Ah, the diaper bag. A new mum’s new best friend. An essential piece of equipment, true, but here’s a secret….there is no need to go out and buy a ‘diaper bag’.
What makes a diaper bag a ‘diaper bag’? Is it the teddy bear design? The hundreds of pockets? The ubiquitous included changing mat?
No, it’s simply a bag that you are using to carry baby stuff in. In fact, the only essentials are enough storage, easy clean, looks good and ideally allows you to be hands free. Here’s why…
My last post in the Three Great Highchairs series is mainly for those with multiples, and it is not so much for feeding as it is for bottle-feeding and specifically, tandem bottle-feeding.
Even if you exclusively breastfeed your multiples, there will be times when it will be in everyone’s interest for someone other than mum to do a feed. And if your babies are on the same schedule, chances are that either they’ll both be demanding milk at the same time, and/or you will have discovered how much time you can save by tandem feeding. This is where this particular bit of kit can help.
(A future post will deal with tandem breastfeeding.)
Today afterninemonths hosts a guest post from Multiple Mama with ‘A Day in the Life of a Expat Twin Mum in Hong Kong’.
It’s 6.30am and squeals of laughter are coming through the baby monitor that’s on the nightstand. Not that the monitor is totally necessary given the lack of sound insulation in Hong Kong apartments. Multiple Mama’s boy/girl twins are awake and playing peekaboo with each other through the bars of their cots. Another day in the life of a multiple mummy in Hong Kong begins. Continue reading
Today was one of those days. One of those days when I’m glad that I have perfected the art of pretending the rest of the world isn’t there and is not staring and judging my parenting.
Thank goodness I learned this trick early.
Disposable placemats. You might not be eco-friendly, but how do I love thee.
airplane (Photo credit: shyb)
I admit, before I had children I was one of those people. The ones who spotted a baby in the airport and immediately starting thinking ‘please don’t be on my flight, please don’t be on my flight’.
Oh how times have changed. Now when Multidaddy and I walk into an airport we’re accompanied by not one but two babies. Now we’re the ones getting the sidelong glances.
But we still have to go places, so here are some tips to make air travel with babies as painless as possible… Continue reading
Baby transport system (Photo credit: Mahatma4711)
You will probably buy your baby’s first stroller during your pregnancy. A stroller is a key piece of baby equipment. Don’t be surprised if you amass a collection of strollers throughout your baby’s first year. This will often happen as the reality of moving around with a baby (or two) hits you. One of the most common complaints with strollers is that they are too heavy, and what does not seem too heavy in a shop often seems much much heavier when you are using it every day.
Some things to consider when buying a stroller are:
Nappy sacks. Thin bits of fragranced plastic with tie handles. Ever tried opening one while holding onto a wriggly baby? Much harder than getting plastic bags to open while at the checkout in your local Tescos.
No, when out and about nappy sacks can be a pain. They are even more of a pain when someone needs a change and you’re nowhere near a bin. Putting a full one of those back in the diaper bag always makes me nervous.
But there is hope. Ziplock slider bags. Possible the greatest alternative nappy sack out there. Airtight and watertight – no perfumes or leaks. Easy to open with little slider along the top. Multiple sizes for even more uses – small for a diaper, larger ones for dirty clothes, bibs, shoes etc.
Don’t leave home without them!
It might not be very eco-friendly, but when you’re out and about with babies and someone needs a change, disposable change mats are unbelievably useful.
The only ones I’ve seen, although there must be other similar ones, are made by Pampers and consist of a slightly padded absorbent upper layer with a waterproof underlay. Bigger than the average travel change mat they can be squished into any available space you have, and when you get to public change table (or car, park, wherever) you just shake it open, pop baby down, change and then throw it away with the dirty diaper. Continue reading
Loopy links (Photo credit: hddod)
Playgro and ELC call them ‘Loopy Links’. Bright Starts calls them ‘Lots of Links’. Whatever they’re called by different manufacturers (and there any many), these colourful, plastic, textured links which can be strung together are another extremely useful, inexpensive toy. We have about 40 distributed throughout the house, car and strollers.
Why? Because they are so versatile.
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