As a mother of two under the age of three, the task of using the public restrooms has become a scary one, especially when you think about your little ones hands touching all of the nastiness in the bathroom. Gotta Go Mitts have made using the public restroom much less daunting and have helped protect my little one’s hands from touching any less than sanitary surfaces. My oldest absolutely loves to put on his mitts to go potty, and I am so thrilled that his hands don’t have to come into contact with the toilet seat. Gotta Go Mitts have become a necessity to have with me at all times. I keep them in my purse so that I have them handy where ever we go. And with the Spring and Summer season approaching with fairs and festivals, I am truly glad to have found this wonderful product to make going potty outside the home a much more pleasant experience.

Gotta Go Mitts were developed by a stay-at-home mom and mother of two who was concerned about her children’s cleanliness when out of the house. They are made from a thin 100% polyethylene material and are completely waterproof. They come in a small, discrete package, containing 20 mitts, which can easily be put in your diaper bag or purse, and the mitts dispense easily one at a time. They slip on little hands easily and can fit hands of children up to age 7. Additionally, there are many different uses for Gotta Go Mitts other than just protecting hands while in the bathroom. You can use them to prevent hands from getting dirty when your children are, for example, eating popsicles or ice cream, and you can use them when if your child is riding in a grocery cart. The possibilities are endless! For additional information and to order Gotta Go Mitts, please visit the Gotta Go Mitts Website.

GIVEAWAY!

Leave your thoughts and comments about the Gotta Go Mitts and win a pack to try for yourself! The Wise Mommy will be giving away one pack to two lucky commenters! The two readers will be chosen at random on April 27, 2008 at 11:59pm EST, and will be sent a package of Gotta Go Mitts complements of Stephanie at Gottagomitts.com! So leave your comment for your chance to try out this great product!

Popularity: 49% [?]

One of my biggest worries lately has been how to keep my preschooler safe in parking lots while taking his baby brother out of the car seat. He is at that age that he tries to wander off sometimes while I am taking the baby out of the car. So, when I heard about the Parking Pal Magnet, I jumped at the chance to try it out to see if it helped keep my son standing at the car, rather than wandering off away from us. Before we went to the doctor last week I showed the magnet to my son and explained to him that when he got out of the car he had to keep his hand on the magnet until we were ready to go. When we got to the parking lot, I whipped out the Parking Pal Magnet and placed it on the side of the car where I would be taking my youngest out. I brought my oldest out and showed him the magnet, and would you believe he stood there with his hand on the magnet the entire time I was taking my youngest out of the car! This was great! It seemed to give him a fun game to play while waiting for mommy. He was so proud of himself that he stood there with his hand on the magnet, and I was proud of him too.

The Parking Pal Magnet is a fun, colorful magnet with playful illustrations and a palm drawn in the middle. It gives kids a place to put their hands when they are outside of the car, essentially keeping them in a “safe spot” away from the dangers out in the parking lot. The mission of the Parking Pal Magnet is to keep children safe and reduce injuries in parking lots. So whether you’re loading or unloading packages, rifling for keys, or tending to the baby, it helps keep your kids focused and prevents them from running off. It was invented by a mom with three kids, who needed a way to keep her kids focused to reduce the likelihood of them wandering around or bolting away from the car. I am very impressed with how well this works for us and definitely feel it is a great product to have on the side of your car to help keep your little ones safe. For more information and to get your own Parking Pal Magnet, please go to the Parking Pal Website.

Popularity: 44% [?]

Living up north and having to run the heat all winter long makes for very dry air inside my home. I needed a small humidifier for each of my boys’ rooms to help ease their breathing especially at night. I found the Crane Adorable Humidifiers in Target for about $30, and thought I had nothing to lose. Well, I am super happy I took the plunge and bought two, one for each of their rooms. The Crane Adorable Humidifier, first off, is just a super cute addition to any nursery or kid’s bedroom. It is whisper quiet, even on the maximum setting. And even though the capacity is small, I have had a fill last two full days and nights at a comfortable humidity setting, and at the maximum setting, a fill will last about 11 hours

The Crane Adorable Humidifier is an ultrasonic cool mist humidifier which has a one gallon capacity. The removable water tank is easy to carry and refill, fitting in most standard bathroom sinks, and it is also very easy to clean as the design is simple and smooth. A simple turn knob on the front adjusts the mist output into the room, and can be set to have up to a 2.1 gallon water output per day. The humidifier is equipped with an auto-shut off when the tank is empty. The Crane Adorable Humidifiers come in several colorful animal versions: Cat, Frog, Pig, Panda, Cow, Elephant, and Penguin. Definitely a cute, colorful, and healthy addition to any child’s bedroom!

