Bitybean Baby Carrier

I am a big fan of babywearing.  We did a decent amount with Pickle when she was small, but have done a lot more with Peanut.  I mostly wore him in a ring sling when he was itty bitty, and have split time between that and a Tula as he's gotten older.

The Tula is great, but it has its downsides.  It's not at all compact - if I take it anywhere, it's like it has to have its own seat.  It's incredibly hot in the humid midwest summer, as mine is a canvas carrier.  In addition, it is pretty heavy - normally this last one isn't a problem, but it can be when I'm carrying it when Peanut is tired of being worn.  My ring sling is woven, so it has most of the same problems - it's great for trips, but it's kind of a bear to lug around.

In comes the Bitybean (LINK).  I had a chance to try one recently.  On paper, the specs are similar to the canvas soft-structured carriers - it's for infants and toddlers between 3 months old and ideally 3 years, from 8 lbs to 40 lbs.  It can fit anyone from a size 0 to a maximum waist size of 46 inches, but there's also an extender you can purchase that adds an additional 12 inches.  Like many others, it can be worn in a front or back carry.  So, already it's stacking up well against the competition.

Now, let's look at the ways that the Bitybean pulls ahead - and there are many!  Here are just a few:

- Price.  In comparison to the $115 to $200 that are common for canvas carriers, the Bitybean is only $59.95.  That's at least half of the price of most other carriers!  Like many of the other carriers, you can additionally purchase an infant liner or sleep hood, which are also both moderately priced.  I know that price is a huge reason that many women feel they aren't able to babywear, and the Bitybean really helps to make that concern vanish.

- Compact and lightweight.  This blew me away.  The Bitybean comes in a convenient little sleeve that is about the size of a soup can.  It also weighs almost nothing (8 ounces!), so I can throw it in my diaper bag/purse - as you can see below, I've tried to consolidate everything to one bag already, and the Bitybean (the orange and black tube at the top) fits in there easily and doesn't weigh it down.  

- Breathable and water-safe.  I mentioned above that I throw the Bitybean in my diaper bag - that's because it is incredibly convenient to wear out and about.  It is made of a light nylon/polyester blend, so it's almost the texture of a rain poncho.  This makes it incredibly breathable and lightweight in the summer, but it has the added bonus of working great while swimming or in the rain.  We wore it on a rainy day at a festival this last weekend, and I didn't have to worry about damaging it when it rained on it, or about it weighing a hundred pounds when it was saturated with water.  The bulk of the rain just slid right off the back.  Both of the kids have swimming lessons this summer, and so I plan on wearing Peanut in it in the pool.  I can't think of another soft-structured carrier offhand that is designed to be worn in the water!  (Check Bitybean's website for good pointers on water wear, like wearing your baby in front while in the water so you can make sure their head is above water.)  

Added bonus:  If you're prone to spilling (as I am), it's not a big deal, as most liquids just roll right off and/or dry quickly.

This is what we get when Big Sis takes the photos.

- Ergonomic.  I wore the Peanut, who is now just over 20 lbs, in the Bitybean for several hours at the festival this weekend.  My back didn't hurt.  I love the quickness of a ring sling, but the problem as a baby gets older is that it's not an even distribution on your back - the Bitybean was developed with parents and babywearing experts to make it safe and ergonomic for mama as well as baby.  I wore it the past couple of weekends while doing housework, and it was convenient and comfortable.  

I am really pleased to have the Bitybean in my babywearing arsenal.  I still love my ring sling and my Tula, and they each have their time and place - but I can't imagine ever going back to lugging either of them around in my purse or in the car when the Bitybean performs every function they do and more.  Great, great buy - and cute colors (LINK)!

Black Breeze Baby K'Tan - a first peek

This pregnant lady is very happy.  I was lucky enough that Baby K’tan sent me a Black Breeze Baby K’tan carrier to try out (LINK)!  We’ve still got about 4.5 months left to bake our little one, so I can’t give you a full review yet, but wanted to share my first impressions.

I’ve mentioned before that I have short little T-rex arms, and couldn’t quite get the hang of wrapping the Pickle in a Moby.  I would either need my husband’s help, or I wouldn’t get it quite loose enough.  As such, I wasn’t as effective at it as I wanted to be.

What’s great about the K’Tan Breeze is that it’s easy to use for even the wrap-challenged.  It is essentially two hoops hooked in the back.  I couldn’t get a good enough picture of this, so this is available on Baby K’Tan’s website:

The two loops are crossed over your body and brought under your arms.  There are much more thorough instructions on their website, and it can be used in a variety of positions as baby grows.  I’m really excited about that, because it’s not limiting in its use like some carriers are.  Much the same as how you can get wraps in different sizes, the K’Tan has sizing that is appropriate based off of your dress and bra sizes to ensure that it fits comfortably.

