OT Silly Car Seat & Out & About Question

Tine Andersen wrote:
"Nikki" wrote in message
...
Nikki
Mama to Hunter (4.5) and Luke (2.5)


What ever happened to Hunter and Luke. I recall them being 3 and 1 in
your SIG. Did they grow up very fast or did you remember to edit your
SIG? :-)


:-) I think my sig has said 4 and 2 for a long time. I stuck in the .5
this time. I do that sporadically but it has been 4 and 2 for awhile now
:-)

--
Nikki
Mama to Hunter (4) and Luke (2)

Anne Rogers wrote:


Hold her of course! We held all three of our babies when we went out.
No reason to isolate them in a bucket while they could be in your lap
looking around.
Marie
except for the fact I'm quite likely to spill my dinner over them if I'm
eating one handed, for an exclusively breastfed baby the number of tomato
stains on ds's clothes is shocking!


-----------
Anne Rogers



Well, DH and I practice serial eating. First he holds the baby and I
eat, then I hold the baby and he eats. Yes, it's not the best way to
enjoy a restaurant meal (esp. if you're the one eating a cold meal), but
it's the way we prefer. Alternately you can very carefully choose an
entree that can be eaten one-handed.

Jeanne

Huh, never thought of this simple solution. We have a big trunk so
the car seat can just stay in there and we can use it when we go out
for a meal. Hopefully dd will be able to sit up in another month or
two and we can use the restaurant high chair although I hate the idea
of this ... aren't those things dirty from babies/toddlers spitting
up/drooling/throwing food all over them?

Thanks!
Wendy

P.S. Still plan on trying the BB and a sling too. Sitting her up in
the sling sounds like a good plan and I never knew about the cross
part of the BB having to be lower down your back. Thanks for letting
me know this.

(Diane) wrote in message . com...
My silly question is, what on earth do I do with dd say when we go out
for a meal? I am used to carrying her in the Graco car seat. Now I
have nothing to keep her in. Am I missing something? :0) She can't
sit up yet. What do you do? Hold them?

We too are at this point, and I'm thinking of keeping the baby carseat
in the back of the car, and using it for restaurants, shopping carts,
etc. Though no longer safe for automobile crashes, as a "baby holder"
it still fulfills its purpose!

Diane
2 beautiful DSs

Wendy J. wrote in message
we can use the restaurant high chair although I hate the idea
of this ... aren't those things dirty from babies/toddlers spitting
up/drooling/throwing food all over them?

You can wipe them off if it makes you feel better. Nothing wrong with
exposing them to some germs though. It helps the immune system.
--
Sue
mom to three girls

No reason to isolate them in a bucket while they
could be in your lap looking around.

(So just 'cause we used a carseat doesn't mean he's
the neglected "bucket baby" of detached parents.)

They are still a part of the company. You deserve
to have a meal without holding a baby. Sometimes
you need that tiny break.

While holding them is a nice idea, it doesn't
always work in reality. It is okay for you to eat
and not hold the baby.

Criminey -- does it strike anyone else as a bit odd that folks feel
the need to be defensive on this ng about putting the baby down for 20
minutes to eat dinner at a restaurant? Most other parents I know use
the strollers and buckets (and a sling either little or not at all)
but somehow still manage love their babies and be plenty attached to
them. I dig my sling and use it far more than the stroller, and for
me that's the right parenting choice. The Bug, however, didn't do a
very good job of reading the AP books on how she's supposed to feel.
Around the house she's often happier hanging out in her Gymini than
she is sitting in the sling while I do something boring like sit in
front of the computer :-) She sometimes *likes* to be put down!

If you prefer to hold or sling your baby through meals, and that's
what your baby likes, then that's the right thing for you to do. But
a bucket or stroller isn't a sensory deprivation or torture chamber,
and it strikes me as out of bounds to judge someone for using them
unless the baby is clearly unhappy and its parents are ignoring it.
And even then I try to withhold judgement unless I really know the
situation (ie, I know it's not a chronically fussy baby who seems
unhappy no matter what its parents do).

Bear in mind, by the time our kids have our grandchildren, there's a
good chance AP will have gone the way of Dr. Spock. And we'll either
have to acknowledge that there's more than one "right" way to raise
kids or we'll end up as annoying as the in-laws who are pushing solids
at 12 weeks.

Kate
and the Bug, June 8 2003

On 5 Sep 2003 11:46:32 -0700, (Akuvikate) wrote:
Criminey -- does it strike anyone else as a bit odd that folks feel
the need to be defensive on this ng about putting the baby down for 20
minutes to eat dinner at a restaurant? Most other parents I know use
the strollers and buckets (and a sling either little or not at all)
but somehow still manage love their babies and be plenty attached to
them. I dig my sling and use it far more than the stroller, and for
me that's the right parenting choice. The Bug, however, didn't do a
very good job of reading the AP books on how she's supposed to feel.
Around the house she's often happier hanging out in her Gymini than
she is sitting in the sling while I do something boring like sit in
front of the computer :-) She sometimes *likes* to be put down!

