Now is when I Gush about my Boba 3G

My adventures in babywearing is a post for another day.  For today’s purposes, I just want to go on and on about how much I love my Boba 3G.  And I’ve only had it for 2 months!  Think of how much more I shall love it next year.  The Boba 3G is Boba’s Soft-Structured Carrier (SSC).  Think buckles.  The most popular (that is ergonomically correct) carrier of this type out there is the Ergo.  When I decided I wanted a SSC, I chose the Boba over the Ergo (and then later an Onya) because it has features that make you able to get longer use out of it, and I just think it looks better.  I have this one:

Also I want her clothes.

Things that are awesome about it:

• Has a little wider seat (14.5″ vs. 14″ on the Ergo, though an Onya has 16″).  The seat ought to extend from knee to knee on a kid to support them in a proper seated position, thus the wider the seat, the longer you can use it.
• Has a higher back (16.5″ vs. 13″ on an Ergo, Onya is 18″).  The higher the back, the taller the kid can be and have more support at the back for comfort and safety.
• Has foot straps for toddlers/preschoolers to keep their legs and hips kept in a proper seated position, for when their legs are too long for the seat to cover knee to knee.
• Has a 45 lb. weight limit.  B is like 46 lbs., so I’ve put him in there a few times and it ain’t half bad.  He thinks it’s all sorts of fun.
• Has a zip pocket on the waist band, which is just the right size for me to slide my keys and phone into if I don’t want to carry my purse around.
• But if I do want to carry my purse (or diaper bag) around, there is a little snappy strap on the shoulders so you can attatch your purse/bag and not have to hold on to it.  It’s amazing.
• The sleeping hood attatches and folds up easily, and snaps on easily to the shoulder straps, and has tightness adjusters.
• It has these elastic bands at the ends of the straps so you can roll them up and fasten them and the loose ends aren’t hanging everywhere… I knew that had to be what those things were for, but couldn’t figure out how to use them until I just saw how on their website today!  Dur.
• There are two sets of strap adjustments on the shoulder straps.  One is easily reachable in a front carry, so you just let the slack out for nursing.  I had been intimidated by the idea of trying to nurse in a carrier before, but finally tried it a few weeks ago and it is SO EASY.  The only hard part is remembering to wear clothes you can undo from the top down.  And it’s pretty discreet to nurse in a carrier, which is great for me because M will not eat with a cover over her!  Here I was all excited about not being nervous to nurse in public with Baby #2, but she won’t have it.  So I have to go into a corner or another room or the car.

So yeah.  I wear M in it every time I go to the grocery store, and pretty much anywhere else too.  (Except at home, where I generally use my Babyhawk mei tai.)  I would highly recommend the investment!

An Ode to Lotion

O Baby Bee Buttermilk Lotion, you were the very best.
You glided so smoothly upon the skin of my baby’s back, arms, leg, and chest.
You have such a wonderful smell that I came to expect to waft from my baby,
But now I must use the Original Lotion, which I can smell kinda maybe.
I searched for you all around, in every city and store,
And finally emailed Burt’s Bees and was told you were no more.
How sad am I to learn the unjustness of your fate.
Why, o why, did not more customers realize you are so great?
It has been so long now since I have smelled you that your scent is lost to me.
Now I am forced to replace you with their lotion that’s fragrance free.
Not that said lotion is not still a decent product of your good name,
But it doesn’t smell the way my baby should; it will never be the same.

Why I ♥ Cloth Diapers

M has officially outgrown the diaper covers we’ve been using, as in to the point where I can’t even put them on her anyway.  They make major red marks over her ginormo-thighs, and don’t cover all of her diaper.  So we have to live with the two covers she has that do fit until I can order her another one like… tomorrow when N gets paid.  It’s a necessary expense!  You know how much it will cost?  Like $12 something.  Know how much it would cost if I went and bought a box of “‘sposies?”  Like $20, if I remember correctly.  Know how long said diaper cover will last her?  Until potty training.  That box of ‘sposies wouldn’t even last a month.  And so that brings me to what I want to make my first “different topic” post about…

When I was going to have B, using cloth crossed my mind but without even checking into it I blew off the idea because we lived in an apartment and would’ve had to wash diapers by either paying $1.50/load to use the crappy machine in our building, or I’d had to drive 20 minutes to either my parents or grandparents house every 2 days to wash them.  I think if I would’ve known how much I would love them in the first place, I would’ve found a way to make it work anyway!  As soon as we had our own washer/dryer, which was when we bought our house when B was 17 months old, I started using cloth.

I know a lot of people who cloth diaper do it mainly so they’re not tossing hundreds of diapers into landfills, but that’s just sort of an added bonus for me because I’m not that inherently hippie-tastic.  The only reason we started using cloth was to save money.  And while some save less money by going the more expensive route and dropping $500 on two dozen pretty one-sized all-in-one diapers, we started off by going the cheapest route and getting a dozen good quality toddler-sized prefolds for $40, which was enough to wash every other day at that age.  Including our wet bag, we spent maybe $100 total on all of B’s diapering stuff from 18 months until he potty trained the month before turning 3… basically 18 months worth.  And we haven’t spent much more than that on M’s diapers thus far.  The amount more we pay for water to wash them every 2 days seems to be about $15 quaterly.  Hecks yeah.

So to be less verbose, other reasons I heart cloth, in relative order:
2. They don’t contain nasty chemicals (http://www.livestrong.com/article/111348-chemicals-disposable-diapers/)
3. They’re SOOOOOO cute, extra fluffy butt included
4. It just makes more sense to me now.  I don’t wear paper underwear.  They must be so much more comfortable.
5. Not a pro, but to add in… at least for me they aren’t difficult to deal with, the extra time they take isn’t an issue, and dealing with your own kids’ poo isn’t all that gross.

So really I could go on and on for way more than probably anyone would care to read on this topic, but instead I will just end with my favorite products that we use.  They should all give me free stuff for promoting them. 😛

Green Mountain Diapers/Cloth-eez Prefolds
So soft and quilty and wonderful and very very absorbant.  M is currently in their “wide baby” size, which she should be able to use for quite awhile.  Teehee.

See?  That’s M’s little diapery self a few weeks ago.

Which brings me to the next thing, the Snappi!  That’s the pink fastener there.  Best invention ever.  When I was looking into cloth I was like… I’m not so sure about pinning a diaper on my baby.  Turns out like nobody does that anymore because snappis are so much faster and easier.

Thirsties Covers
Love the cost, quality, and look of them anyway, but I also found out recently that they’re a family-owned company who makes all their own materials and sews them all up at their factory in Colorado.  Double bonus.  We use these for daytime.  At night we use fleece soakers that I make myself.

Here’s some kid in a Duo Wrap with snap closure… I personally dislike snaps and have all velcro closure ones.

Planet Wise Wet/dry Bags
Why would you use a pail when you can have one of these hanging around your bathroom?  (Or maybe that’s just me that has all our diaper stuff in the bathroom… most people probably use their baby’s room!)  But really, we’re on our second one since we started with B.  Very good quality and easy to use.  And they look even better in real life than on the computer!

Our first one was the Art Deco print (has since been demoted for beach-going use), and our current one is the Funky Flowers one.  LOVE.  We have a small wet bag of theirs too for the diaper bag.

That about covers it I guess.  Ha!  Pun.