By Maura Keating

It is terribly ironic that for decades, mothers (the women who most deserve a boost to their self-esteem and ego) have dragged around oversized, cutesy bags that match their charges. No more. There is whole new crop of bags that will take Mom beyond diapers, and the Zosephine diaper bag is one of the newest contenders.

Zosephine bags come in four styles named after points on the map: Kyoto, Seattle, Minneapolis, and St. Paul. Each bag is made from a solid, durable fabric complemented with a playful print that recalls the destination. The bags are lined with a white nylon fabric that wipes up easily and keeps bottle leaks from dripping all over your car. The bright white interior makes it easy to see objects inside. The nylon is a little stiff, and I worry that crumbs might collect in some of the seams of the smaller pockets. Zosephine bags come with a changing pad made of the same white nylon fabric that lines the inside of the bag. The changing pad rolls up to fit easily inside the bag and ties with an attached ribbon. I found that the changing pad was too small for us. My son is rarely still, especially during a diaper change, and I am nervous when I lay him down on the cleanest diaper-changing stations. I like to have plenty of room to roll, just in case.

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By Maura Keating

Every parent out there is different and each has his or her preferences for everything from strollers to baby wearing. My own bias leans towards ring slings. The concept is simple—a broad and long piece of cloth is threaded through two rings. Ring slings accommodate a wide range of shapes and sizes, allowing many people to share the baby wearing with a partner without having to buy another size. This also means that the sling can adjust to be worn over a T-shirt in the mall or over a heavy winter coat when you’re outside. They also work for Baby from birth until Baby is too large or too independent to be carried. The tail on a ring sling can be used as a nursing cover or a sun shade. I’ve also used a ring sling as a nursing cover when my son was out of the sling. Our ring sling has also doubled as a blanket, changing pad, and ground cover. I adore ring slings, but my husband gave up on them after a few weeks of trying. The adjustability that I adore made a sling too frustrating for him to use. He prefers buckles and consistency. For this review, I tested three rings slings: the Maya Wrap Ring Sling, the Sakura Bloom Essential Ring Sling, and the ZoloWear Ring Sling.

The hand-loomed fabric enables the Maya Wrap Sling to take a beating. The Guatemalan patterns can be a little granola crunchy, but they do wonders at masking unavoidable spills that come with close proximity to a baby or toddler. Post spill, the Maya Wrap is machine washable and one year later, the fabric on my sling still looks great. Solid colors are available in addition to the patterns. The weave is strong yet soft on my shoulders and on my son’s legs. In the summer, it is breathable, but I avoid it on the hottest days. The Maya Wrap Sling comes in four sizes based on height. Maya Wrap also offers a MamaBaby Sling made from 100 percent cotton and the Maya Tie, a carrier based on the Asian-style Mei Tai carrier.

I own the Original Maya Wrap Unpadded Sling—a product that is being discontinued in favor of the popular lightly padded sling that features light padding on the shoulder. Both Maya Wrap Slings feature a cap that folds over to hug your shoulder, distributing Baby’s weight. The biggest challenges that I had with the Maya Wrap was learning how to thread the sling, making sure that the fabric was not twisted—getting my son comfortable while being comfortable myself. Once I got the hang of it, putting on and adjusting the Maya Wrap became routine and unbelievably fast. A crying baby who wants to be worn can be powerful motivation.

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By Maura Keating

Life with Baby is never easy, but always precious. Baby wearing makes day-to-day life a little easier so that you can cherish the precious moments and minimize those moments that are not so prized. Baby wearing is when you use a carrier (which can be as simple as a long piece of fabric) to carry a child on your back, front, or hip. Aside from the obvious benefits (getting things done hands free, bonding with your child through a close physical connection, no more dragging car seats and strollers through crowds), most babies seem to enjoy being in a carrier as much as parents enjoy the freedom it affords them. The number one question that I get when I’m wearing my son is, “Is that comfortable?” The answer is a resounding yes! (Well, most of the time . . .) Some carries were not instantly comfortable; I think that I needed to build up muscles that had never been used. However, after pregnancy, it felt natural for my son to be close to me. What a bonus that I could actually SEE him!

