[subiesailor]

Just occurred to me that we should have a thread for parents given the large number of parents and soon to be parents sorting out good ideas both gear and car option ideas.

Tips
#1 Mothers groups are king for good used gear! Even the "GOV labeled wealthy people" buy used kids stuff!
#2 Plan ahead when buying stuff for your first kid "assuming you plan on having more kids"
Gender neutral colored seats - strollers - jackets etc double or triple your return on investment if you catch my drift.

#3 Phil & Teds stuff looks basic and isn't as posh as some other brands but its built better than anything else sold.
The Packmule of strollers -http://philandteds.com/us/Products/Push/classic#.UQhhsUJKyfk
Get the rumble seat you'll use it

#4 Summer Infant Tiny Diner in Green -- don't go anywhere without it.

 

[mcbrew]

Tip: ALWAYS have wet wipes and a roll of paper towels in your car. Also a good idea to keep one or two spare diapers... Just in case you run out of the house and leave the diaper bag by the door... Or you thought SHE filled the diaper bag, and she thought YOU did.

 

[vince is outback :-)]

Tip: ALWAYS have wet wipes and a roll of paper towels in your car. Also a good idea to keep one or two spare diapers... Just in case you run out of the house and leave the diaper bag by the door... Or you thought SHE filled the diaper bag, and she thought YOU did.

^this for the win!

 

[smn]

Put a towel down on the seats and make the kids help vacuum the crumbs and clean up the tissues, juice boxes, and food wrappers thrown on the floor (which were meant for the plastic grocery bag but it, too, got pushed under the front seats).

 

[Pazu]

1. Keep a few disposable diapers around for emergencies, but use cloth diapers like fuzzi bunz or something similar for your main diapering system. Compared to disposable diapers, cloth diapers are better for the baby's sensitive skin, much less smell, and much much cheaper.

2. Once the kid gets on baby food, grind or mash it yourself. Tastes better than the canned crap, and you know what's in it. And you don't have to worry about product recalls.

3. When they get a little bigger, take your kids camping. Often. In your Subaru.

 

[WIBrewDude]

Good tips, especially the one about the spare wipes and paper towels....always can find a use for them.

To help protect the seats in my cars, especially when my daughter was little and sometimes had an accident in the car seat, I used one of those big quilted changing pads under the car seat. I folded it in two, and place it under the car seat, with about three inches folded up along the seat back. This way, it catches anything that falls, and it cant run back into the seat.

It also helps protect the seat a little from the car seat.

We always kept a small umbrella stroller in the car, in case we went somewhere unexpected, as well as some granola bars and water. A full baby is a happy baby.

 

[98Scooby]

Brilliant idea for a thread. I just found out my fiancee is expecting! Pretty excited. Thanks for the help guys and look forward to more to come!

 

[jogosub]

Just occurred to me that we should have a thread for parents given the large number of parents and soon to be parents sorting out good ideas both gear and car option ideas.

Tips
#1 Mothers groups are king for good used gear! Even the "GOV labeled wealthy people" buy used kids stuff!
#2 Plan ahead when buying stuff for your first kid "assuming you plan on having more kids"
Gender neutral colored seats - strollers - jackets etc double or triple your return on investment if you catch my drift.

#3 Phil & Teds stuff looks basic and isn't as posh as some other brands but its built better than anything else sold.
The Packmule of strollers -http://philandteds.com/us/Products/Push/classic#.UQhhsUJKyfk
Get the rumble seat you'll use it

#4 Summer Infant Tiny Diner in Green -- don't go anywhere without it.

How about parents (baby boomers) who passed on their Subarus to offsprings (like me)? Or should that be an entire new thread ...?

 

[smn]

3. When they get a little bigger, take your kids camping. Often. In your Subaru.

Yes, this. We did this last year. The family went with a cub scout pack in our 2000 OBW from central Georgia to Fall Creek Falls State Park in eastern TN and had a blast over four days. Tent camping was excellent. later in the trip my son and I explored Cumberland Cavern's wild tour and stayed overnight in the cave.
My Subaru is in the background:

Pretty much anywhere we've been camping with the cub scouts we took the Subaru. A car top carrier has helped greatly for the longer trips.

