Monday, February 22, 2010

Size & Batteries

If I've learned nothing else from having a newborn baby around, I've learned these two very important lessons:
1) Size does NOT matter
Why is it that some onesies claiming to fit 0-3 month old babies barely fit over my newborn's head? If we do manage to squeeze one on, the sleeves are usually so tight, he looks like a mini metro-sexual. How long is a baby considered a newborn anyway? Cause seriously, items that are size "newborn" fit him for like a week. Even before he turned 2 months old, he was wearing clothes supposedly designed to fit 3-6 month olds. I have heard this same story from at least 3 of my friends who also have baby boys. I thought it was just because their children must be freaks of nature. Surely my Theo is no freak (although he seems to have inherited my ape arms), but we are experiencing the same issue. So my theory is that clothing manufacturers still use patterns designed 50 years ago when maybe babies were not as well nourished as they are today. Or they are made in countries who give birth to much smaller children. Certainly they are designed by someone who has no experience dressing a modern-sized, US-born, squirming baby.

Someone should do something about this. Until they do, if you need to buy a baby shower gift, I recommend that you buy big. Better for them to have something to grow into, than to only get to wear an outfit for one day, or not at all. I also recommend buying second-hand. Goodwill has oodles of baby clothes in nearly new condition for like, a dollar. Or steer clear of clothing altogether, and buy a toy. Kids love toys.

2) Keep lots of spare batteries on hand at all times.
I've never used so many batteries in my life! Nearly every accessory designed to keep a baby occupied or quiet requires at least 2 of various sized battery. Some even require more than one size of battery, and use an uneven number of them! One bouncy-vibrating-musical chair uses two different size batteries, and has a separate location for each size, both requiring a screw driver to open!! My question here is: Why do these items not also come equipped with a plug-in option? (Ever hear of AC/DC?) Granted, we do move some of the items around from room to room, or even outside on the patio, as needed. But for the most part, those places do have electrical outlets available, so I would save a lot of money by not having to use the batteries at those times. It would also save my sanity and back, when the batteries invariably die mid-play or, even worse, mid-nap and I realize we do not have any backups on hand. This leaves us to either deal with a screaming child, or become the human swing!!

Until this issue is addressed, I am forced to keep a full stock of batteries on hand, from AA-D. Oh, and don't forget the 9 Volt.


The Swing: 4 x Size "D" Batteries

Bouncy Vibrating Musical Chair #1:
3 x Size "AA" + 1 x Size "D" Batteries


Bouncy Vibrating Musical Chair #2:
3 x Size "C" + 1 x Size "D" Batteries


The Sleep Sheep: 2 x Size "AA" Baaa-tteries

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

5 comments:

  1. I want a sleep sheep!! But no batteries, agreed. We mostly use the rechargeables which seems to work OK. Then again, you'd have to wait for them to recharge which could result in more screams. I love the pictures, and the song is stuck in my head. It'll come out in a BB tune at some point I'm sure.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Perhaps the reason these gadgets don't come in adult sizes is because of the battery issue. Automobile sized batteries?

    ReplyDelete
  3. How many batteries does that adorable dog in the background take??

    ReplyDelete
  4. That's my favorite Beatles album.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mike: The song was coming from the computer in the background, not from the swing. In case you were thinking of buying the swing for that reason.

    Shana: Noah would probably EAT batteries if given the chance. So we try to keep things like that out of his reach...

    ReplyDelete