Friday, May 1, 2015

Drool/suck pads for Lillebaby Baby Carrier

I just received my Líllébaby Airflow carrier yesterday in the mail! I am so excited. We tried it out right away and I am blown away by how incredibly comfortable it is. I purchased the Complete Airflow which was on sale at the website. I am SO happy with my purchase! One thing I've been wanting to do with my little one is back carry. The Líllébaby is perfect for this! The Airflow is ideal for the hot weather in Florida. I am absolutely in love with this carrier. So with that being said, I made suck/drool pads for my Líllébaby Airflow right away! Now since my sewing machine was down, I had to hand sew these. It took me a total of 8 hours to complete them. I am not the best at sewing but for it being my first time making these, I didn't do too bad! Anyway, I decided to post a tutorial on how I made them. It was really simple. Hope you enjoy...




So what you will need is:


About 1/4 a yard of baby fleece or any soft material
1/4 yard of terry cloth or a towel (I used an old baby bath towel)
4 inch of any type of ribbon or none, it's up to you if you want hooks for toys/teethers
Two 10" Velcro cut into 5" pieces (making 4 pieces)
Scissors, ruler, pins, needles and thread






I started by cutting two 10" by 7" (that's 10 inch width and 7 inch length) pieces of  my top  fabric and two 10" by 7" pieces of my baby towel (making 4 pieces) (The blue fabric seen in the photo is just to show example, I ended up using a different printed fabric)

I also cut two 10" by 7" pieces of this water resistant fabric I happen to have to add and put it under the towel (but this is optional)



(Optional waterproof fabric) 
Two 7" by 10" top fabric and two 7" by 10" towel 


























Sew a “hook” piece of Velcro to the print fabric about 1” from the edge and centered top to bottom. Do the same for the towel with a “loop” piece of Velcro.










Put the print cloth and towel right sides together, making sure that the Velcro pieces are on opposite sides from each other.











If you choose to have loops in your pads, cut 4" of ribbon. How ever many you want. (I decided to have 2 on one pad and 3 on the other. 
Fold your ribbon to a loop and measure to 3" from the left edge and start placing your ribbon leaving a 1/2” tail sticking out from the top. Make sure the ribbon loop side is down in between your fabrics. Then pin them to you fabrics in  place.











Start sewing all around the edge with a 1/2” seam allowance stopping and leaving about 3-4"s before you sew back to your starting point in order to leave a hole for turning it right side out. If you want to reduce bulk, then clip off the excess material on the corners (sorry, no photo)










Once you are done sewing and have left open the 3-4", begin to fold your pad right side out using the open area provided (sorry, no photo of actual folding inside out)

It should look something like this after being turned right side out....







You can use something to push out the corners to reduce bulk and straighten the pad out. Iron them if you want. You can then top stitch all the way around and that's it!




Here is the finished product....





Not perfect but I did these without a sewing machine so they came out fairly good! 


On my Líllébaby Airflow...








And here I am with my little squish...








Wednesday, April 22, 2015

New Carrier!

So, here in the Tampa Bay area we have get together for moms and kids called "Learn and Plays" At these Learn and Plays we hangout, talk, let the kids run around in the park (which is usually where these things take place) and there is usually someone from Tampa Bay Babywearing and/or anyone who wants to who will bring a bunch of  different brand baby carriers for anyone to try out, from ring slings to the famous Tula's.  If you're from the Bay Area and into baby wearing or you're interested in what all the hype is about then I highly advise you to look into attending one of these meetups! I try to make it to at least one a month. Everyone has been so friendly and very much helpful to me and my baby wearing interests. I have made some great friends and have had a pleasant experience every time. 

My old carrier (dyed) Infantino Mei Tai Sash (up for sale)
Last week I went to one with a friend of mine. I ended up trying on a baby carrier and right away I fell in love with it. It fit perfectly, felt comfortable and my son (who always loves to be held) loved it too. I just had to have this carrier! My son is getting too big for the one I have now. Which is a Infantino Mei Tai Sash, it was a cheap and comfy! But he is just getting way too heavy for it anymore. Plus I really want to back carrier and the one I fell in love with is perfect for back carrying. 

So I have upgraded to another carrier. This one is called Lillebaby Airflow. They are great for this hot FL weather and you can carry your baby/toddler many different ways. The back support is amazing!  I ordered mine 2 days ago and can not wait for it to get here! Once I get it and use it for a few days I will make a new post with my review on it. Right now at their website, they are having a sale on them and with free shipping. 

Wearing my baby has had so many rewards and just plain makes my life easier. 

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Faucet cover

It is about the time I start child proofing my house. He doesn't move around to much yet though. He just started crawling a little the other day and didn't make it very far. He does however, go crazy in the bath tub. He moves around a lot and even tries to climb out of his little tub. He's nine months now and I think he's ready to move from his little guy bath to the actual bath tub. First thing he always does is tries to stand on the very edge of his little bath and grab the bath tub faucet. So, I think a faucet cover is in order. No big deal, I'll check out Amazon to see which one is the cutest...

I would have never imagined buying a faucet cover for the bath tub to be so tedious. Some of them fit differently then others, some are mold resistant and some aren't, some are plastic and some are foam. Some shoot water out of 5 different places and some make bubbles. Wow, all I want is a damn cover for the faucet so my baby doesn't ram his head into it. I've been looking at them for over an hour trying to decide which one is going to work. This is ridiculous and to top it off I am about to pay $10.00 for something so simple (or is it?) I think I just talked myself out of it. At this point I'll just wrap a towel around the thing and tie it tight with hair ties.

Of course after looking at those, I get sucked into all the other bath tub baby proofing products. I will need a slip proof mat so his little bottom doesn't slip across the tub. Or there is "non slip stickers" I could choose instead if I want to avoid a moldy bath mat. But then these stickers may not work as well as the mats. Ugh. We need a drain stopper and preferably one that he can't grab on and pull off. He's going to need some toys besides his ducky, now that his bath space is expanding. (Make sure to get toys that won't attracted mold and possibly BPA free) Should I get the water thermometer to test the water temp or can I trust my own judgement? Oh neat, they have a faucet cover with a built in thermometer! Even more neat, they have a toy organizer that goes across the whole tub. But $20.00 for a plastic tray/basket?! No thanks.

I wonder if I had all this bath stuff when I was a baby. It's amazing all the things they come out with for us moms to ponder over on whether our baby needs it or not. Today I saw a product called Neat Cheeks or something like that. They are flavored wipes. The wipes or rags you use to clean your baby's face after lunch aren't cut'n it anymore. To have a fussy-free happy, clean baby - you need these flavored wet wipes. When I saw this, right away I thought..YES! I NEED THESE! MY BABY NEEDS THESE! I'm glad I don't act on my first thought. A flavored wipe? Really?? Sure my baby would love the sweet taste on his lips rather then the oh so terrible water from the rag that I usually use. But my baby will never have these flavored wipes. I will never pay for them and even if someone gifted them to me, I don't think I would want to use them. I love my baby more then anything in the world but those he can live without. He can put up a little fit when mommy wipes his face. He's only nine months, he better get used to it.

I, like most moms, want the very best for my child. I want him to be safe and happy and if that means spending a little extra..I most likely will. On stuff that matters though. I most likely will be buying a faucet cover because I am okay with spending $10.00 if it means avoiding an accidental hit to the head from the metal faucet and I hurting baby. So let the baby proofing begin!

And when I finally do decide on which faucet cover/bath mats/etc to use...I'll share my reviews on the products. Hopefully they will be positive ones.