Popularity: 47% [?]

I have a ton of cabinets and drawers in my kitchen, all of which are off limits to my kids. Before my first son became mobile I did some research on safety locks, and I had a few ideas in mind. I was hoping to find locks which were easy to install, durable, concealable, and didn’t cause pinched fingers. I also needed the option to disengage them when needed without having to remove them. The Safety 1st Tot-Loks were the best fit for all of my needs. Now with my second son being mobile and having that “urge-to-get-into-everything” mindset, I am glad that I went with the Tot-Loks to keep the cabinets and drawers safely locked.

The Tot-Lok is a magnetic locking mechanism to keep cabinets and drawers locked. The only way to open the lock is to use the magnetic key placed against the outside of the door where the magnetic lock is located. We have three magnetic keys, placed in different spots throughout our kitchen. I do recommend having more than one key, because I have on a few occasions misplaced my lock somewhere in my kitchen and was happy to have the other keys available until the other one turned up behind my husband’s empty cereal box on the counter. You cannot see the locks because they are completely housed on the inside of the door and there is no gap when the door is closed so there is no potential for a toddler’s pinched fingers. The install was pretty easy, even through a drill needed to be involved since these locks are hard-mounted. Also, during my sons birthday party when I needed repeated access to the cabinets, I was able to disengage the locks so that the key was not needed for them to open.

Safety 1st Tot-Loks can be installed on drawer and cabinet doors that are 0.5-1.5 inches thick. They also come with a lifetime guarantee from the manufacturer!

Popularity: 10% [?]

Before the birth of my second son I set out to buy a new baby monitor. While browsing the store I came across the Angelcare Movement Sensor by BebeSounds. This monitor was the best money I have ever spent on a baby product.It has provided me with a peace-of-mind I never had with my first son. The monitor has both a movement and sound senor which are designed to detect your baby’s slightest movements, even those made from simple inhaling and exhaling. The best feature of the Angelcare Movement Sensor is that if does not detect any movement for twenty seconds, an alarm will sound. I actually tested this feature out because I was skeptical on how the monitor could detect anything through the baby’s thick mattress. The monitor passed every test. It really can detect the slightest movement even through the mattress, but is not overly sensitive to detect non-baby movements. And there is also a sensitivity setting so you can adjust to your homes conditions (wood floors feel more vibration = lower setting, carpet detects less vibration = higher setting). You really should test this out before putting a leap of faith into the monitor, but once you do I can promise you it really does help you sleep a little sounder at night.

The Angelcare Movement Sensor comes in three parts (motion sensor pad, nursery and parent unit) and is extremely easy to install. There are three settings on the nursery Unit. One setting is for sound only. Another setting is for sound and movement and features a “tic” sound every time baby moves (I passed on this option because my son was a light sleeper). The third setting is for sound and movement without the “tic” sound. This is the setting I use. I have experienced a few false alarms at night and let me tell you, I have never jumped higher or run faster in my life. But it only happens when the little guy scoots himself to the top of the crib and the senor did not pick up his movement/breathing.

Note: this is not a medical device nor can the Angelcare Movement Monitor prevent SIDS. For more information, please visit AngelCare.

This review has been written by our first guest writer: Kimmylyn - you can find her at Jogging in Circles.

Popularity: 13% [?]

I have some dangerous tables in my house which I purchased before I even thought about having children. The coffee table and end tables in my living room are wrought iron and granite with square edges. I needed a relatively stylish way to baby proof these tables all the way around and not just on the corners, so I ordered three black Toddler Shields, one for each of my tables. The black color does a good job of blending in with the furniture in the room. They are super easy to clean - you basically just wipe them with a rag. They come with extra foam padding which you can place in the corners too. I believe the Toddler Shield has done a wonderful job of protecting my children from sharp corners and edges.

The Toddler Shield comes in two colors: cream and black; and in three sizes: S(60-140″), M(141-192″), and L(193-270″). It fits all shapes of tables from square to oval or round. The material is non-toxic and flame retardant. You can purchase the Toddler Shield online at many of the baby safety stores, or you can purchase them through Amazon.

