Sadly for Sale

I've been holding on to the lost dream of these Bumgenius beauties for too long. They worked beautifully for us for a total of about 5 or 6 months of E's life. The rest of the time his little butt was too skinny, or he was at daycare, and now he's refused to wear them, and I just don't have the oomph to fight him. I suspect him being so hot has something to do with it.

Anyway, these diapers (nicely arranged in a "wainbow" by E - he's an arranger) are for sale. They are much more gently used than I would have liked, but it's a good bargain for you! There's even a new one in package! They have all inserts, and there are only a couple stained ones. The diaper sprayer didn't work for my plumbing, so it's never been opened.

I'm asking $35 for the sprayer, $10 for each diaper (13 in all). If you want the whole shebang, it's $150. If you want all the dipes minus the sprayer, it's $120. And no you may not have the flannel wipes I got from Jen. They are too awesome for everything. If you are interested, leave a comment with your email, and we'll chat.


**Get a load of my Christmas clad toes in the shot. Classy.

Easing Up and Advice

Things seem to be settling in our household. Whew! Thank goodness! A quick question for you all now that I have a moment to breathe...

We are looking at getting a second car seat. This time we want one that is smaller for our small cars, $100 or less (on sale or whatever), has a good rating and doesn't have to go that high on weight. Up to 35 or 40 pounds is fine. I have a feeling that E is going to be in the twenties for QUITE a while. Any suggestions?

Crib Tent Opinion Soliciting

Anybody have opinions on the little tents that cover the tops of cribs so babies can't climb out? I don't think E has figured it out yet, but he's starting to think about climbing stuff, and that is a HUGE fear of mine...

Full Circle

This is E's high chair. At first glance, it's just a plain, aging high chair with a cute pad.


And it has been used... extensively. My Grandma used it for my Mom and various other family members. My Great Aunt used it for some of her children. Mom got it back when I was born and used it for me, my sister and some of my cousins. Then my sister used it for her boys. Toward the end of my pregnancy, I started asking Mom about it. I remembered it fondly, and it's made of actual wood! She expressed doubts that it would be ok and didn't want to bring it down... but then she did.


When Mom got it for me, she refinished it and decorated it with some pretty designs. The back (under the pad) has a cute little lion on it. She's crafty, my Mom. The little touches she added make me feel loved.


It's imperfect, but I love having it for E. Why is it that family furniture garners so many memories? Is it because it lasts so long and sees so much (the good stuff anyway)? I know this piece has. It was lovingly touched by my sweet Grandma's hands. It held my cousin who was dogged by sickness and passed away very young. It holds memories of my sister; memories like the times she was so sleepy her head fell into her food at dinner. Its wood holds warmth. It's a pleasure to touch. The tray catches on the runners, but to me it's a funny quirk. Some of the finish is rubbing off, but to me that adds character. It now holds my sweet baby's chunk legs, and to me, it's a full circle of love.

Cloth Diapers are Cute

A look at E's cloth dipeys hanging on that wonderful octopus I bought at Ikea. I can highly recommend it for this use.

Safety First Complete Air Review

A month or so ago, I managed to get the Safety First Complete Air car seat for $99 at BRU. It had been on my list of possible "good" car seats, but the amazing deal sealed it.

We've been using it for about a week and so far so good! I had heard it was difficult to install, but I didn't find it so. The main issues are to make sure it fits in your car and to be sure you are installing it following the instructions. It fits in both of our cars (Civic and Focus), but surprisingly it fits in the Civic better. It fits best in the middle in the Civic and either the middle or the passenger side in the Focus if the seat is pushed pretty far up. There is a groove on one side of the seat that needs to be aligned with the level ground. Once that is attained, it's pretty simple, (if using the latch system) to push down on the groove in the seat (not the seat itself or you'll mess up the alignment) while pulling on the belt to tighten. The instructions say you can use a swim noodle or rolled up towel to prop the seat while you tighten it to maintain the proper tilt. This confused me until I actually did it. Basically, if you have the flat part of the car seat aligned completely with the backseat of your car, it's not tilted properly. There will be some open air between the seat bottom and the back seat. That's where the swim noodle could go if you need it. Just remember to remove it once the seat is tight. - CORRECTION: You can leave the swim noodle or towel under the seat to give it something to rest on.

