We are thrilled to have been one of the first families in Australia to use the brand new CONNECT™ PLUS Baby Carrier recently released by Redsbaby.
This collection has been thoughtfully crafted to nurture a connection between parent and child, and is so comfy to wear. It has a versatile tri-layer system that keeps it at an ideal comfort level for both warm and cooler weather, the only carrier to seamlessly convert between three layers within moments and it's lovely and breathable. The padding is perforated to provide airflow and comfort, and it stops you from getting sweaty under the straps while baby-wearing. And... did I mention it has POCKETS? You can slip your hands in to cradle baby skin-to-skin and provide soothing/comfort as you're wearing them.
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| Can you spy the beginnings of a new baby bump here? :) |
Best of all, they are endorsed and certified by Healthy Hips Australia, which as you know is very important to me with Amelia's ongoing Hip Dysplasia issues. They are ideal for babies both with and without hip dysplasia, as they promote the safe positioning of baby's legs in the M-Position.
The CONNECT™ PLUS can be worn until
your child is 3 years old. It has four carry options (inward
facing-newborn, inward facing, outward facing and back carry) depending
on your baby/toddler's preferences. It suits Amelia now, and we can also use from birth when our new bay arrives later this year.
Make sure you check out the entire range of carriers, high chairs and prams on the Redsbaby website. We can't wait to come back and look for a newborn-suitable pram when Baby #4 arrives!
Are you a fan of baby wearing?
Having a baby with hip dysplasia has had its challenges - especially as our journey hasn't been a short one. Finding baby products that are hip-harness friendly has been a huge learning curve for us. Amelia has always worn a Rhino Brace, which keeps her hips abducted by splaying them widely in the correct position - which means that she doesn't necessarily fit into the things the way a regular baby of her age does.
That rang true for her bassinet (which she could not fit comfortably in with the harness on) as well as most regular sleeping bags, and even certain high chairs and prams.
We were recently sent a Redsbaby Skip Stroller to test drive, especially for those times when Amelia is out and about in her harness. Her current regime is to wear it for all sleeps, including day naps. If we are headed out for the day, it's important that she can still wear it while she is sleeping, to ensure she has the maximum amount of harnessed time as she can. The great news? She fits SO well in this little stroller!
The stroller itself is pretty nifty. It folds and unfolds so easily, and it can literally be carried over your shoulder - it's compact, lightweight and user friendly. This is the perfect travel companion, great for when you don't want your full-sized pram taking up loads of space. And when I say lightweight, I mean lightweight: it only weighs 6.5kg!
If you're after a lightweight option, or a second pram, I highly recommend the Skip. It ticked all of our boxes, and it's the perfect throw-in-the-boot option for all new parents!
EXCITING NEWS: Redsbaby are having a MASSIVE sale on prams and selected items as part of the Spring Frenzy, with 20% off until the 12th November. Grab a bargain while you can!
Check out their website: Redsbaby
Visit them on Instagram
Or check out their website: My Little Love Heart
Breathe Gently was provided with a complimentary baby gift pack from My Little Love Heart for review - all reviews are my own. If you are interested in a product review appearing on Breathe Gently, please email me. #gifted
You can also get in touch with me via my @mamajags Instagram page.
Apparently we are already heading into that latter part of the year where time speeds up and the weeks all blur into each other - and I'm so not ok with it.
So what's been happening over here?
Amelia had her hip dysplasia x-ray and review, and unfortunately is still requiring harness time - her right hip angles are still not where they should be. She is now wearing her harness for ALL sleeps, which works out to be approximately 12 hours a night, plus 3-4 hours across the day. We are all pretty exhausted, but praying this last batch of increased harnessing will help us get across the line. Her next review is mid-September.
Georgia is back in the swing of things at school and Claire is enjoying two days a week of daycare, with both girls thriving on routine. We're enjoying it while it lasts, as the threat of Covid restrictions creeping back in again is on all of our minds. Both girls have gone back to swimming lessons. Georgia is doing amazingly well. Claire is just starting out and is, well, Claire.
As for me, I turned 36 last fortnight. It was incredibly low key and sort of feels like it didn't happen at all.. but I spent it surrounded by family, so that's what matters most. I'm continuing to work with some amazing small businesses and having a ball photographing the kids as well as the products we are lucky enough to shoot. I'm also thoroughly enjoying my Virtual Assistant roles, and have been learning and growing in that department every day.
