Beaba Babycook Review

I decided that I wanted to make my own baby food long before Niamh arrived. Jeff and I stick to a mostly "paleo" diet - meat, veggies, some fruit, nuts, and seeds. Basically, grains, dairy and sugar are a no-go. While it is possible to purchase prepackaged baby food with simple organic fruits and veggies, the process that makes them shelf-stable for so long removes a great deal of the nutritional value. That said, I've had pretty good luck with my Beaba Babycook but there are a few things worth mentioning:

• I could not figure out how to use this crazy Swedish thing for the life of me. In the picture above, the main body of the machine has a twist-off green lid. When steaming veggies, you fill the plastic pitcher with water up to the appropriate measurement and then pour the water into that main reservoir. Somehow, even after being a huge dork and reading through the instruction manual multiple times, it wasn't clear to me that you measure the water according to the lines on the plastic pitcher, but don't actually cook with the water in there. Once I opened that green lid, poured my water in, and switched on my Babycook, it was smooth sailing.
• There is no timer or alert when the steam process is complete. Granted, this isn't a huge deal, but when I'm multitasking it would be nice to know once my baby food is ready to move onto the next step.
• I recommend making things in bulk and I've discovered that the Babycook just isn't big enough to allow me to cook large batches of food the way I'd like to. It works well for whipping up some simple fruit and veggie purees, but now that I'm making meat and veggie dishes I need something larger. I end up braising some meat with vegetables on the stove top and pureeing with my food processor (although the consistency isn't as smooth as with my Babycook). 
• Easy to clean! I throw all the parts in the dishwasher and don't think twice about it. 

Basically, the biggest downfall to the Babycook is size and, wouldn't you know they've now solved that problem? Meet the Beaba Babycook PRO...

And if you need even more space, here's the Babycook PRO 2X...

In my humble opinion, go with the PRO 2X. The three prices are approximately $115, $150, and $200, respectively. You get twice the capacity of the PRO for $50 more and I'd say it's worth the upgrade.

**For those of you interested in my homemade baby food process, I try to keep it as simple as possible. Ditch the pricey little OXO Tot containers and stick with regular old ice cube trays. I puree my food, spoon it into ice cube trays, and later store all my frozen cubes in labeled freezer bags. Each cube is approximately an ounce, so it's easy to measure. I recommend Annabel Karmel's Top 100 Baby Purees to get started making your own food. After a few batches, you'll get a good idea of what you're doing and start making up your own combos! Good luck!

Chicco Liteway Plus Review

Check out the Chicco Liteway Plus - a lightweight umbrella stroller with a seat that flips forward, allowing a Chicco Keyfit car seat to clip right in!

We've got our first trip with Niamh coming up at the beginning of May and we'll be flying with a baby for the very first time! With a seven month old, I knew that we would need both a car seat and a stroller during our trip, but I was reluctant to have the airline throwing around my (rather pricey!) Baby Jogger City Select in the cargo area. I initially searched for a light umbrella stroller that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg and settled on buying a used UPPAbaby G-Luxe (review to come) on Craig's List. As luck would have it, I learned about this little gem from Chicco a couple months after buying the UPPAbaby.

After dreading the thought of managing a stroller, a car seat, a carry-on, and a seven month old in an airport, I decided to give in and buy the Liteway Plus. After all, I could always resell the UPPAbaby on Craig's List. I managed to find the deal of the century at Babies R Us and bought the floor model for $69.90!

While I love my Baby Jogger, I'm realizing that I could have made it all along with just this one stroller. I already owned the Keyfit 30 and it's actually quite easy to convert the stroller from umbrella stroller to car seat caddy. Why buy a Snap N Go or Keyfit Caddy PLUS an umbrella stroller when you can kill two birds with one stone for under $200?

The biggest selling feature on this stroller is the convenience. It will be a breeze to push Niamh in her car seat through the airport while I manage our carry-ons/diaper bag. Once we reach our destination, we can drop the car seat in our hotel room and have a fully reclining umbrella stroller for our outings.

