Adventure BanZ Baby Sunglasses

Since today's holiday (Labor Day, for those outside the US and Canada) has come to signal the end of summer, I thought I should write about a particularly summery product: baby sunglasses.

For us, these ended up coming in handy for a reason that's totally unconnected to the season (that kind of rhymed). Baba G had an eye exam where he had to get his pupils dilated... and they freakishly stayed that way for nearly two days. Since he goes on a multi-hour stroller walk each afternoon, the sunglasses were key. But otherwise you'd want them so that your kid can play the role of a bad-ass, like so:

Don't front.

I had no intention of buying BG sunglasses, but got sucked into it when purchasing his wide-brimmed hat. That damn Amazon and its "recommendations." People seemed to like the Adventure BanZ brand (don't get me started on that z... or the fact that it's capitalized. Reminds me of this classic Ben Stiller/MTV sketch from '98 (2:55 mark, and wow, do I feel old now)).

But ANYWAY, we got the glasses at the same time we bought the hat, and when put together they put BG in full adventurer mode.

Give me my own show on Animal Planet, already.

The bottom line: I would assume baby sunglasses are nice to have when your kid needs to spend time in the sun and a wide-brimmed hat isn't enough (or isn't practical at the moment). They're definitely great for when your kid has an eye exam and has to stay out of brightly lit areas. The Adventure BanZ glasses have a wide, soft-elastic band which keeps them in place. But the reality is that we've only put these glasses on BG a few times in 7.5 months. When he has his daily stroller walk, he's already shielded from the sun thanks to both his hat and the sun shield that flips down on his stroller (which usually makes even the hat unnecessary).

It might just be that we aren't as outdoorsy as others who could find more use for kiddie sunglasses. Maybe if you went to the beach a lot they'd be indispensable. But that's not the case for us.

Does any else have baby sunglasses and actually use them?

i play Babywear Brim Hat

First and foremost, I hope you all had a Happy 4th of July! Baba G is currently screaming his head off in his nursery (and his daddy is coming to his rescue) now that Chicago's big Navy Pier fireworks extravaganza has kicked into full swing. I never thought the day would come where I hate fireworks, but here we are.

A few hours ago, however, BG was happy as a clam. Here's proof:

Bring on the fireworks! I think...

Anywho, in honor of the recent and ongoing heat wave, I thought I'd write about BG's sun hat. Its official name is the "i play Babywear Brim hat," and while his is khaki, they make them in every color imaginable—and in several different styles, too.

I love it because it's lightweight, doesn't seem to bother him (it isn't too tight and can be rotated around easily) and does a great job of keeping the sun off of his face while he's on his daily stroller ride. Yes, he's just on a stroller ride in the pic below, not an African safari.

Ready to roll

And here he is with it on as we were going into Wrigley Field for his very first Cubs game a few months ago. (They won that day, so his expectations will be unrealistically high forever... the way it should be, I guess.)

Brim Up for the pic!

I recently was given a ton of gently used stuff from a friend and was elated to find a blue Babywear Brim Hat in the collection. Not only because I like the one BG has so much already, but also because the fact that my friend had bought one for her son as well led me to feel confident I'd made a good purchase. Believe it or not, I've hardly bought anything for Baba G myself because he's gotten so many gifts and wonderful hand-me-downs. The i play hat is one of the few things I've shelled out dough for—and it's been worth it.

The bottom line: If you're looking for a great baby hat for daily use or just special days at the beach or in the sun, this is it. It comes in a 0-6 month size and a 6-18 month size. The smaller khaki one I picked is currently $10.50 on Amazon.

Stay cool, kids!