Thank goodness for Babies 'R Us!

Seriously, who ever came up with this idea is brilliant! When I registered and shopped for Benjamin before he arrived and any time I need baby things now that he's here, I go to BRU. This place has everything baby anyone could need. Not even Wal-Mart, which seems to have everything, has as much to offer as BRU.

The problem then becomes figuring out what you really do need and what will be useless to you once it's in your home. I am offering my opinions on some of the most-registered-for baby items in hopes that they might help someone out there about to register or fulfill their registry. We bought into the thought that we needed it all. Luckily some things were returned for BRU credit before they were used. On the other hand, unfortunately we kept and used a few other items that have just been sitting around collecting dust. Hopefully other first-time mommies can get the good stuff and forget the rest.

Bouncers and Swings: There are so many kinds of each of these! I highly recommend borrowing one if you can. At least borrow it until you can place your child in it and see if they like it. There are several swings out there and some babies will like all of them, some none of them, and some will tolerate only certain ones. This can be an expensive journey if your a determined to find a swing your little one will love. Bouncers are all pretty similar. Their variations are really just vibrations and sounds. I think most babies like bouncers, and these are cheaper than swings so I recommend parents get one. Ours is a Sassy polka-dot bouncer with monkeys, Ben hated it, then loved it, and now he has pretty much gotten too big for it.

Bottles: I can't give tons of advice here since I am breast feeding but this is what I know... We chose the Playtex Ventaire Wide Mouth bottles. I have heard great things about these and the Dr. Browns for reducing swallowed air. We only give Ben a bottle of expressed breast milk a couple times a week but we have been very pleased with the bottles. Supposedly the nipples resemble the breast more than others so more babies are willing to take them. Whichever bottle you choose to register for, just get a couple. Once you know your baby likes it, then you can run out to BRU and get more. Too many parents invest in a bunch of bottles only to find out their kiddo doesn't like it, or the second type, or the third type, and end up wasting a bunch of money on bottle never to be used again.

Pacifiers: Don't even bother registering for these. You'll get 50,000 at your shower anyway. You'll get all different kinds and if your tyke is like ours the only one he'll take will be the one you got free at the hospital.

**** Should you choose to buy a bunch of bottles and pacifiers anyway, please just don't do what I did... I thought I would be totally prepared for baby and opened and sanitized all of them before I even had him... well, you can't return opened and sanitized bottles and paci's. Just boil a couple ahead of time and once you have gotten your bundle's special stamp of approval THEN you can sanitize the rest!

Pack 'N Play: At this point in time it's hard for me to say much about these. Ours is in our family room, where I spend most of my day. We registered for and received a Chicco PNP that has a changing table attachment and a sounds/light/vibration contraption on it. At this point in time I don't remember what all was available, but I do know that this piece of equipment has more to it than we need. The changing table was used maybe twice, as Ben's room and changing table are right down the hall. It's not that hard to just carry him there to be changed. (Now if you are going to have your baby stay in your room early on and his room is far from yours you might like having this for middle of the night changing.) I mainly use this as a place for him to nap, so the sounds/light/vibration feature is pointless. Basically we could have probably gotten something much less fancy and been just fine.

Jumperoos, Excersaucers, and Walkers: You'll want one of these for sure, but you won't need it for a while. Spend your money and gift cards on other things and get this when your child reaches the appropriate height and age requirements. Ben LOVES his Fisher-Price Rainforest Jumperoo.

Play Mats: These things are awesome. I will say to get one with a lot of objects on it for the baby to play with. Ours also has lights on the underside of the top, so when Benjamin lies underneath it there are lights, music, and toys all over to entertain him. Now that he is rolling around and scooching the play mat is much less of an effective entertainer, but we got a good 4 months out of it!

My Breast Friend or Boppy: Everyone has an opinion on these... again maybe something you should borrow before buying. One person loves the Boppy and the next swears by the Breast Friend, some say get both, I say get neither. I am still exclusively breast feeding Benjamin and I thought mine were just a big waste of money and space. When he was tiny I just held him and now that he's bigger he doesn't need the support. It's just different for everyone depending on the size of your baby, the hold you use most frequently, and what makes you comfortable.

Bottle Warmers: This wins the BIGGEST WASTE OF MONEY award. Granted it's not a lot of money wasted, but definitely don't bother with this. It requires you to use an exact tiny amount of water, doesn't always heat the bottle evenly, and doesn't even accept all bottles. We had to heat the milk in one bottle then pour it into the VentAire for feeding. I think everyone would be much better off just running the bottle under water or heating water in a coffee mug and setting the bottle in it to warm up. It's probably faster anyway.

I have more items to review, but it's my bedtime now... Ben has been asleep for a couple hours so if I go to bed now I can get a couple hours of shut-eye before he wakes up to eat! :)