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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

The best thing about these giveaways is that all you need to do is log in to be entered to win! So head on over to Babygizmo.com and log in everyday for your chance to win one of these fantastic prizes! Oh and don’t forget about the Santa Baby Photo Contest starting today where you can win a sassy Peg Perego Skate Stroller.

The Potty Tots is a unique and amazing potty training tool for toddlers, consisting of a diverse cast of preschool friendly characters that encourage. In the kit, parents will find everything they need for a fun, stress-free potty training experience. Included in the kit are:

• Potty Training Guide Book - A colorful story book which addresses the challenges of potty training.
• Illustrated Potty Training Chart - A step-by-step chart which goes over the six essential steps of potty training.
• Animated DVD - The animated story of the book featuring the Potty Tots characters and fun songs to learn.
• Progress Game - A positive-reinforcement game which allows your child to track their progress with potty training.

In addition to the kit, parents can access online community resources to help with the potty training process on PottyTots.com.

Although my son was already day-trained when I received the kit, we were still having issues with nighttime wetting and also with not wanting to poop in the potty. I decided to give Potty Tots a try in order to see if we could work on these two issues. Within, three days my son was waking up dry in the mornings and had his first real poop in the potty. He was still inconsistent with the pooping but by the time two weeks went by, he had successfully pooped four times in the potty without any intervention on my part. I now look forward to using the Potty Tots kit with my youngest son who is a few months away from tackling potty training. I know this is going to make the task so much easier for the both of us.

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POTTY TOTS Potty Training Kit GIVEAWAY!

The Wise Mommy, along with Potty Tots, is happy to host a giveaway for a Potty Tots Training Kit! We will be giving away two kits - one for boys and one for girls!

Take a look at the Potty Tots website and then just leave your thoughts about Potty Tots and whether you would need a boy’s kit or a girl’s kit! The giveaway will run until Nov. 24th 11:59pm EST. Two random winners (one for the boy’s kit and one for the girl’s kit) will be chosen on Nov. 25th and the winners will be notified by email. Good luck everyone!

Designed for children ages three to about six (65-pound maximum weight per passenger), the Power Wheels F150 is a two-seat life-like truck that steers, stops, and goes in reverse like the real thing. We really like the Power Wheels that Fisher-Price designed with the new Monster Traction system. Also called “Ultimate Terrain Traction”, this is a high-performance drive system that takes on the toughest backyard driving conditions. We live on 2 acres of land, mostly grass, and have a gravel driveway, and this Power Wheel commands it all. The truck drives in two speeds, 2.5 mph and 5 mph, with a safety lock-out for beginners so that they drive only at the slower speed until they become more experienced to drive at the higher speed. The truck also has several cool features, such as a real-working FM radio, lift-and-lower tailgate with truck bed for storage, pretend seat belts, built-in cup holders and a battery charge indicator. The battery is easy to charge and lasts about 30 minutes per charge, so I recommend getting a second battery if you plan to have your kids driving this often.

Fisher-Price has several other styles of vehicles with the new Monster Traction, including the Arctic Cat 650, Jeep Hurricane, Kawasaki KFX Ninja, and the A.T. Rex. Power Wheels are covered by a limited 1-year “Bumper-to-Bumper” warranty from the manufacturer.

The LEGO Quatro blocks are the largest of the LEGO series of blocks, intended for ages 1-3. These blocks are made of a softer material than standard LEGOs and are very easy for small children to grasp. Because of their size they do not pose a choke hazard like some of the smaller LEGOs do with very young children. The LEGO Quatro Bucket comes in a see-through bucket with 20 colorful various-sized blocks and a lid that can be used as a building base.

On the other hand, LEGO Duplo blocks are for the slightly older child, age 2-5. These are compatible with the LEGO Quatro blocks - as children grow they can connect elements from both sets using a 4-stud Duplo brick as a connector. The Duplo sets also come in several different varieties such as Thomas the Train, Dinosaurs, and Zoo Animals.

I highly recommend these LEGO sets for younger children, as they really stir the imagination and provide hours of play and creativity!

The Vidalia Chop Wizard is a better way to chop vegetables, fruit, cheese, and more. It consists of a 2 cup catch container which doubles as a measuring cup, large blade for chopping, small blade for dicing, and a lid cleaning tool.  The blades allow you to chop food swiftly and safely, since your finger don’t come in contact with the blades when chopping.

I used the Vidalia Chop Wizard to make a tuna salad the other day and it took me all of 5 minutes to have every ingredient (onion, celery, hard-boiled egg, etc.) finely diced and ready to go. No onion crying either! I use it to chop my son’s apples everyday - all it takes is three swift motions and the apple is chopped in less than a 30 seconds! And my husband even tried it today to dice tomatoes, celery, green pepper, and cucumbers for a salad he was preparing for work tomorrow. He was very impressed and said that he’ll be using it from now on to chop and dice fruits and vegetables.