Boba / Sleepy Wrap Baby Wearing Giveaway (CLOSED 10/27)

Oct 20,2011 / By Maria / 7 Comments

I bought my sleepy wrap almost 3 years ago, before my son was born. My daughter (now 6 1/2) wanted to be held all the time as an infant, and I knew that if the new baby was the same way (he was!) I was going to be in trouble. I had a “crotch dangler” carrier that I received as a gift, but it was far too painful on my shoulders and back to wear her for more than a few minutes, even when she was teeny tiny. Of course, I know better now!!

I talked about the Sleepy Wrap a good bit on my baby wearing post on A Nation of Moms last year, and I also got to do a Boba Baby Carrier review shortly before that!

Long story short, the Sleepy Wrap is now the Boba Wrap. It’s the same great wrap that works for preemies-18 months and up to 35 pounds, but now it has a new name to fit in with the Boba Family.

The Boba Baby Wrap is a long piece of stretchy fabric that you wrap and tie snugly around yourself. Since it has a bit of stretch to it, there’s no need to figure out how much room to leave for baby, or re-tie after you wear it for a while. There aren’t any buckles or straps to figure out, and I could wear my son pretty much indefinitely without any pain, since the weight was evenly distributed on my body.

While I totally get the name change, it will always be a Sleepy Wrap to me, since it’s like a tranquilizer for babies!!

I promise I will get better pictures of the new baby in the wrap! 🙂

Here’s a video I made of me tying the wrap (in hindsight I should not have worn a black shirt w/the black wrap, sorry!)

Though taking it out of the package the first time was a little intimidating, it only took a few practice tries to become a pro at tying it. I loved that I could tie it before we went somewhere & just wear it in the car, ready to wear my son when we got to our destination.

Tying it is so easy a ~~cave~~man can do it. My husband quickly figured it out, though sometimes he needed a little help putting it on without twisting it (not sure why he had trouble with that, I think it’s easy to do it without having twisting issues!)

The wrap was an absolute life saver for me, and I’m looking forward to using it again with baby #3. It’s one of those things that I think every new mom should have, after the obvious things like diapers of course! The Boba wrap is available in 12 colors, and retails for $48.

Not only is the product amazing, but Boba’s customer service is excellent too. The wrap came with all the instructions I needed, but you can also view instructions online. They are commited to babywearing safety and stand behind every product they sell.

Find Boba on Twitter, Boba on Facebook and read Boba’s blog. Be sure to check out Boba Family’s YouTube channel for videos, including a demo of how to nurse in the wrap!

Giveaway: Boba Family is offering one of my readers a Boba Wrap in his/her choice of color (ARV $48) Entries go in the Rafflecopter form.

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Thirsties Fab Wipes & Booty Luster Giveaway (CLOSED 10/27)

Oct 20,2011 / By Maria / 10 Comments

Thirsties makes more than just fantastic cloth diapers & covers. They also sell wonderful cloth diaper accessories including the fab wipes and booty luster.

You may have missed my Thirsties Fab Wipes & Booty Luster review, since I posted it a year and a half ago! Those wipes are still in my rotation and holding up wonderfully. They are two-sided; one side is 85% cotton 15% polyester velour, the other side is 100% polyester microfleece. They come in 6-packs of assorted boy or girl colors, for $10.75 per pack. Though cloth wipes seem pricey at first, they pay off in no time. I would stock up on disposable wipes when they were around 2.5 cents per wipe, but I often had to use 3-5 wipes per change! I rarely have to use more than one cloth wipe at a time, and in no time flat, you will recoup your investment.

The wipes are 8″ x 8″, the perfect size to fold to pop up in a wipes case or warmer!

The Booty Luster is a pre-mixed wipe spray that retails for $6.25 for a 4 ounce bottle, or $11.00 for an 8 ounce bottle. It’s biodegradable, non-toxic and non irritating. A couple squirts on baby’s bottom (or the wipe if you prefer) removes messes without leaving residue. Booty luster does not contain: petroleum, alcohols, animal products, parabens, sulfates, DPGs or dilutants, and isn’t tested on animals.

Ingredients: Aloe Vera, Vitamin E, water-based Extract of Coconut, Honey, Grapeseed Extract, traces of Glycerin, Avocado Oil, Humectant Moisturizers, and other Organic Ingredients.

The bottles are also well made and sturdy. When I was mixing up my own solution, I bought enough dollar store/travel section bottles to pay for several bottles of booty luster (and I ended up doing just that…buying several bottles of booty luster!) The bottles spray and spray, and continue to work long after the solution is gone. Other spray bottles I bought got stuck or stopped spraying quickly, and couldn’t withstand being dropped (which means you won’t survive long in this household!) A little goes a long way, so a bottle will last you quite a while.

I’m getting ready to buy another bottle or two for the new baby’s stash!

Be sure to request a Thirsties print catalog, “like” Thirsties on Facebook and follow Thirsties on Twitter!

Giveaway: Thirsties is offering one of my readers a 4 oz bottle of Booty Luster (ARV $6.25) and a 6-pack of fab wipes (ARV $10.75) in “boy” or “girl” colors. Combined ARV $17. Entries go in the Rafflecopter form.

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PaigeLauren Baby Luxury Infant Clothing Review & Giveaway (CLOSED 10/26)

Oct 19,2011 / By Maria / 6 Comments

Last month, I posted about the PaigeLauren Baby Fall/Winter collection, and I promised you a review/giveaway during the Virtual Baby shower. Well, here it is!!

