Refluxers are notoriously bad in the car. The second you fit them down into the carseat well and begin to buckle the straps they spit up and typically scream or cry for the entire car ride. The reason for this is that most infant bucket style car seats are designed for older babies and despite that the seat puts them in an upright position it puts pressure on the tummy which can cause refluxing. In a bouncy seat or swing it’s possible to roll up a hand towel to fill in the well and relieve some pressure but it’s not safe to do that in a carseat.

I was excited to come across the Hug Me Joey car seat support which can alleviate the pressure on the tummy and has been extensively crash tested and hospital-approved. The Hug Me Joey has a wedge that goes into the well of the carseat to minimize it, lifting the baby up and out of the well. It also has a positioning roll that keeps the baby from slumping over to the side. The roll creates a cozier sense of boundaries in the carseat for newborns that makes them feel more secure.

Next to tear and barf-free car rides, my favorite thing about the Hug Me Joey is that you can also use it in a bouncy seat, swing, or stroller and the roll can be used to help position a baby for side sleeping or can be placed around the baby in a U shape to prevent a tiny baby from rolling down a slightly propped crib or bassinette mattress, which makes it a great value.

If you are tired of cleaning the carseat and baby each time you take a quick car trip try the Hug Me Joey. Another practical parenting picks winner!

Sleep solutions are hard to come by with reflux kids and if you’ve had one you understand what I’m talking about. For the parent of an older baby, toddler or child with reflux, sleep can be elusive and frustrating – especially given how the lack of it can both affect their development and household temperaments.

If you have a younger baby who is placed on a wedge with sling from an early age they adapt very well to it. However, some babies aren’t diagnosed with reflux until they are older and by then they want nothing to do with a harness. For them and the unfortunate toddlers and older kids who are too big for baby reflux wedges there aren’t many propping solutions.

It takes a 30 degree plus angle to provide real relief from reflux. An adult can simply recline with their torso on a wedge and remain that way all night. Children are very active sleepers so that solution doesn’t work well. They either roll off the side of the wedge or scoot down to the flat mattress, rendering the wedge ineffective. To make matters worse a baby may roll down and become wedged against blankets or crib railings, increasing the risk of SIDS.

I was so excited to learn about a fairly new sleep solution for acid reflux in children and pediatric reflux – an ingenious foam bed comprised of a series of stacked wedges that allows babies 12 months on up to 5 years old to sleep on an angle without either rolling off the side of a wedge or sliding down to the foot of the bed or crib.

The Comfy Lift kid’s reflux bed is basically a series of wedges at the head sloping down towards the feet with another series of wedges at the feet sloping the opposite direction back to the bum to keep the child from sliding down. As the child grows and the wedges at the feet are no longer needed they can be removed. There are also wedges at the sides sloping in to the body to prevent the child from rolling off the sides of the wedge.

The bed comes with a waterproof cover and one fitted knit cotton sheet. It has a rather large footprint (48″ x 28″) but does fit in standard American crib and toddler bed frames. It can also sit directly on the floor. At it’s highest point it is 16″ high so once an older baby starts climbing you should use a secure crib tent to prevent any falls, or move the whole wedge to a toddler bed frame or the floor.

Karen over at www.InfantReflux.org has an extensive review of the bed with images. If you have never been on her site before it has an amazing forum for parents and caregivers of infants with reflux that I highly recommend.

For the toddler or older child with low oxygenation levels, pediatric GERD, sleep apnea, congestion or other breathing troubles that cause frequent and/or painful night wakings this bed is a blessing and worthy of a practical parenting pick!

When it comes to baby carriers I have tried almost all of them. I’ve spent a small fortune on carriers trying to find just the perfect one that would be supportive and soft enough for a tiny baby but still work for one of those older toddlers who still demands to be held all the time or one who runs off in crowded places.

The perfect carrier needs to make the baby feel safely supported, distribute the baby’s weight correctly for mom/dad so it’s not isolated in the same spot day in and day out, and should be flexible enough to allow for different positions (front versus back facing or even on mom/dad’s front versus mom/dad’s back.) It also needs to be easy to adjust for baby’s constant growth.

If the baby has infant reflux it is critical that the carrier puts him in an upright position closely positioned on mom or dad’s body for support and with a straight spine. If the baby carrier does not correctly support the baby, he will slump which puts pressure on his tummy and causes reflux even though he is in an upright position.

The Moby Wrap fits the bill, easily achieving these requirements. It comes in a wide range of colors which is nice since I consider a baby carrier to be the ultimate mommy accessory – a highly visible item you wear on your person. It’s nice to coordinate it with your wardrobe.

There is a small learning curve to tying the wrap but once you’ve done it, it becomes second nature. When we left the house to run errands I would tie the wrap on and leave it that way, popping the baby in and out when we reached our destination. It was so much easier to do that then to lug the huge carseat carrier in and out of the car.

It made those nights of walking the floor with a fussy baby that much easier since he would instinctively calm down once I put him in the wrap and remain quiet while I gently moved. I used it when vacuuming, making dinner or helping my toddler. The Moby Wrap was indispensible for my family and let us resume some semblance of normalcy during those turbulent new baby months.

The Moby Wrap definitely deserves a Practical Parent Pick!