At some point after delivery, you will actually need to put your little one down, at least for a trip to the bathroom, or maybe you want them to sleep out of your arms.  If you have older children already, you will definately want to find a place to set the youngest for some special cuddle time with the older ones.

 

The world has come up with countless contraptions to hold your little one for a short time, a fun ride or a nights rest. Here are a few of my favorites.

 

 

Well this isn't really a favorite, but it is essential if you are ever in a car with your little one.  You can find a giant contraption that swears to hold your tiny infant all the way up to your 80 lb preteen.  Or you can get a small carrier that promises to last up to 20 lbs or 1 year.  Or any thing inbetween!

 

My advice is to go ahead with the small one if you can afford it, Move up when your baby is bigger.  A tiny infant looks so lost in the huge seat any mother charged with hormones will swear they can't be safe.  Honest If instaled properly and with the little 'neck warmers' they are safe, but I like the cozyness of the little seat.  Since I always had a older kid in the bigger seat, I never felt buying two was a waste of money.

 

 

Some people put this under clothes, but I am much more likely to use a blanket to protect my little one from my questionable carpet.  It is one thing to crawl on or walk on, but a completly different thing to allow a newborn to scrape their mouth accross it while vainly trying to turn around to follow their sibling around the room! So I use a clean blanket, which happens to serve double duty as a boundry for my children to walk around, hopefuly big enough that if they trip they will miss my newest!  (try putting a specific blanket down out of the main path in your house to practice before the new baby arrives)

 

They come with millions of different contraptions and fancy moving parts to put in front of your kid, my advice get the cheapest sturdy one you can find, and ditch the toy bar, it is too much work to keep putting it in and out all the time, and for the most part your kid will be happy watching you work, or listening to his older siblings find his fingers and toes (or their own if they are not very gentle!)

 

If you do not have older children, you might be able to get away with using a infant car seat, the kind you will soon learn weighs about a ton with a baby in it!  The trouble with using the car seat and having older kids, any little nudge sends it rocking like a ship at high sea, this might be fun but can really wake a kid up right when you need them to sleep so you can get dinner on the stove.  A bouncer will only wobble a bit with anything less than a serious shove.

 

 

I have a craddle,  so that I have a place to put a sleeping newborn in my room should I have the energy to walk that far in the middle of the night.  No it doesn't get much use!  But I do use it during the day, a perfect place for my youngest to nap while the older children are awake (and liable to bump the crib that shares a room with my oldest). 

 

The only trouble with a craddle, they don't tend to come in standard sizes so finding bedding or even a mattress can be difficult.  Everyone I know with a craddle just makes their own somehow.

 

 

I of course have said crib, and I do feel that unless you truly cosleep a crib is essential eventually, one that converts to a toddler bed may seem nice, but check the height of the toddler bed setting, I was never comfortable letting my litte kids sleep that far away from the ground till they had a bit more practice sleeping without bars.  So mine never gets use as a toddler bed.  If you want to save on the toddler bed later, try leaving the mattress on the ground till they get used to not falling off, then you can put it back up on the frame.  (I tend to have the toddler bed in use at the same time as the crib so it doesn't feel like a waste of money to me)

 

 

I use a sling for travel exclusivly.  For one thing my children seem to prefer the better view when older, and the extra closeness when youger.  I have heard you can use one while doing housework, but I barely managed to get things done when the baby was neatly compacted inside me, I really have no idea how to reach into a washer when the baby is taking up most of my arm length!

 

Slings are wonderful for weight loss after having a kid.  Pushing a stroller only burns 1/2 calorie more a minute than regular walking, carrying a kid in a sling while only minimally harder burns much more callories, the actual amount depends greatly on how big the kid.  (of course that means you burn more as they grow).

 

Now that I have multiple children I love having my hands free while walking to hold onto older ones while crossing a street,  or to point out birds and leaves, and more often around here ant hills. 

 

Mainly because I hate pushing a stroller while holding a child, and that is what happens a lot.  I also feel that children can and should learn to walk on their own, and so mine do.  In addition the battle of steering with a toddler isn't one I like to fight.  They are often old enough to create a ruckas if they can't try pushing, long beofre they are tall enough to see over the stroller to steer!  I'll pass, and save space in my house. 

 

But really if you like one, go for it, check the height of the handles, they are not made for people my height!