If you prefer to hold or sling your baby through meals, and that's
what your baby likes, then that's the right thing for you to do. But
a bucket or stroller isn't a sensory deprivation or torture chamber,
and it strikes me as out of bounds to judge someone for using them
unless the baby is clearly unhappy and its parents are ignoring it.
And even then I try to withhold judgement unless I really know the
situation (ie, I know it's not a chronically fussy baby who seems
unhappy no matter what its parents do).

Bear in mind, by the time our kids have our grandchildren, there's a
good chance AP will have gone the way of Dr. Spock. And we'll either
have to acknowledge that there's more than one "right" way to raise
kids or we'll end up as annoying as the in-laws who are pushing solids
at 12 weeks.

I found it odd that someone asked what to do with the baby when there
wasn't a bucket seat available. What else is there to do with it?
The thing I have against bucket seats is that most every baby I see is
restrained in a seat or a stroller and they shouldn't be spending
their babyhood that way (imo) The only time I've seen a baby not fuss
in a bucket seat is when it is asleep.
Marie

Marie wrote:

I found it odd that someone asked what to do with the baby when there
wasn't a bucket seat available. What else is there to do with it?
The thing I have against bucket seats is that most every baby I see is
restrained in a seat or a stroller and they shouldn't be spending
their babyhood that way (imo) The only time I've seen a baby not fuss
in a bucket seat is when it is asleep.

Really? My daughter used to love her car seat. We'd prop it up
on the table between us when we were out to dinner and she'd
sit in it and look around. She was also very happy riding in
it when she was on a shopping cart, gave her a great view of
me. She also liked to sit in it to watch baby mozart. Most baby's
I've seen in them seem quite content.

Now fussing she did in a sling. Hated it. Did like the bjorn though,
especially when facing out.

Mary

Anne Rogers wibbled
Hold her of course! We held all three of our babies when we went
out. No reason to isolate them in a bucket while they could be in
your lap looking around.

except for the fact I'm quite likely to spill my dinner over them
if I'm eating one handed, for an exclusively breastfed baby the
number of tomato stains on ds's clothes is shocking!

We decided that to fully reflect his Italian genes (mine) T needs to
have a certain amount of tomato staining in evidence*... so far the
steriliser and one bottle lid have near-indelible stains, and at least
one babygro has a suspicious pink stain.

* That's our story and we're sticking to it!

Jac

"Akuvikate" wrote in message
om...

No reason to isolate them in a bucket while they
could be in your lap looking around.

(So just 'cause we used a carseat doesn't mean he's
the neglected "bucket baby" of detached parents.)

[ . . . ]

Criminey -- does it strike anyone else as a bit odd that folks feel
the need to be defensive on this ng about putting the baby down for 20
minutes to eat dinner at a restaurant?

I guess I'll chime in, since I *was* feeling a little defensive (as the
author of the second quote above).

We have a jogging stroller, two slings, and a carseat. Each has its own
uses for us. We do a one-hour walk every day, during which DS (whom we also
refer to as "our little bug" ) usually sleeps in his stroller. But we
keep a sling tucked underneath, and if he gets upset and wants out, I carry
him in it. If he's hungry, I nurse him.

I've had the same experience with slings that Phoebe does--if I'm moving, or
if DS is asleep, we're golden. If I'm sitting and he's awake, we're in
trouble.

For car trips, we put DS into his carseat in the house and carry him to the
car in his seat. Overall, though, he spends very little time in that seat.
When he is in it, he doesn't object. On the contrary, he enjoys it. I
wouldn't like to think that someone who doesn't know us would take a glance
at him being transported to or from the car and assume he spends his
babyhood in a "bucket," especially since he spends most of his time attached
to one of his parents (except when he wants to play on the floor).

[ . . . ]

The Bug, however, didn't do a
very good job of reading the AP books on how she's supposed to feel.
Around the house she's often happier hanging out in her Gymini than
she is sitting in the sling while I do something boring like sit in
front of the computer :-) She sometimes *likes* to be put down!

Same here, with our "little bug."

Belphoebe

We bought one of those portable high chair seats that you strap to a
chair and took that with us when we went out to eat. We started using it
when our baby was 4 months old even though it says it is for 6+ months.
We just stuffed a couple small towels down the sides to keep him from
tipping sideways. It worked great. If he was asleep when we got to the
restaurant, we would just put him in the stroller and wheel that in.

Anna


"Wendy J." wrote:

Hi,

Ok, we have just bought the Britax Marathon which we will start using
today if I can bug dh into installing it ;-)

My silly question is, what on earth do I do with dd say when we go out
for a meal? I am used to carrying her in the Graco car seat. Now I
have nothing to keep her in. Am I missing something? :0) She can't
sit up yet. What do you do? Hold them?

Wendy J.
Katie (4/13/03)