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: 7% [?]

I never gave a second thought to the everyday products I used to clean my house prior to having children. However, after my son was born I started to realize that it was practically impossible to keep my son from coming into contact with the toxic chemicals in these cleaners. So, it was with great excitement and relief when I heard about cleaning products that are non-toxic, organic, and 100% safe to use around children, namely Babyganics.

Currently, my 8 month old is teething and has the need to chew on everything - toys, furniture, remote controls, you name it and he’s chewed on it. So, my dilemma was how to clean my house and the items with which he comes into contact, without exposing him to harmful ingredients in the standard brand-name cleaners that we use. Plus, everytime I washed my floor, I had to make sure to rinse it several times in order to try and get rid of any residue left by the standard household floor cleaner, which certainly took quite a long time to do. When I first used Babyganics, I noticed that my cleaning time was cut in half - no more need to rinse and rinse and rinse. Best of all, the Babyganics line of cleaners worked even better than the brand-name cleaners I had been using! The shine on my oven and microwave was streakless and perfect! My son even helped me test out the All-Purpose Household Cleaner when he delightfully took a crayon to my countertop. The crayon just wiped right off - no scrubbing, just Babyganics and a plain old rag. This line of cleaning products is truly fantastic and it is 100% safe!

Babyganics has four different cleaners available for all types of cleaning jobs: Tub & Tile, All-Purpose Household, Floor, and Glass & Surface. Babyganics products are available nationwide in retailers such as Babies “R” Us and in select Wal-Marts and Target stores, or you can purchase them directly from the Babyganics Website and use coupon code “hbb10″ for 10% off your entire order and free shipping on orders $30.

Babyganics is also available for purchase through Amazon.

I highly recommend Babyganics cleaners to everyone so that we can keep our children safe and healthy, and so that we can do our part in helping to reduce toxins in the environment.

Popularity: 8% [?]

When I breastfed my children, I needed to pump breastmilk in order to increase my supply and also to store some for times when I would not be home. I had tried the electric pump while in the hospital, but for some reason I wasn’t able to express much milk and I could never find a setting which seemed comfortable. I then decided to purchase a manual pump so that I could control the rate of pumping, the flow, and the comfort. I decided to try the Avent ISIS manual breast pump since I already had the Avent bottles, and I knew the two were compatible with one another. After trying it for the first time, I realized that I was more relaxed because it seemed more comfortable to use, and thus I was able to express more breastmilk. I then used the Avent bottles to store the milk in the refrigerator - it was super simple! Plus the Avent ISIS was so much more quiet and discrete than the electric pump.

The Avent ISIS breast pump features a trademarked Let Down Massage Cushion for faster and easier let-down and has been clinically proven to be as effective as an electric breast pump. The pump is interchangable with the Avent bottles, which allows you to pump, store, and feed from the same containers, reducing time and cleanup. For more information, please visit Avent’s website.

Popularity: 8% [?]

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: 7% [?]

The Cuisinart Mini Prep Plus food processor/blender is one of the most used items in my kitchen, especially since having my children. Just yesterday I used it to chop up a chunky vegetable soup, in order to get my son to eat it. He loves soup but is not fond of vegetables, and the only way to get him to eat his veggies is to chop up or mince the vegetables in the soups he eats. The Cuisinart processor is actually best at making purees, whether for making homemade baby food or vegetable purees for sauces (or hiding veggies in you toddler’s favorite foods). Afterwards, it is very easy to clean, as it only has three pieces: the bowl, the lid, and the blade. I simply put all three in the dishwasher and am done.

The Cuisinart Mini Prep Plus food processor has only two buttons on it: chop and grind. They basically have the same function, only they cause the blades to turn in opposite directions. When chopping foods or mincing, you need only to pulse the button two or three times. Holding the button down will create your puree in seconds. The bowl holds up to three cups of food and the entire processor as a whole is very compact, standing only about 9 inches tall. The Cuisinart Mini Prep Plus is available in five colors: brushed chrome, black, red, white, and pink. For more information about this item visit Cuisinart’s website.

Popularity: 3% [?]