My youngest son’s favorite lovey is his Snoedel, even now after his second birthday. Originally, when my oldest son was born, he had to stay in the NICU for 5 days. This was where we received our first Snoedel to help with the bonding process between myself and him since I was not able to hold him and cuddle with him the way I wanted to. I was told to hold the Snoedel close to me so that it could capture my “scent” and that he could become closer to me while he lay in his NICU bed. Three years later that original Snoedel is still with us, having been adopted by my youngest son as his absolute favorite lovey, that he has affectionately named “Buddy”. We even went so far as to order a second “Buddy” since he is now attending daycare and needed a second one to snuggle with during naptime at daycare. His Snoedel now go with us wherever we travel and he always sleeps with them at night and naptimes. We would truly be lost without these wonderful loveys - they have been the one and only thing to keep him happy and comforted when he sleeps and when he’s at daycare.

From the website : “Snoedel is the original sleeping and bonding aid for babies completely handcrafted in the United States by moms, grandmothers, and female college students under “newborn-safe” conditions (environments free of tobacco and perfumes.) It is comprised of 100% natural fibers and has been safe for use with all babies including newborns, premature infants, and other babies in Neonatal Intensive Care units.”

Snoedels are a soft cotton flannel doll, which is designed to absorb a parent’s scent. The premise of the Snoedel is that a babies sense of smell is the first thing that bonds the child to the parent. Not only is the Snoedel wonderful for initial bonding, it can serve as a security blanket or lovey later in life, as it has with my 2 year old. The Snoedel is completely safe for machine washing and drying and is able to be sterilized in a hospital environment.

To purchase one of these wonderful Snoedels, please go to Snoedel.com. Enter WM5 for $5.00 off your total Snoedel order! There you will find a beautiful selection of Snoedels in all types of colorful fabrics - both for boys and girls, as well as gender-neutral styles. They also carry a line of Toddler Snoedels that are larger and designed for children over the age of one.

Popularity: 8% [?]

My children have been in Britax car seats all their lives, and I couldn’t be happier knowing that we are safe anytime we have to drive anywhere. Britax is the leader in the car seat industry. They have several patented innovations which help make your child safe in your vehicle and work to minimize movement of the seat and your child in the event of a collision.

The first is their patented True Side Impact Protection™ system which helps transfer energy away from your child in the event of a side impact collision. As explained on the BritaxUSA.com website, the design features of their True Side Impact Protection™ system include: 1) an energy-absorbing foam liner over a stiff structure to distribute crash forces; 2) side walls that shield the child from vehicle intrusion; 3) deep head wings and side wings for head and body containment; and 4) an adjustable head support to minimize lateral head movement during a crash. These features are extremely important since data shows that 25% of all vehicle crashes are the result of a side impact collision.

Second, Britax’s patented Versa-Tether® system reduces movement of the seat in both the forward and rear-facing positions by having two attachment points on the child seat and anchoring the top of the car seat to the vehicle. The two attachment points feature the LATCH system, but the seat can also be installed using your vehicles seat belts if it is not LATCH capable. I have found that my Britax car seats were very easy to install with the LATCH system and are incredibly stable having nearly no movement side-to-side or forward and backward, no matter how hard I try to push on them.

Third, Britax offers five-point harnessed seats with their patented HUGS™ (Harness Ultra Guard System) which reduces a child’s forward head movement in the event of a crash. These car seats also allow for higher weight capacities up to 65 pounds in convertibles and 80 pounds in youth seats. Their seats also have the feature of being able to remain rear-facing up to 35 pounds. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children ride rear facing to the highest weight or height allowed by the manufacturer, so this is a wonderful feature that allows your child to remain rear-facing longer than other car seats.

Britax car seats come in several styles, from compact convertible to combination booster, in order to best fit your child for their specific age and weight. For more information regarding Britax car seats and their safety features please visit their website at BritaxUSA.com.

Popularity: 11% [?]