The Breeze is especially exciting to me since Little is due in August – the Breeze is 50% mesh and 50% cotton, so it’s cooler and more breathable if I want to take a walk around the neighborhood while babywearing.  We can essentially use this from birth until toddlerhood, since it supports children from 8 to 35 lbs.

In short, I’m really, really excited to use this on something other than a pregnant belly.  There are a bunch of colors available, and you can even purchase carriers gently-used on their website.  I’ve been coveting the K’Tans since long before we were pregnant, so I’m pumped!  Keep an eye out here in late August/early September for a full report on how it works.

K'tanCloth vs. Udder Covers - and a GIVEAWAY!!

I'm sort of a shy breastfeeder.  I am incredibly supportive of nursing in public, as I think it re-normalizes and encourages breastfeeding... but I am admittedly just a little shy about it personally.  Mostly because the positions in which we nurse aren't incredibly easy to do discreetly in public, and I'm just a little shy.

Hence, when I received a promo for a free nursing cover with the cost of shipping (which was slightly exorbitant) from Udder Covers, I decided it was a wise choice.  Here is an example from their website:

I was still pregnant when I received it.  The first thing that I noticed was that it was actually sorta scratchy and stiff.  And I don't know if I mentioned it, but I'm nursing under there - both my chest AND my baby's face are going to have that rough fabric on them.  I washed it, and it was a tiny bit better, but still just not comfortable.  

I figured that comfort wasn't necessarily the point of the cover, so I used it - yes, it's discreet... because it's sort of a tent.  It doesn't let the baby see anything, I couldn't see my baby very well, and it got hot under there in the summer.  Also, and more importantly - there was just pretty much no way that I could effectively nurse while babywearing in there.  An active baby moves this around and wants to see, and it just wasn't comfortable.  We ended up only actually using it a few times.

Starting in 2011, the makers of the Baby K'tan developed the K'tanCloth (LINK).  They've improved it even more since then, but it's designed to be a 3-in-1 mama's little helper:  burp cloth, blankie/lovie, and nursing cover.

(Photo courtesy of the Baby K'tan website)

At first glance, it seems so simple - it's a strip of cloth that's roughly 2.5 feet long, maybe 10 inches wide.  One side is super-soft cotton (which is why it makes such a great blankie for your little one), and the other side is micro-fiber mesh (so you can use it as a burp cloth that is easily cleaned).  One of the ends is a pocket (which catches all of that spit up that otherwise would inevitably end up straight down your back), and the other end has a great Velcro attachment that allows you to attach it to whatever you might need.  This could be a stroller or car seat, but (in my opinion, more importantly) also a nursing tank or a baby carrier. 

"But why would you attach it to a nursing tank or baby carrier," you ask?  For easy nursing on-the-go!  You don't have a 3-foot-long scratchy cover making it so your baby can't see anything that you have to wear around your neck like a bib - instead, you just attach the Velcro around the carrier or nursing tank, put it just behind your baby's head, and tuck the other end into the other side.  That's all there is to it.  It's super-simple, incredibly portable, and so very soft.  It's small, so nobody is overheating under it.  

I'm in love with this item, and it's really inexpensive at $12.95.  I personally recommend carrying two - Baby K'tan doesn't include this as a feature, but we also use one as a diaper changing pad when out and about if we still have accidents.  We originally had used the vinyl diaper changers because they were easy to clean from accidents, but it bothered me that it's difficult to actually wash and sanitize these - so I was left with the choice of germs remaining on there if I just used baby wipes, or using something like a bleach wipe on it that was too harsh for baby skin.  The mesh is still easily wiped down, but this can be washed successfully without damaging it, which makes it a far better option for a changing pad.  

This is a silly added bonus, but Little A also likes to babywear in it!  The little velcro is just long enough to wrap around her body, so she puts one of her many dolls in there and walks around with it.  I attempted to get a photo of this in action, but she kept going all preschooler Sean Penn on me.

So...  here's the deal!  We are hosting a giveaway (thanks to the Baby K'tan team!) of one of the K'tanCloths.  Here are the ways you can enter - create a comment in our notes below for each criteria you meet (so you can have up to four comments):

1.  Comment below to say you have liked the Facebook page for Mother Knows Best at https://www.facebook.com/motherknowsbestreviews

2.  Visit Baby K'tan's shop at http://www.babyktan.com/shop.html.  Come back here and comment to mention what item interests you most.

