Car Seat: Graco SnugRide 35
We obviously use this every time we go somewhere. While it fits in the center in my Corolla with both front seats all the way back (couldn't do that directly behind either seat, and center is safest), if I could do it over again I would have gone with just the SnugRide. The weights and dimensions of the two are:
SnugRide:
Weight (without base): 7.5 pounds
Dimensions: 24.2" high x 17.5" wide x 26.7" deep
Weight/Length Restrictions: Up to 22 pounds, and 29 inches long
SnugRide 35:
Weight (without base): 9.7 pounds
Dimensions: 15.6" high x 18.7" wide x 30.7" deep
Weight/Length Restrictions: Up to 35 pounds, and 32 inches long
Another reason I'd get the 32 is that, frankly, I'm not going to use this seat until she weighs 35 pounds. The ability to use it up to that weight is, in my mind, irrelevant since she'll be in a convertible seat by then.
Stroller:
That being said, we use this seat with the matching stroller, the Graco MetroLite. Now I must preface this by saying we were given a BOB, so I take that into account when reviewing this.
If I could go back, I would likely just get one of those snap-n-go systems and then use the BOB when she's big enough for it. That being said, we use this every day and I really have no complaints about it. I'm sure once she's big enough to sit in the stroller (and not in the car seat, snapped into the stroller) this will be the stroller I throw in the car to go to the mall and whatnot - until I just get an umbrella stroller. And seriously, though, I obviously love the pattern (Go Buckeyes!)
I do have to say, though, that I've heard a lot of complaints about the difficulty of folding the MetroLite up, and I completely disagree. I'm able to do it very quickly, and it isn't difficult at all. We recently flew to Milwaukee, and I had her in the car seat and snapped into the stroller when we got to security. I had to take her out of the car seat, put the car seat through the x-ray, then fold up the stroller to send it through, only to put it all back together again on the other side. And it wasn't a big deal at all.
Pack-N-Play: Graco Pack-N-Play Classic Playard
I had no idea how much we would actually use this, but thought it'd be helpful for traveling. Turns out we ended up having an incredibly warm summer here in the Midwest, so she slept in this in our bedroom with the air conditioning quite a bit. We have taken it elsewhere for her to sleep. I'm really glad we got this, it was nice to have the option to have her right in our room but not on me or in our bed.
My one complaint is that we couldn't get the bassinet to be completely level - it was always slanted slightly to the right, so we never felt comfortable with her sleeping in that part of it.
Pretty sure I would have died without this. For the first two months, the only place she would sleep at night was on me, and the only place she would nap was in this swing. She has spent so much more time in this than I ever thought she would, and still seems to love it (I swear, she just fell asleep in it as I was typing this up).
Bouncy Seat: Around the World Cradling Bouncer
Big fat fail. I think I've been able to get her to sit in this one time, for a total of 15 minutes. To be fair, she seems to hate all bouncy seats.
I am just now realizing how much Graco stuff we have. Yikes.
We've been pleased with the monitor we went with. I've never had interference with another monitor on the street (I'm surrounded by stay at home moms and baby monitors everywhere), and I really like having the 2 parent units - we keep one upstairs and one downstairs. I like that it has the option to vibrate. If I'm outside and just throw it in my pocket, it lets me know when there is noise. That's particularly nice since we always have the fan on in her room and it can be hard to hear her over that - even on the monitor.
Turns out that is all of the major stuff we had to get. All of the bedroom furniture was given to us, as were a number of swings/bumbos/bouncy seats from generous family members. We have an exersaucer, but haven't used it much yet, and we will be trying food here in the near future, so we'll use the high chair for the first time.
Picking products was way overwhelming. I relied heavily on Baby Bargains (I think it's worth it to buy the most recent edition) and advice from relatives. It was also nice to know that Babies R Us allows you to take the car seat out to your car to see how it fits. I didn't do that with the infant seat, but will absolutely be doing it when we switch to the convertible in 6 weeks or so.
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