Tommee Tippee Closer To Nature Bottles (for sensitive tummys)

I know, it's a little strange that I would review a sippy cup and then go backward in time to when my daughter was using bottles, but I saw them sitting there, unused, and decided I needed to share with everyone my bottle experience.

When my daughter was born, I was gung-ho about breastfeeding.  I was going to breastfeed her come hell or high water.  Well, she had jaundice at birth, so they insisted that is supplement with formula to help clear her system.  I fought tooth and nail against it because she latched on well at birth, and I just knew that if I gave that little girl formula, it would ruin breastfeeding forever.  Well, yes and no.  I did end up giving in to the nurses because they convinced me that she needed more fluids than I could provide just a day postpartum, but then my quest for a bottle that mimicked the way I fed her was on!

From the day she first had formula, it wasn't that she didn't want breast milk, it was that she LIKED the bottle better.  This resulted in my using a nipple shield when I breastfed to make it more like a bottle to her and pumping so my husband could feed her with a bottle when I was to exhausted to do anything (that little piggy wanted to eat every 30 min., I kid you not!).  Eventually the every 30 min. feedings were just too much for me, and I decided that in order to actually enjoy being a first time parent, I needed to stop.  This was not a decision I took lightly.  I mulled it over for WEEKS.  I started pumping more and more, and stopped nursing completely.  While I regret that decision as far as my daughter was concerned, it was what I needed to do at the time to avoid hating my life, so in the end, it was a good choice for me.

Long back story aside, these bottles were my dream come true when I was switching from nursing to bottle feeding!  I REALLY feel like they helped avoid too much nipple confusion.  Even though I was using a shield when I came home from the hospital, I think anyone who has used one of those would agree that they are quite different from the nipple on a bottle.  The way a baby latches on isn't as straw-like as when they use a bottle, they use their whole mouth and open it wide to achieve optimal extraction of the milk.

You'll notice the giant nipple on these bottles, that's what makes them so different.  The baby can latch on just as they do at the breast and the nipple on these bottles mimics the natural expanding, contracting, and movement of the breast during nursing.

The tube you see in the center is their "anti-colic vent tube," it allows for less air to reach baby's mouth.  The tube also has a stripe that changes color to tell you if the milk or formula is too hot for them to drink.  It turns pink when it's too hot, and turns blue when it's safe.

The nipples can be interchanged to meet the needs of babies that want a faster or slower flow, which is really nice.  We've had the same bottles since Keeley was born and just changed out the nipples as she got older.  When I say, "changed out the nipple," I mean literally only the nipple.  That white plastic ring that you see in the picture stays with the bottle for the duration, making them more environmentally friendly.

These bottles do have seemingly a gazillion parts to wash:

The cover on top that protects the nipple from dirt
The nipple itself
The ring that holds the nipple to the bottle
There's a disc inside that holds the tube and assists with air venting
The tube
The disc at the bottom of the tube that lets air out but keeps milk from backing up the tube
and the bottle itself
whew!

These particular bottles hold 9 oz. of liquid, and are A LOT shorter and wider than most 9 oz. bottles.  This either makes them easier or more difficult to transport in a diaper bag, depending on your needs.  For us it wasn't really that much of an issue, and to feel like I was able to give my daughter the closest that I could to myself, made it even more worth it.

These bottles retail for approximately $20 for two, but for breastfeeding moms, I think it's totally worth it!

Byron's weigh in:

Wow.  What to say after my wife's very informative post above?  I can not really comment on the replication of the true-to-life action the bottles are intended to mimic, but I can confirm the laundry list of parts to wash.  Hand washing more than a bottle or two completely is a chore, but we just rotated eight bottles and ran the dishwasher for our dishes and her bottles nightly.  I personally like the size and shape of the bottles.  All in all, I highly recommend this product.

Overall rating: 4 out of 5 (missed a point due to difficulty of cleaning, otherwise a total 5)

Take and Toss Sippy cups

These cups are made by the First Years.  They are a super inexpensive option for a cup for toddlers.  They make both a sippy cup (7oz. and 10oz. sizes) and a straw sippers (which I've only seen in 10oz.).  I originally wasn't going to write a review of these because I feel sippy cup preference is so entirely based on what your child will use that it's hard for someone to tell you what to think of it... until tonight (read GREAT story).

These cups are the only ones my daughter will consistently drink from and I've heard similar stories from other parents.  It's always the inexpensive ones that they like, after you've spent gobs of dough trying to find one.  They are super easy to clean since they only have two pieces.  There's no valve inside like so many other sippys.  That's exactly what I was looking for since those seem to make them so spill proof that Keeley can't even drink from it, she gets frustrated and gives up.

They aren't completely spill-proof, but they don't spill much, and 9/10 times, it's just water in there anyway.  I may feel totally differently if I gave her juice on a regular basis!  Can you say sticky carpet?  Now, the straw cups are made of the same material, and have only 3 pieces: cup, lid, straw.  Keeley sure loves to drink from these... and then spit it out.  I don't know, she's weird.  Anyway, the straw is REALLY rigid which causes me some concern for a child shoving it back too far in their throat, so I'm extra careful with these and make sure I'm right there when she's drinking.  These are decently spill-proof as well, but with the straw version, the amount of fluid actually in the straw at the time of tipping WILL come out.

Both versions are dishwasher safe and recyclable.  They also stack really well for storage, which is nice if your cabinet looks anything like mine does since Keeley started using cups.  I've seen these in stores for anywhere between $2.75 and $9.00 for a pack of 5.  The prices at the $2.75 end of that spectrum are more common, so the price can't be beat.  

I promised a story... 