I always knew that I wanted to try baby wearing. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law gave us a beautiful Baby Bjorn carrier before my son arrived. It worked well enough until my husband snapped off one of the buckles in the car door (my son was not inside). For long carries, my back would start to ache mercilessly, and as my son grew larger (and he grew quickly), I found that I could only wear the carrier for short distances, until finally I could barely make it around the block without ripping the Baby Bjorn off in disgust. My dislike for the Baby Bjorn led me to so many other carriers that have made my life easier.

TheBabyWearer.com is an excellent place to immerse yourself in the topic. From forums to product reviews, this website has it all. There is also an excellent list of articles on the subject that go into far greater depth than I can here. In Rhode Island, the Kangamamas is an amazing group of people who meet every month to discuss baby wearing, trade tricks and ideas, learn new methods, and lust over new carriers. Their website has a forum where you can introduce yourself, learn about upcoming meet-ups, or ask questions about baby wearing from a local perspective.

Baby wearing might not be for everyone, but I think it would be for most everyone if they gave it a try with the right carrier. The benefits of baby wearing far outweigh the price, learning curve, or anxiety that may be attached to your perceptions of the practice. If cost is the biggest obstacle, there are patterns available that make it easy to construct your own sling, pouch, or mei tai carrier, or use a long length of gauze and teach yourself how to wrap. Give it a try—I hope these reviews inspire you to go hands free. This week, we’re reviewing pouches and ring slings. Stay tuned for future reviews of soft structured carriers.

By Maura Keating

If you are new to baby wearing or just new to babies—if you find the rings, buckles, and straps of other carriers daunting or just too time consuming, a fitted pouch is a perfect solution to get baby on board quickly and easily. When my son was small, I found the mechanisms of a ring sling to be overwhelming. No matter how many times I watched the instructional DVD, I felt insecure. My husband still hasn’t figured out the ring sling—too many adjustments, he says. I wish I had tried a pouch when my son was younger, but I still find them useful for quick trips with my toddler in a hip carry.

Since fitted pouches don’t have buckles or other mechanisms to adjust size, getting a pouch with the correct fit for YOU is incredibly important. Unless you and your partner are the same size, this is not a carrier that you can share. Take the time to make sure that your measurements are correct—have a friend help if possible. Ideally, you should try on a pouch at a store where you can have a salesperson size you and give you a crash course in baby wearing. If you’re buying when you’re pregnant, post-partum, or online, make sure that the store has a reasonable return policy.

Hotslings and Peanut Shell pouches have more similarities than differences. I tested an Everyday Hotslings in a stretch sateen fabric and a Peanut Shell Reversible Baby Sling in a 100 percent cotton fabric. Both pouches must be folded before wearing. The Hotslings includes striped tabs that you can line up for a quick fold. Both slings feature a padded rail that is supposed to be easier on Baby’s knees for hip carries. My son has never had a problem with non-padded slings, but he seems to like the padding just fine too. The pouch on both is shallow—no pillow or towel needed for a cradle carry. Baby can see the world and the wearer can check in on Baby easily. The Peanut Shell seemed slightly deeper to our cradle carry tester, but we didn’t break out the yard stick. Both pouches are designed for high carries—the bottom of the pouch should hit somewhere around your belly button. Hotslings come in nine different sizes while the Peanut Shell comes in four sizes. Both fit comfortably around the wearer’s shoulder. The Peanut Shell is slightly narrower around the shoulder and I preferred the fit since I have narrow shoulders. For hip carries with a toddler, I flipped the fabric of the sling around my shoulder for a closer and more comfortable fit. Hotslings and Peanut Shell carriers can be used for cradle, kangaroo, or front, hip, and back carries.

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By Maura Keating
It’s summer, well, mostly . . . Memorial Day is the unofficial start to our summer season. Now we can start wearing white (with the gracious permission of the Fashion Police), and we can wear sandals every day if we want to. And we want to. The best sandals allow you to feel like you’re not wearing shoes even when you are. The best sandals give you all the best that shoes have to offer (protection, support, comfort) and limit all of the bad (odor, heat, clamminess, blisters).

