Pregnancy and Babywearing in Winter with the M Coat

After trying on multiple coat extensions for pregnancy and babywearing, I opted to purchase the M Coat. I actually loved the panels, and will likely get one in the future, however with the jackets I currently own I didn't find that the panels looked good or fit well. For pregnancy, the panels look best with a mid-length jacket, and my winter jackets are either too long or too short.

In pregnancy, I found the M Coat to look a bit bulky on my small frame, but it was comfortable and kept me very warm. Except for my legs which were used to being covered by a knee length winter jacket.

For babywearing, I absolutely love it. The jacket is nice so I have no problems wearing it as my primary jacket, which means I can just pack the panel in my diaper bag with a carrier and I'm ready to take baby for a walk no matter where I go.

Going for a walk in -10C with our 10lbs 8 week old son

In the above picture, our son is wearing a light cotton sleeper inside the Boba Wrap, and I've zipped up my fiance's sweatshirt around us before finally putting the jacket on. And we were way too warm, the sweater was too much! Below, you can see the full jacket on another day. Underneath I'm wearing our son with the Lillebaby Complete Original. He's wearing a fleece sleeper and we don't have another layer on top of us and we are cozy warm.

Walking in -5C with our 10 week old

Likes

• Fits well without the panel, no one would know that its made for babywearing
• Pockets hold a lot which is useful when wearing your baby
• The panel fits the jacket perfectly, no messing with the positioning of a panel that wasn't made for your jacket
• The panel is perfectly designed to shield your baby's head from the wind
• The panel can easily be folded down for nicer days or for an older baby so he can look around
• Machine washable

Dislikes

• Sleeves are made very short; I always need to wear mitts with this jacket
• Pockets don't allow you to just put your hands in them as the opening is on top, not on the side
• Pockets are bulky in pregnancy and add width where you don't need extra width!
• The length is too short for cold winter days, and as baby grows his legs will become too long to fit under the jacket
• The panel is a fixed width and can only be tightened in one spot, which is fine for babywearing, but for pregnancy makes it quite big when you're in that awkward in-between stage where your current jackets don't fit but you aren't showing significantly; both coat extensions offer a way to make the width smaller
• The jacket and panel can't be cinched at the bottom, so babies legs can get a bit chilly in colder weather. That's why wearing a big sweater on top of both of us works really well

Would I buy it again? Absolutely. However, I was able to find a used jacket in new condition at half price. At full price, I'd consider getting myself a warmer, long length, Canada Goose jacket with a Kokoala panel if I'm pregnant again in winter. Yes, its a splurge, but these jackets are extremely warm and you get the extra length.

Removing Newborn Poop Stains

We've all done it: continued to use the remainder of the diapers in a certain size because they "still fit" and we have 50 more to get through. Or, if you're like me and a first time mom, it might take you a few days to realize that poop suddenly escaping the diaper is a sign that its time to move up a size, even if the diaper appears to fit perfectly.

I tried spot treating these stains with Shout, soaking overnight in Oxyclean, washing pjs a couple of times and I couldn't get these awful stains out. And all of these methods are pretty abrasive and left the clothing looking not quite new.

As a result of cloth diapering, I found an absolutely free and very simple solution... sunshine! Stains easily disappear with no rubbing or soaking when drying in the sun. This strategy works especially well on 100% cotton clothing, which is the case for most baby clothes, but I've succeeded in using it on other fabrics as well. So, how do you do it?

1. Rinse the area with cold water, making sure to remove any seedy bits
2. Hang to dry in the direct sun, outside or inside by a sunny window
3. Toss it into the wash as you usually would

This approach works very quickly if the stain is fresh, but even a set in stain will disappear. You can repeat 1 and 2 a few times for really set in stains.

Diaper after sitting in the sun for only an hour

Newborn Swaddles

If you've read or watched Happiest Baby on the Block, then you know that one of the keys to settling an infant and keeping the moro reflex from waking him is to swaddle. We tried every option we had in the house to get him to settle when he was fussy in that first week, with varying success, until finally getting into a routine.

Our son was born at 7lb 3oz, skinny and long. We tested these options between 6lb 15oz and about 9lb. His narrow frame is a bit more challenging to fit snuggly, but overall there are a lot of options that are working for us. At 4 weeks, he's comfortably sleeping swaddled every night in the Summer Infant SwaddleMe, mostly because we have three of them, and every now and then we rotate another option in.

Currently, it being -20 Celsius outside, we put him to sleep in two cotton sleepers, and then put the swaddle on top of that.

Summer Infant SwaddleMe - Size Small/Medium

The Summer Infant SwaddleMe is our go to option, as it fits the most snuggly and is the easiest to take on and off.

