Take a look at our hot new listing this week: Adorable Wood Mickey Mouse chairs! These used children’s chairs are great for your 3-4 years children.

The seat back is in the shape of Mickey’s ears — so cute!!!! Click here to view more details.

Our favorite new listing of the week is this down-filled jacket from Outside Baby. At 66% off retail, this brand new baby boy winter coat will keep your 3-9 month-old babe warm and cozy without breaking the bank!

The jacket is goose down filled, water-repellent and reversible. The hood is removable. The look is pure winter baby adorable. The details are here.

You’d think that after 3 1/2 years of parenting I would be a bit wiser. Perhaps in many areas I am. But ways to get duped by my kids apparently have an ability to morph into new and unique opportunities. Witness the seemingly innocent activity of Fingerpainting. Non-toxic paint: check. Big pieces of paper: check. Suitable painting apparel: check. I even had the foresight to tape the paper down to the table. So I’m covered, right? Not so much. Those two little munchkins still got me good. Suffice it to say, it did not end well. But the worst part is, I actually heard myself saying “If you’re not going to paint the correct way I’m going to put the paint away.” Anyone else hear Harry Chapin singing “Flowers are red young man and green leaves are green; there’s no need to see flowers any other way than the way…”? I’m supposed to foster imagination and creativity, right? Not force them to color within the lines, or in this case, on the paper. I realized that they were only sort of into the painting, what they really liked was the tactile experience of rubbing the paint around, mixing it all together, wiping it on their faces, and yes, eating it. Which brings me to my “ah-ha” moment. Forget the store bought non-toxic paint–next time I will make edible finger paint the same way my mom did. But this version won’t use food dye, because we are going to find natural ways to get some good color–not that it matters to my kids.  And let’s face it, this is why I remember the paint always tasting so good when I was a kid. Guess the apple, or apples, don’t fall far from the tree, eh?

Ingredients

Are you greener than your man?

A few months ago I wrote about couples having marital conflict over green living for Recycled Bride. The story was inspired by this NY Times article, which said that therapists were reporting increasing marital discord over green morals. I was fascinated by an emerging trend in which men are interesting in large-impact actions like solar energy upgrades and buying fuel-efficient cars, but aren’t compelled to make smaller-impact changes, like having reusable water bottles and recycling.

This video featuring Tanya Reuben (aka The Pure Natural Diva; aka a total sweetheart I had the pleasure of meeting last week) and her hilarious husband illustrates this growing problem:

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Tanya and her husband deal with their eco-differences by keeping the humor front and center. (“She wanted me to get bamboo underwear!”) But not all couples are able to laugh when eco-conflict keeps them from seeing eye to eye. And as eco-awareness grows and more people shift toward greener lifestyles, sustainable living can become a flash point for couples. So what happens when one half of a couple becomes passionate about living sustainably, while the other remains indifferent?

How to Take a Vacation With Your Kids (Yes, you can!)

There comes a point for every parent, whether their child is a newborn or a teenager, that each day is more exhausting than the one before it, and your brain is screaming one thing: VACATION!!!!  Today I’m going to tell you about my two favorite places to travel, one domestic, one international, both perfect for any couple with small children.

When my oldest was 13 months old, my husband and I hit the wall.  We were just tired, and no amount of sleep or babysitters could help. We needed to get away from the monotony of our day, we needed to relax, and we needed to reconnect. We were not, however, prepared to go anywhere for any extended amount of time without little Maxie in tow.  I was reminded of a family friend’s recent trip to and raves about Club Med Sandpiper in Port Saint Lucie, Florida.   After doing some extensive research, and after liking nearly every review I read, I booked a one week vacation.  My mother is a travel agent, and directed us to the Marina Family Suites, one of many room options the hotel has. The Suite features two rooms separated by a wall thick enough to mute your baby merely rolling over, but thin enough that you won’t worry about missing your baby’s cries.   The child’s room comes equipped with a refrigerator that is stocked by housekeeping each day with water, milk, yogurt, and whatever else you specify, a high chair, a bottle warmer, a baby bath tub, a crib, and lots of other gear you and your baby may need and want. The “parent’s” room also has a refrigerator stocked with treats for mom and dad (cookies!), a king sized bed, and a DVD player.   The room is ideally situated on the property and is ground level, so there is no need to worry about stroller troubles.

