Category — Baby Products

I have a cool contest for my Canadian readers today thanks to the awesome people at FabulousSavings. If you’d like to win a $50 gift card for Toys ‘R Us, keep reading!

The rules are simple.

Visit FabulousSavings.ca and answer the following question:

“Name a coupon listed in our Home & Garden category.”

Just leave a comment below with your answer and the winner will be chosen randomly on January 4, 2010 to receive a big fat $50 gift card.

You must be a Canadian resident to participate. Sorry to my dear readers outside of Canada. I’ll have something special for you soon!

Don’t forget to check out online coupons for Canada to save a few bucks!

Even though it may be the last thing you want to hear, the holidays are coming. Yes indeedy.

I normally love Christmas because I really enjoy spending time with my family and eating lots of good food! I especially love how much my kids love it. But figuring out what to buy everyone and seeing the bank statements at the end of the month isn’t quite as enjoyable.

I’m typically a huge procrastinator but this year I am on the ball. I know what everyone is getting and I’ll have it all before the middle of December which is a record for me. It’s a great feeling and a huge stress relief so it’s definitely worth it to get the gift part out of the way as early as possible.

I always like to come up with gifts that are memorable and meaningful when it comes to babies and adults. If there are any babies in your family, I have some cute personalized baby gift ideas that will be meaningful for years to come.

For older kids, toys are always a winner and I happen to know of some discounts going on at Chapters.Indigo.ca where you can get up to 75% off. Check them out and save some money. That’s where I bought half of my gifts last year.

Once you get all your shopping done, the only thing you’ll have to worry about is where to hide the presents so prying eyes won’t find them!

When I attend baby showers or someone in the family has a new baby, I’m always trying to think of some really cool gift ideas to give them.

I remember receiving a lot of onesies, bibs and diapers when my children were born, but how cute would personalized baby clothes be? Adorable!

When I was born, my dad had shirts made with my picture and name on them. I still have mine and I always will. They’re great gift ideas because they’re practical AND they become keepsakes. Plus they’re just so freakin’ CUTE!

I guarantee you that if you gave a new mom a personalized baby outfit at her baby shower, you’re going to get a room full of awwwwws. Not that it’s a competition to see who gives the best gift….but you know, sometimes it is, hee hee

Many people wonder what age is okay for a baby or child to wear jewelry. Although there are no hard and fast rules about when the child should wear jewelry, the decision should be left to the gift giver and the child’s parents. When considering buying a gift of jewelry for a child, consider the following:

• Will the child be responsible enough to wear jewelry? Could the jewelry be lost? Will the child possibly flush it down the toilet, even by accident?
• Are there any allergies to gold or silver?
• Is there a choking hazard? It is important to know what to be aware of when buying jewery for a child.
• What type of jewelry would be best for the child? Necklace, bracelet, ring, earrings?

Ask Yourself a Few Questions

These are just a few questions to ask yourself before you invest in baby jewelry. It is always a good idea to talk to the child’s parents first, as well. After the parents tell you okay consider the following tips for buying the perfect baby jewelry gift:

• What is the child’s birth stone? Birthstone jewelry is always a hit!
• If you are buying for a little girl, consider small stud earrings.

You could select little gold beads or gold ball earrings, small diamond studs, or perhaps small pearl earrings. (Make sure she has pierced ears). If you are buying for a boy, and you want to buy him a ring, make sure the ring is at least a little bit masculine. You probably don’t want to get him a ring with a stone or a lot of sparkle.

Also, for an older boy you may want to consider buying him a necklace. A necklace will never go out of style. Plus, he will be less likely to lose a necklace, and he can always grow into it. Also, with a necklace, you can add a charm. Does he like basketball or baseball? Buy him a charm to go with his favorite sport.

Talk To the Parents

Are you considering a star or a cross? Talk to the baby’s parents. You may want to know their wishes or their religious affiliation. You don’t want to be caught off guard giving a cross to someone of the Jewish faith.