Popularity: 7% [?]

I recently went to my local grocery store after they remodeled the whole place, changing around where everything was located. I was so upset when I looked for my Hyland’s Teething Tablets and they were no longer on the shelf in the baby aisle where they used to be. Why the dissappointment? Well, Hyland’s Teething Tablets have been one of the most effective remedies in my household for relieving teething related crabbiness. And currently my 9 month old is in the throes of teething crabbies right now, which is why I ended up scouring the grocery store for another half an hour, before I finally found them in the pharmacy aisle.

Hyland’s Teething Tablets are a homeopathic remedy for the temporary relief of symptoms of simple restlessness and wakeful irritability due to cutting teeth. The tablets dissolve almost instantly when placed under the tongue. The Hyland’s Teething remedy is also available in a gel version which you just rub on your little ones gums. I’ll be honest - I don’t pretend to know how they work, all I know is that I have a happier little guy after giving these to him. I usually give these to my little one right before it is time to take a nap or bedtime, and they seem to help calm him down (i.e. he stops crying and is able to settle to sleep much better).

Hyland’s makes many different homeopathic remedies for babies’ ailments, ranging from colic to bedwetting. For more information about Hyland’s Teething Tablets or any of their other homeopathic remedies, please visit Hylands.com.

Popularity: 7% [?]

My 2 year old recently got over quite a bad illness where his temperature was soaring above 104. My husband and I had to monitor our son’s temperature constantly because he has a history of febrile seizures - about every four hours we would have to take my sons temperature. Worst of all, this bug lasted well over 2 weeks and my youngest son caught it as well! We were lucky enough to have bought the Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer a few months ago to have on hand. Our children would never be able to sit still enough for either a rectal or underarm reading, so with all the many temperature readings we went through just recently, it was nice to be able to non-invasively and quickly read our children’s temperatures.

The Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer uses infrared technology to allow you to sweep the thermometer gently across the forehead and get a very accurate temperature reading in less than a few seconds. It’s also extremely quiet, letting off very soft “beeps”, so typically it won’t wake your child up when using it while he or she is sleeping. It takes a few tries to get the hang of how to use the thermometer accurately, but once you do it becomes the easiest and quickest way to measure your child’s temperature day or night.  Also, because the Temporal Artery Thermometer is used externally it is sanitary, reduces the spread of germs, and is easy to clean.

For more information about the Exergen Temporal Artery Thermometer, please visit the Exergen Website.

Popularity: 12% [?]

There are times when you wish you could see what is going on with your little one when they are in bed without wanting to disturb them. For example, the past few days my son has been sick, and we have the Summer Infant Video Monitor setup in his bedroom overlooking his bed. I was able to comfortably and discretely watch my son while he slept without coming into the room and waking him. It was a relief to see him sleeping soundly. I have been using this monitor ever since he was born. It has given me peace of mind to be able to “see” instead of just hear what was going on in his crib or bed.

The Summer Infant Video Monitor has a nighttime function that automatically kicks in whenever the room gets dark. A small LED light gives off enough light that you can clearly see your child in the darkened room. The 5 inch display is sufficiently large that you can see a lot of detail. There is a sound function so that you can also listen to what is going on, and the screen has a convenient on/off function where you can turn the video off yet still have the sound portion of the monitor off. This way you don’t have to sleep with a bright screen staring you in the face at night.

Overall, the Summer Infant Video Monitor is a great item to have if you want to monitor your child day or night,and have the peace of mind being able to see them and know what they are doing. For more information on this and other video monitors by Summer Infant, including the dual camera and portable screen monitors, please visit Summer Infant’s Website.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Boudreaux’s Butt Paste is by far the best diaper rash cream that I have used to date. I regularly use it at night with disposable diapers as a preventative for diaper rash, and I also use it when needed if one of my children rarely happens to get a rash. The paste seems to have an immediate soothing effect, and within hours the rash is practically gone. The paste is a light brown color and has a pleasant smell. The tubes and jars of Boudreaux’s Butt Paste are both easy to use - I choose to use the tubes simply because I can get the paste out without dirtying up my hands. The cleanup is easy as well. The paste comes off very easily with a washcloth or wipe.

Boudreaux’s Butt Paste is available in 1,2, and 4 ounce tubes, as well as a 16 ounce jar. Click Here for more information about Boudreaux’s Butt Paste, as well as a free sample from the manufacturer.

Popularity: 7% [?]