.
I was able to get a lot second hand. A crib, a bathing tub for newborn, crib sheets, a changing table, bassinet, strollers, etc. We got the car seat new. That was about it. I also really liked having a bouncer in the early days, but we got that secondhand as well. So it can sometimes be cheaper than buying one thing new. Strollers with the bassinet are nice, but we just had the Graco click connect that worked with our car seat.
Also, you're probably going to have more dispensable income now, pre-baby. When the baby gets here, they are expensive. Need new things constantly (grow out of clothes, diapers, wipes, all the random things you didn't think you need but your baby does) not to mention childcare and/or reduced income if you are SAHM. That changes and gets better when they are in school, and yes, even when they are teenagers. You don't have the childcare costs, and you/your partner will advance in career. For us, these early years will be hardest financially. But it is okay and it works out. (:
the_saradoodle