Something else to definitely consider when buying jewelry for a baby is to perhaps select a matching piece for mommy. It would easily be a nice touch, and it would become a keepsake for both mother and child. Matching jewelry for mommy and baby can certainly help out the new daddy.

Many men have depended on gifts of jewelry to make their women happy. So, it stands to reason that a new daddy will really score some points if he brings two pieces of jewelry to the hospital – one for his wife and one for his new baby. When mommy has her first portrait taken with the new baby, imagine how thrilled she will be to see the matching pieces.

There is nothing more sentimental than the gift of jewelry for a tiny loved one. And remember, you can buy children’s jewelry for special occasions such as the little one’s first steps, first word or first haircut.

Baby Bracelets

Usually when speaking of baby jewelry, bracelets are what come to mind. That is because they are the safest jewelry for a baby. There is much less of a choking hazard. Many baby bracelets are very plain and can often be engraved with the child’s name.

Other times, you’ll see baby bracelets with little blocks on them that spell out the name. I have heard that some childtren have actually learned how to spell their name, because they continually saw it on their bracelet. Now that is a keepsake worth remembering.

Some bracelets come with charms that rattle. These types of charm bracelets often cause concerns for the mother. They are worried the baby will put the bracelet in its mouth. This too, could cause a choking hazard.

Another concern is that the baby may be sensitive to the silver or gold. Although most baby jewelry is considered hypo-allergenic, if your little one is wearing any kind of jewelry, you will want to keep your eye on them just in case there is some sensitivity to the metal.

Also keep in mind that charms that come with a bracelet are normally tightly woven in, so the child cannot bite it off. Infant jewelry also has very safe clasps. Pins or sharp latches are definitely out.

Heirlooms

Sometimes a family member will aquire jewelry that is considered an heirloom and it will be passed down from generation to generation. Another neat idea is something that has been popular for many years.

You buy the brand-new baby girl a necklace with a simple gold bead or pearl on it. Then for each special occassion such as birthdays, Easter, Christmas, Baptism or other religious occasions, you add another gold bead or pearl. By the time she is all grown up, she has a fully beaded necklace or a lovely pearl necklace. She can wear this for years to come and throughout her adult life.

Toddler Jewelry

Besides infant jewelry you may get excited to buy for a toddler. This age group is usually interested in some type of jewelry and body adornment. Little girls generally love to wear hair clips and barrettes, so if you are considering jewelry, I am sure it will be a big hit. And they are more interested in fun pieces.

Toddlers might like sports jewelry such as we spoke of earlier for older boys. Or they may enjoy something fun and sparkly. Often times mom and dad will let their child pick out their own jewelry, and this helps them appreciate it more and longer.

One popular style of jewelry for toddlers is ladybug pieces. Ladybugs are symbols for good luck. Although a child’s first jewelry piece may be a simple gold band or bracelet, as the child gets older, you will want to consider adding to their jewelry collection.

Ladybugs are very cute and boys and girls alike will love to wear a jewelry piece with a little bug on it. I am not quite sure what the fascination is, but I have seen many children wear ladybug jewelry. You can purchase jewelry for all age groups at your favorite retailer, or you can shop at various online jewelry sites.

About the Author

Sara was a Jewelry sales profesional for 25 years. She now writes for Glitter Secrets.com and other sites to inform readers on buying jewelry.

Lots of parents find it difficult – if not impossible – to find a sippy cup that their baby will drink out of. Some babies refuse to even hold certain sippy cups. I know I had this problem with my daughter.

I tried too many brands and types of sippy cups to count, but after a lot of trial and error, we found just the one.

I’ve compiled a short list of the best sippy cups for babies. These sippy cups are all BPA-free and lots of parents have discovered that their baby will not drink out of anything else. You can view the list here:

What’s the Best Sippy Cup for my Baby?

Baby Tips readers picked #5 on the list as their favorite.

