Stroller Couture

We have to admit that being a parent now is super-cool. Aside from the joy of just being a parent, there is so much out there that caters to kids and parents in a more sophisticated and dignified way. From room design to family vacations to nursing covers, options abound to express your style - and your child's - with nary a puppy dog, cartoon character or flower in sight.

Add stroller covers to that growing list of products. In our last post, we noted that a pediatric dermatologist advised that the best way to protect baby from the sun was to keep her out of it altogether. Bellah May LLC, out of Orange County, California, has a line of reversible sunshades for the stroller that will expose nothing but style. Okay, there is a dog or two in the mix, but they're featured in the modern (or totally retro) way that today's fashionable parents are accustomed to sporting.

We like that the shades are reversible. Junior can check out his ABC's on the inside while the world sees a gingham check outside. But what we really love is that the sunshade comes in its own also-reversible bag, which then hangs off the stroller to hold all that "stuff" that you'll inevitably have with you. The website has a cute and quick tour on how the sunshade and bag work. (Don't worry, it's very simple, but the owners must know that tired parents can be notoriously slow.)

Bellah May also says that proceeds from sales will go to a child-focused charity, meaning you can feel good about helping someone else's child while protecting your own from the sun.


Sunshade in Paige pattern
www.bellahmay.com
$80

Private Nurse

No, we don't mean a nanny for the baby.

By now you may have heard about the incident in which a woman who was nursing her baby on an airplane was forced to get off, presumably because she wasn't being discreet enough.

We personally don't know any women who don't try to show some discretion while nursing - okay, maybe a brazen few, but they're the exceptions - but babies have a way of pushing aside whatever is covering their faces, to peer at you in glee as you hurriedly shuffle the cloth - and your mammaries - around. It's no easy feat - what do you use to cover up? The airplane blanket that's been God knows where? Your pashmina, which will undoubtedly slip off just as some teenage boy passes by?

Thankfully there is an answer that keeps your dignity and your sense of fashion intact. Bebe au Lait has a line of nursing covers in fabulous prints: you can either pick one favorite or, like us, go nuts and choose several to coordinate with your wardrobe. (The company used to market these as Hooter Hiders, and still keeps the name around for those who may remember it, but we, for one, appreciate the more upscale branding, since we've never in a million years referred to our own breasts as "hooters".) The covers are stylish, practical and inexpensive. Best of all, the design keeps the cover securely fastened around your neck while allowing you to peek at baby - something that may have been hard to manage when you were smothering her with a blanket...


www.bebeaulait.com
$35