As the Florida summer heat subsides, I am planning on making many more trips to the ocean and having fun in the sand. Alexis is the ultimate water baby, and so am I. So the beach is where we both belong. In the meantime I have found a few things that have made our beach outings bearable even in the summer heat. Some of them are absolute must haves for a baby, as far as I am concerned. I have put together these items hoping they would make being at the beach pleasurable even with a young baby and to my surprise they WORKED FABULOUSLY!

1. FAMILY BEACH CABANA UPF 50+

When I was 6 months pregnant and working on our baby registry, the most difficult decision BY FAR was what stroller to register for. I am sure all new moms will agree with me that if you have a decent stroller budget, you are COMPLETELY overwhelmed by the choices and options and your future baby’s needs.

I spent days researching concepts that were so foreign to me at the time. Lightweight? Luxury? Air filled tires? 6 months and up? Bassinet? Reclining seat? Car seat adaptor? Full canopy? UV protective? Expensive? Cheap? Forward facing or rear facing? Tall or adjustable handlebar? Cupholder? Snack tray? Good suspension? iPhone charger? All terrain? Jogging? Shopping basket? EVA tires?

Seriously, your head spins with the amount of options out there. It’s beyond any other item I have EVER had to shop for, including high chairs, which was pretty hard but not THAT hard.

I finally gave up and registered for a reputable  brand because my friend had 2 strollers of theirs. I am sure that is exactly what most people do when they are too overwhelmed by options and don’t want/don’t care to research and make a decision.

I figured that most new mothers are probably faced with the same decision process I had to go through, so I decided to see if I can try to review a stroller in each different category to see which features are a MUST and which ones can be PASSED UP. At least, from my standpoint.

So in the next few weeks, you will see 5 posts that are a part of this STROLLER FEATURE. The 5 categories are: LUXURY STROLLER (Mutsy 4Rider), LIGHTWEIGHT/UMBRELLA STROLLER (Kiddy City’n'Move), AFFORDABLE ALL TERRAIN STROLLER (GoGo Babyz Urban Advantage), JOGGING STROLLER (Baby Jogger Summit XC) and HIGH TECH STROLLER (4Moms Origami).

MUTSY 4 RIDER

A Dutch stroller company Mutsy {pronounced [Moot-si] was established in 1937 with the most adorable little carriages you have ever seen. But it wasn’t until 1975 that they came out with their first ADJUSTABLE stroller with a reclining back and then in 1978, one that transforms from a bassinet into a seat. That, for me, is the essence of Mutsy as a stroller company –  ADAPTABILITY.

The versatility of Mutsy strollers is beyond anything I imagined and more than I had hoped for. Mutsy 4Rider, which is the red stroller you’ve been seeing in most of my pictures, is their top of the line luxury stroller that is MADE with your baby in mind ( and a few features to appease parents too). When I was looking at all the options different strollers had, I was convinced that  there wasn’t one stroller that had it all, and that in order to get everything I wanted, I had to get at least 3 strollers. However, after spending the last 7 months using the 4Rider, I can tell you honestly, THIS IS  as close to ALL-IN-ONE as you can get!

Now before I get further into the review, one thing you have to know is that it is by NO MEANS a lightweight stroller. It is VERY heavy. It’s not meant to be lightweight or compact.  It’s meant to be comfortable for baby and parents, and full of features. {Mutsy DID come out with a lighter, more compact stroller just a few months ago, Evo, with similar features as 4Rider, from what I can see}.

My favorite part of Mutsy 4Rider is the amount of options and features this stroller has. In fact, I am STILL learning new features as I write this review ( I’ve gone “Baby, did you know Mutsy can do this?” to my husband three times in the last hour). These guys have thought of pretty much ANY scenario.

We all know how different babies are and you just have NO way of knowing what your future baby is going to like or hate until you try it. This stroller pretty much ensures that you’ll have something to appease your little one with. That’s where the options the 4Rider offers really come in handy.

So let’s go over them quickly, shall we?

Let’s start with the most common configuration of the 4Rider, using its seat.

• The seat snaps in and out of  the stroller with 1 click.
• It reclines to virtually any position, including flat
• It can be flipped to face forward or backwards ( rear facing strollers are very important for the few 6-8 months of a baby’s life, until they get object permanence, since they might get distressed in a stroller that is facing forward  when the parent isn’t visible).
• It has TWO  slots to attach any of the following to it: Canopy ( it has good coverage, with a large peekaboo window at the top that gets rolled up and affixed with velcro, and a relatively large zip-up pocket in the back. It can also be moved to any of the two slots, making it sit further back or forward for more coverage), dinnertray (sold separately), arm rest.

Other features:

• breaks
• lockable front wheels
• expandable handlebar ( this really comes in handy for us, tall people)
• air filled tires (big air filled tires means that your baby gets less jostling when you’re walking or lightly jogging)
• nice suspension ( again, this is by far the smoothest ride out of all the strollers I’ve tried)
• solid construction (This is where the word luxury comes in (besides its price tag). The stroller feels SOLID, it feels expensive, there’s absolutely no flimsiness to it.)
• expensive fabrics (In comparison to other strollers, Mutsy 4Rider has a really nice feel. The fabric is woven very tightly and is of excellent quality)

• Bassinet (It easily snaps in and out of the stroller. Sold separately.)
• Parasol (It gets attached to the handle bar and moved in any direction you wish to block the sun. Sold separately.)
• Funseat ( This configuration is the coolest of them all and I cannot wait to try when Lexi is old enough. Basically it’s a cool toddler seat with a fake STEERING WHEEL (!!!!!!) and a huge basket. Perfect for trip to the beach or the store! Sold separately.)
• Beach bag ( A “gigantic BeachBag fits right inside the basket of the Mutsy FunSeat”. Sold separately.)
• Extra shopping basket (Sold separately.)
• Raincover (Sold separately.)
• Graco, Peg Perego adaptors ( The stroller can house an infant car seat with an adaptor for Graco or Peg Perego car seats. Sold separately.)
• Footmuff (Sold separately.)
• Riding step up board for toddlers (A really cool feature, where you add this little step board with a wheel to the back of the stroller so that your 2 year old could ride with you and your infant. Sold separately.)
• Mutsy Babysitter (A rocker frame that houses your Mutsy seat and makes for a really great infant seat/rocker. It has literally saved my sanity in the first few months because it was the only rocker Lexi would sleep in. It’s even been featured in Lexi Awards. Sold separately.)
• Duo Seat (Converts your 4Rider into a double stroller)

For more information on MUTSY, visit the following:

• Web site address: www.mutsy.com
• Twitter address: http://twitter.com/mutsycollection
• Pinterest address: www.pinterest.com/kastelint
• Facebook address: http://www.facebook.com/mutsyusa

I also made this cute little video of all the times we’ve been going out with our Mutsy 4Rider.

Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. Mutsy provided me with a stroller sample to review. All opinions are 100% my own.

I have a post about Baby Led Weaning all written and scheduled, but BEFORE I dive into our experience, I wanted to write a quick post about the gear we are using in this awesome adventure, so that when referring to a high chair or plate or spoon, you’d know exactly what we are using and why.

Let’s start with the big one:

HIGH CHAIR

There were only two things I “agonized” over when it came to baby gear in general. It was strollers and high chairs. I mean, there are SOOOO many options, and they are all SOOOO different!

The options are crazy:

Big tray vs. small tray             Full high chair vs. chair/table add-on               Wooden vs. plastic

Toxic materials vs. Safe             Modern vs traditional             Stands out vs. Fit into the decor

“Hose-able” vs. not                  Expensive vs. Cheap                 Popular vs. relatively unknown

I can go on and on and on.

I kept going back and forth between settling for a cherry wood one like Eddie Bauer or Svan, or going for something cool and modern looking like Boon Flair or Bjorn.

I finally decided to go with Boon Flair. I know the company, I know its commitment to non-toxic products like no other, and it looks darn cool.