My daughter received a personalized CD of music a few Christmases ago. I have it in our car and it’s always the first thing she asks when we get in – to listen to her “Morgan CD”.

There’s something about a personalized gift like that that kids absolutely love. It becomes a memorable gift and keepsake and something they can enjoy for many years.

I See Me has some really great gifts that are perfect for new babies and older children alike, including personalized books, puzzles, t-shirts and wall art. The books are so beautifully illustrated and written that they make grown men cry when they read them!

From now until April 13th, you can use the coupon code “FSR615″ and get $5 off any orders over $40!

Click Here for $5 off on orders that are over $40! Use code FSR615 at checkout.

Last year for Christmas, I bought my kids an Aquadoodle Travel N Doodle which was the second best gift I’ve ever bought. They still play with it every day and it works just as good as they day I bought it. It’s small so it’s easy to store, and it’s perfect for travelling. When I have this in the car, I don’t hear a single peep out of my kids even when we’re driving an hour out of town.

You definitely need to have a few Spin Master Aquadoodle Magic Water Pens for this toy to work. The pens fill with water and come out through the felt tip which “draws” on the Aquadoodle pad.

My son likes to suck the water out of the tips though so I like to buy a few pens at a time and toss them once they get too dirty which is every few months. If the pens get temporarily lost (which does happen with two little kids) a washcloth or damp sponge does the trick.

The single best gift I purchased for my kids was a MagnaDoodle. Unfortunately, it got stepped on and eventually had to be thrown out although I have to say that it put up with an insane amount of abuse before it took its last lickin’.

This Christmas when family members asked for gift ideas for the kids, I suggested they buy some more MagnaDoodles. They ended up with six!

We have two big Magna Doodle (Classic) pads that we keep in the house, and two smaller ones that I keep in the car for travelling. The last two have a permanent home at my mom’s.

These Magnadoodles and Aquadoodles are favorites with my kids since they both LOVE to draw. It’s great for their creativity and imagination, and I use them a lot to teach them shapes and words. I’m constantly amazed at the things my little artists come up with!

If you’re like me, bath toys are a big part of your life. My daughter went through a stage where she was afraid of bath time, so I’ve always tried to make sure that it was a fun experience with lots of cool bath toys. As a result, that means my bathroom is always full of toys.

Every day I have to go in the bathroom and clean up bath toys out of the tub and put them away. I’ve finally started getting my daughter to put them all away before she gets out of the tub which is really helpful, but the mesh bag we used to store them turned out to be pretty useless. The suction cups didn’t work any more and the bag kept falling off the wall leaving bath toys all over the tub again.

Enter Boon Frog Pod.

This thing is so cool and cute! It’s for kids, but parents love it too because it gets rid of clutter in your bathroom, it’s mildew-resistant, and it just plain works. Every bath toy storage container I’ve ever tried has failed abysmally, but you’ll be amazed at how much this little green cutie can hold.

It has a detachable scoop so you can, well, scoop the toys up. If your child is old enough, you can get them to do it themselves after each bath. Along with holding a lot of bath toys, it also has space for storing shampoo and soap.

I still keep my shampoo and soap out of reach or my 2 year old would have it all squirted out into the tub, but you can use that space to store other things like empty shampoo bottles that are great for playing with. My kids have more fun with those than most of their bath toys.

I’ve always felt bad for using cold wipes to clean my baby’s butt during a diaper change, but I didn’t understand just how cold they really are until today.

My daughter is going through the unfortunate “dropping entire rolls of toilet paper into the toilet” stage, and I found myself completely out of TP. I had a box of baby wipes sitting in the bathroom since my son is now starting to potty train, so I used one.

Never again!

A cold wet cloth should never ever be near anyone’s behind and our poor babies are suffering through that trauma every day!

I think a baby wipe warmer is in order.

I’ve heard a lot of great reviews from other moms about Prince Lionheart Ultimate Wipes Warmer.