I knew PaigeLauren Baby (PLb) products were a luxury line, but I was still surprised by how nice they really are. I received the PaigeLauren Baby classic longsleeve bodysuit in Ruby (red) from the fall/winter collection. The collection is also available in amethyst (purple), emerald (green), quartz (pink), sapphire (blue) and slate (gray).

I received a size 0-3 months, which fits 21-23.5 inches and 10-12 pounds. The collection is also available in newborn size up to size 18-24 months.

The bodysuit is made of 50% micro modal and 50% supima jersey. It is absolutely buttery soft, and definitely what I’d want next to my baby’s skin. Though it’s super soft, it’s also a substantial weight; it’s not paper thin like some baby clothing.

The bodysuit snaps with nickel and lead free colored snaps.

It has lap sleeves for easy dressing, and contrast stitching at the arm, leg and neck openings. The bodysuit retails for $28. The matching footsie pants are $24. Prices for the fall/winter collection range from $13 for a classic cap to $46 for a footsie romper. Their products are amazing and would be a great splurge for a special event, holiday photos, or a very nice gift! Check their sale section regularly for some great steals while they last.

~~Giveaway: One winner will receive one PaigeLauren Baby item of his/her choice (ARV up to $46) Entries go in the Rafflecopter form.~~

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GoGreen Champ Cloth Diapers & Adapt-a-Snaps Giveaway (CLOSED 10/25)

Oct 18,2011 / By Maria / 13 Comments

GoGreen Diapers sells affordable pocket cloth diapers and cloth diaper accessories

I first posted my GoGreen Champ Diaper Review in January followed by a GoGreen standard diaper review and a comparison of the GoGreen standard diaper to the Champ diaper the following month. Check out those posts if you want all the details on each type of diaper, along with measurements and lots of photos!

The GoGreen Champ diaper has snap closures, 4 rise settings, a front and rear pocket opening (the inserts agitate out!) and double gussets. They have both hip and crossover snaps, to fit small babies with no wing droop. The Champs are estimated to fit 7-40 pounds, come with a 3-layer microfiber insert, and retail for $15.95 each.

I also was one of the first to try the adapt-a snap, which allows you to turn a snap diaper into a Velcro diaper! View my GoGreen adapt-a-snap review for detailed photos, plus demos of the adapt-a-snap on several diapers!

The adapt-a-snaps are available in 3-packs for $16.99 (white) or $17.49 (black.)

~~Giveaway: GoGreen is offering one of my readers two Champ pocket diapers and two adapt-a-snaps in his/her choice of color. (ARV $43.56) Entries go in the Rafflecopter form.~~

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Itzbeen Pocket Nanny / Baby Care Timer – Review & Giveaway (CLOSED 10/24)

Oct 17,2011 / By Maria / 8 Comments

The Itzbeen Baby Care Timer is one of those things that made me go “it’s a what?” then “whoa, this is awesome!” shortly followed by “why didn’t I think of that?” and “why didn’t they have this when I had my first baby?!”

In a nutshell, the Itzbeen is a pocket nanny that makes up for the short term memory loss that you may have, thanks to the life-with-a-newborn fog you’re living in.

At it’s simplest, the Itzbeen allows you to push a button for diaper, food, sleep/awake or misc, and it starts a stopwatch. Say you can’t remember when you changed the last diaper, just take a peek. Even now, with a 2-year old, I find myself looking at which diaper my son has on, and trying to remember what I was doing when I put it on him, and what time that may have been! Even worse is if my husband changed the last one! Fortunately with cloth, I can tell it was changed, since it looks different, LOL.

All you (or your significant other) have to do is press the button, and the clock starts ticking. This handy dandy lock switch on the side prevents you from accidentally re-setting them. The other side has an alarm mute button, but I haven’t gotten to that feature yet!

The back cover slides off easily for you to insert three AAA batteries, then you’re ready to go. The itzbeen even has a digital clock built right in, and it’s easy to set.

Forgive me for the terrible pictures, but lights off/no flash was the only way I could show you the night light/flash light feature (goes off automatically after 7 minutes), and the back light.

So when you’re ready to start the “stopwatch” you just press the appropriate button, and the colon flashes, to let you know that it is timing. There are options for feeding, diapering, awake/asleep and misc. There’s also a L/R slide switch towards the bottom to keep track of which side the baby nursed on last!

This next feature is what I think makes this super awesome. The stopwatch/counting feature is nice if you want to glance and see how long it’s been (i.e. should we change him before we go to Grandma’s?) Still, that’s a lot of remembering to look. But wait, there’s more! (Would I be great on an infomercial or what?)

You can sent reminder alarms in 30 minute to 24 hour intervals. So not only can you time when you last fed/changed baby etc., but you can set a timer to remind you when it’s been 2 1/2 hours since the last diaper change, feeding etc. The alarm will go off for 30 seconds, and you just press the lighted button to acknowledge it, and begin the timer again.

I think this would be an awesome gift for any new parent, especially if they have twins!! The Itzbeen is available in white, pink, blue and green, so you can have one for each child with no confusion. When your children are older, you could use it to track when medication was taken and when it needs to be taken again, or even to track TV or computer time!

The Itzbeen is available at many online and brick & mortar stores, or you can buy online directly from Itzbeen.

You can also find Itzbeen on Facebook and Itzbeen on Twitter.

~~Giveaway: One winner will receive an Itzbeen pocket nanny of their own! (ARV $24.99) Entries go in the Rafflecopter form.~~

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