Keeley is a very strong little girl.  At 11 months, she's the size of an average 18 month old, and stronger than most.  Several days ago, I left her alone for a few minutes while I ran to the restroom, I came back less than 2 minutes later to see her splashing in a big puddle of water on the carpet.  She had removed the snap-top from her sippy cup.  Figuring I had just not put it on right, I cleaned up the mess, refilled the cup, and brought her more water.  Several hours later, nature calls again, again I come back to 10 oz. of water on the floor.  So a half of a roll of paper towels later, I make the decision that she's actually figured out how to take the lid off and that I won't leave her alone with one of these cups again.  Fast forward to this afternoon... A cup escapes my view when I run upstairs for a few moments, AGAIN I come back to a puddle.  That little booger.  Lesson learned by me for you: don't leave your kids unattended with these cups, it gets messy!  Here are some photos (excuse the quality, they're taken with my cell phone since it was all I could get to in time).

Playing with the lid, Ugh!

'Drinking' like a big girl (this caused lots of giggles.

Covering her mouth with the cup- scary since it's only about an inch from covering BOTH her nose and mouth.

Overall, I like these cups for their ease of cleaning and storing, their affordability, and the fact that Keeley will actually use them.  Aside from watching her for mess reasons, now I feel like I have to watch her extra carefully to make sure she doesn't put one of these over her nose and mouth and get it stuck.  Frightening.  That fact alone is why I wanted to write this review, so that you guys know that if your little one is strong enough to open the cup, there's a possible safety issue to watch out for.

Overall rating: 3 out of 5 (buy but be careful)

Britax Advocate 70 CS Car Seat

Let me start by saying that this is a review using my own car seat.  Not one that I was given to try by Britax (as lovely as that would have been).  After my car accident roughly 2 years ago safety of my daughter is my number one priority when it comes to finding the right car seat.  Byron and I sat for hours and hours on separate computers before concluding this was the way to go when we were looking to replace Keeley's infant carrier.  Along with safety we were looking for something that would fit in my car in the rear-facing installation.  I drive a Toyota RAV4, you would think almost anything would fit in a small SUV, but you'd be wrong.  So, 6-7 hours of reading reviews, company websites, measurements, US department of transportation websites later... here we are, I present... the Britax Advocate 70 CS Car Seat.

This car seat will last a good long while.  It boasts a generous capacity of 5-40 pounds rear-facing and up to 70 pounds forward facing and a height limit of 49 inches.  This is a large seat, but it doesn't take up nearly the room in your vehicle as so many others.  This seat has all the bells and whistles you could ever want along with all the safety you demand from a car seat.  

The product itself weighs 21.6 pounds, so it's hefty without being heavy.  It features Britax's safe cell technology which compresses in a crash and counteracts the force of the child flying forward in a crash.  There are steel bars to strengthen the seat in a crash, and there's my favorite feature- the versa tether system that tethers the seat on the upper part of the back to really keep the seat in place in a crash.  If you think about it, it only makes sense.  If a seat is only hooked in at the base, that leaves it able to flip forward, injuring your baby against the seat in front of him/her.  Not only is it super safe front to back, it's super safe side to side.  The Advocate has side impact cushion technology that helps to reduce the side impact rash energy by 45%, which is awesome, but it ALSO helps protect a passenger sitting next to the seat!  Two injury savers for the price of one!  These are just a few of the great features that this seat offers for safety, you can read about all of them on www.britaxusa.com 

What I really like about the use of this seat is that it offers Click and Safe technology, which is great, because what good does it do to have a really nice, safe car seat, and have it installed properly, if your child isn't fastened in properly?  The seat takes a lot of the guess work out of that too!  The Click and Safe fastener is what you pull after fastening the buckle, it clicks when it's tight enough, making it super easy to use.

The range of colors Britax offers are subtle and attractive, not loud or "babyish" as some other car seat makers offer.  Here are their selections for this model:

Anna

Cowmooflage

Onyx

Opus Gray

Riviera

Byron's Weigh-In:

I am comforted with the feeling that my daughter is in the safest car seat that we could find.  While the overall size of the seat is a little daunting at first, I was pleasantly surprised at how easily it fit in my wife's car.  The buckling system is simple to harness around her properly using the quick release lever at her feet to give more slack to get around her.  Then it simply tightens to the correct tension using the "Click Safe" feature webbing; one quick pull on the strap, while the shoulders are in the correct spot, and I know that she is properly secured the sound of the features 'click'.  Removing the seat is quick and easy as well, which unfortunately I learned in the middle of the recent blizzard.  We plan on purchasing another Britax for our next child, or as a back-up for my vehicle.  I give this company an excellent rating all the way around.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 (couldn't be happier with this purchase)

Discovery Kids Play Tent

My daughter, Keeley, received this tent as a gift from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas.  She's had a little over a month to use it, play in it, and get used to the tunnel.  She loves crawling in and out of it and playing peek-a-boo with me on a daily basis.

The tent itself is VERY easy to set up, just sick a few poles together and thread them through the correct tubes on the tent to form an 'X' shape on top.  The set up allows for her to be pretty rough with it without the tent coming apart.  When I say "rough" I mean she steps on the sides, misses the lip on the bottom of the tent and thus drags it around the room.

She loves the tunnel, she'll crawl through it, turn around, and craw back through it over and over again.  So far the tunnel has held up to her rambunctious playing.

The tent is a great, inexpensive toy for a little one, but don't have high hopes regarding quality.  While the tent stays together through rough play, the material is not rip-stop nylon.  We've already had one of the tubes that the tent poles thread through rip.  The tent is still useable, but it's not in 'like-new' condition any longer, and that's only after a month of use.  Alas, the tent retails for less than $30, so it won't break the bank, and WILL provide hours of enjoyment.

Overall:  3 out of 5 rating