Gear Review: Babiators Sunglasses for Infants

They came! The coolest baby sunglasses ever! Babiators!

Have you heard of these things? Apparently if you watch the Ellen DeGeneres Show or keep up with what the children of celebrities are doing you have. Since I'm seriously out of touch these were new to me.

I bought them through My First Sunglasses Company. They had very good customer service and were selling these for less than other places. I highly recommend them.

Let's start off with the cons, because I like to end on a positive note:

CONS:

• They are pricey! I spent about $16 on these, including shipping, but normally they retail for $20.

• They are a little loose out of the box. My daughter is admittedly small, especially her head. But they state that they will fit infants from 6 months all the way to a 3 yr old toddler. Still they slip off my 16 month old's face very easily. You can fix this one of 2 ways: 1) buy a $5 glasses strap from the Walmart vision center, or 2) if you take a hair dryer to the arms of the sunglasses for 30 seconds to a minute you can bend and shape them to curl around your child's ears.

• They aren't easily available. I could only find these suckers online, and I HATE waiting for things to get shipped to me. I know, patience is a virtue... UPDATE: If you have a Buy Buy Baby you can find them there.

• Some one may steal your child because they look so dang cute in them. True story. Someone grabbed my daughter while she was wearing these. Um, no.

If you steal her I will shank you

PROS:

• The frames are made out of rubber, not plastic. Bend them, stretch them, sit on them and they just bounce back. Don't believe me? Watch this video

• The lenses have 100% UVA and UVB protection. Duh. They're sunglasses.

• No strap so they go on and off easy (it's a pro if you have a kid like mine)

• Impact and shatter resistant lenses

• They are guaranteed against breakage or loss for 1 year

Whaaaaaaaaaaat? You mean if my kid throws these in a canal and I can't retrieve them, Babiators will send me a new pair? Yep, that's exactly what I mean. If you register your sunglasses with them they will replace your kids sunglasses if broken OR lost!*

***Note: you must register the sunglasses within 30 days to qualify. The guarantee is limited to 1 replacement pair per customer and you are responsible for the shipping. If your replacement pair breaks within one year of the purchase date you are entitled to 1 additional replacement pair, but you would have to mail the damaged pair to them.

The Lost & Found Guarantee is limited to one (1) replacement pair per customer. Customers are required to pay the cost of shipping (from our location in the U.S.) for their replacement pair. Customers who register their purchases for shipping locations outside the U.S. may be required to claim their replacement through the Babiators distributor (if we have a distributor in that country), or pay for shipping costs from the U.S. to their country. Lost & Found Guarantee participation in countries where we have a distributor is solely at the discretion of that country's distributor, and participation varies. If the customer’s replacement pair breaks within one year of purchase, the customer is entitled to one (1) additional replacement pair. To claim this additional replacement, customer is required to mail the damaged pair to Babiators at: Babiators Returns, Attn: Lost & Found Guarantee, 1054 Grandview Road, Oil City, PA 16301-1227.  The Lost & Found Guarantee replaces the Wear & Tear Guarantee.   - See more at: http://www.babiators.com/terms#sthash.xO4JsVke.dpuf

The Lost & Found Guarantee is limited to one (1) replacement pair per customer. Customers are required to pay the cost of shipping (from our location in the U.S.) for their replacement pair. Customers who register their purchases for shipping locations outside the U.S. may be required to claim their replacement through the Babiators distributor (if we have a distributor in that country), or pay for shipping costs from the U.S. to their country. Lost & Found Guarantee participation in countries where we have a distributor is solely at the discretion of that country's distributor, and participation varies. If the customer’s replacement pair breaks within one year of purchase, the customer is entitled to one (1) additional replacement pair. To claim this additional replacement, customer is required to mail the damaged pair to Babiators at: Babiators Returns, Attn: Lost & Found Guarantee, 1054 Grandview Road, Oil City, PA 16301-1227.  The Lost & Found Guarantee replaces the Wear & Tear Guarantee.   - See more at: http://www.babiators.com/terms#sthash.xO4JsVke.dpuf

The Lost & Found Guarantee is limited to one (1) replacement pair per customer. Customers are required to pay the cost of shipping (from our location in the U.S.) for their replacement pair. Customers who register their purchases for shipping locations outside the U.S. may be required to claim their replacement through the Babiators distributor (if we have a distributor in that country), or pay for shipping costs from the U.S. to their country. Lost & Found Guarantee participation in countries where we have a distributor is solely at the discretion of that country's distributor, and participation varies. If the customer’s replacement pair breaks within one year of purchase, the customer is entitled to one (1) additional replacement pair. To claim this additional replacement, customer is required to mail the damaged pair to Babiators at: Babiators Returns, Attn: Lost & Found Guarantee, 1054 Grandview Road, Oil City, PA 16301-1227.  The Lost & Found Guarantee replaces the Wear & Tear Guarantee.   - See more at: http://www.babiators.com/terms#sthash.xO4JsVke.dpuf