Florida family fun...escape and chill out at Club Med Sandpiper

The best part about this particular hotel was the Baby Club Med.  The hotel houses a facility strictly for children ranging from 4 months old to 18 years old. Baby Club Med is for infants 4 months to less than two years old. Petit Club Med is for two year olds through four year olds, and mini club med is a camp for children 4 and over.  There is a full day camp program divided into smaller groups for children 5 thru 18.  Because Max was 13-months-old and still not walking, he was placed in the Peanut Room of Baby Club Med, which was mostly indoor play.  Had he been walking at the time, he would have been taken out for walks in those really cute strollers for 8,  and  participated in outdoor play, but for what we wanted to use the camp for a that point, the Peanut Room was perfect.

We would wake up in the morning, have breakfast, take Max for a swim in one of the heated pools, and when it was time for his nap, we would bring him to the Peanut Room where the qualified G.O.s (I’ll call them nannies) would entertain him until he passed out, or would soothe him if he was having trouble falling asleep.  They had a room full of pack ‘n plays for sleeping babies, and then another room with toys, games, books, etc. for children who were there to play, about to nap, and anything between.   This worked out perfectly for us, because as Max would nap (sometimes for 3 hours) my husband and I had the vacation we needed; massages, power boating along the St. Lucie River, swimming, whatever it was, it was just us as a couple again.  Usually, we’d return to the Peanut Room after 3 hours and Max had woken up minutes before; we’d find  him playing with one of the nannies and he was neat and clean, his diaper was changed, and he was fed.  Just in time for some mommy and daddy time on the playground.

It's not the Four Seasons, but Max and I are happy campers at The Sandpiper

Now, Sandpiper is not 4 star-luxury. There are two restaurants; one is buffet at every meal, which while fresh and delicious with great variety, can still cause some uneasiness by day 4; the other restaurant is for adults only, which we never used because we preferred to have Max with us at meals.  The rooms are clean, the property is well maintained and the staff was extraordinarily gracious, but you will not confuse Sandpiper with the Four Seasons.

We had a great “vacation” at the Sandpiper, which says a lot, because normally we call any time away with the kids a “trip.”  The Sandpiper, if done properly, can be an actual vacation for you, your spouse and your children.

The past two winters have been particularly cold on the East coast, and while Club Med Sandpiper is great, the weather is not always guaranteed in Florida.  We decided that we needed a tropical vacation, similar to what Club Med had to offer, but it couldn’t be too far away because we had a 16 month old and a 4 year old; while they’d always been terrific travelers, we’d still worry about the “what ifs.”

Beaches Turks and Caicos seemed like a perfect option. It’s an “ultra-inclusive” property, which means that everything from kids activities to top-shelf cocktails for mom and dad are included in the price. And with three “Villages” to choose from, it is easy to pick a vacation in your price range. There is The Italian Village, which is ultra-ritzy, with multiple bedroom suites, and both butler and concierge service.  The next village down is The French Village, which is reminiscent of the French Quarter in New Orleans; it has well appointed rooms, daily housekeeping, and a central location on the property.  There is also the Caribbean Village, which is part of the original main hotel, and also has very nice, clean rooms, and comes with the added advantage of being right on top of the beach, close to the kid’s programs, and is probably the quietest village on the property.  We have stayed at both the French Village and the Caribbean Village, and our philosophy for future travelers is that if you are not staying Italian, stay Caribbean.  The prices are more affordable, the location is more central for what you will need, and the French Village doesn’t really offer much more, if anything, than Caribbean does.  That being said, if you can afford to stay Italian, by all means, do so.