I find the belts for restraining baby much easier than in our old infant seat. They also seem more comfortable for E. The seat itself seems very plush, padded, comfy and safe. E reclines in it like he's ready to watch a movie. We worried that the head padding on either side would hinder E's vision and annoy him, but so far he doesn't seem to care. We haven't used the cup holder yet, but I'll let you know how it works when we do. It doesn't seem too sturdy, but since the whole seat is a win, I think we can live with that.

So far the main drawbacks I've found have been how large it is (but since it's convertible and can be rear facing to 40 lbs, I don't mind), and that it is a little trickier to install tightly and properly than an infant base. However, I feel far more comfortable with him in that seat.

Ode to the Mesh Crib Bumper

Mesh crib bumper, oh how I love you. You keep my baby from getting his crazy kicking legs stuck. You keep him from smashing has face against hard wooden slats yet don't present a suffocation risk. You enclose him some which helps him feel safe and cuts down on distractions from sleep. You allow me to sleep next to him in my bed without disturbing him. You provide a fun surface for him to scratch* which also makes it easier for him to sleep. I can say I highly recommend you.

*E has been "scratching" things with his fingernails lately. He often does it as a soothing ritual. It's cute, but weird. Also (in a very small stage whisper) E has been falling asleep on his own in the crib and sleeping there very well most of the night, most of the time. Shhhh. Don't tell anyone.

Your Input Needed

Crib bumpers for an almost 7 month old who likes to stick his legs through the slats - pros and cons - discuss.

GREAT company and shopping!

I got to hang out with two other great mommies of like mind today! AND, if you want a cheap car seat.... Safety First is discontinuing the harvest color of their Complete Air convertible car seat. Babies R Us has it on clearance, PLUS right now there's an extra 25% off, PLUS you can use their 20% off coupons on top of it! I got it for just over $100 with tax!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOT! We will see if we like it, and if we don't, we can return it. But I couldn't pass up that deal.

My Diaper Review

After using Huggies Pure and Natural and Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive, here is my final take. Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive size Newborn through 2 held leaks better, fit the baby better and seemed more comfortable. They had a slightly more chemical smell than the Huggies, but not enough to make me not want to use them.

Now on size 3, the Pampers have the "drymax technology" instead of the mesh liner etc. The absorbent material does not go the whole way up the back of the diaper, and the band to keep leaks in at the top isn't as secure in my opinion as with the Huggies. The Huggies fit much better now that he's larger. They're more narrow through the middle, but that doesn't seem to stop them from catching leaks. He seems more comfortable with a narrow diaper now. It's not so bulky. The Huggies are more expensive, but absorb far more urine in my experience than the Pampers, so it makes up for it. And finally, the biggest deciding factor is that the Pampers reek, while the Huggies have very little smell at all and feel very soft. When we use the Pampers we have to be careful not to let him wear them too long because he gets red much faster. With the Huggies, overnight is not a problem.

As for BumGenius 3.0, we love them when they work. However, E seems to go through growth stages where he's in between sizes and fits on that adjustable diaper. When he's in the in between stage, they leak through the legs or up the back like crazy. When he's fitting fine, they are wonderfully absorbent and hold leaks well. He seems comfortable in them. He never gets diaper rash in them, and they're cute!

That's my 2 cents for what it's worth.

Car Seat Suggestions

Since apparently our son is a giant baby compared to what we were, he won't fit well in his infant seat much longer. Thus we are on the look out for our next car seat. Some important points:

1. It must fit well in a Honda Civic
2. The fabric won't be cloying and overly hot.
3. Safe rear facing as heavy as it can go (remember - giant.)
4. Not completely awful to move from car to car.
5. Under $200

And any other points you care to enlighten me on. Have some input?

Pampers Responds!