I'm slowly inching closer to the elusive 10k Instagram followers milestone, one that I've been aiming for for many years. I'm trying to do it as authentically as possible (hence the snail's pace) but hopefully the wait will be worth it!
A few weeks ago, we revisited the Children's Hospital for Amelia's ultrasound, which was pretty uneventful. Instead of going straight in to see the Professor afterwards though, we had to go home and wait for a telehealth appointment a few days later. I was really nervous, as the ultrasound technician had indicated that there were still issues present - so in my head, I was mentally preparing to have to be wearing her Rhino Brace in the day as well as the night.
Thankfully, it wasn't as scary as I had thought. The ultrasound showed that her hips have shown some improvement, but there is still work to be done. It's positive, because it means the hours she's spending in the brace at night time are helping - but it's also showing she still has some immaturity in the bone and cartilage around her hip joints. The plan was to keep the brace on for another few months, before we get an x-ray to see how they are progressing.
We also need to have Claire come along for the next appointment, as both are now going to be ortho patients. The doctor was concerned that nobody had ever scanned or x-rayed Claire's hips after all of her gross motor milestones, so just to be safe, he's planning to have her checked as well. Apparently hip dysplasia can run in families, so we need to make sure nothing was missed in her early years.
It means that our sleep will remain broken for the next little while, but we're getting used to it now. And correcting her hips right now is the most important thing! That appointment is coming up in a few weeks, so I'm really, really hoping for some positive news. It's been a very long few months!
The paed queried how Claire's hip ultrasound was, and I was surprised - we'd never had one for her. He was really shocked that she'd never had any sort of investigation into her hips over the years, as an ultrasound as an infant, or as an x-ray as she grew up and was unable to weight bear. As a precaution, he recommended that we have Amelia scanned, just to rule out any hip issues that might be lurking.A week later, at just shy of 7 weeks old, Amelia was scanned. She screamed her pretty little head off during the ultrasound - not because it hurt, but because she wasn't a fan of being restrained. She has been feisty from the get-go, this one! The ultrasound tech wasn't having much luck, and called in another pair of hands. Little did I know, she'd called in the paediatric specialist doctor, as she'd actually seen something concerning. To my surprise, he DID find issues with her hips. They were not dislocated, but were showing signs of dysplasia: when manipulating her legs up and down, the ball of her hip moved in and out of the socket. This is an immaturity factor, as they should be firmly in place by 6 weeks of age and he recommended we revisit our paediatrician.
We met with a junior doctor, who assessed Amelia and then referred us onto a senior doctor. This professor felt that one hip had improved, but that he was unsure with the other - so he brought in a portable ultrasound machine to confirm for himself. One was better, the other was still very lax. His recommendation was for Amelia to go immediately into a Rhino Harness, but for night sleeps only. This treatment plan threw hubby and I for a loop, as we were expecting to be monitored over the coming weeks, but not for her to require harnessing. We went straight from the doctor's rooms to the orthopaedic unit, where Amelia was fitted for her new brace. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty darned emotional about it all. She was still so tiny, and we were manipulating her hips into this awful looking position - how would she cope with it all? They warned us that sleep may be impacted initially (but she was always a rubbish sleeper anyway, so it couldn't get any worse... could it?) but to just ride it out. They also encouraged us to keep long, firm fitting pants on her, and to keep an eye out for any chafing or discomfort which may indicate that her harness would need refitting.
We were supposed to have a repeat ultrasound as well as a doctor's appointment for review this week, but thanks to the Covid crisis, it was cancelled. Instead, the ultrasound has been pushed back to the end of May, and the doctor's consult afterwards will now be done via phone appointment. In the meantime, we're still bracing her each night, and hoping that it's helping her hips stay in the right place. I'm grateful that we've avoided having to be wearing it all day long at this point, fingers crossed it'll only be another few months of having it at all.
In short - get your baby's hips checked at every appointment. Dysplasia is developmental, meaning it can present as your baby ages - the earlier it's picked up, the better the outcome. I'll keep you posted on how Amelia's hips are developing over the coming months.
Here's hoping for some better sleep at some point in the near future!
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