Baby Gear

Many moms go back to work after their maternity leave is up. Some have to go back for financial reasons, some love their work and don’t want to give it up. That means unless you have a parent at home to watch your baby or child many parents send their kids to day care. When I picked up my kids from school there was a day care on the bottom floor and I would always peek into the windows and see all the toddlers at nap time sleeping on their mats with their lovies and blankets. It was so adorable.

If you are looking for a sleeping mat for your kids, this one would fit the bill fine. It is a backpack style slumber bag with built-in pillow! Folds easily into self-contained backpack. It comes in primary colors, it has adjustable shoulder straps, a nametag to make sure it doesn’t get lost in day care, fleece lining and no zippers so it is easy for younger kids.
This is not only great for daycare but for sleepovers, camping or pretend play. It is $29.99.

The Disney store has nap mats on sale right now online. They have Little Einsteins, Pooh, Mickey Mouse, Princesses, and Lightning McQueen nap mats. They measure 24” W x 46” L. All have a quilted pad, have an attached pillow and tie with Velcro. They are on sale for $9.99 right now down from $29.99, such a great price and perfect if you are looking for a gift.

nap mats, sleeping bags, sleeping bags for kids, day care, kids, toddlers

Although I never had one, I just love the idea of a moses basket for babies. There are so many unique ones on the market today. It seems like such a cozy, safe place for an infant and I also just love the esthetics of it! It is also great to travel with. Now you have something to put baby in for nap or play when you are visiting friends or family.
It is also an alternative to a baby hammock or bassinet.

These moses baskets are warm and cheery. They each measure 32 x 12 x8 and come in various, beautiful patterns. They each include the soft bedding and a matching blanket.
Babybeemine.com has many choices when it comes to moses baskets. They are more traditional with the removable hood. They also offer many fabric and lining choices and the basket can be used until baby is approximately 15 lbs.
This site also have some with faux fur lining and matching blanket!

These baskets get as elaborate as you would like them to. They have chenille, fur, cotton and organic baskets on the market today. These baskets really make amazing baby gifts. Add things inside like bottles, bibs, outfits, pacifiers and toys then wrap the entire basket in cellophane and decorate with ribbon. Everyone will want to invite you to their shower when they see you walk in with this! This is the show stopper.

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Any parent knows that kids songs, are usually just for kids. I know I want to poke my ears out hearing “Cinderella” sing some day my prince will come or some high pitched kid singing pop goes the weasel, over and over again. The same goes for lullabies.
We would play classical piano music instead of traditional lullabies for our kids, because if we had to listen to it, we at least wanted to enjoy it!

Rockabye Baby! saved our day. Rockabye Baby is not traditional lullabies, but rock classics that YOU love that are transformed into beautiful instrumental lullabies. Everyone from The Rolling Stones to Metallica to Coldplay are reconstructed into lullabies using instruments like the glockenspiel, vibraphone, mellotron, harp and bells.
Yeah, I don’t know what they are either, but they sound amazing.

Do you want one of these cds for your very own? You are in luck, I have two Baby Rock Christmas cds to give away. Filled with rock classics like 2000 Miles and Do They Know It’s Christmas? I am sure you will love it so much you won’t just listen to it at Christmas time.
To enter to win one of these cds simply leave me a comment on parentingourchildren.com!
Deadline for this contest is midnight November 23. Good Luck!

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Little babies are so soft and squishy it is hard to put them down at all. Sometimes you can’t and end up carrying the baby all over the house with you. You have to put the baby down sometimes though and this baby hammock from novalnatural.com seems like a great place to be. As an alternative to a baby swing, this hammock provides gentle rocking motion in a comfortable hammock. It can be adjusted to both an opened and a closed position for sleep or for play. It is made in India and is cotton with wool padding and also a five point harness for safety.
Baby can stay in it longer then a traditional swing too because it is for babies 0-18 months and up to Hammock holds up to 66 lbs. It is priced a little higher then a baby swing at $99.99.
I would love to try this for my new little one, due in March.

There is also the Amby baby as a alternative to a bassinet. Recommended by Dr. Sears this baby bed is especially helpful for babies with reflux, colic or preemies. It also prevents flat heads or plagiocephaly, SIDS and acid reflux. It is also portable and adjustable. This hammock is available in blue, white and natural raw cotton. The basic set includes a mattress, frame, spring, hammock and crossbar, set of two matching fitted sheets and a travel bag is $227.95.