I'd like to note that LaToya from Pampers was kind enough to note my blog entry. I never imagined that! I usually write open letters just to vent without any real hope of a reply. Thank you LaToya, and I am reposting her response from the comments section with my reply following:

I’m LaToya from Pampers. I’m so sorry your family had this experience. I have two little ones so I can imagine your frustration having to worry about your new baby. Our number one purpose at Pampers is about caring for babies, so these comments mean a lot to us. The Swaddlers Sensitives do contain the Dry Max technology but only in sizes 3 and 4. The mesh liner is available in the smaller sizes, as it’s used to keep the runny mess away from infant’s skin. As the baby gets bigger, their “poo” is more formed and the mesh liner is no longer needed. In fact, before we removed the mesh liner from Cruisers, we tested both liners with moms and moms actually preferred the new, softer liner opposed to the mesh liner. A small amount of fragrance is added, however, between the backsheet and therefore is not touching the baby’s skin. But a “chemical smell” is not expected at all. These diapers are indeed sensitive. Swaddlers Sensitives has more lotion and both the ears and outer cover are breathable to help maintain the natural healthy look of your new baby’s skin. I hope this answers your questions. When you get the time we would like for you to call and tell us more about your experiences (1-877-256-3265). We may also be able to give you more answers. Again, I apologize for your experience and I hope you call us soon.

I'm happy to see that Pampers has put a lot of thought into their products. I have a few problems with the assumptions made for the sizes 3 and up however. My baby is in the 90th percentile for height and the 75th for weight. That means that he grows out of the mesh liner before his poos become more formed. Furthermore, according to many doctors, a baby's main mode of nutrition to at least 6 months is supposed to be breast milk (no formula). Breast fed babies tend to have more watery stool than formula fed and solids fed babies. Since my son is under 6 months, he still has that kind of stool and the new liner does not work as well for it, yet he's outgrown the 2s. I imagine that happens for a lot of babies, and the large number of babies onto formula by that age may have skewed your results for expectation of need in the liner.

I'd actually rather not have lotions, perfumes etc put into a sensitive diaper as you never know what a sensitive baby's skin may react to. And even though our son is not sensitive per se, we don't want to expose him to skin products of which we don't know the chemical composition. The chemical smell was quite strong to me compared to the earlier Swaddlers and another brand to which we've switched. It smelled like a very harsh version of baby powder and actually made my Mom draw back quickly when I handed it to her to smell. We tried the diapers on the assumption that perhaps the problems noted with them were blown out of proportion or were restricted to certain batches or certain babies, but when we noticed him getting more red than usual and then noticed the few little bumpy patches on his normally fine skin, we stopped using them.

It is becoming much more common and dare I say even "fashionable" for parents to use whole, sustainable and environmentally friendly products as often as possible. Therefore, the expectation of a sensitive diaper is going to be much higher I believe than ever before. I would use cloth almost exclusively if his daycare would agree to it. Alas, that isn't always possible.

But I thank you very much for your response. You have definitely earned my respect by doing that. I think, though, that you may need to look into at least opening up some of your older lines without drymax again to gain back many customers. As I said before, your diapers were fine without it. And blessings to your little ones LaToya.

Thanks!
FCiF

Open Letter to Pampers

Dear Pampers,

We didn't originally intend to go with your diapers, but got some just in case. Everyone told us they were more leak proof than the brand with the less smelly, more natural diapers we wanted to use, so we decided to trust them. It's a good thing we did, because your Pampers Sensitive in size N, 1 and 2 were wonderful, almost never leaked and didn't seem quite as harsh as some other diapers. Even though we preferred the contents of some other companies, it just didn't work.

Then the little man got larger. We searched for Pampers Sensitive in size 3. Imagine our delight when we found them and ordered them online! We got them and saw that they said "Dry Max." Weird. The other ones didn't have that. We opened them anyway. Our delight turned to annoyance when we found that they are nothing like the original sensitive diapers. There's no wet stripe (not a biggie), no mesh liner (a biggie), and they smell as if they've been dipped in a literal VAT of chemicals. How could a diaper be labeled "sensitive" and smell like that?? We find them not as absorbent, not as comfy for our baby, and not as pleasing as the smaller sizes. Why would you basically take some regular dry max Pampers diapers and label them sensitive? We used them in order to keep our son away from some of the awful ingredients in diapers. He's used to wearing cloth diapers (BumGenius 3.0) when he's not at day care, so he certainly can handle a little wetness. And we're not going to let him sit in a wet diaper forever. Please, please consider a more natural and actually sensitive alternative.

Signed,
A very displeased and bummed FCiF

p.s. Since just wearing them a couple of times gave him a red bum and some red bumps, I'd really like my more than $20 back. We don't have enough money to be wasting on horrible products.

