Oh, the Conundrums.
Went out yesterday with Mamala and my brother, out baby furniture shopping. The first place we stopped in at was Babies Galore and I immediately spotted an entire row of bassinets. This pleased me more than you could imagine since on Thursday night, Mamala and I spent hours on the phone going through various baby websites in the hopes of finding somewhere to buy a non-expensive (read: less than $300) bassinet and we were coming up woefully short.
At any rate, all of their bassinets were on sale, from $170 down to $150 so naturally I bought one. A lovely white one that I can dress up with varying colours of lace, AND make up my own bed sheets because I'll be bloody buggered paying $35 or more! The baby industry must do VERY well over here in Australia; there certainly isn't any worthwhile competition out there to bring prices down.
But it's going to be wonderful making up these things instead of buying them. I've already decided she's going to sleep on satin sheets in the summer and a wool rug in her bassinet for the winter. Of course, that's only provided she doesn't grow so fast she ends up in her single bed before winter.
From there we headed down into Nerang to Pram City because I wanted to have a look at some strollers and prams, and since Babies Galore is outrageously expensive, there was no way in hell I was going to pay their prices. (Anything above $400 for a PRAM is way too exorbitant in my opinion) I did find a lovely pram that converts into a stroller for $270, made by Steelcraft which the saleslady practically talked me out of buying it because I'd really have much better luck and overall karmic happiness if I bought the $500 or even the $600 pram. Of course I bought neither, but did end up leaving the store empty handed.
Basically now I'm just in a conundrum and am faced with these perplexing questions: How often am I really going to use this thing? The baby won't be able to keep her neck up on her own until 3+ months along, so wouldn't it just be better to wait until that point and buy a cheaper stroller? How am I supposed to go grocery shopping and push both a trolley AND a pram at the same time? And when we start taking her out places, to parks and zoos and such, I will have a stroller by that time and won't really need the luxury of a pram, will I? You see how vexed I am.
It seems that's the only part of this whole "new mommy" thing I'm having trouble with. I've already decided she's not getting her HepB shot at birth, nor for the first year of life. She's not getting the menigicoccal or the pneumenococcal shots either since I'm not unconvinced that those types of "innoculations" don't cause something else anyway.
I know what bottles I'm using, even though I'll be breastfeeding until she's teething. I know what breast pump and sterilization unit I'll be buying. I know that I'm not going to be buying a baby monitor - the house echoes enough without adding to it; I will hear when she's crying or fussing. I know what to use for cradle cap, nappy rash and thrush.
So why is the prospect of getting a pram vs a stroller absolutely kicking my ass?
6 comments:
What about using a sling or a baby backpack? Not sure what options are available in Oz, but I got a pack that can be worn on the front or back on E-bay. Brand new, LL Bean, and it was $11 US. I hope to get a lot of use out of it, rather than pushing a stroller around.
We are thinking about that, actually. The only drawback at the moment is that in the beginning she won't be able to keep her neck straight and it'll kink over on the side. :\
Ok, what's the difference between a pram and a stroller?
hmm, the first thing I thought of was the baby backpack thing, the kind you can sear in front to monitor head droopiness... then there's always duct tape. heheh... and then again, what is the difference between a pram and a stroller?
WEAR in front. Not sear. That's what you do in a pan with a bit of hot butter. To veggies, not babies. Yeesh.
I know you meant sear, don't deny it. Babies are crunchy in milk, remember? ;)
A pram, while a fantastic invention, is also very cumbersome. It's very much LIKE a stroller, except that the backing can be fully reclined into a horizontal position, thus allowing baby to sleep on her back. Prams are generally also reversible, meaning that you can reverse the direction of the handles, and thus reverse the position of the baby. This is so that your newborn isn't facing into the wind and getting gobfuls of air and wind (Which you then pay for later in the evening for your ignorance). Prams generally have rather bulky-framed hoods on them, and a separate piece for the bottom that will effectively stop the rain (or snow) from getting on baby and keeping them relatively dry. It also comes with so many sidepockets and cup holders usually, and a myriad of other useless features that the manufacturer thought would be a good idea, but really are just a complete waste of space and material so that they can CHARGE you more for it.
A stroller, on the other hand, is nowhere near as bulky, does not completely recline into the horizontal position (but has 3 positions, completely upright, almost upright and more-horizontal-than-upright-but-not-actually-horizontal) and doesn't have all the extra wasted space and material that a pram does. Oh, and it folds down much smaller and much neater than a pram.
That is, of course, unless you go for one of those honking big 3 wheeler off-roady type strollers, and honestly why would you unless you lived in the bush? God I hate those things passionately.
That's your lesson boys and girls; I hope you paid attention. There will be a test later.
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