Imaginative Play and Lovevery

The Blocks Set from Lovevery

I first saw these lovely play kits on Instagram and was intrigued. I kept checking out the site and adding to my cart but never checking out. I just wasn’t sure if I needed to add yet another thing to the never-ending list of baby items cluttering my apartment. I had planned on being a minimalist parent and just a few months into parenthood that was a lost cause.

Then, one day I saw them at a friend’s apartment (pre-pandemic). They looked so beautiful. They were well made. And my son loved playing with it! (His favorite has been the ball drop). I was sold. I went home that day and subscribed.

Lovevery creates subscription play boxes for ages 0 months- 2 years old. We are HUGE fans in my household of the company and the products. I, like many of you, have spent countless hours reading and researching about developmentally appropriate toys for babies and toddlers. I am inspired by Montessori, Waldorf, Reggio Emilia, RIE, and other parenting approaches that encourage a baby’s natural abilities and creativity to develop. I aim to be as hands-off as I can, although I’ll admit that I am a VERY HANDS-ON parent and should back off more often ;)

Lovevery makes it simple. Subscribe to their play kits and they do all of the heavy lifting and research for you. Each play kit is developed for each 3-month block of development. The toys are thoughtful and beautiful. They incorporate natural wood and playful colors. I really appreciate the continuity between the toys, the books, and the fabrics used. My son loves the books and we read them pretty much every day. (A shout out to Max Turns 2 and Max and Nana Go To The Park). Another added bonus that I love about the kits is that it comes with a guide to show you how to introduce the toys, ways to engage with them as well as activities to do with items you already likely have on hand. The guide explains the development of the particular stage and ways to interact and encourage your child. Everything is broken down in an accessible way for both you and your kiddo. Because tired parents don’t have the bandwidth to keep researching every single thing.

*links included are affiliate links and I may earn a small commission.

Ring Sling Introduction

Ring Slings are another option for baby wearing. It’s a simple long strip of fabric with two rings at the end. You loop the fabric through the rings making a big loop and voila!

sounds simple right? Maybe too simple? Like how the heck do you keep a wiggling baby in there? I was super nervous to give this one a try but after some practice got the hang of it and now I love it! Watch below and let me know if you have more questions.

Happy baby wearing!!

Getting Started with Baby Wearing

Baby wearing is my jam. I love it. My son just turned 2 and we baby wear almost daily still. Why do I love it? Well for starters it allows me to get things done. Important things. Like eat. And tidy up. And get around NYC with ease. I started wearing my son in a stretchy wrap when h was as few days old. It would settle him when he was fussy and it allowed me to hold him skin to skin while saving my arms and back. After delivery I was surprised by just how difficult it was to engage my core properly and I still had carpal tunnel from pregnancy so holding him in my arms for long periods of time was impossible. Enter the baby carrier. 

Now unlike a normal person I have about 5 or 6 types of carriers and multiple brands in them all. I went over board so you don’t have to. By far the most common carrier I see around NYC is the buckle carrier. Popular brands include Ergo, Tula, Beco, Baby Bjorn and Lille Baby. They all function in about the same way. 

 Check out my video below to see the basics. I’m using the Tula Free To Grown in the video. 

Happy Baby Wearing!

Why should you have a birth plan?

There are many opinions out there about having a birth plan. Should you “plan” your birth in advance? Of course no one can tell you how your birth will unfold and having a birth plan truly isn’t about orchestrating every detail. It’s about knowing your choices and rights as well as being informed and empowered during your birth.

There’s a New Pump in Town

Nursing/ pumping bra c/o The Dairy Fairy

I tried out the Luna pump from Motif Medical the other day. It promises to help you pump more milk in less time.

I’m wary of anything that makes promises as supply can be dependent on a variety of factors including the time of day and what’s going on with baby’s needs. But I was able to pump what I’d consider a normal amount in 10 minutes time. I’ve hardly pumped the last several months (only if I’m away from baby overnight) so I don’t have much to compare to and wasn’t sure what my supply would even look like now that he’s older (almost 22 months). Full disclosure- I’ve had an oversupply from the beginning and donated most of my pumped breastmilk as I am rarely apart from Baby P and haven’t had reason to pump much. 

My initial impression of the Luna is that it is quite similar to the Spectra 2. The parts are similar and was easy for me to figure out assembly without the manual as Spectra is my go to pump. The profile of the Luna is smaller and lighter than the S2 which I liked. I find the size of the S2 to be cumbersome and a deterrent for someone looking to take their pump to work and home. The size of the Luna seems more manageable. I does require an outlet to operate, like the S2. It has a let down/ massage setting that is adjustable in strength and length which I quite appreciated. The regular expression mode is customizable as well. I find that each user, and sometimes different pumping sessions, respond better to different settings. In my use I fiddled around with the suction strength and length and found that the suction was very strong and I felt a level 4 was sufficient for my use.

The Luna promises a whisper quiet sound but after my use with Elvie, which truly is a quiet pump, I found this to be loud. If someone else had been in the room they would have heard it. But it’s not obnoxious. It’s just the usual breast pump whoosh-suck-splash-whoosh.  

Over all I was happy with my experience with the Luna. I like the size, the design and the ease of use. I wish that it came with additional flange sizes (only 24mm were provided) especially since breasts and nipples come in a variety of shapes and sizes! The pump is covered by insurances which is another positive feature. I certainly would recommend this breast pump to clients looking for the right one for them. 

