December 20, 2011

PAXbaby.com

Most babywearers are introduced to babywearing with the uninspired big box “crotch dangler” style of baby carriers –  the Infantino, the Bjorn, the Chicco – and most babyworn babies are indoctrinated to their babywearing career by being subject to the unsupported and uncomfortable method of FFO (Front Facing Out!)  With these mass produced baby carriers being so common, most civilians don’t bat an eye at a newborn drooping pitifully from its new mother’s baby harness with its wee arms extended over the front flap and its legs in an unnatural & flaccid sag.  Most admire baby’s hair, or lack of hair, or sweet outfit, or cute hat, but what we babywearers know with every babywearing bone in our body is that these carriers are not good for our babies!  They don’t support – they suspend!  They don’t cradle – they dangle!  They don’t hold – they hang!  As a friend of mine says, Friends don’t let friends FFO!

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Front Facing Out is not a popular way to wear your baby in the stricter world of babywearing, however I’d like to point out that there is always the exception to the rule!  I have a handful of exceptions in which case a baby carrier with FFO capability is invaluable!  I was thrilled when Beco introduced to the babywearing population the Beco Gemini which features the ability to forward face because not only will that option lure in the unsuspecting parent who would usually buy a Bjorn but the Beco is “so much cuter,” but the Gemini also allows me to use an organic, Made in the USA, ergonomic carrier in a FFO position without needing to own a “crotch dangler”!!!  These circumstances happen very rarely, but when they do, I’m grateful for my Gemini!

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FFO circumstance #1 - Sitting to view a sibling’s class or play.  You need to be able to sit back so you can’t have baby on your back!  Baby wants to see the happenings as well!  FFO your baby so that they can interact with the world but be very observant of their signals to you of discomfort or overstimulation and limit their FFO time to about 10 minutes at a time!

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FFO circumstance #2 - Wearing an older baby while they are eating.  I can clearly remember the first time I wore my Gemini to Disneyland!  When Baby #5 got hungry and PAXdaddy handed him a messy granola bar, I simply turned him around and all the crumbs went cascading onto the ground outside Pirates of the Caribbean instead of down my cleavage!  What a relief and easy clean up that made!  These days we can use a custom Flat Hat to act like a bib to protect the Gemini itself as well!  Urge baby to finish up quickly because wearing an older baby with his spine against you is NOT going to feel good after a while and certainly is not ergonomic for babywearing participant!

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FFO circumstance #3 - Wearing a baby who wants to be included in a craft!!!  Crafting with children is always a challenge, but add into that messy mix a baby who wants to be involved, and you have a recipe for disaster!  Luckily, by inviting baby to help while being worn lessens the catastrophic demise that usually occurs when baby “helps!”  Strap baby onto your front and put in his arms reach harmless tools that will help him create his masterpiece without damaging your crafting area permanently!  In our case this past week, the kids & I were making a Christmas surprise for the PAXdaddy!  Every year, we make him something with their hand prints, and this year, a friend inspired me to help the kids create Homemade Salt Dough Ornaments featuring their very own paw prints!!!  Of course we couldn’t leave out Baby #6, so into the Beco Gemini he went, and we imprinted his very own ornament with his tiny hand print!

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THANKS for reading, and keeping an open mind when you first read the blog post title!!!  Remember, the main purpose of babywearing is to bond with your baby and remain available to them as they grow so if you need to fudge the rules once in a while, I understand!  I’ve been there & done that, and have made the decision to FFO with a happy baby then try to back carry with a screaming one!  Let baby participate, and you will be a better babywearing team for it!

PAXbaby

Homemade Salt-Dough Ornaments

PAXbaby.com

Ingredients & tools needed:

• 4 Cups Flour
• 1 Cup Salt
• 1 1/2 Cups of water
• Rolling Pin
• Parchement Paper
• Cookie Cutters
• Toothpick
• Ribbon
• Acrylic paints

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Instructions:

1) Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees F.

2) Prepare your cookie sheets by lining with Parchment Paper.

3) Mix Flour, Salt and Water together. The dough will be sticky at first.   If it’s crumbly, add a little bit more water. If it’s too sticky, add a bit more flour.

4) Knead the dough by hand or use your mixer for  25 minutes. This will eliminate “most” of the air bubbles.

5) Roll the the dough out to about 1/4 of an inch thick.

6) Use cookie cutters to make desired shape, or trace a bowl like we did!  Place cut-outs on the cookie sheet. Don’t forget to make a hole for hanging!  We used the end of a glass straw to make uniform holes in each ornament.