This is my son’s second summer. He didn’t take his first steps until the fall last year so we didn’t worry much about sandals. This year, my son is exploring everything that his little feet can possibly do—walking, running, hopping, skipping. He’s going to need sandals. I’m picky about all shoes. Feet are important and they have to last us a long time. Toddler shoes need to support growing feet that are just learning what they need to do.

If you are looking for the perfect sandal, try Umi Shoes. They are adorable and/or chic, depending on the look that you are striving for. My husband loves the look of my son’s Umi sandals so much that he wants a pair. Sadly, like so many good things in life, Umi is for kids only.

The Umi sandals were comfortable right out of the box. With two Velcro tabs, the sandals are easy to put on and easy to take off, but not so easy that they slide off. The Umi sandals are made from very soft leather that is easy on baby skin and leaves no red marks. My son has inherited his mother’s sensitive skin. Every summer, I have to endure at least one uncomfortable week while my winter-tender skin acclimates to strappy sandals, rocky beaches, and the other ordeals of summer living. When he wears his Umi sandals, my son’s feet are just as happy as they are when encased in shoes. We’ll have to see how he fares with rocky beaches in bare feet at a later date.

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By Maura Keating

I used my own hand-me-down stainless steel baby spoons as long as I could with my son. With my son was born a new fear of plastics, and I didn’t want BPA or PVC (or anything else that might cause harm) in my son’s mouth six or more times a day. Trebimbi Puppets Cutlery is the perfect compromise. The handles (or bodies) of the puppets are made from polypropylene that is BPA and PVC free, while the part that goes into a child’s mouth is made out of stainless steel.

My son loves his Trebimbi Puppets dinnerware. The Italian-made three-piece set includes a brightly colored fork, spoon, and knife. The hollow handles slide onto little fingers for instant action. With arms that snap together to hold hands with other pieces and smiling faces topped with caps, the plastic handles are fun and friendly. The stainless steel utensil tops have etched smiling faces, too, for extra sociability. My son (at nineteen months) has not caught onto the puppet appeal of the dinnerware set, but he loves to connect the pieces, and best of all, he loves to use the Puppets dinnerware as utensils—to transfer food from a plate into his mouth. This could be a breakthrough.

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By Maura Keating

The Boon Snack Ball is the ultimate solution for snack storage and delivery on the go. In flashy orange paired with a cool light blue, the Boon Snack Ball is a show-off made for a life on the road. The Snack Ball twists open into two halves. It is easy to fill the Snack Ball and very easy to keep clean with no crevices. It’s even dishwasher-safe. The orange cap swings open to the side to allow access to snacks inside. My son (at sixteen months) figured out the open-and-close feature immediately. The opening is small, perfect for little hands and nimble fingers, but chubbier hands of younger users might have trouble reaching inside. The smaller opening means less mess if the Snack Ball takes a tumble. I’ve been impressed with the seal on the Snack Ball—snacks like cereal and crackers stay fresh, even when abandoned overnight. As it rolls around a diaper bag, the Boon Snack Ball construction prevents snacks from getting crushed—the inevitable outcome when using plastic baggies for snack storage. The size of the Snack Ball is perfect for a single serving and its compactness makes it easy to fit it in a diaper bag, stroller, or even a purse. After the snacks are gone, my son enjoys exploring the Snack Ball, playing with the lid, shaking it like a maraca, and rolling it back and forth.

The Boon Snack Ball is free from Bisphenol-A (BPA), PVC, and phthalates (the substance that makes vinyl soft and flexible), making it as safe as it is smart. By choosing a reusable container, you’ll be saving plastic bags from a landfill, which makes the Snack Ball smart for the environment and your wallet too.