Are You Sleeping Kidding Me?!

Of all of the hotly debated parenting topics I think sleep training takes the prize for being at the top of the list. To sleep train or not to sleep train. If you’re expecting or have a newborn it’s likely that you’ve received (unsolicited) advice that you absolutely must or must not sleep train. Someone probably has told you that it’s the only way to do it. Someone else probably told you that you’re emotionally scarring your baby for life. How could something so humanly essential be so debated? What’s a sleep deprived parent to do? 

A bit about me. I was firmly in the “I’m never going to sleep train and I’m going to co sleep until my kid goes to college” camp. Was I being dramatic? Yes. But I definitely had no plans to sleep train, gentle or otherwise. But a year in and I felt like I was cracking. I saw my doctor and insisted on getting a full blood panel because what I was feeling must have certainly been due to a deficiency somewhere. His recommendation? Get more sleep. Cool, dude. Tell that to my baby. It is absolutely useless to tell a new, nursing parenting to get more sleep and they will feel better. (Also can we talk about how real conversations about PPMADs are not being had at most doctors offices???? 1 in 5 new moms experience a postpartum mood disorder and in all likelihood it is even higher. Care providers have a duty to have these conversations and they just aren’t happening in a real way.). 

So I went home feeling defeated. I researched, read, talked to friends and found a sleep training program that seemed to offer the most gentle but sound approach to sleep training. I’d already tried slowly making space between me and the baby, talking him through our nighttime routine, and a host of other gentle approaches that didn’t work for us. Months of attempts and I was at the point where I needed real change. 

I chose the Taking Cara Babies method. I paid my money for the course, joined the Facebook groups, read the booklet cover to cover and prepared his room to begin. I wanted my husband to be part of the process so we chose to begin on a Friday night. I also had several births coming up and was seriously stressed about leaving in the middle of the night and wanted him sleeping through on his own by then. And so we began.

That first night was the worst. Out of 11 hours spent in the crib, my son cried for 9 1/2. I’d never met him cry without soothing him before so this was the hardest. He sobbed uncontrollably for 3 1/2 hours before passing out. For 20 minutes. Then started crying again. He was so exhausted that he fell asleep standing and holding the crib railing. Somehow we made it until morning. I won’t give you a play by play but I can tell you this, he is a strong willed kid and did not give up the fight. Ever. I followed the plan. Eventually after weeks of sticking with it I have a bit and would sit with him on the floor in the dark holding his hand until he fell asleep. Then try to creep away only to be outed by creaky floors and doors. Sometimes he slept the whole night through. Until 5/5:30. 

Those early mornings were brutal! I’ve never been a morning person and waking up before sunrise is not my ideal way to start the day. I was downing 2 spicy chai oat milk lattes before 7am. We made the best of the summer and went for early morning walks to see dogs and get croissants. But after some summer travels, jet lag, and too many disruptions to our “plan” we decided to reset and restart the sleep training in earnest in September.

Night 1 of the restart was 3 1/2 hours straight of crying. I mentioned that this kid is strong willed? He’s an Aries. With Aries in 5 planets. Strong. Willed. 

Night 2 he was about 30 minutes into crying when we saw him signing “help”. We cracked. Both my husband and I decided that was that and went in to get him and never looked back. 

I kept reminding myself of our “why” (to get more sleep and space and in turn more mental sanity) but I came to realize that this just wasn’t the way for us. Sleep training definitely works for some people. I have countless friends who swear by it. But I found myself anxious at night anyway, always checking the monitor and never sinking into a deep and restful sleep for fear of missing something urgent. And the early mornings didn’t leave me feeling rested. The days when we bed shared on vacation felt more right for us and so we went back to it. It’s been months now and I still feel exhausted but I’m less anxious and more comfortable with our current arrangement. I also know that we can change if should we desire. 

Parenting choices don’t have a one size fits all solution and it’s ok to think you know exactly what you need and then change your mind. We are doing our best, figuring it out one step at a time with a bucketload of mistakes and heaps of grace.  If you came here hoping I would tell you whether to sleep train or not and the exact plan you should follow to get your baby sleeping 7-7 like “everyone else’s” baby, then you’re out of luck. I scoured the internet too searching for the perfect answer. And in the end just had to take a leap of (heavily researched) faith. Then pivot.

Stroller Hack

We love traveling with Baby P. I love to explore new cities and watch as he takes it all in. Outside of NYC however, public transit isn’t always a reasonable option and we have to take an Uber or taxi. I refuse to compromise safety for convenience and found the luggage strap car seat hack online.
Lugging a toddler sized car seat isn’t easy. Even with a light weight one. We have the Cosco Scenera Next. It’s light weight and no frills but has a high safety rating. As we don’t have a car in NYC we needed something for occasional use. Over the summer I was meeting a friend in Brooklyn to go to the beach. I wanted to have the car seat to travel in her car but didn’t want to pay a fortune on the Uber to her apartment. So I began Googling hacks and found this luggage strap one. Over summer I used the Yo-yo BabyZen stroller and just recently over Christmas holidays I used the Colugo. Both worked well with this hack.
To Do:

Place car seat in fully upright stroller seat with the back of the car seat against the back of the stroller seat. Loop a luggage strap through the upper belt path of the car seat and around the stroller frame. I like to loop it between the frame and seat fabric to ensure maximum security and stability. Loop as many times as it will go and then tighten the strap securely. Et Voila! You’re ready to go on your adventure.

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