Strollers, Cribs and Car Seats...Oh My!

This past weekend Eran and I went to look at cribs.  We started with what we thought was the most obvious place, Babies R US- that was epic fail #1!  I truly believe that Babies R US is designed to scare the crap out of expecting parents.  You walk in the door and there are shelves and aisles filled with items you think you just have to have. There are video monitors, pack and plays with changing stations and breast pumps that cater to people with inverted nipples!  I mean really, how the hell do you decide?   I keep hearing from people that you really don’t need all that much so don’t get caught up in the hype, but let’s face it everyone gets caught up in the hype.  No matter how many times someone tells me I don’t need a diaper genie and a wipe warmer you can bet I’m still going to buy them both.  Why?  Cause I’m the dumb new mom and I have to know, ya know, “for myself.”  Eran I walked into Babies R US with all sorts of confidence, until we reached the crib section! There were like hundreds OK maybe like 66, but you get the picture.  At first we just sort of stared and darted our eyes from one crib to the next.  Then we decided to venture into the dark hole.  It was pure madness.  I mean do you get the crib that has the changing table attached?  Do you choose the transitional crib that can later be a twin bed?  And what about a mattress?  I’m assuming firm because of all the SIDS research, but what if my baby likes plush and I don’t get a wink of sleep because I chose a lousy mattress?  Ugh decisions!  To top it all off buying baby furniture equals a mortgage payment!  Who knew that something so little needed so much stuff and at top rate prices?  Of course everything is sold separately so while the crib itself may be $500 the mattress is additional $200 and you have to get a dresser of some sort and other odds and ends.  I truly should have started saving for this baby when I was in my twenties. 

We finally decided that choosing a crib color and style in one day was insane so we ventured over to the pack and plays, epic fail #2!  Choosing everything baby related is like shopping for a new car.  You want to get the best bang for your buck, but still ball on a budget.  Of course I want my baby to have the best, but not at the expense of my pocket book- I mean day care will take care of that anyway!   The last item we chose to look at was car seats.  Car seats literally come in 1,000 different makes and models.  I’m super sensitive about products being recalled so I will not buy a car seat, crib or stroller before going to the Consumer Product Safety Commission website http://www.cpsc.gov/, but we still wanted to look just for fun.  It wasn’t fun at all!  I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that was epic fail #3!

We decided that Babies R US was a little too advanced for us so we opted to leave and go for ice cream- much better use of our time.  I suppose we’ll venture back when we build up enough courage- sometime between now and when the baby pops out…or at least I hope so!