Beaches Turks & Caicos, aka Parent Heaven

Like Sandpiper, Beaches Turks and Caicos has multiple age-appropriate children’s programs. For little ones, newborn up to 5 years old, there is Club Sesame, which is sponsored by Sesame Street, and just how you would imagine something run by Sesame Street would look and be run.  There is a character breakfast with 5 favorite characters offered twice a week, Storytime with Elmo, Baking cookies with Cookie Monster, Dancing with Zoe; it is just amazing for your littlest Sesame Street fan. The room for infants is air-conditioned, and the nannies are naturals; we have seen them be warm and understanding with even the most difficult of children. The infant room is equipped with high chairs and cribs, and fun activities and age-appropriate toys for babies.   There is a kiddie pool at Club Sesame and a playground, and both are carefully supervised by the staff. If you don’t feel like traveling with a stroller, single and double strollers/wagons can be rented through Club Sesame at a nominal fee.

The Character Breakfast at Beaches. One man's terrifying morning nightmare is another's entertaining breakfast.

We were just at Beaches this past February, and Max was one of the older children in Club Sesame as he was one month shy of 5.  After breakfast each morning, we would drop Max and Ben off at their respective programs.  Packed with a change of clothes and sun block, both would eagerly run off to start their day.   Each morning, the hotel provides you with a schedule so that parents can plan when to have their children with them, and when to have them at camp.  Max’s favorite activities were shell collecting on the beach, and a motorized Pirate themed boat ride, while Ben’s were baking with Cookie Monster, a scavenger hunt, and swimming in the kiddie pool with his new friends.  We mostly had the kids in camp in the morning, took them out for lunch, and then spent the rest of the day with them at either the idyllic white-sand beach or at the super fun water park.  The hotel is not just child-centric at Club Sesame. The entire property is kid-friendly; there is a a boardwalk that offers face painting, tattooing and hair braiding, as well as an ice cream shop and a kid’s dream of a diner; there are non-motorized boat activities that are suitable for young children, as well as motorized sports for an additional fee.  Every night, there is a Sesame Street stage show and another show that follows that most of the time, calls for audience participation.   The kids love it and my kids made most of their “Beaches” friends at the show the first night we arrived, and were happy to see a familiar face at camp the next morning.   There is even out of room babysitting each night after 6 p.m., or in-room babysitting available for a fee.   We used the out-of-room babysitting twice during our week long stay, but those two nights were magical, as the hotel offers a private couples meal on the beach which we did one night, and on the other night, we just walked around the property, took in one of the shows, and even had a cocktail (or three) and didn’t have to worry about paying a sitter or who was going to drive home.   By the end of our vacation, our kids were happy, tanned, and tired, and we were more relaxed, calm and ready to take on whatever the world was sure to throw at us. Once you go to Beaches Turks & Caicos, it is hard to imagine booking a family vacation anywhere but there.

I could literally go on for pages about these fantastic family vacation spots, but there’s dinner to be made.  If you have any questions about either property please don’t hesitate to ask away in the comments section. With Summer just around the corner, it’s time to get booking!

PS – I’m not paid to endorse either of these resorts nor do I have any affiliation with them. I’m just dead serious about sending you on the best family vacation possible. You’re welcome.

(Here we all are on Mother’s Day. Add it to the pile. Just kidding.)

I think that i have about 2,000 photos on my computer–and that’s just of my family. I won’t even go into work-related items…My daughter just turned 3, my son 1. The only smart decision I made about photos was when, at 39 weeks, I decided I should put my wedding album together before having my daughter. Such. A. Good. Decision. Now time is ticking by and I have yet to put any of my kids photos, other memorabilia and ephemera into a proper album/ scrapbook type of a deal. I’ve actually never really made a scrapbook. I’ve heard it’s pretty addictive. Do I really need another addiction? As I type this I am looking online for something that might be make a good scrapbook. I don’t want to purchase something that is not sustainable, handmade is a nice alternative. First I need to get photos developed. Yes, I have a lot of work on my hands. Which brings me to my main point, why is it that we sometimes resist doing the things that will ultimately bring us so much satisfaction? The easy answer is that we are not sure where to begin. And also that we’re afraid of failing. Fear of not being perfect. So I am going to propose something, feel free to join me. How about giving ourselves a break, permission to be not-exactly-perfect, and just do what we can. Here’s what I am going to do right this minute: Take out my box of kids photos and memorabilia and sort through it. If I feel like it, I will even order myself a scrapbook or two. I’ll let you know how it goes next week. Who knows, I might be a full-blown Scrapbooking fanatic by that time. But for now, I’ll just get off the computer and back to creating for a little while.