BabyLegs

Thanks Auntie Jen! I am so handsome, and you are so talented!

Nursery

Oh my gosh to the craziness of this weekend! I had blood work, a doctor's appointment (all is fabulous), a breast feeding class (in which I met the garage money skimmer again - back to his old tricks - more later), a Christmas party tonight and an all day lamaze class tomorrow! It's all good. I just wish I had a personal assistant to take care of all the icky stuff in between.

Right now though, I have nursery photos to show you. There are a bunch of little touches to add at some point, and the futon won't stay forever, but this is what we have at the moment.

Our changing table and the dreaded shelf. Don't even ask me about it. I can't bear to speak of it. It's done now, that's all that matters. The plate on the shelf is from my sister and bears messages for the babybutt from lots of family members. Note the ADORABLE little LED nightlights. I can't get enough of them. The ghost is from Ikea, the bluebird a present from Target. They're squishy and cute.
The alligator has a baby in her mouth and is also from Ikea. The prints are from a Charley Harper calendar. We also used the one with all the little songbirds eating seeds. I just didn't get a photo of it.
Note the sweet little animal throw rug from Ikea. Babybutt's name will be in plush letters above his crib when he gets one. :)
And this is our crib. We love it. It was easy to assemble, is attractive and very sturdy. I realize that Pooh has a pink blanket. I just don't care. They didn't have any non-pink, and it's Babybutt's first present from Mommy.

Frustrated and a Warning

Remember how we got that Ikea Leksvik changing table/dresser? We also bought the shelf that matches it to hang above it. Let me warn you about it. That damn shelf is HEAVY. It also comes equipped with nothing to hang it other than two little holes and instructions to buy some screws to put through them. That is not enough. It is especially not enough if you have dry wall. The screw doesn't reach far enough through the shelf unless you get it ridiculously long to get to the stud. And we only have one stud in that area anyway. The shelf is also too thick for drywall anchors to really work. I am quite unhappy that there is not more in the instructions or in the set up to help with such a ridiculously heavy shelf that often hangs above a baby's changing table. Can you tell that I'm frustrated? I just wanted to warn anyone who might be thinking about buying it. We've bought multiple kinds of hardware now, put two big holes in our wall that may not even work and now have to go buy MORE hardware to see if we can fix it somehow. We spent $40 on that damn thing. Argh. I really just want that room to be done and pretty so it feels ready. Is that too much to ask?

Handmade Lovelies and Hints on Baby Furniture

The adorable wipes Jen made for the Babybutt:

The super cute combo of a blue Bumgenius diaper with adorable baby legs that Jen also made for the Babybutt (She's so talented. :):


AND my attempt at putting together Ikea furniture.

I did a pretty good job though it almost made me cry tears of weariness because many pieces were heavy, and it took 2 days worth of a few hours each to complete. Notice my oops though. That piece is backward. Should you get the Leksvik changing table, please note the position of that piece. It's the only one you can put on backward without realizing. The other hint for this piece of furniture is to leave the drawers OUT until you fasten the changing table top. It's much easier that way. And do not try to follow the additional changing table instructions in the dresser box (they come in different boxes). They are not correct. Just use the changing table box ones. Now I feel better about all my mistakes. ;-)

Now we just need the room...

We bought our crib last night! But we still don't have the office cleaned out so we can set it UP. Someone wish me luck with that! This photo makes it look really blah, but it's pretty in person. AND it got great reviews on all the sites I checked. Some sweet friends also brought over some adorable baby stuff for us to borrow. One of them was a beautiful bassinett. Hub was enjoying himself pretending that the baby was in there. He loves looking at all the things and imagining him here with us. I'm glad he's as excited as I am.

Octopus Helper

Good for hanging the diapers with style - compliments of Ikea.*


*With whom I have a mad, mad love affair. Shhh

First Registry Gift

We got our first registry gift in the mail yesterday! WOO HOO! It was the snap and go car seat carrier/stroller. We were very excited. It's even better than Christmas! Hub did a rough assembly in about 5 minutes so that he could push it around and pretend to coo at the non-existent baby (or car seat for that matter) clipped into it. Pretty cute, I must admit. I guess he'll make an ok Dad. ;)