babies

There are a million things to figure out when you become a parent, and picking the right baby gear is just one. Car seats make it even more potentially complicated, because not only do you want to select the right car seat, you want to make sure you’re installing it and using it correctly, too. I’ve got five tips to help you navigate the car seat world and keep your little one a little safer. Here’s the first: 

1. Select a car seat based on your child’s age and size. Not every 5-year-old is built the same, so look at weight and height requirements to see which one seems like the best fit. If your child is growing rapidly, you’ll want to select a seat that has a higher limit so you can safely get more use out of it for a longer period of time.

For the rest of these tips, please visit my guest post over at the Holt Alfa Romeo Fiat dealership blog.

Note: We received a pair of Mocc Ons and a pair of Plod Ons. We were not compensated monetarily for this post. All opinions are honest and are our own.

If you’re the parent of an infant or toddler you know how difficult (impossible, really) it can be to keep socks on those little feet! They fall off, they’re pulled off… they just don’t stay on. An issue we’ve discovered with socks, too, is that they cause baby E to slip on our hardwood floors.

Mocc Ons are a great solution to this issue –  they’re moccasin style slipper socks, designed to fit babies from six months up to three years. They’re made of cotton stitched to a leather sole.

E really liked her “shoes” as she called them. They were really easy to slip on, and she immediately took off to play!

I even had her try them out on our hardwood floors and they did a great job of keeping her from slipping around. In Texas it’s a little warm for her to wear these right now but I know we’ll get a LOT of use out of them come fall and winter!

Mocc Ons are available on Amazon and other retailers in a variety of styles perfect for girls or boys. You can also keep up with the company on Facebook.

Note: I am participating in a compensated Seventh Generation campaign with The Motherhood.  All thoughts and opinions are honest and are my own.

I’ve been a big fan of Seventh Generation products for a while, and now I have another reason to love them – they’re helping to raise awareness about all the chemicals our children are exposed to so we can try to make the world a healthier place for our kids.  Seventh Generation and The Motherhood have partnered up with Healthy Child Healthy World for a Twitter Party  tomorrow, June 25, at  noon Central time, to talk about creating a healthy environment for our babies and kids.

I got to go to a virtual party the other day with Seventh Generation, The Motherhood, Healthy Child Healthy World, and Stonyfield Organic –  and was really surprised at some things I learned. Like, did you know that indoor air can be more polluted than outdoor air? It’s a good idea to open up your windows and let fresh air in! I know that’s just one of many tips I’ll be employing in our home. Here are a few other actions you can take to decrease chemical exposure for your kiddos:

1.Take off your shoes at the door: 85 percent of the dirt in our homes is tracked inside on the bottom of our shoes. It’s not just dirt, but toxics like lead, pesticides, gasoline residue and more. Keep your home safer by taking off your shoes. It’s the public health equivalent of washing your hands.

2.Buy safer body care: Children are exposed to an average of 27 care product ingredients on a daily basis that have not been found safe for developing bodies. Protect your family’s health by avoiding products with ingredients like parabens, synthetic fragrances & triclosan. For a list of most-toxic offenders, download our free eBook, “Easy Steps to a Healthy & Safe Nursery.”

3.Eat more whole foods: Processed foods may be convenient, but they’re also loaded with sweeteners, artificial flavors and colorings, and synthetic preservatives. These lack nutrients and many are also linked to health issues like ADHD and even cancer.

•  Research from the University of Washington suggests you can immediately and dramatically reduce the pesticide content in a child’s body by switching to organic foods.
• Stonyfield Organic offers an arrangement of foods for babies, kids and adults; pure, delicious organic yogurts, smoothies, soy yogurts, ice cream and milk.
• They are all made without: Synthetic hormones, Toxic Persistent Pesticides, GMOs, & Artificial Ingredients

4.Ban the can: Bisphenol-A (BPA), a hormone disruptor that has been linked to everything from obesity to cancer, is in the plastic resin that lines most canned goods—from soups to sodas. Look for foods packaged in glass or eat fresh, dried, and frozen options.

For more easy steps, visit www.healthychild.org/easysteps

You can also urge senators to strengthen and pass the Chemical Safety Improvement Act (CSIA) – just click here to find and message your senator!

And did you know you can host your own Healthy Baby Home Party? Healthy Baby Home Party began four years ago as a way to spread awareness of the dangers of chemicals among moms and caregivers. There will be 2,000 Healthy Baby Parties going on among moms in homes, churches, schools and more!

And, don’t miss this… you can get a $1 off eCoupon for Seventh Generation products! 

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Of course, don’t forget about the Twitter party I mentioned at the beginning of this post! Please join us tomorrow, Tuesday, June 25, at 1p ET/noon CT/10a PT to learn more about this important topic while learning simple, affordable ways you can make your home safer.

Where: Twitter – follow the #HealthyBaby hashtag to track the conversation. You can see the details and RSVP via this Twtvite: http://twtvite.com/healthybabyparty – but if you don’t RSVP, you can still attend!

Prizes: Five prizes will be awarded throughout the party to participants who respond correctly to trivia questions. Each winner will receive a package of Seventh Generation products.

Hosts: @theMotherhood, @CooperMunroe, @EmilyMcKhann, @SeventhGen

Note: We received a gift card to acquire clothing to facilitate this review. All opinions are honest and are my own.

If you’re the parent of children, it’s likely that you’ve heard of Gymboree. Their clothing for babies and kids is high quality, affordable, and OH-so-cute! As much as I love shopping for my boys, I had an absolute field day shopping for E from the Gymboree site. The hardest part was honestly just whittling down my huge list of what I wanted!

I ended up getting several outfits for E, including a flower girl dress for my brother’s upcoming wedding (stay tuned for pics of that in early July!). Check out my absolutely adorable finds:

LOVE this sweet shirt and shorts set. The polka dots, the bow, the embroidery – need I say more? It’s a great breezy outfit for the Texas summer heat.

This seersucker shirt and coordinating chambray shorts are another favorite. The materials are light and I love how the pieces are tied together with the buttons.

I can’t tell you how many compliments we’ve gotten on this little shirt and jeans set – the coordinating details Gymboree thinks of just go above and beyond what you find at other places. And aren’t the shoes just perfect? They’re still a little big, but soon she’ll be able to wear them with this outfit, the one above, and other outfits too.

This last outfit is one I’d totally want if they made it grown-up size. Soooo cute, right? She can wear both pieces separately, too, which adds to the versatility of them both.

Have you been to the Gymboree site lately? If not, I’d hightail it over there… I’m already eyeing new items, like this great zebra-print set:

Or, just in time for summer, this patriotic set (so perfect for 4th of July, isn’t it?):

And don’t forget, I’ll be back with another post after my brother’s wedding to show you the flower girl dress I got for E – it is so sweet!