(How sweet is this handmade scrapbook from NouveauDesigns on Etsy?)

Here are a few Scrapbooking links I think you might like:

Jenni Bowlin, Scrapbooker Extraodinaire

JBs Mercantile: Cool stuff for creative people

Jamie Ridler Studios: A “creative living” teacher who inspires people to be more creative

Oh to be organized. It is a word that means different things to different people. For me, it means balance. It means that all of the legs on my table (this is a metaphor, so stay with me) are the same length, and that the table itself is set on solid ground. Usually I feel more like I only have three legs on the table, and it’s sitting on a downward slope. Know what I mean? Yeah. Well I have a theory and that is we probably feel unorganized because we actually have too much stuff. This is why it feels so good to clean house, take things to the donation drop, or to recycling, or to a friend’s house. This is why all of my friends, family, neighbors, perfect strangers can not wait to unload their kids used clothes, toys, shoes. Ironically, while we are feeling overwhelmed by stuff, it is so hard to let go of things. I’m not talking about hoarding. Well, maybe I am, but most of us suffer from a very mild case of this. But if you knew you were going to make money by unloading items, wouldn’t this be more of an incentive for you? Yep, me too. At the same time, I know that I feel so much less guilty about shopping when it is for something that is not-quite-new, aka secondhand. As long as it is reasonably priced, of course. Because seriously folks, I am not going to spend a lot of money on something that’s considered vintage simply because it’s more than 30 years old. If it’s from my lifetime, it’s not vintage (to me).  Okay I am offtrack here. I’m going to make this even easier for you. Here are some organizing tips from author and organizing guru Stephanie Winston:

Multi-tasking
Begin today by combining some activities such as: 1) exercise and watching TV, 2) flipping through magazines or catalogs while talking on the telephone, 3) filing your finger nails while waiting for an appointment, 4) watering your favorite plants while clothes are in the dryer.

Organize your kids
Design your kids room so that they can keep it up themselves. Show your kids how to maintain their own rooms and reward them on their achievement in doing so. Give them their own household responsibilities and chores and then offer them a form of allowance. This will teach them to be organized.

Organize your clothes
Hang clothes in the closet by type, arranging similar items together, and by use. Grouping them by color within the category will make it easier to mix and match your garments. Store out-of-season clothes in old suitcases, drawers, garment bags or trunks. Keep only current seasons coats and jackets in your coat closet. Use closet organizers and you will create more space in your closet.

Organize your kitchen
Here are good ways to add new space to your kitchen: 1) Install smaller wall shelves to hold canisters and small appliances. 2) Store away (or give away) appliances or kitchenware that is no longer being used. 3) Put shelf organizers inside cabinets with high shelf space. 4) Put a pegboard on walls to hang light or smaller items. 5) Use plastic drawer organizers under your kitchen sink to make better use of wasted space.

Organize your bedroom
Add comfort to your bedroom! Make a nifty bedside area by keeping those things you need close at hand in either a night table or handy caddy. This is used to hold items like notepaper, pens, reading glasses and whatever crafts items you like to do in the bedroom. Hang wall shelves on any useable wall space. This will create more storage space for things that decorate the room, or that serve a needed function.
The more you sort through your personal belongings and find a new home for them, the more free space you will be opening up and this is the height of being organized!

See who won $300 in jewelry from Whiteflash for Mother’s Day

If you keep up with us over on Recycled Bride, you know that picking giveaway winners is my absolute favorite part of my job. There’s nothing more fun than…well, giving things away! So I spent all of yesterday waiting for the clock to strike 5pm, so we could close our Mother’s Day Diamond Jewelry Giveaway and pick a winner.