The Lost & Found Guarantee is limited to one (1) replacement pair per customer. Customers are required to pay the cost of shipping (from our location in the U.S.) for their replacement pair. Customers who register their purchases for shipping locations outside the U.S. may be required to claim their replacement through the Babiators distributor (if we have a distributor in that country), or pay for shipping costs from the U.S. to their country. Lost & Found Guarantee participation in countries where we have a distributor is solely at the discretion of that country's distributor, and participation varies. If the customer’s replacement pair breaks within one year of purchase, the customer is entitled to one (1) additional replacement pair. To claim this additional replacement, customer is required to mail the damaged pair to Babiators at: Babiators Returns, Attn: Lost & Found Guarantee, 1054 Grandview Road, Oil City, PA 16301-1227.  The Lost & Found Guarantee replaces the Wear & Tear Guarantee.   - See more at: http://www.babiators.com/terms#sthash.xO4JsVke.dpuf

All in all, I'm pretty stoked about these things. BUT to be honest, I only got these because I couldn't find any at Target and thought they were out of season. Lo and behold in my wanderings around Walmart there were a ton of kids sunglasses in the shoe department. You know, because that's the first place people look for sunglasses...

How to Get a Toddler to Wear Sunglasses

I've tried to get my daughter to wear sunglasses. Aside from protecting the long-term health of her eyes, sunglasses would really offer her a lot of comfort. The Sonoran Desert doesn't offer a ton of shade. To no avail. She won't do it.

This is my daughter. She squints a lot.

I tried the obvious infant sunglasses that have a soft elastic strap, but it was a no-go. She instantly started whining and tugged them off her face. I thought she would eventually get used to them, but she always cried and tugged until she got them around her neck. As much as I love strangulation hazards on my toddler, I decided to try something else.

Don't even think about putting these on me, Mom.

We were given a pair of cheapy infant sunglasses that just had regular plastic ear pieces. "Ah ha!" I said, this is it. She will definitely like these better. Well, she did. Her ability to take them off at will diminished that claustrophobic I'm-going-to-suffocate-if-I-can't-get-these-things-off-my-face reaction. So I began The Sunglasses Game.

I picked this little trick up from my sister. My niece has one eye that tended to drift, and my sister noticed it happened more if the eye got tired, such as being exposed to bright sunlight for a period of time. Needless to say, she had good motivation to patiently help her daughter get used to sunglasses. This game is simple, and probably works best for younger toddlers in the 12-24 month range, when they're still entertained by lame things like this.

The Sunglasses Game

All the game consists of is you putting on the glasses, and the baby taking them off again. Eventually, if you child has enough coordination, the game turns into you taking the sunglasses off and your child puts them on again.

If you baby is being really stubborn and won't let you near her face with the sunglasses, you could put the sunglasses on your face and practice taking them on and off. Then when your child is more comfortable with the idea of the sunglasses, you can alternate putting them on your face, and then your child's.

It's that simple. It just takes time, patience, and humor. The trick is to make the sunglasses fun, almost like a toy, instead of something they are forced to wear.

***UPDATE***

I recently spoke with my sister and she brought up the fact that she waited until they were at the beach, when the bright sun was really bothersome, to start the game. That way my niece could really tell that it was more comfortable to have the sunglasses on.

My niece rockin' her awesome shades

So why is my daughter still squinting? Well those cheapy sunglasses broke about a week after we started using them. And now that summer's over no one is carrying baby sunglasses anymore (because apparently if you're not old enough to drive you don't need eye protection). BUT I have something coming to me in the mail that I hope will solve our problem. It's supposed to arrive Friday so I'll write about it then.

Until then I'll just be singing the following around mail time:

What are your tricks for getting the kiddos to wear sunglasses?

Gear Review: Sun Protection Zone Hoodie Long Sleeve Suit

One fateful day I was wandering through Costco when lo and behold a vendor had a bunch of rash guards and swim covers for kids and adults.

Before I begin this review, yes. I bought my daughter a boy rash guard. They didn't have any pink ones in the size and style I wanted. Go ahead. Judge me.

These things are made by a company called Sun Protection Zone. It was just what our daughter needed for our upcoming kayak trip. I wanted to share it with you because I feel it has a few features that I put this product above the rest.