Having used the chair for a month now, I realized how silly my initial dilemma was. Of course, a sleek, easy to clean one is the way to go. What was I even thinking considering a wooden chair with a cushion. I laugh at myself now knowing first hand exactly HOW messy feedings can be. Boon Flair isn’t without its flaws, of course, but I’ll get to that.

LOOKS:

Let me begin with how STINKING COOL it looks! From the aesthetical standpoint, it gets a TEN out of ten! One day I rolled it outside to hose it off and I just couldn’t handle the awesomeness of its looks. I mean, look at it! Have you seen a more beautiful sight? I bet you haven’t! :)

It comes in a few colors: white+orange, white+blue, red+white and green+white and you can buy additional color cushions if you wish, separately.

Now that you’re done gazing lovingly at the Boon Flair chilling among colorful hammocks….

VERSATILITY:

It has a cool looking silver pneumatic lift that raises the chair to your desired height. Ours fits PERFECTLY under our breaskfast table. Flair takes up little room due to its design so if you’re short on space, it’ll fit nicely under your table. It fits a baby up to 50 lbs, till 4 years of age. The shoulder straps are kind of annoying, in my opinion, because they don’t let Lexi move as well as she likes to (she’s an active baby). However, I feel the crotch strap, coupled with the snap-in tray and parental attention is good enough so that the shoulder straps aren’t necessary unless you’re leaving your child alone in the chair.

It doesn’t have a recline some high chairs “boast”, but in my personal opinion, as well as a few materials I’ve read, a baby should NEVER be reclined while eating. EVER. That’s a direct train to choking town. If your baby can’t sit up yet, then he/she isn’t ready for solids. As simple as that.

EASE OF CLEAN UP:

LOVE IT! I roll the chair outside, take a hose and go to town while Lexi watches in a carrier (or I just have Andrew do it). The design of the chair is practically seamless. There are virtually no spaces for food to hide it, nothing to scrub out. Both the pad and the chair can be wiped clean if needed, but I prefer hosing it down, since Lexi is a messy eater :) The tray is removable as well and the tray covers are dishwasher safe AND fit into the dishwasher nicely.  There is only 1 flaw that I could find that I hope Boon eventually addresses. While the whole chair is completely seamless, the plastic snaps on the straps are not. They have crevices, and these crevices catch food, and it’s just really hard to get it once it dries. Not impossible, but requires a hose. I would have liked to be able to just wipe them up, instead. And since Lexi feeds herself, she little dirty hands get all over those straps.

EASE OF USE:

The crotch straps easily adjust with a button on each end, so you don’t have to fight with traditionally adjustable straps. The pedal in the base of the chair turns the breaks on and off, so you can go from rolling the chair around to securing it in one position. It rolls really easily on hard floors, too. The tray snaps and unsnaps easily with one hand which is a life-saver when you have to hold your wiggly baby back while putting the tray in.  One aspect of the chair I have to bring up is the size of the tray. I know my first reaction was that it was small. Seeing the massive trays of other high chairs, I was worried I am missing out on something. However, bigger is not always better! What I found out is that the small tray ROCKS! Small tray means Lexi can reach ALL her food on the tray. She spends half her time pushing the food around, trying to pick it up, especially when it’s slimy, and if it wasn’t for the small tray, then the food pieces would get out of her reach quickly enough. With Boon chair she pushes the food to the edge of the tray and picks it up with the other hand. Brilliant!

SAFETY:

Aside from the spotless record that Boon has in the recall department, they are BPA, PVC, phthalate, lead and cadmium free. I actually emailed them to verify that it applies to their high chairs and they confirmed that all components around the feeding area are free of the aforementioned toxins.

PRICE:

At around $200 on Amazon, it’s a good price for a chair with these feature and quality. It doesn’t look or feel cheap. The construction is very solid and doesn’t feel cheap plasticky like some other chairs. It comes with 2 removable tray covers, which is nice, because we never clean them right after eating :) You can buy replacement cushion or one of a different color for $22, which is nice (I hate when accessories are crazy expensive).

BUY IT: Amazon
WIN IT: Enter Boon Flair giveaway at the end of this post

FEEDING SUPPLIES

After I was done deciding on a chair, I needed to get the feeding items. Again, the issue here was finding something that is verifiably 100% free of BPA, PVC and phthalates. I have a Pinterest board that I started collecting items that I have researched and are NOT toxic that you can visit.

I didn’t know what was going to work for Lexi, so I ordered a few things off of Amazon to see if I like them.

PLATES

At first I decided to go with the Bjorn plate, it looked cute and was just as good anything else out there. Except for, it didn’t fit the tray. Whoops! That got put away for later non tray use.  But the spoons are used on daily basis.

So I figured, if I’ve got a Boon chair, why don’t I try Boon plates. They worked out really well and that’s what I’ll be ordering from now on.

I ordered the following:

The Boon Saucer is awesome. It’s the perfect size for the tray, which means it doesn’t slip and is NOT easy for Lexi to pick up and throw ( another bonus of having a small tray). It has three compartments. I usually load the farthest two with food and then put 1 food item in the bigger one closest to her, this way she doesn’t go crazy and overwhelmed swiping the items of the plate.

The Bowl with the Catcher is even better. It has a suction cup on the bottom, Lexster can’t pull it off and throw it either unless she is really bent on it. I love using it for soups and pureed things like hummus or guacamole.

I am iffy on the edgeless dishes, simply because she has no problems picking them up and waving them over her head, so I put them aside for future use when throwing plates isn’t as fun anymore :)

CUPS:

OXO training cup has a special lid with small openings to help babies learn how to drink and not spill.I am not sure how much the lid with openings does, but the cup itself is really nice. Light, completely safe and easy to clean.  It also comes with handles on both sides if your baby prefers that. The lid is meh, we use it mostly without.

SPLAT MAT:

Kushies mat is non-vinyl, non- toxic, easy to clean, easily to spread on the floor. I am not a fan of the patterns, but it’s a splat mat, so who cares. To be completely honest, though, I find it easier to clean food off the floor, than to have to wash the mat. What it does a good job of is catching food she throws and keeping it clean so that I can put it back on her plate.

BIB:

Tried a silicone Bjorn bib with a pocket, tried conventional bibs, but the only thing that worked out was a complete coverage bib from Bumkins. Everything else was a joke.  The best thing that works for Lexi is naked with that bib. We’ve been successfully using this one for weeks now.

 Baby Led Weaning Book and Cookbook

I wrote about the cookbook in this Awesome Book Finds post and would recommend it to anyone who does Baby Led Weaning and searches for ways to make healthy and fun meals for their baby. If you are not currently using the BLW method, I’d highly recommend you read the BLW book. Not necessarily because you want to try a different method of feeding your child but because it has a lot of good ideas on how to build a strong and health relationship with your child when it comes to mealtime.

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Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. Boon Inc provided me with a high chair sample to review. All opinions are 100% my own.

FINN AND EMMA ACTIVITY GYM

When I saw this gym on one of the blogs, I knew I had to try it.  Being a huge fan of Finn&Emma (see Lexi Awards), I knew that the gym wasn’t going to disappoint from eco standpoint and design. However, I was wondering if such a simple bar with a few toys would keep Lexi’s attention for long enough, like conventional gyms do.

By the time I received the gym, Lexi was 5 months and already sitting up. That actually worked in our favor, because if she were to be in a lying position, she wouldn’t be able to get the toys into her mouth, and she’s pretty forceful when it comes to tasting everything she can lay her little hands on.

So I sat her next to the Finn &Emma gym and she went to town. She didn’t hesitate to taste every single toy on the bar. Over the next few months, the arch has been empty half the time. Do you know why? Because she was SO in love with the wool toys and the wooden teethers that we had to take them with us EVERYWHERE we went.