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By Maura Keating

If you’re breastfeeding, you may start to wonder why you bother to wear a shirt at all. Most of your day is spent with your shirt pulled up around your armpits. While your partner might appreciate this new fashion trend, visitors might find it awkward. As you and your Miracle venture out into a broader world of friends’ houses, malls, and parks, your decision to bare it all might give you pause. When I entered this phase, I began using scarves, blankets, and large burp cloths as a quick cover up. My son did not approve. He objected to anything touching his face. When he was younger, he wouldn’t nurse. As he got older, he would bat the cloth away—exposing us at precisely the wrong moment. I couldn’t see him to make sure that he was latched correctly and he couldn’t see me, removing some of the magic of the experience.

The Peanut Shell Nursing Cover is the perfect fix for nursing in mixed company. The Nursing Cover is a large piece of cloth, shaped perfectly to cover you from top to bottom and from side to side. The fabric is 100% cotton so it’s breathable and light. A soft jersey pocket is sewn into both sides of the Peanut Shell, perfect for storing for a gentle, quick wipe or for stashing the included matching burp cloth. The burping cloth is great for small drips but is too small to handle larger messes. The nursing cover is machine washable and still looks great after frequent use and repeated washes. In case you needed another reason to leave your scarves at home, the Peanut Shell Nursing Covers are as beautiful as they are practical and come in a wide variety of prints and patterns.

The genius of the nursing cover is a piece of flexible boning at the top. The boning creates a stiff edge at the top that sticks out just enough to create a gap that enables you to see Baby, but doesn’t allow others to see you. The boning’s flexibility allows you to adjust the gap as needed, but is sturdy enough so that it stays put. The boning also lifts the fabric of the cover away from Baby’s face so that the cloth does not cling to Baby like a blanket or other covers might. You feel covered and Baby doesn’t feel smothered—everybody’s happy.

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By Maura Keating

Now that you’ve found the stroller of your dreams, you’ll need someplace to stash it. If you’re like most parents, you may find that babies come with an awful lot of stuff and all that stuff needs somewhere to go. The closet is the logical place to store your stroller, but what if your closet is already full? Keeping a stroller in the basement or the garage isn’t convenient for quick jaunts around the ’hood. If you’re living in an apartment, your neighbors will complain if you leave your stroller in the hall and it’s against fire codes anyway.

The StrollAway is designed to hang over a door and keep your stroller off your floor. Even if you have room in your closet, the StrollAway will save you from digging through the closet so that you can get out the door quickly.

The StrollAway fits over most doors with its wide metal ledge. Two metal hooks are capped with white plastic to avoid scuffing your stroller (or poking anyone’s eye out). Each hook can adjust to nine different settings, offering a variety of configurations for a diversity of strollers. The hooks that hold the stroller handles can be folded to the side of the door when they’re not holding the stroller. The entire contraption is made out of heavy-duty steel that won’t let you (or your stroller) down.

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By Maura Keating

No matter what Mother Nature dishes out, you’ll be ready to stroll with the Brooks Pond Perennial Buggy Blanket. The Brooks Pond Perennial Buggy Blanket is bunting that you can use in every season. Year round, the Buggy Blanket keeps kids happy with a layer of Thinsulate that is quilted between an interior layer of suede cloth that is soft on Baby’s skin and an exterior nylon layer that is resistant to wind and water. In winter, a removable layer of insulation works just like the duvet on your bed to keep things cozy. In spring and fall, remove the insulation for a light blanket that can zip on or off as temperatures fluctuate. With the blanket gone, the Buggy Blanket operates as a soft liner for your stroller, keeping crumbs out of crevices and thwarting stains. If it turns out that the stroller of your dreams (or the stroller that you ended up with) has a fabric that isn’t machine washable or if it isn’t convenient to remove, the Buggy Blanket keeps your stroller looking great. The Buggy Blanket is easy to keep clean with a quick spot clean or throw it into the machine for a bigger mess. The blanket, once removed, is perfect to use as a play mat in the park or a change pad on the go. A two-way zipper makes the Buggy Blanket easy on and easy off. The square bottom leaves plenty of room for feet and for kicking and Velcro tabs enable you to quickly resize the blanket. An elasticized nylon boot pouch and boot guard is sewn into the bottom of the Buggy Blanket, keeping messy shoes contained.

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