Babes and Kids

Just saying it, "Bathketball"  makes you feel like a little kid again.  I know you are silently saying it to yourself this very minute, right? :)  I was looking for new bath toys for Chandler right around his 2nd birthday.  I found this at Walmart and decided to give it a try.

"Baby Wearing" is becoming more and more popular. It seems like I'm seeing lots of parents with carriers, slings, and wraps. I used my friend's baby bjorn for a few days with Chandler and knew I wanted to have one when I had Rowan.

Pros: The support for this carrier is excellent. I have used other carriers such as the snugli which is much cheaper but doesn't have near the support. It has wider padded straps which help distribute the weight of baby. It's also very easy to put your baby in by yourself which is a must. The front of the carrier completely opens so that you don't wake baby up when getting them out. I like how your baby can face against you while young and have support while feeling cradled and warm. When baby gets older they can face outward and the top of the carrier can be folded down so baby can look around and interact with others. There is a size adjustment strap on the bottom of the carrier that grows as baby does. You can use this carrier from 8-25 lbs and from 21 inches. This also washes up really nicely and keeps looking new after lots of use. I used this from the time Rowan was born, and are still using it at 8 months. (He's about 19 lbs right now) It is VERY durable and holds up.

Cons: I remember wishing that this carrier had support around the waist as most of the weight is on your shoulder. Baby Bjorn now makes these with a waist strap, although the one I have doesn't have it. It is a bit tricky to figure out this carrier at first if you don't throughly read through the instructions. If you read through them, however and practice putting it on before you use it it isn't bad.

The Bottom Line: Great carrier and worth the investment.

Price: $79.99, but I know you can find these cheaper. I watched for sales and got mine for $40 off Amazon

Where to Buy: Amazon, Target

Rating: Great

I borrowed a traditional baby bouncer from my friend when I had Chandler, so I wanted one of my own with Rowan. My mom said she would buy us a bouncer and ended up getting us this Infant to Toddler Rocker made by Fisher Price. I wasn't sure how much I would like it since it didn't bounce like a normal bouncer.

Pros: This is a versatile rocker you can use from birth, up until 40 lbs. Chandler, who is almost 3 and 31 lbs sits in it and it is very sturdy. It has a recline position, or a stopper/kickstand that keeps it from rocking. This is great for infants who can't support their head as it lays them back. There is also a toybar with 3 animals for baby to look at and play with. The two toys on the sides have spinning balls in them with rattles. These two toys are a hard plastic. The toy in the middle has a handle to pull. When pulled it plays Old McDonald, and is a soft teething toy. The toybar is removable and so are the individual toys which is a nice plus. One thing that I'm glad this rocker had was the vibrating feature. It takes 2 D batteries. As baby gets older and is able to support their head, you can put the kickstand back so the chair will rock. The back part of the seat also has 2 recline positions. As your child gets older and enters the toddler stage, this is the perfect little chair for reading books or watching television. I like that Chandler can sit in it and I don't have to worry about him breaking it. It has a nice hard metal frame. The cover is also easy to take off and washes up nice in the washing machine.

Cons: The seat of this chair is made up of a hard wood. I don't think it would be extremely comfortable but neither of my boys have seemed to mind. The vibrating is very subtle on this chair thus making it easy to forget to turn it off. I've wasted a lot of batteries by forgetting to turn it off and just leave the batteries out now. I wish the toy bar were a little more interactive. Although I like the rocking feature, I miss the bounce of traditional bouncy seats. Also, if you take this out of recline position when baby is still learning to support their head, they tend to throw themselves forward.

The Bottom Line: A good alternative to a bouncy seat that will grow with your child

Price: $31.00

Where to Buy: Amazon

Rating: OK

From first looking at the title of this post, you probably aren't sure what to expect. However, when I saw this product and what it was used for, I knew I had to have it. Boon is dedicated to innovative products and anything that makes my life easier is great.

Pros: This is a one handed feeding spoon. There are only 2 pieces. You unscrew the orange part to put baby foods in, and screw it back onto the clear plastic spoon part. This works great with 1st, 2nd and some 3rd baby foods. It also works well with rice cereal that isn't made too thick as the spoon is designed for purees. There is a small hole in the bottom of the spoon to let the food through. All you do is squeeze the orange part and more food is dispensed into the spoon. I like how the spoon is angled so you always have purees ready to come into the spoon part. As many moms know, when your little one is hungry, they want it now. This spoon is great for quicker, less messy eating. It is also incredibly easy to clean and is dishwasher safe on the top rack. It makes feeding time so much cleaner as well. There is also a removable cap that goes on the spoon part which makes this spoon ideal for the diaper bag and eliminates jars and other baby food containers. When you are done feeding baby on the go, put the cap back on, and throw it back in the diaper bag. No messes, I love it. It also comes in pink in addition to the orange.

