Especially for Baby Ultimate Sleep Positioner

Chris and I walked into the local Babies 'R' Us store to register. We decided that our little one deserved only the best when it came to a sleep positioner. We looked over all of the different products available. There were some as cheap as a few dollars and simple as 2 foam pieces that Velcro together, and some a little more expensive that included fancy air flow systems and wedges and blah blah blah. We settled on the most expensive one they had. The "Especially for Baby Ultimate Sleep Positioner". This one is made from memory foam like those temper pedic mattresses that no one can afford, and had several adjustable parts, special breathable all temperature cover and even a built in sound maker that beats like a heart until baby is soothed to sleep. When it come to the sleep positioner, we were willing to spend more because of all of the studies that suggest that a good sleeping position plays a big role in the prevention of SIDS. There is not much that is scarier than SIDS when baby is tiny. I think it's the first major worry after bringing baby home. This particular sleep positioner sells for as much as $39.99. I ordered mine new from ebay. I think I paid about $34.00 for it.

We got home from the hospital that first day and I had the bassinet and the positioner all set up and ready for baby. I'm thinking, "this is going to be the best of all of the baby products that I bought". It seemed like anything that cost that much must be magical.....

I placed him, swaddled, oh so carefully on it, and came back five minutes later and he had wiggled almost all of the way off of it. I carefully readjusted him, walked away and came back and he had wiggled most of the way off of it again! Every time i laid him on this thing it was only a matter of a few minutes before he had wiggled off of it. I never even got to use the little heart beat sound maker. Eventually I gave up on the positioner and the bassinet and we came up with a sleep routine and arrangement that works for us. He sleeps in bed with me! We actually put some of those net bed rails, like you would use for a toddler bed, on our bed and kind of turned our bed into a crib. Justice sleeps between me and the bed net. It works really well for us. Once or twice a night we get up and change his diaper and switch sides so he can nurse when he wants to and we can switch breasts midway through the night. My baby never wakes up at night! I wake him up for a diaper change and to nurse.

So...... The fancy "Especially for Baby Ultimate Sleep Positioner" goes on my list of totally unnecessary baby products. Save your money Mom's and Dads!!

After I wrote this I looked up some other reviews to see what other moms though of it. I was disturbed. There is a note of humor in my review, but a lot of women were really upset by this product. I actually read several reviews where women said they felt it should be taken off the shelves. It seems that almost everyone experienced the same thing that I did with the baby wiggling off of it. However, some women said that baby's head would flop over the side, and that it is actually a suffocation hazzerd. Other's said it's flimsy and flattens out under babies weight, baby outgrows it really quickly. I can see the truth in that. It almost seemed like Justice was almost too long for it when he was just a few days old (at about 20").

All in all it seems like I'm not the only one who felt this product was pricey and maybe even unsafe.

Breast Pumps: How much should you spend?

Once again, all I have is my own experience to draw from here, but I went about the breast pump thing differently with each baby, and here is what I learned...

Baby # 1 (2004): I sent my mom out for the most expensive pump in the store, which at the time was the Medela Pump in Style. It cost over $250.00 brand new. It was a double pump, so I could pump both breasts at the same time. I remember pumping for 15 to 20 minutes at a time and winding up with 1/2 an ounce from each breast, maybe an ounce if I was lucky. It was frustrating and frankly, painful. I will admit, though, that after a couple of months it got a little better. I just didn't fee like it should be so tough. I have heard this complaint out of a lot of women. After my daughter was weaned from the breast I got rid of the pump.

Baby # 2 (2006): This time I didn't go out and spend a small fortune on a pump all at once. I wound up spending a fortune over a period of time. Yes, this time I opted to rent. I rented a hospital grade double pump after being told that there was nothing out there that would work better. I was attracted to the promise that it would work better than the one that I had purchased with my last baby. I was even willing to pay the $50.00 per month that renting it would cost. I rented the pump for three months and paid $150.00 for the pump, and another $50.00 for the tubes and bottles and parts that I had to purchase to go with it. I also had to pay extra for supplies to clean the pump and accessories and bags to store milk in. All in all, this way was just as pricey as the Medela and was pretty much the same thing! I will tell you, though, that this pump was a little more powerful, and I did manage to pump with a little more success. But, before it was still painful, and at one point I had to go in and buy more accessories because the non refundable accessories that I had purchased with the pump didn't fit my nipples. There was another $5.00, and we all know that every penny counts.

