Output Stream of Consciousness

Dena bought this little unit before our son was born. It didn't seem all that useful to start with, but this says more about what parenting in the first few weeks consists of than it says about the usefulness of the Itzbeen. You don't need timers to tell you about feedings and diaper changes when they are both happening so incredibly often.

Once the time between successive feedings and diaper changes started getting longer, the Itzbeen turned into one of the handiest items we own.

Itzbeen is a cute name for it, since you look at the timers and announce "it's been" so many hours since the last feed or what have you.

It has four timer buttons, a clock button, a button for a little white LED that functions as an impromptu flashlight, and a little manual switch at the bottom, just for remembering which breast the last feed was from. There's an audio/no audio switch on the right side, and a lock/unlock switch on the left side, handy if you're putting the Itzbeen in a spot where the buttons could get accidentally clicked.

The timer buttons have icons for diaper, feed, sleep and an asterisk (for representing whatever you want it to - we often use it to mark off time spent in a Jolly Jumper). They can count up, if you just want to know how long it's been since the last feeding, etc., or down, if you want to do some things by schedule, and the button will flash red when the timer counts down to zero. You can only set the down timer in 1/2 hour increments, but that's not a terrible impediment.

I think the bellwether of how useful we find it is that we feel best when it's nearby and ready to be checked or clicked... so much so that we often go a little out of our way to grab it.

A highly recommended tool for parents, though it will likely not see much use in the formative weeks.

Ahh, baby's been sleeping for a little over two hours now. *warm glow of feeling informed* :)