My Review of Secure Transitions Baby Tub

Originally submitted at One Step Ahead

Introducing the BIGGEST, cushiest inflatable baby bath tub you'll find! It's more comfortable for baby and offers more room to grow. This soft, jumbo-sized tub keeps little bathers safe and secure, without feeling cramped. Unique supply holders keep your shampoo and rinse cup close, so yo...

Secure Transitions Baby Tub

Love it so far...

By jeyn from Cupertino, CA on 9/29/2008

4out of 5

Gift: No

Pros: Easily Assembled, Safety Features, Lightweight, Dries Quickly

Best Uses: Washing, Infants, Bathing

Describe Yourself: First Time Parent

We needed a larger tub since my daughter was getting too big for her regular tub, so I thought this would be a good idea. Plus, she is starting to enjoy water and playing with her rubber duckies, so she needed more room.

I love this tub because it drys quickly, is easy to assemble, and I like the little holes for the shampoo,etc. The only downfall for me is that it is really meant to be used in a bathtub and we don't have a tub in our home, so we've been using it on the kitchen table. Putting water in and taking it out is a problem for now, but it will make due for now and she seems to enjoy it.

My first trip--and to France too!!

Elodie follows her parents love of travel and has her first trip abroad to see the relatives in France. Being a long trip at almost 3 weeks, we travel by plane, train, and automobile, around the French countryside, stopping along at Patrick's brother's house, Bernard and Chantal, for the weekend. It was perfect timing because Patrick's sister, Vero, and her new fiance were there too, visiting from their own getaway. Elodie got to have kisses again from Aunt Vero and having the family there made the stay even better.

After our little fun weekend, we then the Dordonne area for 2 nights, seeing the Medieval village of Sarlat--beautiful! One night in Carcassonne to visit the Medieval castle there, then yummy lunch in Narbonne. One night in Pepignan, then a day trip to Barcelona, then 1 night in Chateauneuf de Pape (famous wine region), and off to see Grandma (Patrick's mom) in Vermondans and celebrate Elodie's 7 month birthday.This was a really relaxing and a nice stay, plus, Elodie got to spend a little time with Aunt Vero again (and so did Mom with her "Sista" Vero and shopping 'partner in crime') ;o) We also added 2 nights in Strasbourg in between.

We expected a lot of crying or fussiness, but she was such a good sport. We had a few restless moments where we were on a train with noisy passengers, or driving around to find a place, but overall, Elodie was really great.

She had a lot of energy while on the plane, but no ear aches, no crying hysterically. Just her being verbal with her new voice and words.

Some things I'd change or baby notes about this trip:

* Bring more onesies instead of dresses
* Bring a baby scarf
* Baby shoes are not necessary and take up space
* We brought our Baby Bjorn baby carrier, but ended up using our lightweight Combi travel stroller a lot more.
* Pacifier clip is essential
* My OneStepAhead diaper bag was AWESOME! very convenient and can hold so much.
* Sassy biodegradable bags for dirty diapers was nice..as so not to stink up hotel or relative's garbage cans.
* Our baby travel bed wasn't used as much as we hoped. It worked well for the beach, but Elodie needed to already be asleep before we could put her in the bed. Most of the time we just had her on the bed and surrounded by pillows, and then she would sleep in the bed with us as normal.
* Bringing our own car seat was a SUPER idea. She didn't have to use someone else's seat rental and possibly get exposed to any sickness, and we used it all the time at the restaurants, as most didn't have high chairs available. A car seat BAG as well was essential, and helped us stuff more items in there as well.

I also found some very cute items for Elodie. The French definitely have more baby style than in the U.S., and I've never seen so many stores marketed towards babies and kids.

It was a good trial run to see how it is to travel with a baby. It wasn't as bad as we expected and we'll be sure to do it again.

Thanks Elodie for being such a trooper!!

First new sound..

Almost 7 months old--Like a laugh, but more of a squealing sound while in Sarlat/Dordonne. Very cute!

(pic and/or video to be posted)

I'm crawling now!

At 7 months, in France at Maman's house and she is really mastering her crawling technique now. Ok, looks like she is in the military, going through the trenches, but nevertheless, still cute and fast!

(pic and/or video to be posted)

Another tooth!

9/4 - 6 1/2 months--another tooth in the bottom front and bigger now

(pic and/or video to be posted)--if I can get her to show them!

Ma! Ma! Ma!

Now almost 7 months old---just before our trip to Europe, she is now saying MA MA MA very clearly. Laughs when I repeat it.

Ah-ha! my first tooth!! make a wish!

Patrick called me into the room telling me that he feels something like a tooth on Elodie's bottom gums. I rush in and take a peek, and low and behold! the cutest little tooth, just sitting there on her bottom right hand side and peeking up from her little gums.

Of course we did a tooth chant and applauded. Elodie thought this was funny, but I'm sure she didn't know why.

Now, I just need to watch out for when I breastfeed...ouch!

Another lovely day at the park...

Oh, one of our many fun days at the park since Elodie was 1 month old.

It was a beautiful day and Elodie was intrigued with the camera..and my keys.

Jumperoo...JUMP! JUMP! JUMP Elodie!

This is just the coolest toy for Elodie. We recently bought her a play pen and that is really great for her to have room to move around, and we also bought her a Bumbo seat with tray to help her sit up, but that was sort of short lived.

I heard so much about this stationary activity center called Rainforest Jumperoo by Fisher Price. I was in Babies r Us one day with Elodie and I decided to put her in the floor sample. I usually don't do this because of other babies germs,etc., but it was my one chance to try it out before looking into buying it.

She loved it right away and a big smile came on her face. I knew it was what we needed. And this would also help her feel empowered to stand up.

This video says it all..It makes us giggle every time she is in it...Hope you enjoy it too!!

My first taste of la cuisine!

Almost 6 months old and we have decided that it is time to introduce solid (really puree) foods to Elodie.

She has been eyeing us eating and drinking for some time now, but I wanted to wait until she was closer to 6 months because that is usually what is recommended to avoid any allergies.

We have decided to make all of our own food, but in order to not delay any further, and since we will be going on a trip next month, I went to Babies r Us and bought a small case of 8 jars of a variety of fruits purees made by Earth's Best (all natural). Before we use those, I decided that I would like to put her on Rice Cereal first (as everyone suggests). I added breastmilk to it and tasted it myself (yeesss..I did! what's the big deal?), and actually it was pretty gross. Elodie thought so also.

Next, I thought we'd introduce carrots. Elodie's first reaction is not a great one. I took some of our home delivered organic carrots and steamed them, then put them into our mini cuisinart to mash.

What did we expect? Breastmilk..sweet...Rice Cereal..yuck..Carrots..yum? umm..no. Of course I made up a huge batch, so much of it had to be thrown out after a few days. We tried again, but it just isn't something she is interested at the moment.

I heard from some friends that Barley was their daughter's favorite so I bought some of that and voila! she liked it, and not only that, but she ended up eating about 10 good sized spoonfuls. I could not have been happier.

Now, we've been slowly introducing the fruit jars of baby food, which are pretty tasty, and she seems to like them. I even made some of my own with some organic nectarines and added some bananas for sweetness and she liked that.

Making the food is very easy and it is fun to experiment with the different tastes.

We'll continue on with this method of fruit for the first couple months, then we will move onto some carniverous baby food, which I'm not really looking forward to, but she will need her protein.

Until then..bon appetit ma cacouette!