We have a winner this year! One of the best Christmas presents my boys received this year were the Melissa and Doug Cardboard Blocks. Sometimes the simplest toys are the ones our kids love most. These colorful blocks have occupied most of my boys’ time out of all of the presents they received. It has been non-stop fun ever since we opened them!

The Melissa and Doug Cardboard Blocks are very durable and colorful blocks that really touch the imagination. These blocks are made of a heavy duty cardboard but are very light, so even my youngest son can easily build and stack them. My boys have built forts, race tracks, towers and have had a blast not only building but knocking it all down as well. My husband has had a fun time with the boys building all sorts of things, even to the point where he asked me to buy another set so that we could have even more blocks to build bigger things.

The blocks come in three different sizes: small yellow, medium blue, and large red. One red block is the same size as two blue blocks or four yellow blocks. It takes a while to put all the blocks together as they come disassembled in their original packaging. But once you get the hang of it, it’s even fun to assemble these blocks for your kids.

Popularity: 21% [?]

A new obsession has swept my house, and that is Disney Pixar’s Wall-E. Wall-E is an adorable little robot with the huge task of cleaning up Earth after it becomes covered in garbage. He is the last robot left of the “Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class” robots that were assigned 700 years ago to clean up the environmental mess left by man-kind. Even though Wall-E doesn’t say anything in the first 25 minutes of the movie, he has captured my son’s heart and we’ve watched the movie it at least a dozen times.

My son now wants to wear his Wall-E shirt to preschool, and also wants to take his plush to show-and-tell. He sleeps with his plush and carries him around the house, talking to him as if he were his best buddy. Disney has done a great job in marketing this new Pixar movie, by having a huge amount of Wall-E merchandise. You can get a Wall-E lunchbox, backpack, blanket, sheet set - the list goes on and on. And he is just so darn cute that it’s hard to resist!

So, if you and your kids haven’t seen the movie, I highly recommend it. But just be aware that they may be asking for a bunch of Wall-E stuff for Christmas or their birthdays!

Popularity: 13% [?]

With the environmental concerns of today and the trend toward “being green” in today’s society, cloth diapering has never been more popular among parents as it has been in recent years. I have cloth diapered both of my children early on in their lives, and absolutely loved it!  Some of my favorite cloth diapers which I used were Blueberry Diapers. Cloth diapers can come in all types of styles, shapes, and sizes, and from Blueberry, I was especially pleased with the One Size Deluxe Snap and the Stuffable AIO diapers.

The One Size Deluxe Snap diaper is a “pocket diaper” which consists of an outer layer of waterproof material and an inner layer of microfleece to help wick moisture away from your baby’s skin. A great feature of this diaper is that it is adjustable in both size and absorbency as your baby grows, ranging from 8-35 pounds. Included with the diaper is a microfiber/hemp insert which gets stuffed into the “pocket” of the diaper for absorbency. It’s easy to add another insert to increase absorbency, for example during overnight use. Pocket diapers are definitely a favorite of mine. Because the absorbent insert separates from the outer pocket, the diaper takes less time to dry then an All-In-One (AIO) diaper.

Howevers, AIOs have their own great features, and they tend to be a favorite of daycares, baby sitters, and grandparents due to their ease of use. The Blueberry Stuffable AIO is a 1-piece system that is put on your baby just like you would a disposable diaper, only you don’t throw it away. It is made with a waterproof outer layer, an inner fabric layer that wicks wetness away, and a sewn in 3-layer soaker pad made of high quality microfiber terry. This AIO, however, can also act like a pocket diaper since you can stuff an insert inside in order to increase the absorbency.

And in case you were wondering, washing cloth diapers isn’t as difficult as you might think. For a detailed introduction into how to wash cloth diapers check out Cloth Diaper Laundry - Cleaning How-To’s.

So, if you are considering cloth diapering or are already cloth diapering your little ones, definitely give Blueberry diapers a try - you’ll love them! To order Blueberry diapers, inserts, and accessories you can go to Blueberrydiapers.com or Swaddlebees.com.

Popularity: 15% [?]