07 October 2008

Finding Normal

Global Baby is 16 days old and it is probably a while before we find "normal" because he changes every day.

Indeed sometimes he seems different by the end of the day.

But everything is going very well. He is a good eater, a good pooper and does a minimum of fussing. (Fingers crossed that all continues!)

Of course, that doesn't mean he doesn't keep me up at night. But at least walking and rocking consoles him and eventually we are both able to go back to sleep.

And I am very, very happy we are here in Minnesota, surrounded by my family. Half of whom are in the medical profession and do not mind panicked calls from a new mother!

But it is also so nice be to going through these first confusing weeks in familiar surroundings and in English! And to know that if I realize in the middle of the night that I MUST HAVE something I didn't previously even know about, I have multiple options of extremely well-stocked 24-hour stores to go and get said item.

And I have a question for my readers in Switzerland (or a nearby country)...

Does anybody know where I can get a gliding rocker? I've never seen one over there, but surely someone sells them. Doesn't have to be fancy and I would prefer it not cost an arm and a leg. Although I realize it will likely be 2-3 times the cost as here because, well, it's Switzerland and that's just the way it is.

My parents have a few different rockers in the house, but Global Baby has a strong preference for the movement of the glider. Which is a huge bonus when I am tired of walking back and forth and he won't accept me sitting in any other chair.

13 comments:

Sara said...

i dont know about rockers here, but you might consider if you could order one from a place that ships internationally. i ordered a table from the US and had it sent to france via FEDEX, and even with the delivery charges it was like 1/2 the price it would have been in in france...

The Big Finn said...

When the Expatters lived here, I once drove Gretchen to a big baby store just over the border in Lörrach (Germany) where she bought a glider. I can't remember the name of the store, but I can find out for you (in case she doesn't see this post).

BTW...sounds like the kid is a real winner: I'm a good eater and pooper too!

Marcy said...

We're 8 months out and "normal" still changes by the day. ; )

I looked for gliders when we were pregnant, and I found a few-- but the cheapest I ever found them was "on sale" for about 700chf. Otherwise they tended to be 1500chf or so. This was at Aubonne and Autour de Bebe, in Geneva. We did find a rocker, a wood and wicker rocking chair that we eneded up getting for free, but hardly ever used b/c D is just not a fan of rocking chairs (he prefers to stand, thankyouverymuch). So I'm glad we didn't spend all that money on a glider, as much as I wanted one.

We have friends who had a baby in Germany and they happened to know people that would be moving nearby at about that same time to they were able to buy a glider in the US and have the friends put it in their boat shipment!

Susie Vereker said...

Wonderful that GB is doing so well. It's lovely to read your happy posts.
It looks huge and expensive, that gliding chair and maybe GB won't appreciate it for long enough to be worth it. You can get a small baby-size rocker with a battery from Maclaren. I don't know if I can put links in a comment but if you search for Maclaren Baby Rocker I expect you will find it. A simple baby bouncer, again for the baby himself rather than for both of you, lasts a while too. Or indeed a cradle you can rock. But maybe it isn't the done thing to put the baby in a chair by himself these days, however safe. I do remember taking babies out in the stroller/pram to settle them down to sleep or out in the car in their carry-cot. Graco make a baby swing that's popular too, but it's quite large and cumbersome and won't last as long as the small ones. (If you had a second child, you wouldn't be able to hold GB all day!)

swissmiss said...

I got my glider - which looks just like the one in your picture - at ToysRUs outside of Zurich. I don't remember the price but very reasonable - not just reasonable for Switzerland, but actually reasonable. We walked out the door with it the day we got it. I've also seen them at BabyWelt, a bit more expensive.

We love it too.

I'm so glad Global Baby is a relaxed little dude so far.

swissmiss said...

Just read the prices in Marcy's comment. Ours was like 250 CHF. Seriously reasonable.

Global Librarian said...

Thanks for all the tips! I knew I could count on my Expat Network!

I love rocking children and spent many happy hours rocking babies and older children in my child care/nanny days. So if I could find a glider for a reasonable price, I definitely want to purchase it.

Note for TBF: if GB remains a good eater/pooper will he reach TBF height?

And to Susie, thanks for the tip. One of the items we purchased here and are going to bring back is a portable (folds flat) vibrating, musical bouncy chair. I prefer holding babies as such as possible, but sometimes you need to set them down somewhere safe.

swissmiss said...

I just checked my glider and it's made by Hauck

Gretchen said...

TBF is right, we bought our glider at Baby One in Binzen (just across the border from Basel). They were next to impossible to find, and came at a very high price. But my advice is to splurge and buy one no matter the cost... I still spend countless hours sitting in our glider.

Gretchen said...

One more glider tip... be sure to get one that has padded armrests. Your arms will thank you!

http://expatter.blogspot.com/2006/05/destination-relaxation.html

CaraRose1977 said...

I live in Basel. Can I get to that store by the tram/bus? I could look to see if they still have the gliders and see the price. I'm not working and it would give me something productive and useful to do tomorrow after the AWC lunch.

Kirk said...

I am always extremely reluctant to correct my lovely wife, but we actually bought our glider at a Baby One up near Freiburg, Germany, then had it shipped down to Binzen (where, as The Big Finn indicated, he picked it up and hauled it back to our place). I think the one in Binzen was much smaller and didn't have gliders. We looked at a few in France and they were between 500-1,000 Euros; Germany was more reasonable. (I wish we'd known about Toys R Us.) And Gretchen's not exaggerating about still using it--every time we go out of town, one of the biggest issues is not having her comfy glider to sit with Madchen and read books.

On a mostly unrelated note, I don't know if you're aware of the Mutterberatung service in Switzerland, but it's well worth finding out if there's one near you. It's essentially a free clinic where you can take your baby to get weighed, get advice from nurses, etc., at minimal cost and (unlike in the States) no stigma whatsoever. Gretchen used it whenever we had a question that didn't merit a trip to the pediatrician.

Gretchen said...

Yes, Kirk is right, we bought it at Gundelfingen and picked up in Binzen. But I was told recently that the Binzen store now carries them, so it might be a possibility. I'm not sure if you can get there for tram/bus, I only went by car.