3.  Share the MotherKnowsBestReviews Facebook page, and come back here to comment that you have done so!

4.  Share the pin for this blog post on Pinterest, then come back here to comment and mention that you have:  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/132645151498615160/

You can enter up through noon Central time on Friday, September 20.  Come back that afternoon to see if you have won (winners will be chosen through an internet randomizer)!  If I am unfamiliar with the winner, I would likely need them to message me on the MKBR Facebook page.

Thanks, and good luck!

Babywearing for a Dummy

I am a big fan of babywearing, I believe it really promotes bonding between mommy and baby (as well as strengthening their core) – but the problem is I’m super-short and mega-awkward (but with big boobs thrown in for good measure).  So it makes it a little hard sometimes to find the right carrier.

When A was first born, I had an awesome-awesome-awesome friend let me borrow their Moby wrap.  (LINK - as you can see, not the techno dude from the late 90s.)  This thing was so soft and cushy for baby, and you could make it as tight or as loose as you wanted - but I'm not going to lie, I simply could not accomplish wearing this without my husband helping me.  It's, like, 9 or 10 feet long, and I'm 5'2" in shoes with short little arms.  I loved it when he helped me into it, but I couldn't do it by myself.  Since my husband and I were working opposite shifts at that time to minimize the amount of time A had to be in daycare, that left a lot of time with it not working for me.  I think I should be able to get it in the future, I just need to study more or train A how to tie a knot.  The price on these is pretty moderate, around $45 or so for a wrap - I think they're an amazing deal.  I know wraps are very coveted and can go up into the several hundreds, but this is a great starter!

Since I liked the idea of a wrap for a wee baby, I found the My Baby Nest carrier (LINK).  It essentially works like a wrap for people with short arms like a T. Rex.  

(I do not look exactly like this, just roughly)

Anyway.  It's basically two loops and a belt part.  So it's got the basic setup of a wrap, but you can do it on your own.  It was not the cheapest, ran about $70, but still pretty reasonable for a baby carrier.  Except remember how I told you I have big boobs?  Yeah - with it not being very easy to customize how tight this is (or, conversely, how loose), I had the choice of wearing this and smothering A with my giant rack, or returning it and looking for something else.  I went with option B, as I didn't want her most traumatic childhood memories to be linked with boobs stealing her air.

By this point, A was old enough to be worn in a sling.  So I tried, if I remember correctly, a SevenSling (LINK), roughly $40-ish.  Um, first off, I would not recommend this site because they got kind of weird with my credit card information.  (They also make Udder Covers - since they were advertising a free one where you pay shipping, I did that, and they charged a crap-ton for shipping and it also went weird with my credit card.)  Also, they NEVER STOP E-MAILING.  Anyway, the carrier didn't make me feel very good about my daughter, as she was still pretty little.  I think I'd have felt more comfortable with her in a sling if she were older, but this one was a pretty rough weave and I didn't really care for the construction a whole lot.  I'd probably look at Etsy or something next time.  I think I returned this one as well, I sure couldn't find it in my damn house.

So, I finally decided that she was big enough that I wanted to try a soft-structured carrier.  I am not coordinated to use a lot of the wraps (yet), too Chesty LaRue for the My Baby Next, and didn't really dig the sling at the point I tried it.  I did a lot of research between the Ergo and the Beco Butterfly II (which is actually no longer made, but I'm reviewing it anyway), and decided on the Beco Butterfly II.  Here's a LINK.  It ran about $140, which was the most expensive carrier I'd tried yet, but it was really well-made, had an insert for infants, could be used for both a front carry (which we love) and a back carry (which I have yet to figure out).  It goes up to 45 lbs, so I could still cram A in there if she'd let me (which she won't at this point, but it's nice to have options).

A loooooooved her carrier.  Here she is around 10.5 months, you can't tell the best due to the anonymity bars and binky, but she's grinning from ear to ear:

(I did not protect the anonymity of the dude in the background's butt)

I have pretty poor posture there and am slouching out at the waist, but even then it was really easy on my back.  She would let me wear her in it until a bit after two years old, which was awesome and so convenient, I didn't have to drag the stroller anywhere.  She loved this thing so much that she wouldn't let our care provider use it to try it out on any of her own children!

I guess I've read and learned a lot more about carriers since back then.  I think if we had a future baby, I'd definitely use the Beco again, and check out their new options, but consider the following:

- Look at an OnyaBaby and a Tula for a soft-structured carrier.

- Look at wraps like Oschas and Ellevills and such, but just not be such a dumbass and figure out how to use it.

- I REALLY want to use a mei tai.  It's the same theory as a soft-structured carrier, but with sashes that you tie instead of buckles and snaps.  You can get them from any number of places on Etsy, etc.