Chris and I have always been very anti-bib. Or rather, we have a long-standing practice of making derisive comments about people who put cloth bibs on their kids in order to catch drool.* The fact that Ada was not especially drooly cemented our belief that this all-day bib thing was pure parental vanity. Plus, if your kid was going to drool, didn't the use of a bib just create more laundry?
As recently as this weekend I stared in confusion at the bibs a friend included in a huge box of clothes her boys have outgrown. Should I put them in the drawer or take them to Goodwill? We wouldn't use them, right? But this morning Chris said, "I'm beginning to have more appreciation for why people put bibs on their kids. I've changed Ian's clothes three times today."
It was 10:04 am.
Ian had been up since 7, with an hour nap at 8.The boy is a drool machine.
We have not busted out the bibs yet. Thanks to the generosity of our friends and their hand-me-downs, we have a ton of baby clothes. But now I see the advantage of bibs. Instead of taking off a whole outfit and dealing with the attendant squirming and crying, you can quickly swap out a soaked bib with minimal fuss. I get it, but I am still resistant because it just seems so fussy.
We'll see.
* I am a huge fan of the mealtime use of bibs made of oil cloth or plastic. We made heavy use of such bibs when Ada was a messier eater.
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Oh, I can help you with bib strategy if the kids' drooling continues. My older three were all massive droolers (and spitter-uppers, which is when the bibs got started). We found that the plastic-backed bibs weren't very absorbent, but the thick cotton bibs allowed our kids' super-slobber to soak through and get their clothes cold and wet. The solution? Double-bibbing. A thick cotton bib over a thin plastic-backed one.
ReplyDeleteUgh.
Your kids are very cute! Nice job on the 4 month photo.
As you may recall, Milo was a veritable faucet, and wore a bib over his clothes for several months. The bad thing is that the "new velcro" (meant to be less scratchy and thus more kid-friendly) doesn't actually stick (see: less scratchy). IKEA has bib packs with old-school velcro. AND the bibs the only thing we've ever gotten from that store that didn't need extra holes drilled in them.
ReplyDeleteMy, those babies are cute.
When my 3 year was around that age, he was a very heavy drooler. We sometimes even had to use 2 or 3 cloth bibs over each other, because it would soak through in just a matter of minutes.
ReplyDeleteOur baby boy is turning out to be quite the drooler as well. We did not need bibs with our first kiddo, but I did see many parents needing them for institutional purposes rather than for fun. Yucko.
ReplyDeleteThe way I look at is this...when you change your clothes doesn't it take a bit to get comfy in them? When it's cooler weather don't you hate when you have to deal with slipping on cold articles of clothing?
ReplyDeleteBibs are easy on easy off. They protect the baby from getting all soppy wet.
Just my "old mommy" take on bibs!
if I ever get around to making cool-looking bandana bibs I'll send them your way, but no guarantees. luckily, penny has stopped drooling much so we will not need them, though I sympathize.
ReplyDeleteThird time lucky, I hope! My comments keep getting eaten by open ID. We gave up trying with little elf after she turned 1.25 - she just kept tearing them off, unable to bear the humiliation.
ReplyDeleteSeriously cute babies pic!