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@Pirouette: I can't help with this yet (obviously lol) but it's definitely something I think about!! We live in a 4th floor walk-up (by choice!) and a lightweight stroller will be a HUGE must for us! Our 2nd bedroom will be a guest/office/nursery. For space saving, what about a convertible style crib? One of the kinds that has a nightstand type dresser attached to the end with a changing table on top then it detaches when the crib turns into a bed.

@LindsayInNY: that's what we have and I love it.

For us we focused on getting (registering) for stuff that would have a long lifespan. We plan on having a few more so I knew I'd want to save things for #2 but also didn't want to have huge hulking things laying around that we're not actively using. No packnplay, when we travel its usually to visit someone that has one. We chose the jumperoo over the exersaucer because it store more compactly. We got a convertible stroller right away because I knew the infant seat would have a short life (@ 5 months dd is already almost too long for one). Her nursery doubles as a guest room with a daybed and a crib.

@Pirouette: It looks like this! The crib can transition to a toddler bed and then a full-size bed (with conversion kit or whatnot). That eliminates a separate changing table!

My LO isn't here yet, so I won't say what gear was necessary to me or not, but my sister lived in a one bedroom apartment in NYC with her son until he was a year and a half old. It was an elevator building, and they ended up with a Bugaboo Chameleon which held up well on the bumpy sidewalks and curbs and had a nice big storage basket underneath, which was key for her since her stroller was her car. The only furniture they bought for the baby were his crib and a dresser that doubled as a changing table. They got the Stoki crib because it was oval, a little smaller than most but not a mini, and on wheels-- they would wheel the crib into their bedroom or to the baby's 'nook' in the living area. The problem with some mini cribs is some babies grow out of them really fast-- my nephew is 2.5 and still in his smaller regular crib. They had a regular armchair that they used for feeding and stories, no special rocker, and just put his books on the bottom shelf of their bookshelves. Oh, and he slept in a Rock and Play for the first few months before the crib, and they would just move that wherever they were-- next to the bed at night, in the living room during the day. He also had a vibrating bouncy chair that he loved, but no swing (bigger footprint, but also, he hated the swing).

For us, we have a 2 bedroom but have a guest bed in the baby's room, so still minimal space in there. We'll have a full size crib, dresser with changing pad on top, and that is pretty much it in the baby's room. I have a glider that we are keeping in the living room b/c it won't fit in the baby's room, and we went with the UB Vista stroller-- again, it's going to be my car pretty much. We have a place i can leave it downstairs, though. I would have done a City Mini if I had to carry it up the stairs every time.

I live in a one bedroom with DH and our six month old. We have a Davinci Annabelle mini crib in our room and a changing station on the hope chest at the foot of our bed. Half of my closet went into space saver bags under our bed, and I bought a hanging organizer with drawers for her clothes. We used the same resources above for gear and ended up with a City Mini. I also wear her a lot (K'tan and Beco Gemini), since it's easier for some errands (like carrying home the dry cleaning, etc) to have free hands. It's tight, but you can do it!

@hilsy85: when LO was very young I would also baby wear on the subway. But if I knew we were going to be out for more than an hour or two, I would take the stroller. My whole thing with the Maclaren was to avoid buying a second stroller.

We lived in Brooklyn just one year and now live abroad, moved right after LO turned 1. We really liked it though and it was definitely more baby friendly than Manhattan.

We live in NYC and we lived in a 1 bdr with Dd for several months. now she is almost 1 and we have just moved into a 2 bdr. We got the Uppababy Vista. We picked it because of the amount of walking we do. I just wouldn't have felt comfortable having a 2 week old baby in an umbrella stroller for so long.

We went with a regular sized crib over a mini because I felt like she would outgrow a mini really quickly. In our 1 bdr, we had her crib in our room and we all fit fine. We used the top of our dresser as a changing table and that worked great for us. We got a Snugabunny swing which was a lifesaver, and even though my DD turns 1 next week she still loves her jumperoo.

As for carseat, we didn't bother with an infant seat, instead we got a Combi Coccoro convertible carseat right from the get go. I figured that we only do Zipcar once a month or so, so why get an infant seat that will barely get used? Well this has worked out great for us. The Combi is actually compact enough that I can fit ini the basket under my Uppababy Vista! Of course it helps that the Vista has such a massive basket.

Sorry for the novel, but I have to say I love having a baby in the city. There's so much to do and the space constraints are not actually that bad. Good luck, wall post me if you want to chat more.

@Pirouette: yup, DD rode home from teh hospital in the Combi Coccoro. It has an infant insert and the minimum weight for a baby to ride in it is 5lbs, so no problems there. DH just practiced installing it a few times on a friends car, and now he can do it in less than 30 seconds.

@Pirouette: We live in a one br in brooklyn and space is tight. I wanted just the necessary things. We got a crib, a used snap and go, rock and play sleeper, car seat, baby carrier and Uppa baby G-Luxe Stroller.

We had DD sleep in the rNp for about a month, then we used it as a seat for her when we were in the living room. the great thing about the rNp is that it fold flat.

the car seat and snap and go was used a lot. the snap and go also folds flat (huge plus) and was light enough to carry around. (we lived on the first floor but I had to carry it up the stairs once to a friend's apt.) when DD was about 4 months old we stopped using the snap and go and started to use the uppa baby G-luxe. its a light weight stroller and is pretty compact and stands on its own when folded. We also have an Ergo baby carrier and baby k'tan. The Ergo was not great for newborns because they recommend that you put them in his bulky infant insert. So i used the K'tan for the first 2 months then when she was bigger we switched her to the Ergo.

we also used a regular dresser and put a changing pad on top. So no space was wasted.

I hope that helps!