It didn’t make much sense to me why she preferred these toys over any others, but she clearly did. The two wool animals had feet just the perfect size for her mouth and 90% of the time she HAD them in her mouth. The wooden teethers were fun to manipulate and easy to hold for her. And the biggest bonus for me? They clip in a way no other hanging toys does. Rather than use velco which ultimately ends up “un-velcroing” under the strength of a 6 months baby, Finn and Emma used a ribbon with a clip at the end, so no amount of pulling would unclip it from the stroller, their wrist, your wrist, etc etc and  drop it on the dirty floor. Dirty floor is where most our toys end up on, except for these toys. That also made the toys mommy’s favorite.

That clip and ribbon is what she loves to chew on the most, so they are always soaking wet, but give her hours of entertainment. No joke!

You know how sometimes you buy something, you use it and then you just shake your head and wonder whether these people ever tested the product at all- it doesn’t work or works poorly. Well, I have to say that the toys of this gym, specifically, work like they have been tested by both parents and babies over and over again. Huge winner in my eyes!

Because we received the gym at the time when Alexis was no longer interested in playing while lying down, I cannot tell you how it’d do with younger babies.  I know Alexis has always been the kind of baby to take toys into her mouth rather than swat at them. I can see where that would present a problem for “pullers” like her since the wooden arch doesn’t bend.

Alexis did spend a decent amount of time just swatting at the toys but soon became frustrated when she couldn’t get them in her mouth. For a younger baby that shouldn’t be a problem since they don’t have the hand coordination to grab a toy and bring it to mouth yet.

Unlike other more traditionally styled gyms, this can be easily used once the baby is sitting up, which extends the lifespan of the toy.  That and the amazing portability of it (we’ll be taking it with us to Disney to do something in the hotel room while we are waiting out the midday heat) have made me a big fan of the gym. And once she is too old to play with it, I already have an idea of covering it with a piece of fabric and creating a puppet show within the arch.

According to Finn & Emma’s description, the gym is made out of untreated hardwood, organic cotton, hand knit , non-toxic toys with wool stuffing. Recently the whole “untreated hardwood” came in handy, since Lexi has gotten into a habit of lifting one of the gym’s leg over her head and then shoving the whole thing into her mouth. Yeah…no further comment.

LEARN MORE ABOUT FINN AND EMMA

*** WEBSITE *** FACEBOOK *** TWITTER ***

BUY IT: Amazon
WIN IT: Finn & Emma would like to give this gym away to one lucky reader.  See details below.

Finn and Emma Gym

BELOW ARE THE GIVEAWAYS RULES
and Mandatory Entries: {read carefully}

There are  mandatory entries , after which you will have additional entries available,
This giveaway is open to US  residents only.
The winning entry will be verified and the winner disqualified if the action is not found or if the mandatory items are not fullfilled.
Each giveaway has specific rules, so read them on the widget (including which countries are eligible). See the rafflecopter widget for additional terms and conditions.

{If you’re not sure how to use to enter, feel free to watch this video tutorial or email me at contact {at} prebabyblog {dot} com
Otherwise, make sure to read everything carefully. Click the DO IT link first, then I’VE DONE IT once the action is completed}

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Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. FInn and Emma provided me with a product sample to review. All opinions are 100% my own.

Ok, I have to preface this review with the following:

{I am not a huge fan of exersaucers/stationary jumpers/jumperoos (whatever else they are called). The crazy bright lights, the annoying repetitive sounds, the upright position when they should be crawling around on their belly – it’s essentially a placeholder for the baby while you go get some stuff done. However, babies LOVE them, and they give mamas a minute or two to get stuff done. }

Note: I couldn’t stop taking pictures of Lexi in it, since it’s so cute, so you get a lot of essentially identical photos :) lol

So when I was talking about reviewing one, I was skeptical. We had a Fisher Price one we borrowed from a friend of mine. A conventional standard Fisher Price that you see in every other house. Alexis really enjoyed jumping in it and playing with toys. But the annoying sounds and music would get us EVERY time. We’d have to turn it off, but then I felt like I was robbing her of full experience in it.

And then she started taking EVERYTHING in her mouth. This spelled the end of the Fisher Price. I don’t particular trust Fisher Price, or any big big corporation for that matter, to not make toys out of some toxic plastic ( nothing to back it up, just a big company and a few lead related recalls, as well as their previous stance on toxic plastics,which I know they have correct ).

Note: If you happened to have inquired with their customer service about the type of plastic this jumperoo is made of, feel free to share, I am sure a ton of parents would love to know.

Anyways…. so we get the Evenflo Exersaucer Jam Session and get it out of the box and I don’t know what I expected, but it’s plastic (duh!)…. Before I get Lexi in it, I email the customer service ( even though I am dying to try it out), inquiring what plastic it is made of and whether it contains PVC, Pthalates, lead or cadmium, which I should have done ahead of everything, but I spaced out. The answer comes back fairly quickly: “[...]polypropylene and does not contain PVC, Phthalates, lead or cadmium.”   Whew!

In the meantime, I wash the seat fabric and the chew toys.

It was fairly easy to assemble, though I have to admit, hubby was doing all of the assembly with me just playing with Lexi and watching.

A few minutes later, Lexi was put into it to play. At first, I thought  it was just like any other jumperoo/exersaucer type deal. She jumped around in it, all wide eyed, excited at this new shiny toys she’s been presented with.

But unlike most products that you start finding flaws with as your baby uses, this one kept getting better and better.

So the concept of the Jam Session is the following:

There are 4 interactive “smart” toys that represent an “instrument” each: percussion, piano, guitar/sax/trumpet and a conductor’s score. Each instrument plays a specific genre of music depending on what has been selected on the conductor’s score. So if the conductor’s score is set on jazz, the rest of the instruments play jazz melodies when triggered. Same happens when she selects rock or classical music There are 67 activities for your baby to play with in this version of the exersaucer.

The piano toy can be set to play notes or melodies. The conductor’s score plays longer songs when triggered. The hanging guitar/sax/trumpet play shorter songs when pulled down on and the overhead lights light up. The drum plays a short little melody, as well and there’s a spin wheel with plastic balls in it. On one of there corners there is a fake microphone with little plastic pellets for noise making. Each side has a detachable teether in different shape and one mirror.

The bottom of the exersaucer has a blue balance base that supposedly helps to “build core strength and coordination”

Like I previously mentioned, at first I was a bit disappointed. Being so used to jumping centers that were filled with multitude of toys, lights, noise and color, my first impression was that Lexi won’t like it because there are not as many toys to play with.

Over the last 2 months, I have been learning why my initial impression was completely wrong.

-The lack of overly stimulating toys means that she has to turn and reach and pull and push to get the results she wants. {It’s kind of like the advice of not surrounding your baby with too many toys, but leaving one or two for her to play with so that she would be prompted to move to reach them}. I almost feel like it IS truly beneficial to her and her development which is a far cry from how I felt about activity centers before.

- Given that with Lexi who is semi-mobile ( she doesn’t crawl, but easily gets from sitting position into a crawling position, but not always safely or gracefully), we often have to put her in the Jam Session for a minute or two while we get what whatever we need.

Well, I couldn’t believe it, but both me and Andrew would dance and sing every time Alexis would trigger a song. Why? That’s because finally the music in a kid’s toy is one that parents can relate to, as well.  To this day, I dance every time she plays Rocking Robin and she watches me and jumps around (or sometimes shakes her leg in a fun way attempting to dance too).

It’s been 2 months and I have not once thought “Oh, this music is annoying”. In addition to that, rather than have music every time she jumps, it has to be triggered by her specific action, whether it’s pulling on the hanging instruments, turning the page of the score, or pressing the piano keys or drums.

- Teethers are a perfect shape and height for her. They bend, they twist, they turn, they can be manipulated in any way possible. It’s often that you see her with her mouth on the teether while jumping around

- The piano keys are really easy to press and she is at the point where she uses the switch to go from melodies to notes ( not on purpose, of course).

