Big Baby, Little World, or Of Banana Peels and Socks

The trouble with baby stuff, for a baby the size of Ryan, is that he tends to outgrow things physically long before he outgrows them developmentally. For example, he doesn’t fit into the infant car seat that we refer to as the “baby bucket” anymore. So we got a larger convertible car seat, which works just fine in the car. However, when we go grocery shopping and I need to use a shopping cart, I used to be able to pop the whole baby bucket into the cart, but the bigger car seat doesn’t work that way. We do have a “Floppy Seat”, which is a padded liner with a lap belt that goes into the “seat” in the front of the cart, but since Ryan can’t really sit up on his own yet, the name “Floppy Seat” takes on a whole new meaning. By the time most babies are too big for the little car seat, they’ve been sitting on their own for weeks or even months and are just fine with the Floppy Seat. But for Ryan, I need to stuff things on either side of him to prop him up or the poor things lists to the side and dangles uncomfortably by the seat belt.

Clothes also tend to be a problem. Five-month-old babies who weigh 27 pounds are just not proportioned the same way as 18-month-old toddlers at the same weight. Ryan’s 18- and even some 24-month pajamas squeeze his massive thighs like a pair of sausage casings, even though the feet are sticking out well past the end of his feet. Every pair of pants he has is rolled up several inches. And don’t even get me started on socks.

Too late, I’m started. Infant socks are designed for babies who don’t wear shoes, right? So they usually have nice little rubberized patterns or printing on the bottom so when baby is playing in his bouncy chair or practicing walking with Mommy or Daddy holding him, he doesn’t slip. But once you get to size 24-month socks, baby should be walking and therefore wearing shoes, so no more non-skid bottoms. Well, for a giant baby with giant feet who’s nowhere near walking yet, this can be a problem. When Ryan is in his Jumperoo with his big boy socks on, his feet skid this way and that like he’s slipping on banana peels! (You were wondering when I’d get to the banana peel part, weren’t you.)

And as amusing as that may be for Mommy and Daddy, eventually it gets frustrating for the little man. Not to mention that it doesn’t give him as much practice with his walking muscles as if his feet had grips. So we usually end up giving in and taking off his socks completely.

At least we know this is a problem he’ll outgrow eventually. Oh, the irony.