Cons: I wish I would have found this spoon sooner because it doesn't work with chunky foods. Therefore you can't use it as long as you'd like. The spoon is also a little deep making it somewhat hard sometimes when baby is trying to get all of the food from it.

Bottom Line: Great investment, easy to use, recommended from about 4 months.

Price: $7.99

Where to Buy: Amazon

Rating: Great

What are your favorite memories of Halloween? What will you or your child be this year? Any Halloween products you can't live without? Answer one or all of these questions as a comment below and be entered to win a Halloween Tee from Old Navy for your child. In addition to your comment, if you send me an e-mail with a review of your favorite Halloween children's product/costume you will get an extra entry. (Reviews will be featured in a special Halloween review - Please review a product or costume you have already used) Send the e-mail with a picture to post on the site and you will get 2 entries! E-mails should be sent to snedfam@gmail.com There will be 2 winners for this giveaway, and the last day to enter is October 3rd. Thanks for reading!

Learning to self feed can be a little messy. Ok - so not just a little messy....VERY MESSY. It seems like it has been my destiny to clean the kitchen floor like 10 times a day. With an almost 3 year old who doesn't always "aim" right, and an 8 month exploring self feeding, there's always all sorts of treasures on my floor. I know many moms know this all too well. How about another product to add to that?

Pros: These Lil' Dippers are designed for babies learning to self feed. They are a small chunky utensil that has a soft grip wide handle on one side. On the other side is a hard plastic that resembles a fork without space in between the prongs. It is a nice for teething if anything else. The concept is that the baby will dip the hard plastic part into food and then bring it up to his/her mouth and chew on it - thus helping the self feeding process along. Good concept. It is also great as it helps your baby not to gag themselves as the plastic part is not very long, like they would with a spoon.

Cons: Maybe this is better for older kids, but I assume my child is at the self feeding stage at 8 months as he has mastered his pincher grip. I put a small bowl of sweet potatoes in front of Rowan, a lil' dipper in each hand and observed. He immediately dropped his little utensils and stuck his hands in bowl. Then he held up his fingers and started squishing it through, smiling at the sound it made, and probably at how it felt too. I tried again with him, this time guiding his hand and the lil' dipper down to the puree and then back into his mouth. He seemed to like it, but liked chewing on the lil' dipper more. I had to guide him each time as to what he was supposed to do. The little grooves really don't hold a whole lot either.

So an overall good idea, but not really necessary. I'd rather give Rowan a soft spoon to hold while I am feeding him, and let him chew on that.

Price: $3-4 for a 2 pack

Where to Buy: Diapers.com, Target

Rating: Ok

The other day I bought a pair of these ever so popular Baby Legs and my husband was a little baffled. Here is how our conversation went:

"Look at these cute new baby legs!"

"Baby legs....what are baby legs?"

"They are like a leg warmer accessory for babies!"

"I don't get it?"

"What don't you get? They make diaper changing easier, and keep his legs warm!"

"Don't pants keep his legs warm?"

At this point I am a little flustered...

"They are a cute accessory for babies, I wouldn't expect you to understand. Maybe it's a woman thing."

So even though he still doesn't really "understand" baby legs, I don't care. I love them.

Pros: I like the reason that they were created. A mom was trying to air out her baby's bum from diaper rash. She didn't want her baby's legs to get cold so she created a pair of baby legs for her to heal. They also serve the purpose of easier diaper changing. If your baby is wearing a onesie and pants, there is one more thing to get through to change a diaper. However, with the baby legs, you just have to deal with the onesie. Baby legs come in different varieties: An Original, Supersoft, Vermont Organic Cotton, and Vermont Organic Wool. We have a pair of the original. They are a lot like a warm sock and are a cotton, polyester, spandex blend. They are so cute and come in tons of different designs as well. These are popular not only with girls but boys. I probably wouldn't put these on my little guy when he gets a little older, but they are great while he is still a small baby. They are great for crawling too as they help protect those little knees. I've seen them also worn on little girls in place of tights. I've heard they are also great little kids and potty training.

Cons: After a couple washes, our baby legs started piling a bit but I guess that is to be expected. I'm not sure how the supersoft or organic hold up as we don't have either of those. They tend to leave marks on Rowan's thighs as I mentioned before because he is a little chubby. I'm also finding myself pulling them up quite a bit.

Price: $12

Where to Buy: Baby Legs Site, Target (I picked Rowan's baby legs up at Target)

Rating: Great