Have you tried one of these hammocks? Would you recommend them to a new parent?

baby hammocks, Amby baby, novanatural.com, newborns, infants, baby gifts, baby registry, alternative to bassinet, baby swings, new mothers, parents,

The nice women at Solana Babywear sent me a sample of their gorgeous swaddle blankets. They make light weight, 100% cotton fabric swaddle blankets which will become not only a must have in your household but a “don’t know what I ever did without it” wrap. Started by two women Theresa and Sunny, the blanket was made to keep babies snuggled and warm but not overheat the baby.

Swaddling is part of the 5 “S’s” for calming and getting a baby to sleep; Swaddling, Side sleeping, Sshhhh, Swinging and Sucking. Swaddling is especially important in the first weeks after your baby is born to give him the comfort of the womb and also to prevent SIDS.
The fabric of this swaddle wrap is so soft and comfortable, it is perfect for newborn baby skin. It is also very generous in size, measuring 44″ x 55″. The wrap I have is white eyelet and trimmed in a soft satin and is ideal for newborn and up, it makes a great lightweight blanket for cool night or for a stroller blanket.

The blankets come in various colors and patterns and price ranges. They have handmade limited edition blankets and affordable two packs. Check out their “how to swaddle page” for a refresher course on swaddling your baby. I know I needed this because although my husband swaddles like a pro, I didn’t retain that skill.
I have tried many blankets and swaddle wraps in my days as a mother and this one by far has been my favorite. I would recommend these wraps to any new mother.

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Did you know that babies cry? Oh, you did? Maybe you weren’t aware how much they can and do cry. Babies can cry for hours a day, heck even my kids still cry about something at least once a day and they are four! There are many times you will be able to soothe your baby, and there will plenty of times where you can’t. If your baby is clean, fed and changed, why is the baby still crying? It can be frustrating especially for new parents.
Here are some tips for trying to calm a baby:
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What I hate about baby and children’s bedding it that it is very hard to find soft, well made bedding. Crib bedding is a little easier to find, but you will pay for it, with some crib sets going for upwards of $300 a set.
I stumbled across this site which offers eco-friendly comfy bedding.

Kukunest.com offers children’s and toddler bedding made from 100% Öko-Tex certified cotton, as well as wall art. All bedding is soft, 200 thread count cotton percale and is made to Öko-tex environmental standards. Öko-Tex is a European certification process which ensures that certified textiles do not contain chemicals harmful to human health. They have just awesome patterns meant to fuel children’s imaginations. They do this by “experimenting with fresh new color palettes and interesting themes, all manifested through uniquely modern and whimsical designs.”
They offer six different, unique patterns on kids bedding and two different pieces of wall art.

They go beyond Dora, dinosaurs and Elmo. Which, personally, I am sick of. Also most sheet sets I see for kids are infantile and do not match any decor I have in either of my children’s rooms. They are usually always made of poorly manufactured, stiff fabric that pills and is no more then 180 thread count.
They also use minimal packaging composed of recycled paper or reusable materials. They are helping out the environment while still making great products. That is my kind of company!

[tags] children’s bedding, toddler bedding, crib bedding, children’s sheet sets, eco-friendly bedding,

Now that we are pregnant with our last child, I am wondering what we need and what we have for this baby. Since we have boy/girl twins, we have many things that we saved from them and will not have to buy. Equipment is one thing we have plenty of, and some things we even have two of. I am debating whether to keep our old monitor or buy a new one since we now live in a larger home with two floors not a ranch style home like we did when we had the twins. I was thinking of investing in a monitor with a camera to eliminate the excess running up and down the stairs. Also for safety because I am paranoid like all mothers.

There are so many monitors on the market. I have seen at least three different camera monitors, ranging in price from $99.00 to $169.99. One of them has a small television monitor that you place in a central location, and the others have a screen on the portable monitor. They both seem great and received good reviews.
My Graco monitor is now 5 years old and I wonder how well it will do in this larger house. I will have to dig it out and see how many Mhz it has. I want to hear my baby crying but I also need privacy from my neighbors!

Do you have a monitor you love or that you would recommend?

