Recently, a friend who is pregnant with her first asked me what I thought were splurge-worthy baby items. It made me think about all the baby items I wish I could have, but it’s hard for me to justify buying these higher priced items now since I already have two kids. If I were to do it all over again though, I would have been more mindful of the long-term use of these items and made the investment with these purchases.

Here are some items I wish I bought and think are splurge-worthy baby items:

Splurge-worthy-Baby-Gear

1) Stroller – I swear, once I have strollers on my mind, I start seeing strollers everywhere. The things I considered important factors for me were: 1) not too heavy, 2) easy to fold, 3) easy to turn, 4) large sun canopy, and 5) large basket. For a single stroller, the Baby Jogger City Mini Stroller fit my requirements and was a reasonable price so it was a pretty good investment. When I started thinking about double strollers, I thought I would try to save money the second time around and buy a lower end double stroller. After a month of using it, I ended up reselling it because it was heavy and I easily got tired of pushing it around. Even folding it just right to make it fit into my car was a chore. I ended up getting a better stroller handed down to me from a friend, which is noticeably easier to push and fold away. However, it doesn’t turn easily which doesn’t make it the ideal stroller. If I could choose one stroller for my first baby, I would have probably chosen the UPPAbaby 2015 Vista Stroller . I kinda drool over looking at it. It’s a great, reliable brand and this stroller can grow with your family and hold up to three children (using a ride-along board for the oldest). Strollers can be big investments, so whatever you decide for your family, I would test them out at a store. Making a list of factors that are important to you will make choosing the ideal stroller a little less overwhelming.

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2) Highchair – Who doesn’t love children’s furniture that is functional and aesthetically pleasing?  The Stokke Tripp Trapp High Chair is a great chair that grows with your child. I don’t own this chair but have seen it used at my friend’s house. There are additional items you can purchase such as a tray, which is useful for the earlier stages of feeding and a baby chair set that gives additional support when they are younger. Lil’ Pizza went from a high chair to a booster to now a junior chair at the table. It would have definitely been a better investment to buy this high chair instead of purchasing the three different chairs.

3) Rocker – Okay, so I don’t think I would be able to justify buying this specific dream chair from Pottery Barn Kids because of the steep price, but a good rocker/glider is so important. I was on my glider a lot my first year with Baby Pizza, including being asleep half the time on it  I woke up often with a stiff neck but I could picture myself resting my head on the side of this wingback chair.  The awesome thing about this chair is that you could convert it to a regular chair by purchasing feet when you no longer need it as a rocker.

4) Travel Crib – I think travel cribs are much more beneficial than a pack and play because they are more portable. We take our travel crib when we are vacationing or visiting family or friends out of town. Lil’ Pizza used it until she was close to three. I have the Baby Bjorn travel crib which works great but I have to admit that I am intrigued by the additional side zipper on the Lotus Travel Crib which I think would have its benefits.

5) Carrier – I was and am still so dependent on my carrier. I had the original Ergobaby carrier with Lil’ Pizza, which I love because it’s a soft-structured carrier making it very easy to stuff in my bag. With Baby Pizza, I started off with the Solly Wrap which I liked, but wanted to eventually switch over to a carrier (which wasn’t even an option in those early months back when Lil’ Pizza was born). I tried the infant insert with my Ergobaby carrier but didn’t like the feel of it and eventually got the LILLEbaby Complete because I didn’t need additional parts to be able to carry Baby Pizza when she was about 6 weeks old.  I love both my carriers for different reasons, but for someone who is having her first baby I would recommend trying the LILLEbaby Complete. I heard Buy Buy Baby lets you try the carriers on at the store, so I would take advantage of that.

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These are the five items I think are definitely worth splurging on. Would you also agree with these items? What were items you purchased that you felt were worth the big investment?