- I also was not sure that I’d like the base rather than the floor like most other activity centers have, but I like it  lot, because it adds more bounce to her jumps and keeps her trying to balance her body which is always a good activity for infants.

Evenflo has 3 exersaucers in their new line, but I just really really like this Jam Session. It’s fun, it’s low key and it fosters love for music that is not an annoying repetitive childish tune.

-Another pleasant surprise for me was that the Jam Session is not overly colorful. The toys are bright and happy but the posts and the seat base are white with black accents, so if you’re the type of person who is not a fan of ridiculously bright and colorful baby things in your house, this will probably be the most inconspicuous one of them all. I actually enjoy looking at this bright spot in our living room.  It looks very neat from the distance.

There are very few baby items that I get very excited to review and this is one of them. It turned out to be a great one from both parents’ and baby’s standpoint contrary to my expectations of what a jumping activity center would be.

Note: When we first received the Jam Session, Lexi couldn’t easily turn in the seat. I emailed the customer service and after a few emails back and forth, they sent me a new seat that turns perfectly. I just wanted to mention that in case someone else has that problem. Evenflo customer service is great,so don’t hesistate to contact it.

Note 2: I don’t have a giveaway for you, guys, at this time, since Evenflo didn’t have giveaway units available, but I am hoping in the future I’ll be able to offer a giveaway as well.

Let me know if you have any questions about it, I’d be happy to answer.

This is the second installment of the the Carrier Feature. As I said in the previous post, I’ve had the opportunity to try out a few carriers, wraps and slings and these are my thoughts on them all. I’ll be pointing out pluses, minuses and also writing my honest opinion based on our experience. {We sort of got carried away taking pictures here, sorry!}

If you read The Lexi Awards, you might have noticed that I named Nordic as the best carrier.  I don’t think any item is ever perfect or without flaws, however this has been the carrier we’ve gone back to over and over again.

And here is why:

{headband c/o of Ruffles &Fringe}

VERSATILITY:  It’s supposed to be a carrier that you can use from birth to toddlerhood. We have literally used it since Alexis was a newborn to now when she is well over 20 pounds of chubby adorableness without any accessories and I have not felt like it fits any worse at any stage. It has truly  grown with us. I am looking forward to seeing how it fares with a toddler and in the back carry position ( since I’ve only carried her in the front).

NEWBORN HEADREST: This is probably my favorite feature of the Nordic carrier. Instead of having a thick infant insert or permanent head support, it has  a cute flap that gets lifted up and clipped to the straps. It’s thin but sturdy and it gets clipped out of the way when your baby doesn’t need it anymore.

ADJUSTABLE SEAT:  The seat has two positions: narrow and wide to adjust as your baby grows.  This allows you to carry your baby with legs out, rather than in a frog leg position, in the first few months. For Alexis that meant the difference between hating the carrier and loving it. For a baby that doesn’t like being restrained, this option is a life saver. We’re still using the narrow seat, but will soon transition to the wide one.

PADDED SHOULDER STRAPS: I feel less weight on my shoulders while carrying her in the Nordic than I do in a wrap. The shoulder pads are just the right size and thickness that they are not cumbersome, yet provide comfort.

THICK SUPPORT BELT: With Alexis being at around 21 pounds at this moment, I am yet to feel any strain on my back from the support belt.

QUALITY & PRICE: While I am not one to go with the cheapest option, I have to respect a carrier that has the quality and features of expensive carriers, but is almost HALF the price of other carriers on the market. Considering that after trying an Ergo and a Nordic, I decided that Nordic was by far the superior product and returned my Ergo that cost me $140 with the infant insert, I am truly surprised this isn’t  a carrier more widely-used. I would honestly love to see the Nordic become more popular.

FRONT FACING: I realize that there is some talk out there about the detrimental nature of the front facing position in a carrier, where it doesn’t allow the proper hip development. With Alexis it  is was just not an option to have her facing in from about 2.5 months on. Even looking at these pictures above, where I carry her rear facing, she keeps arching her back and turning back and forth to see what’s up front. That’s just the fact of  life with a baby like Lexi. After reading some of the internet materials, that expressed concern about carrying babies front facing ( what’s interesting is that in 20-25 baby books that I have read, I did not see it be mentioned once, and I don’t like to only go by research done online aside from overstimulation which just isn’t an issue in our case), I went to look at how Alexis was positioned in the Nordic vs the infamous front facing Baby Bjorn. It seems to me that the Nordic hip angle is a lot wider than the BabyBjorn’s I’ve been seeing around where the legs are almost pushed together (correct me if I am wrong). I always try to position Alexis (when front facing) so that her spine and hips were aligned properly and her hips were spread wide and she was “sitting” rather than “hanging”, and I feel that Nordic definitely facilitates it.

WEIGHT LIMIT: Considering that if you buy a BabyBjorn, you have to stop using it at 25 pounds, which is where Alexis is almost at right now and Ergo doesn’t have the front facing position, Nordic seems like a much more versatile choice.

Aside from all these things I mentioned above, this carrier JUST plain works for us. If I were to recommend a carrier, this one would be it. My husband is of the same opinion and uses it often as well.

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{I really meant to do this post a month or two ago, but the way life with a baby is, what we want isn’t always possible. However, better late than never. I will attempt to do the 3-9 months one on time by starting it early}

As a first time mom, I had NO idea what I was going to need, aside from the basics, and more importantly what Alexis was going to like. So I held off buying most things until Alexis was here. With our daughter having such a determined personality and having a strong opinion about things she did or did not like, I literally went through hundreds of products and items in search of something that would work for her.

I am glad I did, because when I found that perfect product, there was nothing else needed. It helped that I had the opportunity to review many items and figure out which ones work best for Lexi without having to spend a ton of money.

Well, now that we have figured it out, I present to you:

Some of the items are subjective things, like books or seating or things that didn’t work out for us, but others are truly the best I found on the market. I hope this list helps first time parents discover things they would have otherwise never known about. These are my (and my husband’s) opinions, not a review of any sort, and they have nothing to do with whether I originally got the item for a review, as a hand me down or bought it myself. This is all about what worked BEST for Alexis.

Please note: This is 0-3 Months only. Some things have changed after 3 months, others stayed as favorites.

Best developmental toy: Whimmer Ferguson Black and White Board & Mobile

I’ve been gushing over this board since day one. Alexis has always been a VERY visual child and she loved and still loves it. It’s a fairly large board with black and white pictures on it and a kid-safe but undistorted mirror on the back. The pictures on the board are really captivating to the little ones. Since she was 2 days old, she’s been staring at the little baby and the fish and the snowflake. Each time a new image would grab her attention and she’d spend minutes (which is hours in newborn terms) observing it. We placed the board onto the changing table and she would look at it EACH TIME. We would also move it into the crib during the day and take with us to the car and place it in front of her for the rides. We often talked about buying a second board so that we could have one at home and one in the car, but never got around to ordering it. Now that she’s a big girl (5 months), we flipped the board in the car to the mirror side and as long as she wasn’t tired, our short car sides are full of laughter (at herself) and quiet times (when she’s trying to figure out who’s that girl chewing on a teether). She is still very interested in the black and white pictures, but the mirror side is a novelty for her. I figure that we’ll keep flipping it back and forth, keeping it new and interesting.

The mobile has the same types of pictures, but unlike most other mobiles, those pictures face down, so the baby can look at them better. The images are interchangeable, so once you no longer need black and white, you can pop in other coloful or red and black pictures in there.

Best book: Cat in the hat

I have to admit I’m not a fan of all the traditional baby books like Good Night Moon, etc.  I like books like have a different type of rhyme like Dr Suess’ rhyme and Alexis seems to enjoy a long story flow rather than short baby books. We pulled out The cat in the Hat because it was one of the only books that seems to have fewer colors, and mostly red, black and white, which is good for little babies. And since it was the first book introduced to her, she is very attached to it and loves listening to the story over and over again.