 

[jogosub]

smn - we took kids (second set) there too - but - teenagers were not that much thrilled - they kept "texting" all the way there and back ... no more campning for them! Where is this generation heading??? Am I getting old or what...LOL... cool pics though....

 

[smn]

I took tons more pics but didn't want to go too far off-thread. Sounds like it's time to start a car camping thread, if there's not one already.

 

[Dajeepman]

smn - we took kids (second set) there too - but - teenagers were not that much thrilled - they kept "texting" all the way there and back ... no more campning for them! Where is this generation heading??? Am I getting old or what...LOL... cool pics though....

Yea when i go camping only time i use my phone is to take pictures,then its off when i have no need for it or want some peace n quiet

 

[subiesailor]

Tip: ALWAYS have wet wipes and a roll of paper towels in your car. Also a good idea to keep one or two spare diapers... Just in case you run out of the house and leave the diaper bag by the door... Or you thought SHE filled the diaper bag, and she thought YOU did.

Our door pockets in all three vehicles have diapers and wipe containers stashed in them.. LOL

Oh and the roof rails on the OB gen4 in the stowed position work great for holding dirty diapers you don't want in the car. I've traveled 100+ miles with a diaper pinned under the roof rail ;-)

 

[subiesailor]

How about parents (baby boomers) who passed on their Subarus to offsprings (like me)? Or should that be an entire new thread ...?

LOL that would be the Krusty Codgers thread. LOL I bought my baby boomer parents cars in the past few years so the role is reversed in my case. 2010 Legacy new and a 2008 G35x with rose wood dash kit in show room perfect shape. Both were more or less the same price.

 

[subiesailor]

On food - we did Sunday evening food making session with Mom and Dad working on it took us about an hour to make food for 2-3 weeks which you freeze. Really simple not hard involves a blender and some peeling and boiling. Sweet potatoes and butter nut squash are major winners with both our kids.

Salmon and Chicken are the other winners.

 

[vr4Legacy]

1.) Don't dish out big money for a "baby bullet" or any other baby making blender. a $10 processor works just as well.

2.) If you travel a lot, get a go pod.
Amazon.com: Kidco Go-Pod Portable Activity Seat: Baby
much easier than hauling a walker around.

 

[jogosub]

LOL that would be the Krusty Codgers thread. LOL I bought my baby boomer parents cars in the past few years so the role is reversed in my case. 2010 Legacy new and a 2008 G35x with rose wood dash kit in show room perfect shape. Both were more or less the same price.

My pristine 2005 Forester that I gave to my son in San Fran (he was in College/Univ. there), who later moved to L.A., looks like a piece of sss...he hasn't lifted the hood yet - only when I visit L.A. I take care of maintenance, etc...last August I changed his cabin air filter which was pitch black from dust... LOL ... Oh well... such is life!Likewise here, I bought my sec. gen. teenager Honda Passport... same here - hasn't lifted the hood yet although last weekend I made him change the oil with Fumoto oil plug in place...LOL

 

[subiesailor]

My pristine 2005 Forester that I gave to my son in San Fran (he was in College/Univ. there), who later moved to L.A., looks like a piece of sss...he hasn't lifted the hood yet - only when I visit L.A. I take care of maintenance, etc...last August I changed his cabin air filter which was pitch black from dust... LOL ... Oh well... such is life!Likewise here, I bought my sec. gen. teenager Honda Passport... same here - hasn't lifted the hood yet although last weekend I made him change the oil with Fumoto oil plug in place...LOL

LOL - I bet they still wash em once a week the LA code of car ethics

 

[jogosub]

... yeah, in L.A. it's important HOW you arrive... it does not matter WHEN you arrive or WHERE you arrive....or WHY you arrive... LOL

 

[subiesailor]

Been struggling with getting the 10month old to figure out the sippy cup. Then had a great idea. The straw sippy cups I found with his older sister are easier to teach them. In her case I used a straw finger over the end to hold water in the straw and she figured out she could suck on the straw and get water etc.

The 10month old wasn't falling for that trick. So took another approach last night. We have one of those soda makers just carbonated tap water - in the sippy cup with the straw. The result was an amusing sippy cup fountain and 5 minutes he had it figured out. LOL