Drooling...

So since Anti-Kels told me she is pregnant, I've been looking at a few things on-line. Namely, cloth diapers and baby carriers. Since she told me she wants to try cloth diapers I thought it would be a good idea to buy in with her. I am hoping to have a baby not too long after her. I don't have any small sized diapers, and my BG 3.0's will probably be too stretched to use on a small baby (unless I get around to the replacing the elastics by then... not sure if I am brave enough for that). So I'm contemplating small diapers... (pockets, or fitted's, maybe All In Ones) and in the search I come across the cutest little diapers and things. Like these Blueberry diaper covers. Or this delicious Good Mama fitted diaper that I could never afford. If Anti-Kels has a girl I will save all the money I get from recycling cans and buy this diaper for her :P. Then I find myself drooling over the Jam Tots Berryplush diapers. They look so soft and cuddly.

I wish I was crafty enough to make this kind of stuff myself.

Ok, so that's just some of the diapers I was looking at. I've also been looking at carriers.

Now, I've only had a few different carriers. First was the Hotsling Alisha gave me. Which I used first, and still use on occasion. It really is the type of carrier you can use at all ages. My favorite carry being the hip carry (8 months up-ish). It's just so easy to slip on and put the baby in. I used this a lot when I had to go in to the bank or store to do an errand. What I also loved about the pouch sling was that it was simple to use. It's so simple, you can't really mess it up. I say this because wraps scare me. They look intimidating and confusing. So starting with the sling really helped.

I also used a Baby Bjorn on occasion. I think every mom uses one at some point. But there are much much better carriers out there, one's that will last beyond 6 months.

I also had a Mayawrap ring sling which I never really mastered. I ended up lending it to a friend who never returned it.

When we moved into this house Stinx was 14 months old. Sure, he was old enough that I could put him on the ground to let him play, but I feared not being able to unpack everything with a curious toddler around. So I asked Alisha (my babywearing guru) what I should get if I wanted to carry Stinx on my back. Her first answer, a Babyhawk. When I looked at the site I knew I had found something I was looking for. I picked out the color's and fabric and chose the Toddler size since Stinx was already past 1 year old. It was sooo awesome! I was ticked that I had not thought to get one sooner! I could have been giving him piggy back rides much earlier.

Though I still really like my ToddlerHawk, I have realized I wished it had a couple extra features. The first being a padded waist band. The babyhawk's have padded shoulders and head rests but the waist band is just a strap (essentially) which is OK - but... I have noticed that with wearing an almost 2 year old for more than 30 minutes my lower back does start to feel sore. I've seen and tried on other carriers that have a bit more padding for support on the bottom and it does seem more comfy. The second feature I wish mine had, a hood. Stinx is really too big to be sleeping in this carrier now, but when he was 14 months it was do-able. And when I have my next baby, guaranteed the baby will be sleeping in there once in awhile. So the hood really makes sense. Once the baby is asleep you pull it over to protect their head from tossing all over the place, and from exposure to the sun. So maybe I will have to attempt to make my own Mei Tai...

Anyways, so I've been looking at carrier's to give Kels some ideas (and yeah... for me too...) and I came across some I really like. I really like the Kindercarry carriers (and look here for her flickr stream). They can come with hoods and have the extra padding on the waist band. The prices are a bit out of my league though considering I already own a Mei Tai. Other carriers I've been drooling over are the Beco Butterflies, this Bamberoo Mei Tai. Though I do think I will buy a wrap with next baby. Maybe a Didymos? Or a Hoppediz? Too many choices really.

So I want to know, what is your favorite cloth diaper and or favorite baby carrier? Give me more to drool over!