Best cloth book: Circus Mcgurkus or Lamaze Peekaboo books

We love cloth books here! Partially because they are usually very interactive, partially because you can put them in your mouth. Alexis gets such a kick out of peekaboo type books like Peekaboo Forest or their new Peekaboo Doggy book. She actually laughed the first time I read it to her. Circus Mcgurcus is her favorite because it’s short and bright with a lot of sounds. Now that she is older she loves touching all the features and opening the flaps.

Best tummy time positioner: Infantino

While I did read that tummy time positioners aren’t that great because they “help” babies focus on the visual aspect of tummy time ( looking around and seeing more) rather than working on their skills, I find it cruel to just use tummy time as a “drill”. Tummy time in the first month has to also be a time for enjoyment, time for something new, a family activity. What’s wrong with helping babies enjoy a somewhat unpleasant acitivity done from birth? We used Infantino until she was able to pick herself up more comfortably. It’s basically a wedge that gets them up and looking around so they don’t hate tummy time so much. I think it even plays music, but we never used that feature. The mirror and the toys are nice too, but again Alexis was more interested in seeing what was beyond the toys. Alexis never had problems with tummy time, she was a trouper. I am not sure whether the positioner helped her enjoy it more from the beginning and that’s why it’s always been her favorite activity, or it’s just a coincidence but I really like this one a lot more than soft positioners like Boppy or others.

Best changing pad: Naturepedic

Changing pad and mattress being organic has always been a priority for us, because of the amount of time babies spend on them. We bought a Naturepedic mattress for the crib, but Alexis hasn’t been sleeping there, so I can’t say much about it, except that it gives me the peace of mind that she isn’t bombarded by carcinogenic fire retardants when she does lie there (I really want to do a separate post about BFR) . But the changing pad has been used A LOT. Somehow I thought we’d have a little changing station downstairs and also change her in her nursery. Well, reality kicked in and the most comfortable place to change her is on the changing table in our bedroom. So I moved the Naturepedic changing pad there and I like knowing that the polyeurathane foam (what standard changing pads are made of) and fireretardants that the foam is usually sprayed with aren’t being inhaled by Alexis 6-10 times a day. We also have a cheap $25 organic changing pad but the quality just can’t be compared. I know the Naturepedic pad will last us until Alexis is no longer diapered.

Best blanket: Shi Shu

Both my husband and I can’t stop singing praises to this blanket. It’s a name heard a lot in our household (“Get me Shi Shu, please! Did you wash Shi Shu? Can you grab Shi Shu?”) We had a lavender Shi Shu before Alexis was born but didn’t really go crazy over it until our girl arrived. There’s something about Shi Shu that is missing in other blankets. It’s thick but breathable, it’s heavy but not too much, it’s pretty, it’s well made, it’s large, it’s warm but not hot and it’s so soft. After the initial Shi Shu we bought 2 more in pink and oatmeal on a MYHABIT sale for $26 and I sent one to my sister who’s expecting in a package labeled “Baby must haves”. It’s a perfect blanket to take to the pedi with you to cover your baby while she’s naked, to cover her while she’s sleeping, to keep on her while in an air conditioned car, to prop on her side during naps and a million other uses.

Best body wash: Lavanila The Healthy Baby Wash

Again, if you’re a long time reader, you know all about Lavanila, since I’ve written about it. But I am still very impressed with the company and their products. Since I discovered them through a PR agency I work with, I have been a die hard fan. I’ve used nothing but Lavanila wash for bathing Alexis and the one time I ran out of it before I was able to order more, we had to use a different body wash (won’t point fingers). Well, a tiny bit of soap diluted with water got into Alexis eyes and our poor baby was shaking and crying so hard! We had never had to deal with being afraid to get soap or water in her eyes until now and neither did she. After that episode, my husband sternly told me to get my butt over to my computer and order as many Lavanila Washes as I can so that we’d never run out. Besides, being a truly “no tears” wash, it smells heavenly, foams perfectly and cleans so well without irritating. Oh and of course, unlike most conventional brands it has ONLY the healthy ingredients and nothing questionable.

Best carrier: Nordic

I’ve tried 3 hard carriers, a sling and two wraps and while I love most of them for different reasons, if I had to name one carrier I keep going back to, it’s Nordic by Lille Baby. I love its structure and its feel, it had an infant head support that wasn’t a down comforter (like in Ergo) and my favorite feature is the configuration that allows your to carry your baby with legs out as an infant (facing in), not in a frog leg position like other carrier. Lexi hated the frog leg position in everything but the Boba carrier, but her favorite is definitely legs out, facing in, and then later legs out, facing out. Nordic makes facing out safe(-r) than, let’s say, Baby Bjorn, because the seat is still pretty wide and she gets to maintain that hips spread position that is  so important for proper hip development.

Best organic clothing brand: Finn&Emma

I’ve written about Finn&Emma before and out of many many organic brands that I love, I have to say that their styles and quality appeal to me the most. Because they are pretty expensive and rarely go on sale, once Alexis is older and doesn’t grow out of her clothes so fast, I’d like to buy a few more Finn&Emma clothes.

Best organic non-muslin swaddle: ModSwad

This has been our savior. You can read a full review here, but ModSwad swaddles are one of the pieces in the puzzle that I’ve been putting together since Lexi was born, the puzzle named:”SLEEP“. Her naps became so much better after I bought my first Modswad. She slepts for 2 hours, the first time in her life. I won’t go on. If you’re interested, read the details here.

Best muslin swaddle: Bambino Land organic

The only muslin swaddle Alexis wouldn’t break out of. It’s a bit less stretchy than A&A swaddles, which allows for a tighter fit when swaddling. I also love their Hawaiian designs.

Best diaper cream: Lavanila

The absolute best!!!! It took me 4 different diaper creams to find the perfect one. I needed one that had zinc oxide, so that healing could occur, but without all the nasties like mineral oil or parabens. This was it! A little goes a long way, it’s not expensive and cleared up Lexi’s diaper rash in a day or two. Read more here

Best organic toys: Apple Park

Again, like with everything, I bought or received several different organic and non-organic but PVC/Pthalates/BPA/plastic-free toys to see what we/she  liked. We have Haba toys which are great for a slightly older baby, Miyim toys that I attach to the gym and stroller, but our absolute winners are Apple park toys. I’m in love with the critter collection and totally getting the picnic pal blanket edit: got a picnic pal blanket and then another and another. The best toys for little ones, that for sure. I’ll be writing more about toys that we’ve been going through.

Best teether: Lifefactory

I cannot TELL YOU how awesome this thing is. This was the first teether she was able to hold on her own and she’s still in love with it. Everyone who followed my advice and bought it loves it just as much. It’s a simple silicone ring that is very easy to grasp with two hands (especially for young babies) and shove into their mouths. It’s perfectly soft and chewy with great surface for itching gums.  You don’t have to do the guesswork and/or research to find out if it has any bpa, pvc and other nasties. We lost our original pink one and I didn’t hesitate to order two more. Recently (during her 0-3m period) we had to drive 54 minutes out of town and I was dreading it, considering how she gets so bored and tired in the car. The teether and the mirror are what saved my butt. She spent the whole time obsessively chewing on her ring and watching herself in the mirror. Almost every other teether we’ve tried quickly falls down and needs to be placed back into her mouth, but this one just stays in and is easy for her to pick up and chew on it even if she does drop it.

Best seating: Kicking Coaster

We went through 4 or 5 baby seats and bouncers until we tried the Kicking Coaster. You can read the review in detail here, but here’s what made this seat work for us: SOMETHING TO KICK :) haha. Babies love to kick and Lexi would get really bored in most seats. Here she has leg support, she can kick and hear music while she does it, the seat slides back and forth so it makes it even more fun for her and the biggest thing is it’s STURDY. I cannot see how it’s possible for a baby to tip this thing over, which is somewhat a concern in other bouncy seats. And as she grows, it grows with her, since you can adjust the length of it. It doesn’t have toys hanging over, which is my only complaint, but it’s easy enough to fix with a toy arch, like this one from Tiny Love. Now that Lexi is 5 months, its the only seat she’ll sit in and let me cook for a few minutes, because she has too much fun gliding herself back and forth while kicking the pad.

