Shop and Eat! Northbrook Court Mall

After our first venture out of the house together I could not wait to go out again. However, B was born in December in Chicago, so wherever we go we need to be able to stay inside even if he has a major crying fit. I figured a shopping mall would be the perfect place--if he had a meltdown in one store I could just mosey on out, pop into a new place once he calmed down, and pretend I wasn't that mother.

Northbrook Court is the mall closest to our house, and though I've been there many times before I never realized just how baby-friendly it is.

First of all, there is a giant tree-shaped kiddie playground smack dab in the middle of the place. During the day this attracts a lot of kiddos and their moms or nannies. Spend a random afternoon in this place and you'll see a parade of the latest trendy kid and baby items on display. While I don't have anyone old enough to play on this tree yet, it's comforting to see a kid-friendly area in the middle of the mall.

Second, they actually have a nursing room. A NURSING ROOM! It's located in the second level bathroom near the dining area. It's a lovely, clean room with a locking door, a very comfortable glider, and a little table. These may exist in many places, but since I've only been nursing for ten weeks I've never noticed one before.

Third, there are several baby stores for you to wander around in with your little one. Gymboree, Janie and Jack, Hanna Anderson, and Gap Kids, to name a few.

Finally, there's a Gymboree Play and Music space, too, so you can actually take classes there with your little one.

But really, need I say more than nursing room? I mean, jackpot.

Also, Northbrook Court has several restaurants, so this has been my go-to place for lunch and dinner plans so far. I love that we can sit down in an actual restaurant for a meal, and I don't have to panic if B starts screaming. I can simply walk out and wander around the mall until he settles down. Perfection.

WearYOBaby: Chimparoo Woven Wrap

Okay, I'm just going to say it: If you have a baby and you aren't babywearing, you are missing out.

I loved wearing my son in my Moby wrap so much that I decided it was time to buy a woven wrap. I chose a Chimparoo woven, and it is hands-down my favorite new item I've bought since B was born.

The Good
The Chimparoo is a thick, beautiful woven wrap that can be tied in so many different ways. It is so versatile and so pretty that this will quickly become a wrap you reach for often. Because it is a woven wrap you can comfortably wear a heavier little one it, the Chimparoo company says up to 35 pounds. The wrap comes with a 75-minute DVD that very clearly shows you how to tie every carry, including special instructions for carrying newborns and for nursing in every carry.

I wore this wrap the day I bought it, and have reached for it every single day since. My favorite carry is the front wrap cross carry because I can tie it before we leave the house and slip B into it from his car seat when we reach our destination. It's also easy to pop him in and out of this carry.

I've gotten more attention wearing B in the Chimparoo than I have in my Moby and Lucky Baby wrap, probably because the Chimparoo really is a stunning wrap.

The Bad
The only negative I can think of for this is that it costs around $100, but here's the thing: $100 is affordable as far as woven wraps are concerned. So really, this is just another positive detail. It is a heavier wrap, so it's probably going to be too warm to wear in a hot Chicago summer--that's as close to a negative as I'm going to be able to get for this wrap!

Conclusions
The Chimparoo is an awesome woven wrap. You really cannot go wrong with this one. If you live in an extremely hot climate then it may not be for you, but otherwise the Chimparoo is a great woven wrap for any mama who wants to get out of the house with her baby!

WearYOBaby: Lucky Baby Wrap Review

I've already shared my love of babywearing, and how it's a wonderful way for mamas to get out of the house. Like any new enthusiastic convert, I've already purchased and used a couple of different wraps and carriers as a happy new babywearer.

I saw this Lucky Baby wrap on sale on Zulily and figured I might as well add another stretchy wrap to my stash. The Lucky Baby wrap has a decorated fabric panel in the middle of two long stretchy tails. Unlike the Moby, the Lucky Baby wrap tapers out towards the ends, and has much less fabric overall. I figured at the very least this wrap would be much prettier than my Moby, so I'd probably reach for it more.

The Good
The Lucky Baby wrap is pretty, and easier to tie than the Moby because there's much less fabric. It's also easier to throw in a bag and bring along with you because of it's smaller size. It is nicely constructed and easy to care for since it's machine washable.

