2 topics; Car Seats/Preparing for babies

Hi all. I have a couple of different topics I'm going to squeeze into one post . . .

Car seats-we'll be purchasing 2 new car seats, but I have no idea what to buy! When I had my daughter 7 years ago, I did the research and was very choosy about which one to purchase, but this time, I'm feeling lazy and don't want to do the research. I walk down the isles at the baby stores and am overwhelmed by the choices/prices, etc. I will be purchasing the double snap-n-go, and have read some posts about which seats fit into this and which might not. Can anyone give me recommendations/suggestions on a good quality, but reasonably priced car seat?

2nd question . . . I'm 21 weeks pg. (twin girls) and haven't done a thing yet to the babies room. Several reasons for this, but mainly space and getting rooms moved around (and a sunroom renovated for a new play room that hasn't yet gotten started!), etc. But I fret every day that nothing has been done! In fact, I was up to pee this morning at 4:45 and couldn't go back to sleep b/c I kept thinking of all the 'stuff' I need to do! When did everyone start getting the cribs set up w/bedding and clothes, etc. ready? I'm so fearful I'll end up on bedrest (although everything is going well thus far) and still nothing will be done!!!!

Thanks!
Heather

 

Heather, :hug99: Try not to stress over the babies room. They really don't care, as long as you have some food and love for them. As for the carseats, I can tell you that I had the Graco Snugride Carseats. :good: They did their job well, and they fit into the snap n go. You are right, there are so many choices and it can be overwhelming. :hug99:

 

i also did the graco car seats (the ones that fit into the tandem front-back double stroller). sorry i don't remember the exact name of them (it was 3.5 years ago now). i also stressed about the room not being done, only because i was bedridden the last 3 months of my pregnancy and had to rely on others to get things done. twinlove is right...they don't care what the room looks like. but if you are like me...it will drive you crazy until it's done (at least that's how i was). i think as long as the cribs are set up and you've got a rocking chair and change table, you should be good to go. unless, they plan to stay in your room with you (ours did NOT sleep in our room, so we had everything ready in their room luckily). also remember, you probably will have them earlier than 40 weeks, so be prepared for that too. congrats that you are having a healthy pregnnacy so far. i began bedrest around 23 weeks, i think it was (only 2 weeks after finding out we were having twins!).

good luck...relax...and enjoy the miracles growing in your tummy :itwins:
rebecca

 

Heather, It is hard not to worry about all that needs to get done before twins arrive, but try not to worry about it, somehow it all gets done.

I also had the Graco Snugride infant carriers and were very happy with them. They worked well even with my two coming home at 4 and 5 lbs. As for getting things ready, you can start whenever you are ready. I think by that time, I had their bedding picked out, but that was about it. Maybe you can start doing a little at a time.

 

We had to get our upstairs fixed and we did that when I was 5 months pregnant. The room my SD was in had to be switched with the other room since it wasn't big enough for two. Furniture for their rooms came sometime in October if I remember correctly and my shower was in the beginning of Oct also I was 7 months. Everything was ready by November, my DD was 12/26. You have time but I would consider getting most things done by 7 months just because you will probably start to get uncomfortable and won't want to do all that work at 8/9 months pregnant.

 

I have the graco snugrides also. I used it with my son and loved it and got another one for the twins. I plan on using it with the double snap n go. I am 25 weeks and my nursery is not ready at all. All I did was order bedding online and my son's old crib is set up. I still have to order another crib and dresser and paint and put it all together. I figure that as long as I make all the decisions, I'll put my husband to work while I'm on bedrest!

 

I have a long history of loss so I never purchased a thing for DS or this pregnancy until 24 weeks. I was put on bedrest at 26 1/2 weeks so needless to say, not a thing was done. Basically, I designed the room in my mind and went searching online. I have purchased everything online and DH sets it up as it comes. He painted and decorated the room about 3 weeks ago. It's far from done, but I'm just not worried. We have what we need and if we find that we need something, we'll have time to get it after our girls are born. They don't need much at first.....all that "stuff" is for our convenience and what we want as opposed to need.