Reasons we love it:

• Made narrow, fits nicely on our thin 7lb newborn
• Easy to wrap tightly as there isn't a lot of extra fabric
• Though its not designed to be used this way, we often leave one arm out of the swaddle

Reasons I really dislike using it:

• Must be removed to change diaper, a huge con if you have an infant that hates being changed and needs to be changed every time he is fed as this just lengthens the entire process
• The velcro is quite loud, so if you do have a calm baby that can almost sleep through a diaper change, the velcro will likely wake him
• The first few times we used it he easily got at least one arm out, which may have been because he was very small or because we were too afraid to swaddle him tightly enough

Halo SleepSack Swaddle - Size Newborn 

The major difference with the Halo SleepSack Swaddle is that it has an inner layer that you put on your baby, with arm holes and a zipper to close, prior to swaddling. I think this would be really great in the summer when you don't need an extra sleeper underneath, but in the winter I find the extra arm holes to be rather annoying when dressing him.

HALO SleepSack Swaddle

Size-wise, even though it says it will fit 6lbs - 12lbs, I find it to be made much larger than the Summer Infant SwaddleMe. The wrap around swaddling part is too wide and also too long for our baby, and as a result it can't nicely be tucked in under his back and makes for an uncomfortable bulge underneath him. Now that he's 9lbs 8oz and 54cm long it fits a bit more nicely, but the swaddle is still too wide for him yet he's almost outgrown the length.

The major pro for this option is the upside down zipper which, in theory, enables you to change the diaper without taking it off. However, I find the swaddle to be made quite wide, so unless you have a baby with short legs and a long torso, the swaddle overlaps with the diaper so we need to end up unswaddling him. Here I am changing his diaper in the middle of night without unswaddling, doable but really not well designed for it.

A late night diaper change without unswaddling

Note that HALO makes a Preemie size, and the online reviews for this swaddle pretty consistently say that Newborn size is too big, so I'd highly recommend getting the Preemie size if you're anticipating a small to average-sized baby.

Miracle Blanket

The Miracle Blanket is made for magician babies, that can break out of everything. Even in the first week when we were completely new to swaddling and it seemed our baby could break out of every swaddle, he couldn't get out of this one. It also pins his arms to his side so he can't move them to the front or anywhere once he's locked in.

Miracle Blanket

Ultimately, this option is preferable if you prefer something quieter, as it doesn't use velcro, and you need something your baby is guaranteed not to escape!

Ergococoon Swaddle and Sleep Bag

I was really excited to try the Ergococoon Swaddle and Sleep Bag as I thought it'd be the miraculous easy solution to late night diaper changes with its 2-way zipper. It has the softest fabric of all the options, and we have the slightly warmer autumn/spring option which allows us to put just a cotton sleeper underneath.

Ergococoon Swaddle and Sleep Bag

Unfortunately, there's no way to tighten it around the arms, so our little guy was able to move his hands all of the way up to his face while wearing it. I received many recommendations for this one, so if your baby moves his arms around less and you only need to prevent the moro reflex from kicking in, this could be the option for you. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be able to use this again until we take his arms out.

Summer Infant Muslin Blanket

The Summer Infant Muslin Blanket is designed to be used as a swaddle, but it requires some practice to successfully use. These blankets are soft, and the colours are brilliant, so we use these for a lot of things, including burping, however these have not been a good swaddling option for us as they are simply too difficult to tie tightly. Our little guy was able to escape these every time, and I didn't feel comfortable leaving him swaddled overnight in them because of it.

At 40”x40”, these blankets are larger than receiving blankets, but not quite as large as the Aden + Anais muslin swaddling blankets. They are stretchable, which we found made it more difficult to swaddle tightly. They are also nice and breathable, so these would be great as a summer swaddling option.

Summer Infant Muslin Blanket

Aden + Anais 100% Cotton Muslin Swaddles

The Aden + Anais Cotton Muslin Swaddles are by far my favourite of the muslin blankets we own. They are the largest we've found, at 47”x47”, so we had a bit more success swaddling with them than with the Summer Infant Muslin Blankets. I've use them to keep baby warm and to protect myself from spit up when nursing. The gentle colours make great back drops for brilliant pictures as well.

Aden + Anais Muslin Swaddle

Ergobaby Swaddler

I didn't actually get to try the Ergobaby Swaddler, but when researching which swaddle to buy next, I stumbled upon it and wish I had found it sooner! It is designed for easy diaper access in the middle of the night, and beyond that also allows for hands to be swaddled up as opposed to by baby's side. Definitely worth researching if you're looking for an optimal swaddle.