Warning: The bib project posts (there will be a few) might contain descriptions of “matters emitted in an uncontrolled stream or flow through a baby’s mouth”. So if you are sensitive, please do not continue to read 🙂

Developing the perfect bib seemed like an easy one day task but as it turns out, it is more complicated. And individual. And just as it is taking me lots of steps to develop the perfect bib (Is this even possible?), I will also split my thoughts into several posts rather than one epic unreadable one.

You might wonder why I am even bothering with what seems a boring thing to develop. It is obviously connected with my beautiful and clever baby boy. May I just say that he often reminds me of a young Shakespeare?

But back to the bibs. There are lots of different bibs out there and when you want to buy or make one, you’ll need to ask yourself a few questions first.

Who is that bib for?

Most likely a baby, possibly a toddler.

But a teething baby? A baby with reflux? A baby that has started on solids? A toddler who is already eating by himself?

What is that bib supposed to catch?

Nothing, just to look cool? A little bit of teething dribble? Or huge amounts of digested milk in various stages mixed with snot (I warned you)?

As you can see, lots of questions. For a baby who wants to look cool or even a teething dribbling baby you’ll be fine with one of those little triangular scarfs I have shown you last time.

You could even go for a simpler version and just cut out a longish triangle and neaten the edges with a rolled hem. We own a few of these, but I can’t be bothered to look for them, let alone iron them into a presentable shape and take a picture of them for technical reasons I am unfortunately unable to show you pictures of one of these.

Now, I am obviously not interested in these standard bibs for the average baby (obviously there is no such thing as an average baby, they are all very special, I only mean average from the “amount of matter emitted through the mouth” point of view. I am interested in the perfect bib for a baby with reflux. (For those who don’t know what that means: The ring of muscle on top of the stomach can not close properly yet. Basically a baby with reflux is like a full glass of milk. If you move it or change its position from upright to horizontal said milk will be spilled. In most cases it is not a big deal, if the baby is putting on weight and not upset, then all you need is a good relationship with your washing machine and your dryer, lots of muslin squares, baby clothes and shirts for yourself. And the perfect bib.

You could ask why you’ll need a bib, you could just leave it, fresh milk doesn’t smell. Unfortunately, the clothes will get wet and eventually the baby will be really cold.

You could ask, why not just changing the baby. Well, babies do not like to get changed. Just picture a tired and cranky baby in the evening, nice fresh smell after the bath and in fresh clean clothes. You wrap a muslin square folded in half around his neck, you put him on your breast and another muslin square just under his face whilst wondering how he still manages to feed through so many layers of muslin. Then you put another muslin square over your shoulder and put the baby there to keep him in an upright position. He vomits and you wonder how the vomit still found its way through all these layers of muslin, right into the baby’s neck. His clothes are now wet, you know he will get cold but for now he is relaxed or even asleep. Are you really going to change him all over? No, you won’t. At least I won’t. And it is not neglecting refluxing child No 3. I just don’t want to wake a sleeping baby. So what can you do? I’ll tell you. You take a good quality tissue (you are looking for something strong yet soft to touch), you fold it in half, push one half in between the skin and the wet patch and the other half sticks out to make sure that even the wet edge of the sleep suit doesn’t come near this delicate skin. If you did it properly, it will look like an Elizabethan collar. Which brings us back to Shakespeare. Without the beard but wearing a cute teddy bear sleep suit. With this picture I’ll leave you for today. Next time we will look into some of my attempts using fabric rather than tissue. (More pictures less talking, promised)