A total of 175 RecycledTyke.com members entered to win. So I went to Random.org to have their random generator choose a number between 1 and 175.

There’s our winner! Number 44 takes it! All that’s left is to count through the entries to find #44. (Yes, manually. And three times over to be sure I got it right!)

And our winner turns out to be a husband! How sweet is that?! Russell entered the giveaway to win a gift for his wife, and he likes the Dreams of Africa diamond earrings, which are part of a designer line of jewelry created to raise awareness about children affected by the diamond trade in Africa. 100% of proceeds from all Dreams of Africa jewelry is donated to the World Centers of Compassion for Children International.

Congratulations Russell! And thanks to all of the Recycled Tyke members who entered…stay tuned for another great giveaway next month!

Misses and misadventures in baby gear

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post about the three best baby products I’ve ever found, today I’m going to tell you about the top “misses” in my baby gear collection.  I don’t say “collection” lightly, as how I also mentioned, everything ever purchased is still somewhere in my home.  I have tons and tons of very lightly used warmers and bundlers and strollers and carriers; the list goes on and on.  Don’t be surprised if you see some new listings hailing from Long Island on Recycled Tyke shortly after this is published!

As much as I loved the Podee Bottle Feeding System, things with a predecessor did not go as well.  The Bebe Bottle Sling was purchased during those first few months of figuring out a way to synchronize Max’s schedule and my own.  He never seemed to want to eat when I was able to sit down and take the time to enjoy him, and only wanted to eat 10 minutes before a doctor’s appointment, a music class, or one of the many different forms a play date can take on.  As a person who hates being late for anything, my delayed arrivals were just not going to cut it and something was going to have to give.  I was optimistic when the Bebe Bottle Sling arrived in the mail as I had watched their online demonstration and had forecasted that this piece of material was the answer to my tardiness problem.

The Bebe Bottle Sling. I had such high hopes.

I followed the enclosed instructions, but something wasn’t right.  The bottle was hanging too low from the car seat handle and was brushing against Max’s face.  By the time I had given up putting the sling together, and positioning and repositioning it with the baby already in the car seat, the poor kid was drenched with formula.  The bottle eventually made it into his mouth, but because there was no slack, I didn’t feel comfortable that he would be able to get the bottle out of his mouth in the event that he was done drinking or worse, choking.  Putting the sling in with Max out of the car seat was to no avail either.  I thought that maybe doing it without him laying there would result in a different position that provided for a more taut sling.  However, getting him back in the car seat with the sling in position was awkward and resulted with him getting hit by the cloth, the bottle, more formula, and my own realization that the sling was no more tight than it had been before.  Perhaps the fault did lay with me, but I consider myself your reasonable and ordinary person.  If I can’t follow simple 3 step instructions, then chances are, you will have the same problem.

Perhaps the item my family and friends rib on me most for purchasing and actually using pretty often is the Flying Falcon.  I will be honest with you; I was having some issues classifying this as an outright fail, but upon deeper consideration and the memories of the laughter, concerned faces, and gasps of shock and horror, I will take that step.  I purchased the Flying Falcon when Benjamin was born and I had already moved to the suburbs.  I remembered how heavy and awkward carrying an infant car seat could be, and with my already compromised back and an older child who was increasingly unwilling to be strolled around himself, the Flying Falcon seemed like a very promising innovation in the world of baby gear.

Look Ma, no hands! The Flying Falcon.