So far, my list of cons is pretty short and easy to forget with such a convenient stroller. I'm not wild about the quality of the fabric or how well the stroller handles - it's not as nice as my UPPAbaby G-Luxe, but it doesn't feel particularly cheap. It's also about 19 lbs. whereas my G-Luxe is an amazingly light 11 lbs. However, the Liteway Plus locks closed and has a carrying handle, so it's easy to get in and out of a trunk. The extra weight comes from the solid seat back that serves as the locking mechanism when the car seat is attached. Again, these complaints absolutely disappear when you take into consideration the double-duty nature of this stroller. I even prefer the Chicco's basket and the recline mechanism to the UPPAbaby's due to ease of use.

If you're thinking about the Chicco Liteway Plus and want to snag a deal, keep your eyes peeled for a 20% off sale. The stroller is listed for $179.99 just about everywhere, but you can frequently find it on sale. Babies R Us offers 15-20% one item promotions occasionally and Buy Buy Baby sends out 20% coupons like it's going out of style. Target also offers 20% Chicco products from time to time.

Baby Jogger City Select Review

The Baby Jogger City Select was our first stroller purchase when our little one, Niamh, arrived. After countless hours of reading product descriptions and reviews, I decided the City Select was the best fit for our family and here's why:

• The City Select is a single stroller that has the ability to convert into a double stroller as our family grows. The stroller itself sells for $499.99 with a second seat, sold separately, at $169.95 or bassinet, also sold separately, at $89.95. Don't make the mistake of shelling out serious dough for a nice single stroller that renders itself useless once baby #2 comes along!
• With the second seat attached, the stroller still handles like a single and easily passes through doors, down aisles, etc. Have you ever seen someone try to maneuver a side-by-side double BOB through a mall or grocery store??
• Countless combinations that could accommodate newborn twins, an infant and toddler, two toddlers, etc.
• Large undercarriage storage that is easy to access. Many of the single-to-double strollers compromise storage when converted because the storage space becomes leg space for one child. Additionally, the placement of a second seat on other models (notably the Britax B-Ready) builds off the back of the stroller and could easily get in the way with a taller parent. The City Select even has an extendable handle to offer a few more inches of leg room.
• Huge sun canopy with a covered peek-a-boo window
• Easy hand brake

That said, the City Select does have a few drawbacks:

• It is large and quite heavy. I drive a VW Jetta Sportwagon and the stroller, when folded, takes up the majority of my trunk space. Makes for a tight squeeze when loading groceries or other gear.
• It does not have a compatible parent cup holder. Laugh if you will, but this was a HUGE con for me. Baby Jogger sells a universal cup holder, but it's not actually compatible with the City Select - so much for universal, right? Trick of the trade: The Bugaboo parent cup holder works like a charm! It comes with several attachment clamps and one just happens to be the perfect shape and size for the frame of the City Select. It also allows you to place the cup holder on the outside of the frame or the inside to keep your profile a little sleeker. You can even fold and store the stroller with it attached.
• Now that Niamh is old enough to sit in the toddler seat, I realize that it doesn't seem to have a particular cushy place for her to rest her head. So far, this hasn't seemed to be an issue and she appears comfy, for the most part.
• All the accessories are sold individually. However, I'm the type of person that hates clutter and unnecessary gear, so I'm willing to spend the extra few dollars on the accessories I really want and not have to worry about storing things I won't really use. 
• Don't let the "Jogger" in the name fool you - the City Select is NOT a jogging stroller. I love this model for shopping and errands, but it starts to get bumpy on uneven surfaces. Walks around the neighborhood are fine, but if you're hoping to pick up some speed, your little one might bounce right on out when you hit your first pothole!

That's my take on the Baby Jogger City Select - so far, we've been very happy with it and I'm looking forward to years of use! Check out just a few of the combinations it has to offer: