ERGOBaby Carrier
I wanted to share a couple of my favorite new baby items. The first is the ERGOBaby carrier I just got a week ago. (No, that's not me in the picture!) Apparently some of the other baby carriers only work until the baby is 6 months old or so. What I liked about this one is that it's supposed to grow with the child, so you can use it until your child is 2 years old or so. The main reason I bought it was that someone very nice mailed me a sling as a present, but I couldn't figure out for the life of me how to get the baby in it securely. The ERGOBaby carrier is super easy to put on. I had to buy an infant padded insert (seen in the photo) to use while Lilly is still under 6 months or so. The only drawback I'd say is that the insert is crazy warm. Even if I'm in an air conditioned store, since she's pressed right up against my chest and is enveloped by this extra padding, she's always sweating by the time she gets out. I wouldn't dream of trying to take her outside in this in the summer. Also, if she wakes up (since putting her in it usually induces sleeping), she's usually hungry and starts doing the baby head-butt into my chest. This was slightly awkward and annoying when it happened during the check out line at the grocery store! Note: I got the "Performance" kind, because it's a little lighter weight and had more mesh which would be cooler if we ever wanted to go hiking with it down the road.Flip Diapers
I've been intrigued by cloth diapers for quite some time. They have whole diaper "systems" now (which are improvements on the diapers and safety pins our parents used), and washing machines nowadays have pre-rinse and post-rinse cycles, so you don't even need a diaper service; you can easily wash the diapers yourself. I like the idea of cloth diapers to some extent because I feel bad about sending so many disposabble diapers to the landfill, but mainly I want to do it because I anticipate major cost savings over time. That being said, investing in cloth diapers is actually pretty darn expensive up front. (I'm estimating about $300 - $400 for a full set. However, in theory that could last until the child is potty trained, so that ends up being much cheaper than buying disposable diapers.)I initially bought a set of Chinese pre-fold diapers and Bummies wraps from Green Mountain. I also bought a "wet sack", a lined, waterproof bag you can put wet cloth diapers in when you're on the go.
Even with this initial investment, I've been using disposable diapers since Lilly was born, just because I didn't want to be too ambitious at the beginning, taking new experiences one at a time. By the time I was ready to experiment with these diapers, I discovered that she was already outgrowing the newborn size I had bought. I was rather appalled when I discovered I would need to buy a whole new set of larger diapers and larger covers. I went to a local store called Cotton Babies to ask for their advice. It turns out they manufacture a line of products called Bum Genius (which is pretty well known, it turns out, in the cloth diapring world.) They recommended a diapering system they make called Flip diapers.
What's nice about these diapers is that there's an insert that lays inside the outer shell. I prefer it to the prefolds because you don't need to latch the diaper shut in any way; you simply slide the diaper right into the shell. Also, unlike the "all in one" diapers where the cloth diaper is attached to the outer shell, I like the fact that you can use the outer shell multiple times (only replacing the diaper insert) as long as the outer shell wasn't soiled. This not only requires the purchase of less diapers, it also means it doesn't take so long for the diapers to dry. 
The best part about these diapers is that they grow with your baby. You simply fold the insert back less and less as your child grows. In addition, the shell has snaps that you can snap up while the child is smaller, and unsnap when your child grows.Ryan was pretty resistent to cloth diapers at first. He was worried that they would smell up the house. I bought a special diaper pail that has both a carbon air filter as well as a deodorizer. I bought a liner that goes in the can, and you can just toss the liner in the wash with the diapers.
I've only been using the diapers for a day or so, so I can't say as of yet how well it's going to work out, but so far, I like the cloth diapers just fine. They're a little bulkier than disposable diapers, but I think that will become less an issue as Lilly grows into them.
Nursing Stool and Pillow
I had been given several Boppy pillows by friends. The thing about Boppy pillows is that they're not very tall. I found myself leaning over the baby when nursing her, resulting in massive back aches. I finally bought a new pillow, called the Eco-Nursing pillow, that's much higher. Additionally, it has a pillow you can stick in the small of your back, and the pillow itself has a lip on it so your baby doesn't roll off (like she does on the Boppy pillow.) I still use my Boppy pillow upstairs in the nursery when I nurse, but this one is nice to have downstairs during the day. It has really helped reduce my back pain.
Additionally, I bought a little stool I could use to prop my feet up. What's nice about the stool is that it's slightly sloped so your knees go up and your spine straightens out. It's a bit tall for some of my chairs I nurse it, but it's better than having to raise my legs up on tip toes while nursing, which is what I was doing unconsciously.
1 comment:
Thanks for the heads up! You just cut my research time drastically with your reviews on these items. :)
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