7)  Press baby’s hand firmly into the dough, or use their fingertips to mark the small ornaments.

8 )  IMPORTANT: Salt-dough has a tendency to “bubble”, which will cause the ornament to crack. To help prevent bubbling, take a toothpick and lightly poke tiny random holes all over the ornament or in a creative pattern. This will help release the air.  The holes may be noticeable so make ‘em pretty. Once the ornaments come out of the oven you can poke holes on the bottom as well to release some of the trapped air as well. This may help prevent them from cracking in the future.

9) Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until they are a very light golden brown on the bottom. Keep a close eye on them, because they can burn quickly!

10) Take the ornaments out from the oven and let them cool.

11) Paint them!!!

12) Give them to your loved ones & hang on your tree!

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Hope you have a wonderful time crafting with your little ones, and feel free to use this recipe!  It was given to me by Andrea!!!

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*happy babywearing*

PAXbaby.com

June 12, 2010

The Beco Gemini is on the LEFT, and the Beco Butterfly is on the RIGHT.

There is the option of crossing the shoulder straps with the Gemini which is a throw back feature to the Beco 4th Generation.  For nursing mothers, this option provides the perfect environment to discretely nurse your baby, and for front carries, the X straps can distribute baby’s weight much more comfortably than the backpack style straps.  Thanks to the buckle on each side of the front panel, each shoulder strap can be unclipped and refastened into the X position or a hip carry position.

Ready to order?  Shop here at the Gemini *pre-order*
$139.00

June 10, 2010

As Beco Baby Carrier’s #1 fan, PAXbaby couldn’t be more excited about the newest Beco edition!  Following in the footsteps of the beloved 4th Generation and the Butterfly I and II, the Gemini promises to be everything that a modern mom would dream of!  Fabulous designer fabrics, maximum comfort for parent and child,  ease of use, and that extra special Beco flair that makes Beco Baby Carriers my FAVORITE baby carrier! If you are interested in the differences between the Butterfly and the Gemini, please read my detailed blog post comparing the 2 Beco carriers!

I can’t tell you any more than this: The Gemini is wonderful, elegant, and you won’t be disappointed!    Are you excited?  I thought you would be!  So while you are waiting ever so patiently you can decide what to do about the new Gemini!  Here are some options:
Since your husband already told you “no more baby carriers,”  why not “borrow” the Gemini to see what you think!  Then, if you love it and have to have it, you can work out the details later with the man of the house!

Sign up for the Traveling Gemini, a Beco Gemini will start here with the PAXbaby mama and then will begin its National tour delighting babywearers across the USA!

Or simply buy a Gemini for yourself and enjoy the Beco goodness with your very own Gemini baby carrier!  Remember, if you don’t absolutely love it, you have 90 days to return your Gemini to PAXbaby for a refund or an exchange!

I can’t tell you when exactly the Gemini will make its appearance, but I am about to burst with the surprise, so stay tuned!

This is an early Gemini prototype, worn with my 10 month old last September!

And new action shots from Katie and her 30 pound toddler!

And a very early prototype demonstrating the front facing out capability

*happy babywearing*

April 1, 2010

Melissa wants to know when the Beco Gemini is coming, and Laura wants to know how it’s different from the Beco Butterfly II, so here a few answers!

Since PAXbaby tried on the Gemini in September, there have been changes made to the carrier especially pertaining to safety.  We can tell you the differences between the Gemini and the Butterfly, but please keep in mind that things may have been updated and will be different on the final version.

While the Beco Butterfly straps are threaded through buckles under the arms, the Gemini has buckles that easily unclip and re-fasten across the back in an X pattern giving more options for front carries and better support for mama’s back.  The body of the Gemini is more narrow than the Butterfly and has a contoured thick headrest similar to the popular Bjorn.  The new carrier is geared more towards accommodating smaller babies and may not feature an internal harness or seat like the Butterfly I  and II have.

For die-hard Beco fans like myself, the wait is hard, but I know that when the Gemini is finally released, it will be a superb carrier with that special Beco flair that we all love and adore!  Let’s all wait as patiently as we can so that Beco can concentrate on perfecting the Gemini for us.  As soon as we know anything new, we will be sure to let you know!

These pictures were taken at Vegas in September with my 10 month old!

January 6, 2010

Thank you so much to Laura from the SoCal Disneyland area for her in depth review of the new Babyhawk Soft Structured Carrier, the Oh Snap!, and the new 16″ Olives & Applesauce Full Buckle Soft Structured Carrier!  Keep in mind that the Olives & Applesauce does come with an attached infant insert, which you can fold to the back of the carrier when your baby is too tall for it.  The Babyhawk Oh Snap! also features a key clip on the waistband!

