Archives for category: Dad Gear

Hindsight is a bitch, ain’t it? Of course you can always make the right decision after you make the wrong one. This is a curse in my life, it starts with Grayson, and it continues through Fantasy Football. You know the problem, you have 3 solid running backs, and you inevitably bench the guy who scores the most, week after week.

The same can be said for making decisions about products before your baby is born. How should you know which diaper to buy, which pacifier they’ll like or, in this post’s case, which baby carrier to buy?

You’ll inevitably chose the wrong one, because, as much as you try, you’re not fully informed to make the right decision.

When picking our Baby Bjorn, we made a giant mistake. We went cheap. Honestly, we couldn’t see the difference on the box. We were flying through Babies R Us, doing our registry and not really thinking about things too much. This is how you get in trouble. So, we thought, “These all look remarkably similar. I guess we should just get the cheapest one.”

Fast forward to today, Gray is 10 weeks 13.3 lbs, and our backs almost rip in two when we carry him. Thanks, Baby Bjorn Original.

If you can afford it, my friends say to try out the ERGObaby Baby Carrier.

Just do your back a favor, and think this through more than we did.

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(Jessica Alba, you’re missing someone…)

Before Gray arrived, the stroller debate consumed my life. Everywhere I looked, I was checking out strollers. I actually got concerned walking down the Embarcadero, when a chick walked by and I couldn’t take my eyes of her Bugaboo.

No, Bugaboo isn’t slang for her ass. It’s a stroller, and it’s much less exciting.

Dibs and I went back and forth on three strollers. We were at Giggle every day looking at them. We went so much, I’m still the Foursquare mayor.

I learned something here, folks, something important: Strollers are ridiculously expensive.

To help you guys decided, I thought I’d give you our top 3, including the one we picked.

3. Orbit Baby – $750

I still think this one is cool. I mean, you can basically spin your baby in this swivel chair. What’s not awesome about that? Oh, wait, that’s not how it works? Weird… Ultimately, we had two problems with it. 1. Diabla read on Consumer Reports that it could internally combust… or maybe it was just poorly rated. And 2. It’s not a full travel system. No car seat adapter for this stroke of “innovation.” So, you’re spending $750, and you can’t put your car seat in it? No thanks. Whoa… I just realized how much the Orbit looks like PacMan.

2. Bugaboo Cameleon – $979

I really dug the Bugaboo, but my kid just isn’t worth $979. I kid! (No I don’t.) Just like the My Brestfriend, isn’t it spelled Chameleon? Can I really trust something that’s spelled wrong? This is why I don’t go to Kwik Kar, you know? I still recommend the Bugaboo, though. It just wasn’t for us. I also still don’t really love the seat. It terrifies me. I think our kid would look too gay sitting in there.

1. UPPAbaby Vista – $680

This is the first time I realized that we actually bought the cheaper of the three strollers. Nice. We liked the UPPAbaby from the get-go. We bought the gray one (before we decided on the name, Grayson, mind you). I also like the bassinet that comes with it. We use it in the house, too, for when Gray is napping in the living room. It also matches his Chicco car seat, which was an added bonus. It’s a little wide, but that just means that other strollers should get out of our way! They have great reviews on Consumer Reports, and since Dibs is obsessed with Consumer Reports, it helped. Plus, I look pretty effin’ cool pushing this stroller around.

Good luck finding yours!