(FYI: I bought their smallest size, size 2, which I assume is synonymous with 2T)

1. The Hoodie

"Someone call CPS. I'm really a girl."

 

Be still my beating heart. What is it about hoodies that makes an outfit a zillion times cuter?

Okay, cuteness is the real reason the hoodie sold me BUT if you have a child who refuses to wear hats it's a nice feature. It doesn't have to be strapped under the chin (which is what I find bothers my daughter the most) and is lightweight. It protects their head neck and ears all at once!

3. Long Sleeves

This feature is great if you're going to be out on the lake or river all day. Nothing fries your poor scandinavian skin faster than reflected light off the water. There are a lot of one piece rash guards out there for kids that have 3/4 sleeves and not so many with full length sleeves. Sure, you could always slap some sunscreen on, but if you're anything like me it's all too easy to forget.

Rachel was 11 months when she wore this suit*. It was a little loose and the arms were really long, but the elastic made it so it was never sliding over her wrists. I'm actually glad it's such a large size because I know it will last us for at least another year.

*my daughter has always been on the average to small side. Think 20-45 percentile in height.


2. Crotch Snaps (A blessing! A blessing from the Lord!)

I'm not sure why this feature isn't advertised on the website because it is soooo handy. It was actually the deciding factor in on whether I would spend the money on this product or not. (The snaps only come in the smallest size,size 2.)

Let me tell you about these snaps. They saved my butt.

So we were driving up to the lake and I turned to Eli, my husband, and say "We need to make sure we change Rachel's diaper before we leave the dock." We arrived at the lake, loaded up all our gear, lathered on the sunscreen and made sure we had everything since we were boating to our campsite and wouldn't return until the next morning.

It wasn't until we were in our kayaks, too far from the dock to turn around, with no place to park our 'yaks on shore, that Rachel started to freak out. At first I just thought she was upset about having to wear a PFD, so I frantically shoved some chocolate covered raisins in her mouth. That worked for like 2 minutes and then she started to scream. Then it came to me...

Crap on a stick, we forgot to change her diaper.

Obviously not a photo of the said diaper nightmare.

Desperately I wedged my boat between some boulders while Eli did his best to keep the wind from blowing me around. You can image how much space I didn't have on the bed of my one person kayak to change a poopy diaper. What if I had had to take her entire suit off to change her diaper? It would have been a double nightmare. But as it was, it was only a single nightmare. Those snaps saved me I tell you!

Kayaking with Infants Tip of the Day: 

Change your kid's diaper. Change it before you do anything else.

Well, there you have it. I highly recommend getting a SPZ one-piece suit for your infant if you're going on any kind of lake or river trip with them. It really served us well.

This one time we tried to kayak with a baby

Sometimes I hate scouting. Let me explain.

"No. There is too much. Let me summup."

I love Kayaks. Ocean yaks, rec yaks, inflatable yaks...

Canoes suck, end of story. But Kayaks! They're so easy to push through the water and steer. I fell in love the first time I ever set foot in one. I couldn't shut up about them, so my husband bought us a pair for my birthday the first year we were married. Only he never purchased a rack to go on our car so we couldn't take them anywhere. Long story short, we only used them once in our first 2 years of marriage... and it was in Tempe Town Lake.

Here are our beauties. They weep because they have never seen lake nor river.

OK, back to scouts. Now, my husband is involved in scouting. You know, Boy Scouts. And sometimes I hate scouting. Mostly because they try to do a camp out once a month and I'm never invited.

Nevertheless, here my husband was, sitting in a scout council with the other leaders in the troop planning some high adventure trip and he promises them our kayaks. My kayaks! The ones I've only ever used once --sorta-- in the 2 years we've owned them.

No. Absoulutely not. No way. I refused.

There was no way those little pip squeaks would get to use those angelic water vessels on a real lake (fake lake) in the actual woods before me. Childish? Bratty? Yes. But hey, that's me.

Panicking, because he already promised to let the boys use them, he began to negotiate. "What if I take you on a kayak trip before they go? We can camp over night?"

I agreed.

But lets look at our itinerary for just a moment:

    June 16-22:  My sister comes to visit with her fam

           June 25-26:   Kayak trip

June 27-Jul 1:  Family Reunion in Illinois
            Jul 1-5:  Trip to see my family in Indiana
                Jul 5:  Make sure our entire house is packed up
                Jul 6:  Move all of our crap to Tucson

So you know...we weren't really setting ourselves up for success to do this trip with an infant. But by golly I was going to kayak the crap out of this trip.

Over the next few days I'll do some reviews of some of the products we used on this trip. I'll probably also give some tips and pretend I know what I'm talking about too.

Don't let that sweet face fool you. She was not happy about what was happening.