The Bad
The Lucky Baby wrap is very stretchy, and it does not bounce back very much so it's prone to stretching out quickly while you wear it. This means you have to tie it on very tightly if you want to keep baby in a good position for more than a half hour or so. This also means it is not a good wrap for heavier babies. My son is just over 13 lbs at 8 weeks old, and I feel like this wrap is already too stretchy to wear him in for any length of time. While it is nicely constructed, the wrap does look handmade, especially on the center panel where the cut edge of the fabric is visible on the inside of the wrap.

Conclusions
The Lucky Baby wrap is a great starter wrap for new babywearers with newborns. It's easier to tie than other stretchy wraps, and this alone might be what a newbie needs to gain confidence babywearing before moving on to other wraps. The Lucky Baby wrap is not a good option for larger babies or even extended wear with newborns because it is far too stretchy and doesn't bounce back nearly as well as other stretchy wraps on the market.

Bottom line: If you have the extra cash to buy a starter wrap that you probably won't use very much, and you're intimidated by long panels of fabric on other stretchy wraps, go for it. Otherwise, you're better off starting out with a heftier stretchy wrap, or better yet, skip the stretchies and go straight for a woven.

Diaper Dude Diaper Bag Review

 

One thing that keeps new moms stuck at home with baby is the thought of how much stuff we're going to have to haul around if we leave the house. We've all seen mommies lumbering through crowded stores with their overburdened strollers and bags stuffed near to bursting. Going out with baby does not have to be this much work!

Babies do not need all that much stuff for an afternoon out. In fact, most days I don't even use 75% of what I carry in my diaper bag, and I carry about half as much as most mamas I see.

We use the Diaper Dude bag pictured above. I like it, it's roomy but not too big, and masculine enough that my husband isn't above wearing it. I don't carry a purse in addition to the diaper bag, either. 

What We Carry

In the large main pocket:

• One clean diaper cover (we cloth diaper)
• A small receiving blanket 
• A wet/dry bag
• Changing pad that came with the Diaper Dude
• Change of clothes for baby (a onesie and a pair of pants) in case of a major blowout
• Nursing tank in case of leakage or a major spit-up situation 
• My wallet 

In the first front pocket: 

• Two or three clean diapers

In the second front pocket:

• Wipes
• Hand sanitizer
• Diaper cream (LOVE this diaper cream, by the way)

In the third front pocket:

• My tube of Aquaphor (I'm addicted to using it as chap stick)
• My cell phone 

In the back, no-zipper slot:

• A small washcloth for easy grabbing 

Okay,  now that I typed this all out it looks like a lot! Trust me, the bag is small and definitely not burdensome. If you really can't leave the house without ten extra diapers or three extra outfits, consider packing a security bag with all the extras to keep in the car. That way the stuff will be available to you, but you won't have to schlep it around when you're out with baby.

What do you carry in your diaper bag? What kind of diaper bag do you use?

FeedYOBaby In Public! Boob Nursing Tops

As a first-time mom I was nervous about nursing B in public. Would I be comfortable? Would people stare? Would I accidentally flash some boob the exact moment that a current student happens to walk by? When we got home from the hospital with B I realized I needed some nursing tops STAT, so I went online and bought a handful of what I thought would be decent nursing tops.

Wrong.

First of all, they were all of the pull-down-from-the-neck variety, which a) exposes the entire upper chest, and b) shows a bit too much cleavage even when not nursing for a busty woman like myself. They also became misshapen and hangy after a couple washes, which meant I was going to have to keep on buying new tops if I wanted to look like I wasn't wearing a trash bag draped over my shoulders.

Enter Boob nursing tops.

The first day of my new moms group I noticed a fellow new mom nursing her daughter without exposing one bit of skin. At first I thought that maybe her baby was just sleeping in a nursing position, but no! She was nursing yet mom's top remained covered. Now, I know we have the right to nurse in public, and I'm proud to nurse in public, but I'm a bit modest, okay?