The premise of it is that the bottom portion of a very sturdy strap velcroes around the infant carrier, and the other part loops around your neck and back, making the entire piece into a messenger bag-shaped carrier for the infant car seat.  By using the Flying Falcon, my arms wouldn’t hurt anymore where my forearm and upper arm met, I would stop kicking my calves into the car seat as I carried it so gracelessly, and I could use it hands free which would allow to me hold Max’s hand as we crossed the street.  I remember walking into my aunt and uncle’s house for Thanksgiving which was the first time I had used the Flying Falcon; with Benjamin essentially strapped around my neck all anybody could say was that it looked like it hurt (not really), it looked uncomfortable (mildly), and that I looked ridiculous (definitely).  I am not one to give in so easily, especially when I feel the need to prove something, so I continued to use my Flying Falcon.  A week or so later, the strap that supported the car seat started to bubble out of the Velcro, which made me feel a little uncomfortable safety-wise, and that same strap often interfered with getting the infant carrier into its car seat base.  Other straps surrounding the carrier were beginning to slip as well.  Things were going from bad to worse.  A few more weeks in, as Benjamin started packing on the pounds, my neck started to feel burned from where the strap was, and my back was starting to go.  All of the issues combined led me to remove the Flying Falcon from the car seat, and I can’t even tell you how many people who I didn’t even think noticed it commended me on my decision.  To this day, I will still defend the Flying Falcon because I think the idea behind it is a good one; there just has to be a better way to implement it.

The Diaper Dekor is a nouveau “diaper disposal system.”  In fact, the XL model of the Diaper Dekor will hold up to 400 diapers per refill  .   .  .  ewwwwww!   To be fair to the Diaper Dekor, I have also owned the more popular Diaper Genie and feel the same way about that and all similar diaper pails.  I have never met a nursery with an actively used diaper disposal  system that didn’t smell like  .   .  . well, wet and soiled diapers.

Avoid nasty nursery odors with the Diaper Dekor! Or not...

I used the Diaper Genie and the Diaper Dekor for Maxwell and Benjamin respectively, but not without problems; my husband would come home from a long day at work and make a beeline for the pail; he’d pull, cut, tie and make his way over to the garbage chute, the larger garbage can in our kitchen or even the outdoors and ask me how I could stand such an odor.  I was resistant, because I wanted to believe the diaper systems worked, but all I needed to do was go into another friend’s apartment or home, and know that it couldn’t possibly be.  So what then, if not a “diaper disposal system?” The only way to an odorless nursery as far as I’m concerned, is either to immediately dispose of soiled diapers directly in your garbage chute (if  you live in an apartment building for instance) or to use the omnipresent diaper sacks as your liaison to the garbage can. My favorite diaper sacks are by Sassy. They seem never-ending and have a delicious powder scent. I’ll take dozens of sealed, powdery Sassy bags in a garbage bag over a giant steaming cauldron of diapers any day!

What were your biggest baby product “misses”? Have you had any true disasters?

What has worked, and what has not . . .

Writing my first post last week got me thinking about what have been my own biggest hits and misses over the past 5 years. Answering this question led me to some discoveries; it is much easier to think of the hits than the misses – when something works for a child, whether it be for sleep or eating or comfort, it can be life changing, while the misses just get tossed aside; and most from either category are from when the kids have been infants. I guess anything that is helpful during that time of self doubt and uncertainty takes center stage in a brain, and anything that isn’t helpful just finds their way into the same area of the house where the missing socks go; they take up some indefinable space and only get thrown out when you move. This post will be a two-parter because when I rave, man, do I rave, and I can only expect my readers to have so much of an attention span.

The Hits:

