As new parents, we have joined the demographic to which a whole world of products can be endlessly marketed. Jimmy Kimmel pointed out recently that many of these products have ridiculous names, and some are just ridiculous all together. But others have been useful. So here are my thoughts about a few that we have used.
Busy
Learners Activity Cube
Peke Buo
The Peke Buo is basically a simplified, portable diaper bag. It will certainly have some appeal to parents who live by the mantra of “less is more” in this age of minimalism and tiny houses. It started off as a business idea from two University of Utah students, who recently raised funds on Kickstarter to make it a real product. I was given a Peke Buo by a friend who is related to the inventors. It’s obvious that a lot of thought went into the design. It has a couple pouches for diapers and wipes, and folds out to a diaper changing area for your baby. But it’s not really made to hold bottles, which I see as the strongest argument for using a full diaper bag. So with the Peke Buo, you may need to have a contingency plan for that. Actually, I have found the Peke Buo to be most useful when in the great outdoors with my little man-cub where there are no Koala Kare stations. It fits nicely in a backpack, which will have the side pouches you need for a bottle. If it hasn't already been marketed to REI, I think it would be a great product for the outdoorsy types that shop there and their outdoorsy offspring.
Score: 4/5
Munchkin
Fresh Food Feeder
This pouch came recommended to us by my sister as a way to transition into feeding solids. Alex really loves these because we can put whatever fruit or vegetable inside, and he just chews away on it with his little budding snaggleteeth, and sucks all the juices out. The juicier the fruit, the more he likes it. It makes a complete mess, but it’s a great way to keep him occupied for 5 or 10 minutes while I make breakfast.
Score: 5/5
Desitin
This is a common diaper rash cream. It is one of those things we had on hand, but never used until recently. We were changing his diaper at bedtime one night, and out of nowhere his skin was suddenly red in a very, um, uncomfortable location. Assuming diaper rash, we applied a thick layer of Desitin and saw some improvement in the morning, which continued during the next 24 hours. And so Desitin saved the day. Basically, the cream works by pulling water away from the skin. It’s zinc oxide, which means you could also use it as sunscreen when your baby doesn’t need it anymore for bum rashes and what not.
Score: 5/5
The Snoogle
I bought Becky a Snoogle when she was pregnant because I found it on a list of things "every pregnant woman needs." As it turned out, Becky didn’t find that she needed it that much during pregnancy, but it has found new life with Alex. Sometimes we corral it around him to keep him contained in an area. He likes to climb on it and snuggle it until he inevitably flops over it and crawls on to more interesting things.
Score: 2/5
This is a battery-operated cube with various pieces to move
and buttons to push that play songs. It will tell you that it has “fun on five
sides.” Cubes technically have six sides, so this implies to me that the flat side
where you put in the battery is the side that is not fun, although small
children may beg to differ. The songs it plays have lyrics reminiscent of the
Beatles Magical Mystery Tour album, but perhaps I’m reading into it too deeply.
The Cube is a favorite of actress and new mom Ellie Kemper (The Office, Kimmy
Schmidt), who you can see singing her interpretation of a song from The Cube on
Stephen Colbert. Check it out here (skip to 8:10), it
is quite moving. Anyway, Alex doesn't enjoy The Cube quite as much as Elli Kemper. But he may grow to appreciate it more, perhaps when he is old enough to see Transformers.
Score: 3/5
Score: 3/5
The Peke Buo is basically a simplified, portable diaper bag. It will certainly have some appeal to parents who live by the mantra of “less is more” in this age of minimalism and tiny houses. It started off as a business idea from two University of Utah students, who recently raised funds on Kickstarter to make it a real product. I was given a Peke Buo by a friend who is related to the inventors. It’s obvious that a lot of thought went into the design. It has a couple pouches for diapers and wipes, and folds out to a diaper changing area for your baby. But it’s not really made to hold bottles, which I see as the strongest argument for using a full diaper bag. So with the Peke Buo, you may need to have a contingency plan for that. Actually, I have found the Peke Buo to be most useful when in the great outdoors with my little man-cub where there are no Koala Kare stations. It fits nicely in a backpack, which will have the side pouches you need for a bottle. If it hasn't already been marketed to REI, I think it would be a great product for the outdoorsy types that shop there and their outdoorsy offspring.
Score: 4/5
This pouch came recommended to us by my sister as a way to transition into feeding solids. Alex really loves these because we can put whatever fruit or vegetable inside, and he just chews away on it with his little budding snaggleteeth, and sucks all the juices out. The juicier the fruit, the more he likes it. It makes a complete mess, but it’s a great way to keep him occupied for 5 or 10 minutes while I make breakfast.
Score: 5/5
This is a common diaper rash cream. It is one of those things we had on hand, but never used until recently. We were changing his diaper at bedtime one night, and out of nowhere his skin was suddenly red in a very, um, uncomfortable location. Assuming diaper rash, we applied a thick layer of Desitin and saw some improvement in the morning, which continued during the next 24 hours. And so Desitin saved the day. Basically, the cream works by pulling water away from the skin. It’s zinc oxide, which means you could also use it as sunscreen when your baby doesn’t need it anymore for bum rashes and what not.
Score: 5/5
I bought Becky a Snoogle when she was pregnant because I found it on a list of things "every pregnant woman needs." As it turned out, Becky didn’t find that she needed it that much during pregnancy, but it has found new life with Alex. Sometimes we corral it around him to keep him contained in an area. He likes to climb on it and snuggle it until he inevitably flops over it and crawls on to more interesting things.
Score: 2/5
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