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When I was pregnant with the twins, I would play classical music to my stomach every night at bedtime. When they were born the same thing, I played classical music for them when it was bedtime. It was our routine. I just wish I had known about www.johnhinson.com then.

John Hinson is a husband, father of three kids and a pianist. His song compositions are so beautiful and perfect for calming children down, listening to while doing homework, bedtime, in the car or a dinner party.
He wrote these songs for his children and you can tell, they are made with love. Some classical music I play really gets loud and heavy but this is perfect calm music for the whole family to enjoy.
You can purchase “John Hinson - “A Still Moment” on his web site, or check him out in itunes and buy it there. His CD consists of 15 great songs but my favorite is “circles”.
This would be a perfect Christmas gift for everyone on your list or a perfect baby gift for a baby shower or a new baby arrival. Go check out his site, it has many songs to listen to so you don’t have to just take my word on it.

music for kids, piano music, bedtime, babies, infants, baby gifts

Do you travel often with your small child? We did, and where is the baby going to sleep is the first question that comes to mind. Renting a crib from a hotel or service didn’t really appeal to me, lugging a pack n play was even less desirable.
I would have loved this foldable moses bed by lalapanzi beds. They come in two sizes, large for children up to 22 lbs and small for children up to 17lbs. They look so soft and comfortable, I wouldn’t mind sleeping in one.

This bed would be great for baby but only if you travel often, I cannot find the price on their web site now, but I know it was not an inexpensive purchase.

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When babies get to big and strong to have mobiles in their crib, parents might wonder what is next for a bed time routine.
What about a constellation show on the ceiling? Twilight Turtle projects three starry night constellations onto the ceiling of any room that can be seen in three different colors.

Within the star pattern are 8 actual constellations. Parents can sit with their children and identify these major constellations using the wonderfully illustrated Twilight Turtle Star Guide. It even has a battery saving option.

I love this idea for any child’s room.

twilight turtle, babies, kids, children, bedtime routines, constellations for children, bedtime

I am not the smartest cookie in the jar because when my twins figured out that “hey! we can get out of these silly little cribs”, I ran out and bought them toddler beds because I forgot our cribs turned into toddler beds.

We bought them adorable pine beds and they love them although they will be moving into their “big” full size beds any day now.
If I had seen this bed, I would have bought this one instead.
I love the bench on the end for reading or playing. If your little one didn’t sit on it, I would use it as a book shelf.

Plus the sale price tag doesn’t hurt either!

toddler beds, toddlers, parents, parenting, kids, preschoolers, baby gear, baby gifts, nursery, baby furniture,

Just because I had twins didn’t mean I needed to register for two of everything. There was a few things each of the babies needed and that was the Fisher PriceOcean Wonders Aquarium for the crib.

It has soft lights and bubbles and babies love it! There are three settings music, lights, bubbles & swimming fish, music & lights or music only. Three soothing songs play for up to 10 minutes.
When the child can sit up they can play with the buttons on the front and play with this toy my children did!

The only downshide is that this toy si heavy and if not put on the side of the crib very tightly it can scratch the crib. It also takes 4 C batteries and they do not last long. So invest in Duracell but if you have a child you already have!

Ocean Wonders Aquarium, crib toys, babies, infants, baby gear, baby toys, moms

Being green is very popular now. In our family we try to do our part and support our local organic farmers, recycle and just generally try to do our part. Even everything for baby comes in organic.

If you are looking for something earth friendly for you baby and organic mattress may be just what you are looking for. It is affordable and cost just as much as a traditional crib mattress that you would buy at any baby store. This one does not have any oils and is chemical free.

On the same site they offer crib sheets and receiving blankets. The site www.bunnyburybaby.com has the most adorable organic crib sheet sets. The lion print is so adorable you will want it for your own bed. They also offer coordinating accessories.

Go green and do the Earth and yourself a favor.

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There are so many products on the market for babies and kids that you do not need, or can live without. This next product is not a necessity but along with being pretty neat, it would be terrific for parents that travel often with their baby or do a lot of day trips to see family and friends.

The Korbi is a all in one travel bassinet, diaper bag and changing table. It is perfect for visiting homes without children. It comes in three pretty colors and folds up so easily. It also looks really easy to clean up spills or accidents.

I could have used one of these (or two!) for all of my trips with our twins after they were born.

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