Best bottle warmer: Kiinde

See full review here. I don’t use bottles anymore. I sort of gave up on the whole prospect of leaving her with someone and a bottle, but for the short period that we did use frozen breastmilk and in case I change my mind or if I were still pumping and feeding her from a bottle, this is BY FAR the best bottle warmer to have. When I was pregnant, I searched high and low for the perfect bottle warmer that wouldn’t lose nutrients and antibodies in the heating process and will not break milk proteins down, as well as create hot spots and other issues most bottle warmers have. This is IT!

Best rocker: Mutsy Babysitter

This rocker was our savior for quite a few months while Alexis had an issue with reflux. Basically, the babysitter is just a frame that the Mutsy stroller’s seat pops into. The frame rocks ( as in goes back and forth, but also rocks, as in “rules, is awesome, dope, etc”), so I’d spend hours sitting on my chair working on my computer while Alexis is all nice and snug in the babysitter, with my foot constantly rocking it. It doesn’t have a “stop” like the RNP, so if your baby needs more than a light rock, the babysitter will deliver. What also helped is that the seat has multiple recline positions, so depending on how she was feeling that day with reflux, I’d either keep it somewhat upright or recline it a bit.

Best sunblock: Lavanila

I took my time researching sunblock and while I haven’t tried other safe alternatives, I did compare Lavanila sunblock to most grocery store baby brands and there’s no comparison. I don’t think people should knowgly be using most of the traditional brands of sunblock on their babies, they are FULL of chemicals. We used Lavanila sunblock just a few days ago for the boat trip and it went on smoothly and easily and protected Lexi as much as her UPF50+ swimsuit did

Best swing: Fisher Price Snugabunny

While struggling with reflux and Alexis waking up every 10 minutes because of it, we were grasping at straws for things that would make her sleep longer. At one point we ordered 3 swings from Amazon just to see if either one of them would work. We already had the Fisher Price Papasan swing that was a hand-me-down, and it wasn’t doing anything for her. I had read good things about the SnugaBunny and decided to try it out. She did take to it much more than the Papasan. The seat seemed more cosy and she did spend a month or so ocassionally sleeping in it for naps. Eventually, though, the sleeping stopped, but we still use it on the rare day that she just won’t go to sleep to calm her down and get her prepped for bed.

Best non-jogging stroller: Mutsy 4Rider

I spent days researching strollers when I was pregnant. Honestly, I was completely lost. I looked at US, as well as European, manufacturers (btw, did you know that the british term for a stroller is a “pushchair“. Sounds so funny and so cool. “Let’s go for a walk in a pushchair!” *said with a british accent), read about features, looked at prices and in the end just couldn’t decide anything. Stroller shopping just sucks. And it sucks even more for a first time mom because you literally have no clue what you’ll need. Now that I have Alexis who is also very opinionated about things she likes and doesn’t, I have a better handle on what’s really necessary in a stroller. As a general all-in-one stroller, Mutsy 4 Rider is the best, hands down. The seat is adjustable to any recline, it becomes rear facing in 30 seconds, it has a bassinet that you can attach to it. Plus a million other features I’ll be showing yo,u guys, in a video in the coming months. It is basically THE only stroller one needs. Ever. The only trade-off  is it’s heavy and isn’t compact.

Best bath: Cleanwater Tub

This is one of our most favorite items of all time. It’s an awesome tub that cycles water through constantly and keeps the baby from sitting in dirty bath water. You don’t need to rinse the baby off, you don’t need to worry about the temperature since there’s a built in electronic temperature gauge. Some people might say it’s not necessary, but from the day we started using it, both my husband and I always comment on how pleasant our experience with bathing is BECAUSE of the cleanwater tub is. We usually end Lexi’s bath with a mutual “oh, what would we do without our Cleanwater tub!” Silly, but we do enjoy it a lot.

Best swimsuits: Lourdes

I CANNOT, for the life of me, find these swimsuits ANYWHERE. I bought two on Zulily and by the time they arrived they were already too small even though I got a 6m and a 9m size. They are my absolute favorite but I cannot find Lourdes Mini anywhere. Zulily needs to run another sale.

Best wrap: K’tan

As much as I love Moby for its stretchiness and the big size and versatility, most of the time when I am doing things around the house, I just simply DO NOT have time to mess with the wraping. I just grab K’tan, which is a “wrapped” version of Moby and put it on. Much easier. It has its pluses and minuses, just like Moby, and you can read all about the wrap in a review in a few weeks, but when it comes to throwing something on very quickly, I always go to K’tan.

Best baby body lotion: Lavanila

Lavanila just rocks. It smells amazing, the lotion is light and spreads well, it’s completely non-toxic and safe. There’s just not much more to it. It’s the best 100% healthy  baby care brand.

Best clothing item: Estella NYC bamboo romper

If you’re concerned about chemicals in conventional clothing, I’d read up on bamboo and how it’s manufactured before you use it, but if organic clothing isn’t your cup of tea, then this romper will be THE SOFTEST COMFIEST piece of baby goodness you can put on your child. I used to LOVE hugging and carrying Alexis when she had the romper on. You know how squishy and soft and fun naked babies are? Well, the fabric of the romper enhances it. And if it feels that good to me, I can’t imagine how comfortable Alexis must be.

Biggest losers:

Again, these are somewhat subjective opinions. Some things just didn’t work for her, others are less subjective and have to do with safety and chemicals. So I’d suggest to not completely discount some of these items solely because Alexis didn’t like them. Basically, use your discretion and common sense, as always.

Fisher Price Rock’N'Play

I have to be the only person on the planet who resisted buying the rock’n'play for their baby. There were talks of plagiocephaly, I am not crazy about Fisher Price as a brand (nothing in particular, just too big of a company, which is never good, since they tend to cut corners). After struggling with Lexi, who wouldn’t sleep for longer than 30 minutes during the day and had a bit of reflux, I gave in and ordered one. My first disappointment was IT REEKED of chemicals. I mean, out of ALL the products that I’ve bought, received & tried out, I didn’t have a single piece smell like this. And that was the item that my baby was supposed to sleep in? After washing it repeatedly, we layered it with a blanket and gave it about 2 weeks to see if it works. Well, it didn’t. The incline was too much, so as soon as we lowered Alexis down, the change in the incline woke her up completely. When she was sleeping deeply enough that we were able to put her in it without waking her up, she slept the same 30 minutes as anywhere else and no amount of rocking would keep her asleep. And it didn’t help her reflux. I found that our Mutsy Babysitter did a better job rocking her back to sleep. Now I know, RNP worked for many babies, but Alexis was definitely not one of them.

Arm’s Reach Co-sleeper

That was a huge disappointment. I was so excited to have this “perfect” sleeping arrangement before my baby arrived. We wouldn’t bed share, we’d co-sleep. It’s safe and she’s right there. Well, what I didn’t count on was Alexis being very picky about what she liked and didn’t and she wanted ONLY the best, which was sleeping RIGHT NEXT to mama. Co-sleeping went out the window, and luckily, we  transitioned to bedsharing which is what worked ( and still works) fabulously. But that’s not the co-sleeper’s fault, right? Right!
I was planning on using it once Alexis was a bit older and doesn’t have the reflux ( which was made better when she slept with me, because my presence would put her back to sleep when her reflux would wake her up). That was until I read about the well-known study that was done on frequently used baby products to see what kind of harmful chemicals ( BFRs, lead, etc) were in/on them. Well, our wonderful Arm’s Reach was COVERED with fire retardants.  I understand the HYPOTHETICAL need to protect baby’s beds from fire, BUT it has to be done SAFELY. The risk of a bedroom/nursery fire in a non-smoking family is far lower than the risk of cancer, hormone and thyroid disorders and even SIDS from Bromine-covered baby products that our little ones sleep on, chew and breathe.

