Girlfriends' Guide to Baby Gear (Girlfriends' Guides)

by Vicki Iovine

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49 ratings, 3.47 average rating, 13 reviews (more data...)

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published

January 7th 2003 by Perigee Trade

binding

Paperback, 288 pages

isbn

0399528458 (isbn13: 9780399528453)

description

Vicki Iovine and her passel of friends tell mothers-to-be when to skimp and when to splurge, and which hand-me-downs are safe and which are sorry. Rea...more

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Neligh rated it:

11/14/08

bookshelves: baby

recommends it for: first time mothers

Notes I would add to this book:

The litmus test for baby gear is: Can It Be Used One-Handed? Does it Help Me Do Something Else One-Handed? Taking the tray off the high chair, unfastening a baby Bjorn, raising/lowering the side of a crib, getting baby shampoo into your hand, unfolding/steering/collapsing a stroller: all should be doable with one hand. And when you're testing a stroller, put some weight in it (almost anything is maneuverable when it's empty).

The Baby Bjorn: It does fre...more Notes I would add to this book:

The litmus test for baby gear is: Can It Be Used One-Handed? Does it Help Me Do Something Else One-Handed? Taking the tray off the high chair, unfastening a baby Bjorn, raising/lowering the side of a crib, getting baby shampoo into your hand, unfolding/steering/collapsing a stroller: all should be doable with one hand. And when you're testing a stroller, put some weight in it (almost anything is maneuverable when it's empty).

The Baby Bjorn: It does free up your hands, but it can be hard to find something 'safe' to do with your hands once you have them. You don't want to sterilize bottle parts in steam with a baby attached to your front. Since you can't lean over with a baby in a front pack (babies don't care for the feeling of tipping backwards), emptying or loading the dishwasher becomes a series of squats exercises. You could try cutting something up for dinner, but you'll be standing at an awkward distance from the counter and won't be able to see what you are cutting. It can be nice for browsing the mall or a bookstore, but it can also be difficult to sit down to look at a book with both of you being comfortable (since the baby's legs will be dangling in front of your thighs). You can't really use your hands to eat a meal, either, or anything hot, without possibly dropping crumbs or dripping soup on the baby. Mostly I found it nice for taking laps around the house when the baby is crying like his diaper is full of broken glass and my arms are spent and I'm looking to change the way his weight is on my back.

On page 55, I crossed out "12" cloth diapers and wrote 1 Million. I used them mostly (the packages of white gerber cloths) for spit up and it's not that he went through a million a day so much as I just wanted them in so many places in the house that 12 was not enough to go around. (incidentally, they are useful for many more things than spit-up: you can put one between the baby's bottom and the changing pad, you can put one over a baby boy's penis during diaper changes to keep from getting sprayed, you can lay one along the length of the baby's torso when she's in the bath -it will keep her warm and the weight is comforting.)

I especially like the Hunkering Down for the Hurricane section; I wish it were bigger. Here are some thoughts if you're going to have help:

1. Label the garbage disposal switch so that people don't turn it on in the middle of the night looking for a light.

2. Consider labeling your kitchen cabinets and drawers, not only so anyone cooking for you in the kitchen can find what they need but also to help them when they unload the dishwasher. You could even tape a photograph of what the inside of each cabinet looks like when full. In the kitchen of one home in which I was a nanny, no one knew where anything belonged which meant every time someone unloaded the dishwasher, items went in a new place -which made sure it never got any easier to find anything. You can do the same in the nursery, labeling where supplies go so that you're not the only person who knows were to find things and where to put them away when stocking supplies.

3. Post a list of favors. People coming to help might seem afflicted with either little imagination in terms of generating ways to be useful or are flat out confused as to their purpose (it's not to solely sit around admiring the baby or to be a tourist or to just hang out the way you did before there was a baby). It can include baby care, housekeeping, gassing/vacuuming/washing your car, or whatever helps you most keep your sanity.

4. Simplify your environment (as much as is practical). Time with newborns is like conducting repetitive experiments on a space station -except, in this case, it's a space station full of extraneous stuff that has nothing to do with your tasks and is only getting in the way. "Okay, who couldn't make it to the moon and back without Shakespeare's Complete Works and this stupid singing bass?" Besides being less to clean and tidy, it will spare you and your help stubbing toes on said complete works and tripping over said singing bass when taking laps with screaming child at all hours of the day and night. It will also spare you and your help from rummaging through that stuff to find the stuff that is actually in constant use.

5. More than ever, be in the habit of putting things in the same place. My sister got a clip for her keys so that they were always attached to her diaper bag.

6. Devise a plan to keep the kitchen running. That might mean collecting extra simple recipes, freezing a bunch of meals in advance, planning menus and grocery lists in advance, enlisting friends to bring meals, hiring a cooking service or some combination....less

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2 comments

Kat rated it:

07/31/08

bookshelves: nonfiction, parenting

Read in June, 2007

A good, fast read. It gave a really good breakdown of the stuff she and her friends found useful, necessary, and completely worthless. To me, that was the most important part. As an expecting mom-to-be I was baffled by baby stores and baby aisles, COMPLETELY not sure as to what I'd need when baby got here (beyond the obvious diapers and Onesies, of course). Lots of good info on the safety of some items, too. Iovine writes with a sense of humor, which is really nice when you're about to go a...more

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