Nesting and the Endless World of Baby Stuff

I suppose I have started to nest.

Although I am not as "nesty" as my friend Lori, who has claimed to be in a cleaning/de-junking fury with all things in their home pending the arrival of their little one, I have started to clear out the nursery. Things done so far:

• Bit by bit I am selling all our extra crap (ahem, I mean stuff) that we stored in the guest/junk room. As I do this I start to wonder why we never did it before! eBay and Craigslist can be very fulfilling in a Zen-like way!
  
• So far we have banked over $300! Vases, candles from wedding - $45; Camera - $125; Other Camera - $65; Pots and pans - $50; Assorted things on eBay $40
• Shelves and shelves of books are getting boxed and carted to the garage until we have a literary urge.
  
• 3 arm-fulls of work clothes have been donated to a local charity that helps people find jobs
• Clothing that no longer fit have been bagged up to make room for maternity clothes

And the biggest thing is, I have started the baby registry at Babies R Us, Target and Pottery Barn Kids. At this point, it is helpful for me to add things to the registry as I do research. Once you have a baby on the way, you see, you start accumulating lots of advice and it's hard to keep it all straight!

Just the other day in Babies R Us a new mom told me about bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical that leaks from most baby bottles when heated. These plastic bottles (and sippy cups) are made of a hard plastic called Polycarbonate (PC), but there are alternatives made of Polyamide (PA) that is free of Bisphenol-A. Even Nalgenes contain PC (oh no!), but the problem seems to occur when you put them in the dishwasher or put something hot in them - so don't and it should be OK.

There is endless debate and information on this subject, but the bottles I am going to go with are Born Free, free of BPA. This warning also applies to pacifiers, because you put them in the dishwasher. Apparently Gerber's Nuk pacifiers are safe, as are silicone and latex pacifiers by Playtex and others. However, if they have a silicone nipple but PC safety piece, they are not as good. Another interesting thing I read is that babies seem to prefer latex over silicone because the latex absorbs tastes and they become more familiar, but using a lot of latex early on can cause latex allergies later. Aye, aye, aye!!!

Next on the topic to discover and debate ... diapers - cloth or plastic?