Because I put all my hopes into a co-sleeper, I completely neglected other sleeping arrangements, like a rocking moses basket or a bassinet, which is something i’ll try next time since it’s small and gives babies sense of security.

Bumbo

Alexis loved to sit up supported since she was able to hold her head relatively well, so I was very excited about getting her a bumbo chair. She really kind of hated it. The look on her face was like “Why did you put me in this thing- I want to move!”. I think she might have felt less mobile in it than she did when we sat her up in our lap. I don’t know, but the bumbo seat got packed away within a week

Portable changing mat

I thought it was a good idea to have a changing mat downstairs, so that we could change her without going all the way up, but it was one of those ideas that seems good before you try them. We both felt that we wanted  everything conveniently located  in one place and when we were out, we’d always use my diaper bag, or Andrew’s Diaper Dude bag. So we never ended up using this cute travel changing mat, which is a shame.

Momma Awards

Best Nursing Bras: Bella Materna

I received a Bella Materna bra to try out back when I was pregnant. Since then I’ve bought Motherhood Maternity Nursing bra and Lamaze Nursing bra, and Bella Materna is still my favorite. First of all, the quality surpasses anything else. This bra will last you forever. Secondly, it looks so much classier and sexier and more luxurious than other bras. It doesn’t bend or gets ruined in the wash ( I know, I am really bad –  I don’t hand wash my bras and I tumble dry them).

Best Sleeping Bras (for breastfeeding): Lamaze

This was my favorite sleeping bra since the beginning of pregnancy and I truly haven’t found anything better since. I use it 24/7: to wear at home, to go for walks, to sleep in and even sometimes to go places in. It’s incredibly easy to breastfeed in. Just pull it aside and voila. It’s VERY comfortable, cotton, easy to wash and  looks decent for home wear. I probably have about 10-15 of these at this point and change them out frequently.

Best Nursing clothes: Boob Design

See here, here, here and here. Utter LOVE. No further comment.

Best down-there lotion: Zeta West

I wrote about it in the postpartum post, but this is a GREAT lotion for recovery. It has tea tree oil so it’s antibacterial and antifungal and helps you heal much faster while providing relief.

Best Diaper bag: Diaper Dude

The best diaper bag is the one your husband carries. To both our surprise, out of 2 diaper bags that I have and 1 diaper messenger that Andrew has, we have mostly used his diaper bag. We bought a Diaper Dude for him thinking that MAYBE he’ll use it when he goes places with Alexis. What we didn’t anticipate is that whenever we go places together ( which is most of the time), I end up carrying Lexi and he carries the diaper bag. Well, my husband has always HATED holding my purses for me ( it’s his thing), so having his own manly looking messenger bag has been great!

In about a month i should post a 3-6 months Issue of Lexi Awards and there have been so many cool new things I’ve discovered!

Continuing the swaddling saga ( read the first part here)

I will not go into how Alexis just doesn’t like to sleep. I’ve written enough about it here and here and here and here and I am planning on a big post talking about the situation and solutions and what worked and what didn’t, just in case there is someone else struggling who has tried everything and have come to the conclusion that their baby just doesn’t sleep well. I’ve gone through every suggestion and tip in every book that doesn’t advocate a CIO method and almost every person, who gave unsolicited or solicited advice. At this point, we are at a somewhat reasonable “managed stage of sleep”. By that I mean, I can deal with it, and she gets her recommended amount of day time sleep.

I have to say though until certain things were implemented, we really really struggled with naps. She’d only sleep in our arms being rocked, she’d wake up every 5-10 minutes after being put down, she’d hate being swaddled, but yet her arms would always wake her up.  We were lost. We didn’t know what ELSE to do to keep her asleep.

When she was awake, she would struggle and scream if we’d put her in a swaddle until we released her, but then once she was  asleep, she would wake up the second we would try to put her in a swaddle. The challenge was that you needed to turn her around a few times to properly swaddle her. So when it was day time and she wasn’t as sleepy as she is at night, it was a suicide mission. So we let her go unswaddled. She’d spread her arms and sleep for 10 minutes before waking herself up by itching her nose or bringing her hands to her mouth.

Then one day, as a last ditch effort, I bought a Modswad from Zulily. Modswad is the luxury brand spin-off of Woombie. I had looked at the Woombie before and it always seemed to me that Alexis would hate it, seeing how she hates being bound. What made me consider Modswad is that it’s made out of bamboo and I know from experience how soft and stretchy bamboo is (plus I was obessessed with bamboo at that time). So I figured she would have her hands swaddled, but it will have enough “give” for her to move them around without being able to bring them to her face and wake herself up. Plus the whole zipper thing seemed much easier than a traditional swaddle.

{Note: I wrote in this post about how bamboo is made with a lot of chemicals, which was a huge concern for me. Luckily, there is a new process that uses non-toxic chemicals and is much more eco-friendly that Modswad is using. So I breathed a sigh of relief when I found that out, because it would really pain me to give up our Modswads}

At the same time I was talking to Karen, the owner of both Modswad and Woombie about trying out her new line and writing the review. She sent me a few items to try including a swaddle that was smaller than the recommended size, citing the fact that some babies need less give in the fabric. Alexis seemed to do just fine with the Medium size, but that’s a good tip to remember if your baby is really wiggly.

I was seriously so excited to receive the Modswads. I had put all my left-over hope into this “miracle” swaddle that would solve all my problems. Of course, it didn’t solve all my problems or Alexis’ nap problems, but man, did it make it sooo much easier!

The day I received it, Alexis was giving me the run for my money when it came to naps. I quickly threw in a load of baby clothes along with the swaddle and a few hours later it was ready for testing and I was ready for Alexis to finally sleep longer than 10 minutes.

I put her in, zipped up half way, we went around the room doing our nap routine, I rocked her to sleep. When she was good and asleep, I transferred her to our bed and carefully folded her arms in and zipped the modswad. All without waking her up. Then I turned on the monitor and tiptoed out of the room.

I won’t bore you with details but she slept for 2 hours. For the FIRST FREAKING TIME since she had been born, my baby girl napped for 2 hours on her own. I was shocked, elated, hopeful and scared that it was a fluke.

Fast forward to now, the swaddle definitely doesn’t magically make non-sleeping babies sleep, but it at least helps them sleep a whole lot better. Miracle Blanket became way too stiff once Alexis grew a bit and became more aware, muslin swaddles didn’t stand a chance a few weeks in, not swaddling would wake her up, so this was a perfect middle ground between swaddling and not letting her movements wake her up and not making her feel too restricted since she can move her hands underneath the swaddle.

For babies who like to be swaddled tighter or have a strong Moro reflex, getting a smaller size Modswad would work perfectly. I never tried the woombie but I would imagine that cotton isn’t as stretchy and pleasant to the skin as bamboo is.

Now in her non-swaddling phase, she currently sleeps in her Modswad sleeper. When one day she goes back to waking herself up with her arms again, I’ll switch back to the swaddle. If she suddenly struggles, I’ll unzip it but leave the legs in – love the versatility.

So that’s pretty much where we are at right now. Most of the time, she manages to take a 30-40 minute nap without waking up, at which point I rock her back to sleep to finish it up. Her diminished reflux is also to thank, but time and time again I would watch her try to scratch her nose or move her arm in a swaddle and quiet back down to sleep because her arms are safely inside, which would never happen before the Modswad, so THANK YOU!

Besides the swaddles and sleepers, they have really cool ventilated sacks for hot weather and merino wool sleepers and swaddles for cold weather, so it’s definitely worth checking out.

BUY IT:

Modswad.com $34-40

WIN IT:

BELOW ARE THE GIVEAWAYS RULES
and Mandatory Entries: {read carefully}

There are 3  mandatory entries for this giveaway, after which you will have additional entries available.
This giveaway is open to US  residents only.