As for carseats, I purchased the Graco Snugride for DS and was very happy with it. We used it for almost a year so it was worth the price. We bought the same for the girls because it's one of the smallest carseats and we'll have 3 under the age of 18 months by the time they arrive. Plus they fit in the double snap-n-go...which was very important to me. I have honestly never heard any bad reviews on the Snugride.

 

I also had the Graco Snugride.

But to make you feel better, I DID end up on bedrest at 18 weeks and for the remainder of my pg I couldn't do anything. However, wwe still managed to get DS's room painted and him moved into it, the nursery painted, a second crib ordered and anything else we needed to do done as well. I made lists and when people came to help, they got a task! We didn't even get a minivan (that we needed because our cars weren't big enough for the three kids) until the week before delivery! I didn't start preparing anything until 28 weeks (we were touch and go for a while, with the TTTS) - you can do it!

Jenny

 

My babies are almost 4 weeks, and I don't have anything done really in the way of prepping the house for them completely. . . I was on bedrest 13 weeks, and well, things just didn't get done. It's been a bit of a pain quite honestly having to worry with certain things (like where are my bouncy seats in the attic? where are my pump accessories, etc.?). But we manage and have gotten the most important things taken care of. . . like sleeping, eating, and clean clothes.

As far as seats go, lots of people like the Graco Snugrides, but our NICU carseat tech doesn't recommend them for preemies really. We bought two with all the bases for our vehicles, and we were pretty much poo-pooed. We were told to try the Chicco KeyFit or Evenflo Embrace as the seat straps are placed better for smaller preemies. (Our preemies were 5 lbs. and 6 lbs. 12 oz. at 34 weeks gestation.) We had to order the Embrace online, and the Keyfit had been on recall so no one had them in stock. As for the Graco seats, they seem to have a monopoly at Babies R Us. . . We looked at the Baby Trend Flex Loc which was also on the "recommended list", but they were heavier and we weren't impressed.

 

I have two Graco Snugride car seats as well. As far as the babies room goes you have to figure they probably won't be in there for a little while so you actually have some extra time. We just got ours ready this weekend and I am almost 34 weeks. My husband painted last Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Then last night he put up the border. Tonight we are going to put all of the furniture back in and hang all of my cute things that I bought for the wall ie. babies names over the cribs, ect. So all in all it took about 7 days to get the nursery done from start to finish! My husband did a great job. So again I wouldn't worry about it too much!

 

We had the Graco Snugrides for our girls and it worked well even for Sierra, who came home at 3 lbs 11 oz. That was 5 years ago though and I'm pretty sure they've redone the Snugrides to accommodate larger babies now so they may not work as well for little ones. The most important things to remember when purchasing carseats is to start out with infant carseats and get ones with EPS foam. Other than that, it's kind of open to opinion.

We didn't set up the babies' room until 30 weeks. The cribs were up at about 25 weeks because we had them but that's it. As long as the basics are there, you are good to go so don't stress about it. If you won't be happy with anything but a beautiful, perfect nursery then you should definitely get started but, honestly, the babies aren't going to need much beyond carseats and a place to sleep when they get home. Maybe you can throw in a stroller and swing. Good luck!

 

We bought two graco snugrides the other day. basically it was our only choice...all the NEX had. Italians don't use carseats, so going off base is out and due to the size, they can't be shipped to us. Luckily, the NEX sells a twin stroller that matches the seats, and that the seats snap into...

We're just putting the babies in pack and plays...can't really afford 2 cribs and dresser and glider for the room what with having 4 kids...lol. We're going to buy one pack and play next payday then the other when the babies are a few months old and need separate space. Once we pick out what pack and plays we want, Ill decide on decoration, but it may not happen until after the babies are here if at all. I only have one more month here before we have to go to germany for the rest of the pregnancy so I'm not worrying about it.