It took me little longer to wrap up our Polarn O. Pyret review than I thought, but here’s the scoop on the Cozy Bunting Bag. What I like best about this piece is how soft it is (it’s that high quality, super soft fleece), how easy it is to put on (three snaps up the front), and how it’s made from recycled PET bottles and excess materials from the textile industry. The bunting bag solves the problem of what to put baby in when you’re going on a stroller ride or a walk in a front carrier. In most clothes it’s hard to keep their hands and feet from sneaking out, but this bunting has baby covered.
My model here (my friend Lee’s baby) is nearly six months old, and is just outgrowing the bag’s arms. He tolerated it for the shoot fine but he might not make it around Lake Harriet without getting frustrated with the restricted movement.
He’s also wearing the Classic Stripe Fleece Helmet. Adorable hats that won’t stay on baby’s head make me sad, so I like the helmet hats with straps under the chin to make sure the hat actually gets some wear. I’m pretty sure our baby is coming home from the hospital in this hat! (Although my model is making it work, the hat is too small for him and doesn’t have a prayer of closing under his adorable cheeks).
As long as I have you, and Lee, I thought I’d take the opportunity to tap her expertise. As a seasoned NICU nurse Lee has had the opportunity to view labor, delivery, and postpartum life from the other side of the hospital bed.
Lee and I met in high school, specifically, in our 9th grade U.S. government class, where we struck up a friendship writing and displaying insulting signs to each other from across the room. We also had typing class together that quarter (Typing class! That makes us sound so old! We used computers, but still.)
The only picture I can find of me and Lee in early high school. I love that we’re on a jet ski (at my family’s old cabin) — classic 1994. I also love that that shade of neon green is now back in vogue.
Here’s what Lee had to say:
Nurse-to-patient ratios
Lee said that some of her friends were surprised that their labor and delivery nurses and postpartum nurses didn’t have more time for them. While you typically have one-on-one support from a nurse while you’re pushing, while you’re in labor it’s not unusual for nurses to have several patients (2:1 or 3:1 ratios). And because of confidentially laws your nurse can’t explain to you why he/she was kept busy with another patient (if they only could give you the juicy details!), so you have no idea what else they are dealing with. Once you’re in postpartum care the ratio drops further (4:1 or more), so if you need more help you need to ask for it and make a list of your questions to maximize the time you’re given.
The same holds true with pediatricians, whose visits may fluster you with their brevity. Come prepared with a list of questions to get the most out of your visit. Before you have the baby, Lee suggests getting pediatrician recommendations from friends and visiting and interviewing them.
Being an advocate for your child
Lee thinks the completely different answers people get from different doctors is probably the most frustrating thing for a new parent. The main thing is to take the information you are given, talk about it, and make the best decision with the information available for you and your family. If you don’t like the answers you are getting, speak up and ask for a second opinion or to see a different doctor in the group, or go to a new group completely. The squeaky wheal gets the grease — this is especially true in the hospital setting!
The secret soothing technique
When Lee came to see me in the hospital she picked up a fussing Bee from my arms and did this magical maneuver that quieted her down and had me in awe. Here’s how Lee said she does it: “I hold the baby (she was swaddled if I remember correctly which is a big part of it) with her butt in the crook of my elbow, and my arm supporting her back and the palm of my hand supporting her neck and head. Then I just gently rocked her up and down and talked to her in a soothing voice.”
There you have it! Thanks Lee and Polarn O. Pyret!
Oh what a cutie. That product would have been useful when my kiddos were little.