The winning entry will be verified and the winner disqualified if the action is not found or if the mandatory items are not fullfilled.
Make sure to notate how you’re following the blog in the extra info field (entry #1). The entry won’t count if that information is missing.
Each giveaway is open has specific rules, so read them on the widget (including which countries are eligible). See the rafflecopter widget for additional terms and conditions.

UPDATE: You can now log into the Rafflecopter through Facebook or just by using your name/email.

If you have a blog, there’re 2 entries each worth 10 points ( post our button on your blog’s sidebar and blog about the giveaway)

{If you’re not sure how to use to enter, feel free to watch this video tutorial or email me at contact {at} prebabyblog {dot} com
Otherwise, make sure to read everything carefully. Click the DO IT link first, then I’VE DONE IT once the action is completed}

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I was NOT compensated for this post. Modswad sent me a sample to try out. All opinions are my own.

Last two weeks on Instagram and cell phone photos

1. Idiot parents
2. New car seat and first time asleep in the car without a meltdown. WIN!
3.  Peace out
4. A little outing to get some food
5. Same as above
6. Hanging out at whole foods waiting for daddy to come out because it was too cold inside
7. Pretty in pink on Instagram Elena-edition
8. Pretty in pink Lexi-edition
9. Pretty ladies handing out at home in our Moby wrap

1. sitting up like a big girl
2. chewing on tiny love
3. playing on her own while mommy cooks ( a first!)
4. trying on newly received bikinis from VS
5. trying on newly received swimsuit for Lexi, which was just not big enough for her to grow into. Adorable nonetheless
6. CRAWLING!!!!! No, not completely, just trying…
7. Playing with feet in the morning
8. Taking 30 minutes to myself to relax and read a book
9. break interrupted by this cutie. It’s ok, I didn’t want to rest anyways

1. Playing on her mat again
2. Hanging out on the front porch swing- she loves doing that
3. Blowing bubbles on the front porch
4. Attempting to crawl
5. Trying out our new parasol for Mutsy ( love it!)
6. Completely dehydrated as evidenced by my strangely flat belly
7. No bake cake (YUMMY)
8. Helping daddy build the new Finn&Emma gym
9. Playing with the gym

1. She prefers playing sitting up rather than on her back
2. trying to catch the wooden teether
3. in-camera snapshots of Lexi’s first playground trip
4. Morning walks, hurrying home since it was really really hot
5. All dressed up and pretty
6. Big freaking boobs – still can’t get used to them
7. Going over to a friend’s house and shopping, looking like someone died
8. Being beyond adorable in her carseat
9. Lexi’s reaction to me singing “the Mermaid” song

4th of July spoilers:

1. What was supposed to be Lexi’s outfit
2. Getting read and running late
3. In the car, hair is already falling
4. left: her 4th of july outfit, right: what she ended up wearing after a diaper blowout
5. Taking a break from the party and trying to nurse Lexi to sleep
6. same as above
7. No luck, she’s too hyped
8. My two loveys
9. Late night party girls- we got home at 12am, thankfully she fell asleep in the car (thank you, new carseat!)

Also I want to let you guys know about this awesome service I found recently that takes your Instagram photos and turns them adorable mementos with just a click of a button. With so little time to do picture books and baby books (which I’m still planning on doing), this is a great way to just take 1 minute to turn some of your best Instargram photos into posters, picture books, mini books and stickers. I am absolutely IN LOVE with all that they offer. It’s super easy to do and the best part is it’s CHEAP!

You simply connect it with you account and pick which pics you want to include or hit select all and two weeks later you will have a mini book, strickers or a poster in your mailbox.

Check mine out.

This is a minibook. Each has 50 photos and you get 2 books in one order for $12

I have one for myself and gave on to my mom to remember the first months of Alexis’ life.

The stickers are so much fun and I can imagine can be used with kids as a reward system. What kid doesn’t love looking at their own pictures?

I  put half of them on my laptop and that way each day I get to see my little baby on my wrist pad.

And finally my favorite product is the poster. I totally meant to give it to my mom to take with her to Russia, but we both completely forgot, so now I am trying to decide where to hang it. {any ideas?}

You can enter this quick and simple giveaway for a chance to win 1 poster, a minibook and stickers.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I was NOT compensated for this post. Printstagr.am let me create the products to try. All opinions are my own.

Swaddling and the three of us have a love-hate relationship.

Rewind to Alexis birth:

I was so happy that our girl seemed completely content in a swaddle at first. I loved being able to make a perfect burrito baby and enjoyed using the organic muslin swaddles from Bambino Land.

A few weeks later, she got strong and would start breaking out of her swaddles. Even Bambino Land that has less give than A&A swaddles would eventually give in under the determination of a baby who suddenly decided she hates being swaddled. It was the perfect time to try the Miracle Blanket we had laying around, waiting to be used.   I know when I was pregnant I read about this swaddle on a million blogs I was reading so it was obvious to me that I should try it. It’s not called Miracle Blanket for nothing. It swaddles tightly and is super hard to break out of. I actually don’t remember a single occassion where she was able to even pull her arm out of it.

It’s really one of those things that you buy and use until you’re done swaddling. There are no sizes, no confusion- just one swaddle.

It came even more handy when nights got chilly, because it’s made out of warm thicker cotton. It’s not organic, unfortunately, and they don’t offer one, so we always made sure that she had clothes on under it.

The concept of this swaddle is pretty easy. It has two little wings that get wrapped around your baby’s arms to keep them down. Then the shorter outer wing gets wrapped around one side, and then the longer wings goes around and under the baby. This was the easiest most unintrusive way to swaddle for us at that point. Alexis would hate being swaddle when she is awake, so we had to be super stealth about it and only swaddle her once she was deeply asleep and hope and pray that we wouldn’t wake her up. You can read about the blanket  in detail here.

She slept like that for a while until one day she just wouldn’t have it. Swaddling was for babies and Alexis CLEARLY was old enough to sleep with her arms splayed across the bed. So we went with it. And it lasted a few weeks with her sleeping better than while swaddled.

Then all of a sudden, amidst the 4 months wakeful period sleep struggles that showed their ugly head a month too early, her Moro reflex ( or something else that makes her twitch and wake herself up) came back and she started waking herself up by throwing her arms in the air. So came back the trusty Miracle Blanket and we were back to loving being swaddled.

I am telling you: sometimes I feel that babies change their preferences just to send us, their parents, for a loop.

Now at 5 months, we moved onto something else when it comes to our precious baby girl’s sleep, but that’s another story for another day. And for now, the Miracle Blanket sits neatly in the drawer marked “For Future Baby”, because I know we’ll need it if that time comes.

BUY IT:

MiracleBlanket.com $24.95 on sale
Amazon.com $32

WIN IT: Click here to enter

Miracle Blanket

BELOW ARE THE GIVEAWAYS RULES
and Mandatory Entries: {read carefully}

There is 1 mandatory entry for this giveaway, after which you will have additional entries available,
. This giveaway is open to US & Canada residents only.
The winning entry will be verified and the winner disqualified if the action is not found or if the mandatory items are not fullfilled.
Make sure to notate how you’re following the blog in the extra info field (entry #1). The entry won’t count if that information is missing.
Each giveaway is open has specific rules, so read them on the widget (including which countries are eligible). See the rafflecopter widget for additional terms and conditions.

UPDATE: You can now log into the Rafflecopter through Facebook or just by using your name/email.

If you have a blog, there’re 2 entries each worth 10 points ( post our button on your blog’s sidebar and blog about the giveaway)

{If you’re not sure how to use to enter, feel free to watch this video tutorial or email me at contact {at} prebabyblog {dot} com
Otherwise, make sure to read everything carefully. Click the DO IT link first, then I’VE DONE IT once the action is completed}

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I was NOT compensated for this post. Miracle Blanket provided me with a product sample to try out. All opinions are 100% my own.