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LittleLife Sunny Day Cover
by karlsm93
I recently wrote a review on the LittleLife cross country S2 carrier which we bought for using with our baby daughter. Unlike some of the other carriers within this range, our carrier came with this Sunny Day Cover rather than us having to purchase this separately, which if we had had to buy ourselves, would have cost around £20, which ... you can buy on the likes of amazon.
This Sunny Day Cover is suitable for all Littelife Carriers, meaning it should have a good resale value. This cover has been designed to offer the child in the carrier protection from harmful UV rays, as well as a light shower. There is no way that this cover is suitable for use in heavy rain, and for this LittleLife have their own proper rain cover, but it is fine for throwing a light shower. The cover has a lightweight aluminium frame to it, which slots easily into the top of the carrier and the front can be secured with the velcro straps that come with the product, so once it has been attached, it stays in place very well.
The front of the cover is open, so baby can still see freely and be able to enjoy a breeze etc as they sit in the carrier. The side panels of the cover are made from breathable mesh which also lets a breeze through keeping a baby cool on a hot day. The other good feature of the product, is that it can be folded down to store easily.
Since getting our carrier we have used this sunny day cover quite a few times, mostly for protecting our daughter from the sun during that hot spell of weather a couple of weeks ago, but we have also used it when there is a light shower on. In terms of its usage in the sun, this cover does offer great sun protection however, it is still important to wear a sun hat on a child, as the front of their head is still slightly exposed. We used this a few times on the very hot days a few weeks ago and this cover also kept my daughter a lot cooler and she was able to enjoy the breeze coming through the mesh sides keeping her cool as well. In terms of protection from the rain, again a baby could do with a hood when wearing this cover as it doesn't fully protect baby's head from a shower, but it is a great way of keeping most of the rain out.
All in all, this is a great piece of kit for those with baby carriers from the Little Life range. It isn't going to keep baby dry in very heavy rain, but for sunny days and light rain days this is perfect.
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Baby Bjorn Front Carrier
by paulie1975
The Baby Bjorn is recognised as probably the best baby carrier on the market, the Babybjorn Baby carrier original offers two different ways to carry babies up to 11kg (This should work out around 13-15 months old).
Looks:
When limp on the floor it just looks like a lot of black straps but when set up on a mother or ... father it looks pretty cool, with a strong support area for babies bottom, decent space for legs, movable straps to adapt as baby grows bigger and a good neck rest. Looks wise it is black, entirely bland, but very professional, it doesn't matter if you have a boy or girl it looks the same, unoffensive, professional and sturdy.
The Two Styles:
When baby is very young and can't support their head the Baby Bjorn is best used with the neck rest up and baby facing the carrier, this is very secure for baby, supports their neck and allows the parent lots of mobility in doing other things whilst looking after baby, it also offers baby the comfort of having a parent or guardian close to them, the security of feeling their warm chest is apparently very reassuring.
As baby gets bigger (around 6 months) and they can hold their head up, you can switch the baby bjorn round so they still put their legs and arms through the available holes but face forwards meaning they can see everything and really enjoy being out and about more, just as their senses dictate they want to know more about everything.
Both modes are good, I liked the early mode as I knew baby was secure, I like the current mode although it does put more of a strain on your back as little one is bigger and can move arms and legs more making movement more difficult. There are moveable straps which can be realigned as baby gets bigger, this is really useful and allows the carrier to adapt with your baby. One point is that the carrier must only be used on your front and can't be adapted to be a back carrier.
Quality:
This item is very secure, it has solid clickable sections to hold baby in place, putting baby in the sling becomes second nature as you do it more and more and it can handle all weathers. We have had ours 18 months and it has been used very regularly and could be used again or sold as 'nearly new'. The quality is strong and it is rightly known as the market leader in baby carriers.
Putting Together:
The instructions are clear and easy to follow, you could make the carrier up without reading them as everything is fairly clear, but the instructions allow you to do things quickly and easily, having somebody to hold baby while you secure them in the carrier is an advantage, but it can be done without and offers more flexibility and freedom for a quick trip to the shops or if you need to look after baby and keep an eye on them whilst doing basic housework.
Overall:
I really like the item, as baby gets bigger it is more difficult to see ahead of yourself and the strain on your back can become greater, but it has worked well for us and in tighter spaces it allows us more mobility. One downside is that if you stop for a bite to eat there is nowhere to put baby as there would be with a pram, but this simply helps make any trip more direct and cuts out unnecessary stops.
I would say the two greatest features of this item are its quality design and the security it gives baby, it doesn't feel loose or flimsy and baby is always safe and secure, the biggest negative is that after about 30-45 minutes of carrying it will start to hurt your back as there is no support for the carrier. This can be difficult and whilst you could share the load with another there is a risk of damaging your back making parenting even more difficult, if this were to be addressed I would give the item 5 out of 5, but I think because of this it limits the usage of the item somewhat and means this isn't the answer to all your problems just some of them.
The Baby Bjorn is available from all good baby stores, we bought ours from Amazon some time ago for £40, it currently sells for £47 and due to the good reviews won't veer far from this price. Overall a sturdy performer that offers baby lots of support and parents comfort for short periods.
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