And that's a wrap

Ah, the magical draw of baby gear. And here I thought all of the stroller and car seat research was the tough part. (Incidentally, once we picked ours, all of that seemingly crucial info instantaneously fell out of my mind.) Today I was a man on a mission -- to find new weapons in the war on ter-, er, um, the war on being able to actually function with a babe-in-arms. Though Meh and I can pass Zachary back and forth, we were effectively immobilized once we had Zachary in hand, and it was time to bring some technology to bear on the problem.

First, at our class last night, we were introduced to an incredibly innovative, complex, and high-tech gadget for baby wrapping. Nah, I'm kidding, it's just a ridiculously long piece of fabric. Yet somehow these Moby wraps still cost $35? There aren't even the heavy-duty metal rings that are attached to our existing sling-style Maya wrap, nor the Maya wrap's value-add explanatory DVD of hilariously poor quality. Ah well, the Moby wrap *is* "100% soft cotton" and "ergonomic," and at least it's sold by one of the local hospital's 'boutique' shops. And the course teacher (who's also a doula/nanny/night nurse) was showing it off so we had to check it out.

Second, also at the class, Zachary got hungry, and Meh felt that she should leave the room to feed him in more seclusion. Draped blankets weren't cutting it, so it was time to get a privacy screen, and a stylish one to boot. I now had a second objective for today's reconnaisance mission -- to go acquire one of the excellently named Hooter Hiders.

I was thankfully able to find both of these at the local hospital "boutique" shops. The idea here is quite good, if a little strange to see aisles and cash registers dropped in the middle of a waiting room. These stores are within the maternity centers at the hospitals themselves, and they appeal to me more than the local baby superstore, since at least all of their proceeds go towards sustaining the hospital's maternity/parenting services.

Upon arriving at home, I tried on the Moby wrap and dropped Zachary into it. He loved it, and slept for like 4 hours (Meh's major sleep break for the afternoon). Plus I could actually hold him and type (even part of this blog) at the same time. With this hands-free option, I can at long last resume my plans to take over the world. Exxxxxcellent.

Just to tie things up, last night's class was quite good, despite it focusing primarily on (and being about a half-step short of a sales pitch for) this generation's Dr. Spock, Dr. Harvey Karp and his The Happiest Baby on the Block (endorsed by Michelle Pfeiffer! And Pierce Brosnan! And even (swoon) Dr. Phil!) She walked us through the book's view that the generic term "colic" (which she spelled with a k at the end - I don't think we'll be asking her to vote on Zachary's nickname) is a load of soiled diaper, and that babies really just need to be soothed better. It's all about the "5 S's" -- swaddling, sidelining (holding baby sideways), shushing, swinging, and sucking. She walked us through all of them, giving a few new good swaddling techniques along the way that work if you happen to have a tarp-sized swaddling blanket. Oh, and we left the class with the DVD version (apparently 'better than the book' -- my brother likes the thought that the baby book of this generation is actually a DVD) and a CD full of soothing sounds. I'm afraid to pop that CD in, with track descriptions like "fast & vigorous - this "strange" sound gets a crying baby's attention (10 minutes)". You know these tracks will do something cool if you play them backwards.