To make things easier, here are a couple of acronyms that we will use (repeatedly!) in this post:

BH = Babyhawk

OS = Oh Snap!

SSC = Soft Structured Carrier, meaning a Mei Tai style body with shorter straps that buckle instead of tie and a padded waistband

O&A = Olives & Applesauce

FB = Full Buckle

DH = Dear Husband

If you have any questions, please let us know!

We have the Oh Snap! SSCs in stock or available to order as customs, and the O & As are just getting finished up over at O & A headquarters, and we are taking pre-orders on them now!

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My overall impression is that these are different enough carriers that you could definitely have one of each in your stash. Before I had the BHOS I was in love with my O&A’s and I still am. They are beautiful carriers and very comfy. I do however find the BHOS a bit more comfy for me. I love all the adjustments.  I can get a great fit, DH can get a great fit, and we can cinch it down super tiny for the smaller kids. If you’re passing it among very differently sized people, constant adjustment may be a PITB. Once you figure out the right adjustment for you though, it is easy to use.

Babyhawk Oh Snap! SSC is on the left.  Olives & Applesauce 16 inch FB SSC is on the right.  The strap fabrics are different, but in some of these pictures, they look alike.

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The O&A on top of BHOS. You can see here how the body of the O&A is slightly curvy and contoured. The BHOS is pretty much straight up and down. They both have leg padding, but the O&A is fluffier.

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The headrest of the OS can be folded down. It is tricky to fold it down in a back carry, and you probably would need a friend to do it for you. It does not have a seat insert. Our four month old is on the small side for what is recommended with any SSC (which is 4-6 months usually) but we used SSC’s with our older son from about 3 months on. We froggied his legs inside, then moved to one leg out and then finally to two legs out, you could also use a receiving blanket inside the bottom to get him seated a bit higher in the carrier if you want.

Up close picture of the waist padding. The O&A is more curved. The BHOS is also curved but because of the adjusters (mine are all the way out) you could make it more curved or less curved. OS has slightly wider webbing here.

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The BHOS headrest is great because my son can see out the sides, and when he puts his arms out, there is no scrunching of the body.  The back of the headrest comes up high enough to support him during a nap. I still need to bounce him down and into the carrier once he falls asleep, but I like the way the BHOS feels…it is a very comfy carrier.

Both carriers have seat darts. The seat darts on the BHOS are just not as deep as the O&A, so they are hard to see, but they are there.  On the left is the BHOS, on the right is the O&A.  The O&A has a bit of a trough by the waist band, and the BHOS is less deep.

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A couple of things in this picture. You can see the differences in the width of the straps.  The BHOS are slightly curved. O&A are straight. O&A has wider webbing than the BHOS. The chest straps are very different. The O&A chest strap is free floating. The BHOS chest strap is fixed but removable. There is adjustable webbing on the BHOS that allows petite users to shorten the straps past the padding (mine are all the way out here).

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The BHOS waistband padding is 4 inches wide.  The body is 17 inches tall for a total height of 21 inches

The O&A waistband padding is 3 3/4. The body is 16 inches tall for a total of 19 3/4 inches. With the hood up it is 30 inches.

Shoulder padding. O&A on top.  O&A straps are wider with less padding. BHOS are narrower with more padding (though I think as the BHOS breaks in, it will get a little more floppy)

Really, I think everyone should give the OS a try. I went back and forth on them for a while thinking that I was happy with my O&A’s and I wasn’t going to rock the boat trying a bunch of new things, but I finally caved and I am really glad I did. It does feel different than the O&A which I still love, but for a back carry napper who hates hoods, the BHOS is really great. We have been using it for naps and I really am loving it. The 16 inch O&A is a great size and definitely works for a toddler!

January 1, 2010

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*happy babywearing*

December 29, 2009

For those of you who have spent hours agonizing over this decision, here are some pictures to help you visualize the differences between the standard Babyhawk Mei Tai and the new Oh Snap! Soft Structured Carrier! Thank you to Becca for the great pix, and if you feel angsty and have to have that awesome peace sign fabric, we have it available for pre-order on the wonderful new Olives & Applesauce SSC!!!

Here is the Mai Tei on top of the Oh Snap! Note the wider & taller body of the Oh Snap! and the angle of the straps!

Babyhawk Mai Tei and Oh Snap! comparison

Back carry with the Oh Snap! & 40 pound 2 1/2 year old!

Back carry with the Oh Snap!

Front carry with the Oh Snap! & 17 pound 8 month old!

Oh Snap! front carry