Recycled Toys

I don't know what it is but my daughter loves toys that are at least 10 years old and previously used by another family member. I could buy her a brand new toy and she will pass it over but if a relative brings her an old toy that is chipped, stained or simply worn out she will not put it down. Were toys made better back then or is it the Velveteen Rabbit syndrome?

A few of her favorites are a radio shaped music box from Fisher Price that plays somewhere over the rainbow. I think this may have belonged to my brother who is now 25. She is fascinated and frustrated by the Tupperware Shape-O which I believe was actually mine. She also loves the Johnson and Johnson Stack and Fit School which I was unable to find an image of. I think I will be buying all of her future presents by searching for "vintage toys" on ebay.

Baby Bjorn Soft Bib

This bib by Bjorn is brilliant. Anytime my delightful daughter decides to spit out her food or misses her mouth entirely, the food is caught in the bib instead of falling to the floor or getting caught in her seat. It helps to keep my house cleaner and it is easy to clean. No need to waster water washing multiple cloth bibs every week, this is the only bib you need.

Peltor Kids Earmuffs

When I saw this image of Apple Martin I thought it was adorable. But then it got me thinking about the headset she was wearing as I knew that my husband and I would want to take our daughter to a concert at least once during her young life. I discovered that these "earmuffs" are made by Peltor, the leader in hearing protection products. They were a bit hard to locate here in the US but I finally found a retailer online, Envirosafety, and ordered a pair for my daughter, in pink.

While I wouldn't call these essential for all parents they are a necessity if you plan to expose your child to any loud environments. We have used them multiple times already and my daughter is only 10 months old. She went to her first indoor concert, a recital for my brother, at 6 months and loved the music and vibrations. I didn't realize just how much noise was being blocked until I took them off during a quiet piece in the concert and she started crying when everyone clapped. We also took her to an outdoor concert, stood right near the speakers and she fell asleep in my arms. Beyond concerts we have used them at the fireworks, an airshow and during a parade. They let enough noise in so that your child can enjoy the experience without damaging her ears.

Baby Food Processors

If you own a regular food processor, a stand or hand-held blender then you absolutely do not need a baby food processor. And if you don't own any of the above, then buy a blender. In two months time your baby will be moving on to finger foods and you can use it to make margaritas. Baby food specific processors are a waste of money and will quickly end up in the back of your cupboard collecting dust.

KidCo Faucet Cover

Don't even think of buying one of those gigantic plastic animal themed faucet covers. All they will do is attract your kid's attention which is exactly what you don't want. Fortunately I found the KidCo Bath Spout Cover before I was able to purchase a hard plastic frog cover. My daughter takes a bath every night and has never once gone near the faucet. It isn't shiny and doesn't look like a toy so she could care less about it. Perfect!

Chicco Travel Seat

If you read this blog you know we hate spending money on frivolous baby gear but at the same time we like to maintain some sense style. When we started our search for a high-chair I was initially attracted to some of the beautiful European made chairs that are on the market but there was no way I was paying $300 for furniture that would become spackled with oatmeal and carrots. So I looked at the more conventional baby chairs but hated how big, plastic and ugly they were. That's when I stumbled upon Chicco portable hook-on chairs.

We have been using the Chicco Adventure Travel Seat for two months now and we love it. It hooks-on to the end of our island and our daughter gets to sit there, watch what we are up to and throw food all over the place. Oh what fun. Besides being minimally invasive to our decor it is extremely easy to wash. Every other week I unhook it, take off the hook parts and throw the cover in the sink. I then lay it on our porch to dry and within hours it is ready to be used again looking brand new. This is key since my daughter drops half of every meal in her seat and smears her oatmeal crusted hands all over the arm rests. I think I will keep her in this thing until she is 12.

BPA Free Bottles

Yes I am jumping on this bandwagon. I am sure I don't need to say much about BPA as it is covered in the press ad nauseam. I had heard the concerns about BPA a few months before it blew up and had people throwing away all of their hard plastics. I just didn't think it was that big of a concern. There is so much to worry about that I just decided to put the concern out of my mind and focus on other things.

Then it was the big news headline for a few weeks. It was everywhere I turned. I began to question if I should continue sending my daughter to daycare with her hard plastic bottles, BPA filled bottles. Again I pushed it out of my mind as much as possible until I saw a piece on the Today Show. Their resident medical expert made a statement that changed my mind. She said that as a doctor and scientist she could not say that there was any link between BPA and cancer or any other medical ailment. However as a mother she said that she would find alternatives for her children. That was it. I tossed my daughter's bottle out that day and went to Babies R' Us to buy her the two remaining Born Free bottles that were on the shelf. I also learned that http://www.medela.com/ISBD/breastfeeding/products/bottles_bisphenol-a-free.phpbottles that come with the pump are BPA free so I started using those as well. Just this week I received the free sample that Playtex offered of their drop-in model and think I will start using that now as well.

So now that I don't have to worry about BPA anymore. What should I be worrying about now? ;)