alexist

Today I've been to the delivery office (got there 12:15, they close at 12:30), been to Waitrose, dropped my prescription off at the GP's surgery, and walked home.

It's a bit warm in here so Aliza's lounging around in nothing but a nappy (just a prefold, cooler than anything with PUL--disadvantage being bulk and lack of waterproofing!). Snappis/Nappi Nippas rule. Less cute than pins, but much easier to get a decent fit on a flat diaper, especially when baby is being wiggly and scrunching their legs!

Complete idiot: Someone had parked a Hummer H2 (Imported from the States, you could tell) outside the surgery. It was too wide for the marked parking bays! Who the hell thinks a Hummer is a good idea in London?! (It's a bad enough idea in America.)

Today in Waitrose the woman at the next till had her baby in a Baby Bjorn (urgh, more on that later). Its head wasn't correctly supported, and I wanted to say something because that's not safe for the baby. But I didn't want to be one of those annoying bossy parents. So I didn't.

Baby Bjorns: Like I said, urgh. I don't say this out of snobbishness, which you do sometimes get from non-Bjorn users. There are multiple problems with the Bjorn. The ones most commonly cited are hip issues because the baby is dangling, and overstimulation in the facing-out position. I'm not sure about either of these. It may well be a bad position for babies who already have hip dysplasia, but plenty of babies are just fine with it. And many babies do enjoy facing out.

My issues are design and comfort. Whatever the other issues of dangling legs and facing out, they are not comfortable or natural. Facing out means the baby's weight pulls away from you, and if you hold a young baby in your arms, you'll see that they naturally prefer the frog-leg position. The BB provides poor back support (the Active is slightly better), and becomes unusable fairly early in a baby's life (only usable to 22 lbs!) It only provides for 2 positions. Othe carriers--including other structured ones like the Ergo--allow for back, front, and hip carries. Much more versatile.

The thing about the Bjorn is that it's the main mass market carrier, so that's what people buy. For some people, it's a good gateway--they like the idea of babywearing but don't like the Bjorn so find something better. For others, though, I worry that it actually turns them off to the concept because they think it's uncomfortable and hurts their back.

So, anyone thinking about a baby carrier--don't go Bjorn ;)