My fellow new mom was wearing a Boob nursing top, and I had to have one. Instead of pulling down from the neck, many Boob tops have an overlap at the empire line so you can just lift up the fabric on your boob line and latch baby on without exposing a thing. Genius, right?

My glee at finding the holy grail of nursing tops was squashed when I saw the price tag. A long-sleeve top will put you back around $70, and a short sleeve around $60. I stared at those beautiful nursing tops in sadness for about ten seconds before I thought, "The hell with it! I deserve to be comfortable nursing, and I'm going to buy these outrageously expensive tops anyway. I dare DH to question this rash decision."

So I did.

They're wonderful. They're perfect for nursing BYOBaby moms who want to be out with baby but who aren't comfortable baring it all. I bought a long-sleeve and a short sleeve that day, and I love them both. They're machine washable, but line dried. I've washed them both several times and they haven't lost their shape or color yet. The fabric is nice and soft, and the best part is that I feel really good in them. They're cut to flatter, and nursing in them is so easy and discreet that people might not even notice that you're nursing at all.

I've since scoured the Internet to find deals on more Boob tops. I've been lucky with a few sites that are trying to sell off their winter inventory before spring comes in. My favorite so far has been the B-Warmer Hoodie, which is the coziest thing I wear nowadays. Sizing for different tops of the same style is consistent, but different styles fit differently: The knit tops run larger than all of the others, and the short sleeved tee runs larger than everything but the knit tops.

I'm surprised more companies aren't cutting their nursing tops this way. So far I found a Canadian company called Momzelle that has similar tops, as well as Singapore-based Milky Way. Of course, I had to order a top or two from each for comparison's sake. You know, for the blog.

WearYOBaby: Moby Wrap Review

I am all about getting out of the house, and the easiest way to do that is to wear your baby.

I knew before I had B that I'd want to wear him, so I picked up a Moby before he was born and practiced wrapping it. I know many people shy away from wraps because they look complicated to use, but I found that after doing it just twice I was able to wrap it once B came along without peeking at the instructions. If I can do it, you can too. Trust me.

I was desperate to start wearing B in the Moby around the house as soon as we got home, but waited until he was about two weeks old because I didn't want to bust open my C-section incision. Let me tell you something about my Moby: It was love at first wrap. Not only does it allow us to get some really great skin-to-skin action going on when I'm doing thing around the house (and by "doing things" I mean sitting around searching Zulily and watching movies,) but B absolutely loves being cuddled up close, and this is the best way to do it.

The Moby is a stretchy wrap, meaning the fabric has some give. The best advice I got about tying it was to tie it "ten minutes too tight"--tie it so it feels too tight at first, because it will loosen up a bit after about ten minutes. Stretchy wraps are great for newborns because they swaddle them up nice and tight. Moby says you can use the wrap until your little one weighs 35 pounds, but I'm pretty sure I'll be reaching for my woven wraps almost exclusively once B is that big.

One thing I did find was that B struggled a bit at first when I wore him using the newborn hold. He became much easier to put in the wrap once I started wearing him with his legs out. Either way, though, he typically falls asleep and stays asleep in the Moby for as long as I wear him. This is pretty awesome, because I don't have to fear that he'll start screaming in the middle of a crowded place and send me running out the door in shame.

So far, I've worn B out in the Moby to the mall, several restaurants, new moms group, and the movie theatre. We haven't had a screaming fit yet, so I'd say it's been a success. The best thing about the Moby is that you can pre-tie it at home before you leave, and then slip baby into it in the back seat of the car when you reach your destination. This is absolutely necessary for us right now since we're in the middle of a Chicago winter--try to tie your Moby in the parking lot and you'll end up with slush-soaked tails.

Of course, the Moby isn't the only stretchy wrap on the market. I just got my Lucky Baby stretchy wrap in the mail, so I'll do a write-up of that next. (Thankyouverymuch Zulily for your impossible-to-ignore deals.)

Linkies:

• Here's a great video showing an alternative way to tie your Moby
• Babywearing International of Chicagoland
• The Babywearer

Do you wear your baby? What's your favorite wrap? Any tips for new babywearers?