Baby # 3 (2009) This time I had a good partner and a lot of support. I was all set up to work from home and decided that I really didn't need a pump since I would be with my baby most of the time. The hospital provided me with a manual pump (made by Medela). I did use the manual pump until about a week ago. It was challenging and really only worked if I pumped one breast while my baby fed on the other. That stimulates milk flow from both breasts. I recommend trying that method to any new mother who is trying to pump with little results. Since this is my third time breast feeding and I have kind of already been through it all, I definitely have had an easier time of it. I know what to do to keep my nipples from getting sore, and I was lucky enough to have my milk come in really early, so it was easier to satisfy my baby from the start. I leaped the first breast feeding hurtles with little incident, even though my baby was born tongue tied and jaundiced, and I am almost always around to nurse on demand. But what do I do when i just need a break? I had underestimated how much of a super mom I was going to have the energy to be. The truth is, even the most devoted and energetic mom needs a break now and then, and being able to hand your little one over for a feeding now and then is a real blessing! I was able to use the manual pump for awhile, but it was messy, and tedious and frustrating. I decided that I needed an electric pump. But my experiences in the past made me reluctant to spend the cash. I went into the local Babies 'R' Us and browsed the pumps. After talking with another new mother in the isle looking at the slings, I took her advise and went with the most inexpensive electric pump on the shelf. It was the evenflo single electric pump. I really had my doubts about a pump that cheap. I bought mine for about $40.00. But when I got it home and hooked it up, I was shocked at how great it worked. I immediately pumped half a bottle full of milk and it only got better from there. The biggest challenge now is finding an extra 15 minutes to pump. I will also say of this product, that it comes with few parts and is really easy to use and to clean. You can either use batteries, or plug it in. There are no accessories, or extra parts to buy. It is hand held, so there are no little tubes to tether you to one spot. With other pumps you wind up stuck in one position for the entire time because you are tethered to the engine by plastic tubes that will pop off of the machine if they get pulled. I can't say enough about this pleasant surprise. How often is the cheapest product the best? I recommend it to any new mom who is shopping for the best breast pump out there.

Now, if I can find time to use it between diaper changes, feedings, work and trying to keep my life from falling into utter chaos!

Baby number three: I live and I learn: unnecessary products

I am a mother of three who is still learning what baby items are useful and what baby items are a total waste of your hard earned dollars. If you walk into you local Baby's 'R' Us, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the vast selection of baby products, clothes, and toys available. Magazines are paid to lead you to believe that you need at least one of everything! But is that the case? In my opinion, no.

When I had my daughter Griffin rose 5 years ago (2005), the parenting magazines that I read constantly while I was pregnant, convinced me that there was no way I could survive without a "Diaper Genie". The Diaper Genie is a special trash can just for soiled diapers. You basically pop open the lid, place the diaper inside and twist the top around to seal the diaper into a plastic pouch that is then pushed down into the soiled diaper storage area. The idea behind it is to isolate the soiled diaper so that it keeps all of the stink out of your house. It sounds like a good idea. But, what I didn't consider is that I would have to buy the special trash bags that go with it. At the time they ran about five dollars per package, and they only lasted a few days. I went through about 2 refills per week. That's $10.00 per week! That's about $40.00 per month! That's almost $500.00 per year! I don't know about you, but I could really use another $500.00 per year. It gets even better. When baby starts to wear larger diapers and eat solid food, you can purchase special scented liners for the Genie that are a tad more expensive. On top of which, I found the product kind of difficult to use. I never got any better at putting the liners in.

When I had my second daughter Keira, in 2006, I passed right by those Diaper Genies in the store. What did I use instead? I used plain old used grocery bags. Why pay for plastic to throw a diaper away in when you can use the bags that are probably piling up in your house somewhere, that they gave you at the grocery store. I even carried a couple of extra bags in my diaper bag so that when I was out and about, I could avoid tossing a stinky diaper in someone's trash can.

Now I have Justice, born 2009. What am I using for diaper disposal these days? Is it an expensive and inconvenient diaper disposal system?, or maybe those plastic bags I get from the grocery store....... Nope.... I use absolutely nothing! I roll up those dirty diapers and toss them in the trash can with all the other household refuse. Gone are the days of fancy diaper disposal systems, in my home.

Now does my house stink like one great big diaper? Not that I know of, and no one has said so. It turns out that the world didn't end when I decided to cut this unnecessary product out of my life. I can now use the money I saved to buy other, more useful products like the Evenflo electric breast pump, and the boppy Sling. Check back soon for my product reviews on those, and more additions to my list of unnecessary products.