From the minute my son Maxwell was born, he slept 6 hours at a stretch. By the time he was 3 weeks old, my perfect little angel was sleeping 10 hours a night. We were blessed . . . that is, until he turned 4 months old. Contrary to any text book child, Max became colicky at the 16 week point. He had a “witching hour” as it has been called, that stretched into what seemed like witching days. He still slept for long amounts of time, but actually calming him to get him to go to sleep in the first place was the difficult part. I attended one of Dr. Harvey Karp’s seminars and watched the master in action. I saw him tame the wildest of city babies using just his “5 S” technique. The second I returned home, I turned on the computer and ordered the swaddle blanket he demonstrated. My husband prided himself on his swaddling abilities, but as Max grew, it became increasingly difficult to get him into a perfectly tight burrito swaddle because the blankets just weren’t big enough. Toes would come creeping through little corners, and as all mothers know, once there is any give in a swaddle, a determined baby will make his or her way to freedom. The Happiest Baby Swaddling Blanket is 42 inches large, a perfect square and made from the yummiest flannel material. When one follows the included instructions (!) properly the baby inside is so tight, yet so comfortable, they have no choice but to give in to their exhaustion. My Max, whom we had dubbed “Baby Houdini” couldn’t escape the clutches of this blanket. The Happiest Baby Swaddling Blanket worked so well, that we didn’t stop swaddling Max until he was 7 months old and a real pro at self-soothing and falling asleep on his own. In fact, as my husband just reminded me, when Max would merely see the blanket, he would laugh maniacally knowing that a great night’s sleep or mid-day nap, was just a few minutes away. I am well aware that most children stop getting swaddled at 3-4 months old, but as I am keen on saying . . . whatever works!

Not quite swaddled, but sleeping nonetheless; Max is just happy to have his blanket nearby

The Podee Bottle Feeding System looks strange, but for any busy, on-the-go mother it can become entirely indispensable. I am a work widow, meaning that my husband’s work hours border on ridiculous. It’s just me with the kids and as imagined, things can get hairy, whether it be that a mom just needs a shower and the babe wants to eat, or that two children have entirely conflicting schedules. I initially purchased the Podee bottle when Max was a baby, and for some reason it seemed like I couldn’t get my act together in time to get out of the house before 1:00 p.m.. There was a lot of “hurry up and wait,” but it was also about figuring out how to take care of my baby, while at the same time, maintaining my own hygiene. To this day, I don’t know what was so difficult about that, but I take heart in the fact that I hear this same tale from new moms all the time. The Podee made it possible for me to simultaneously “feed” Max , who was 5 months old at the time, and shower, by merely sitting him in his Bumbo Seat outside the open door to my bathroom. He’d just sit there, happy as a clam, sucking away on the nipple/straw combo that makes up the Podee, while I sang to him through my open shower curtain. The floor may have been soaked, but that was one content baby! That’s not to say that I used the Podee for every feeding, as I loved to stare at and hold my baby way too much for that, but in those times of desperation, the Podee kicked butt. The Podee was helpful for not only city living, where walking everywhere didn’t necessarily coincide with baby’s feeding schedule, but for suburban life with two children as well, where getting one kid off to school means that sometimes, baby brother needs to fend for himself.

On the go and nourished, all at the same time!

The Sit ‘n Stroll is a handy-dandy contraption that is essential for any family who travels or plans on traveling with their little one. It takes the place of 5 pieces of equipment; it can be used as a forward facing car seat, a rear facing car seat, a booster chair, a stroller, and an FAA certified flight seat. We bought the Sit ‘n Stroll for our first vacation with Max after a slightly panicky moment where I realized if he had his own seat on the plane, he would need a car seat for it, and if we planned on going anywhere, we’d need a stroller. That seemed like an awful lot of equipment for a long weekend. I was directed to the Sit ‘n Stroll through a website that offered helpful tips for traveling with a child. For what it offered, it seemed decently priced, so I decided to give it a try. The Sit ‘n Stroll made traveling seamlessly easy. We used it as a car seat in our livery cab that took us to the airport, from there we rolled the wheels down and pulled the handles up, and there was our stroller. We wheeled it down the aisle of the plane (although I have heard that it is too wide to fit down some planes’ aisles) pulled the wheels up, and there was our flight seat. It was just so easy to use, and not to mention, quite the conversation piece! I would never say to use the Sit ‘n Stroll as your daily stroller, as it is not the best at off-roading, and can become more cumbersome to use as a child gets bigger, but for ease of use and convenience while traveling, there is no single item that beats it.

Sitting and Strolling; Ben is enjoying the California sunshine

If you liked today’s post on my top 3 “hits” (and there are SO many more it was hard to narrow it down), stay tuned for Tuesday’s post where I will fill you in on some products that most definitely did *not* work for us and the reasons why.