Stuff Parents Need - Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

Cool Cereal News and General Mills Coupons

January 7, 2010 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

I recently learned something really cool about General Mills. This company is working to further reduce the amount of sugar in their cereals that are marketed to kids under 12. They have a goal of getting them down to single digit grams of sugar per serving. Way to go, General Mills! We have a problem with childhood obesity in this country, and I applaud General Mills for working hard to be a healthy breakfast choice for kids. Or for adults…my favorite food in the entire world happens to be cereal. And please do not waste my time with corn flakes, bran flakes, or anything else that doesn’t have a cartoon character on the front of the box, ok? I may be a grown up, but I’m 100% kid when it comes to my cereal choices. Just this morning I enjoyed Reese’s Puffs. They rocked my world, people! I also eat cereal as a snack, and even for dessert. Frankly, it’s a really awesome dessert option, if you think about it! Cereals tend to be high in many nutrients, and in the case of the General Mills cereals, pretty low on sugar!

Click here for a $1/1 General Mills coupon for one of the four new General Mills cereals (Trix, Cocoa Puffs, Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Lucky Charms) and try them out for yourself. Thanks, General Mills, for helping us remove a bit of sugar from our diets without sacrificing the cereals we (or our kids) love so much. You can also learn more about the health benefits of eating cereal here.

What’s your favorite cereal?

I did not receive compensation for this post. General Mills supplied coupons for product samples and information via MyBlogSpark.

Traveling By Air with an Infant

January 2, 2010 · by Tiffany Merritt · 141 Comments

Affiliate links included at no cost to you. As always, my experiences and thoughts are my own.

A few weeks ago we took our maiden plane voyage as parents, with the little one in tow (I actually had some of my students at work ask if the baby would be joining us for the 2 week trip or not…). Anyway, when you are traveling by air with an infant, you are allowed to carry her in your lap free of charge. You are also welcome to purchase a seat for the child and simply put your car seat in the chair. I had better things to do with that $350, and frankly, if the plane was going to crash, the fact that my child would be in a car seat wouldn’t really be making much of a difference, I’m afraid. So Darah was going to be in my lap for the trip.

The problem with this, of course, is that I then really and truly would have to hold her for several hours (we had 2 flights; one was 1 1/2 hours long and the other was 3 hours long). Darah isn’t a crawler yet, but she is a squirmy worm. I knew this was going to be very challenging.

Then I learned about a really cool product designed just for families in the same predicament. Let me introduce you to FlyeBaby, created by a really cool mom named Kadie Flye (seriously, Flye is her last name!). From the website, “FlyeBaby is a portable, hammock-style, fabric seat that folds up and easily fits in a diaper bag. It creates a comfortable, secure place to put your baby on an airplane, at home, at a restaurant or at the beach or pool. It is machine washable and comes with a matching fabric storage bag.”

The FlyeBaby was such a great thing for us to have on the trip. Darah actually slept for a majority of the time on the planes, and I attribute that to pure luck. When she wasn’t sleeping, however, she really wanted to play. At this age, playing to her involves having face time with mom and dad. The FlyeBaby gave us a way to comfortably put Darah right in front of us so that we could read to her, sing songs and make faces, all hands-free! I think this is a large part of the reason why this little one did not cry one bit on the plane. She was comfortable the whole time, and we were definitely more comfortable traveling by air with an infant with her having her own seat, so to speak.

I’m sure we’ll fly with Darah again before she turns two, but maybe only one or two more times. If you don’t fly that often, you may be wondering if this product is worth buying. It most definitely is, and I’ll tell you why: it has also been designed to hold your baby in a lounge or beach chair, as well as in an armless chair. This makes it a terrific thing to take along with you to the homes of others without having to lug around your high chair or your bouncer. Awesome! I know that we will be using our FlyeBaby frequently until Darah outgrows it (which will be around 25 pounds).

Buy it!
This is one invention that parents can get a lot of use out of as their baby grows. Pick one up for yourself at Amazon!

EDIT: This giveaway is closed. Congratulations to #69!

Win it!
One very lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to win their very own FlyeBaby in the print of your choice (choices are Jungle, Retro-Mod, or Grey) (a $49.99 value)! This contest will run until January 16th at 7:59pm CST when a winner will be selected via random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning notification email before a new winner will be selected. Open to residents of the United States.

How to Enter

Mandatory Entry:Tell me the first place you would take the flyebaby if you won (on a plane, to someone’s house, etc.)

Additional Entries:
1. Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect
2. Subscribe to my blog via RSS or email
3. Add my button to your blog (2 entries, so leave 2 comments and leave a url to your site)
4. Join the FlyeBaby group on facebook
4. Make a FlyeBaby purchase (5 entries, so leave 5 comments and include the email address you used when purchasing)

I received a complimentary product for review purposes. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.

Toe Painting Fun with Natural Nail Polish for Kids

January 1, 2010 · by Tiffany Merritt · 163 Comments

I have been looking forward to painting my baby girl’s toes pretty much since I found out I was having a girl. My mom would frequently paint my toes when I was little, and it was good bonding time for us. And of course, I always had the cutest toes of anyone my age. I was really eager to get my hands on my baby’s little piggy toes and turn them pink. Thankfully, I had the sense to pause before breaking out my own nail polish to find out if it would be safe for her. Turns out…not so much. Nail polish and nail polish remover are actually rather toxic, and can contain formaldehyde, acetone, toulene, ethyl acetate and other crazy stuff that I can’t even pronounce. While Darah isn’t putting her toes in her mouth just yet, it is only a matter of time before that is happening, and I don’t want her ingesting any of those chemicals. Thus, the hunt was on for a natural nail polish for kids.

Thanks to some other bloggers, though, I learned about Piggy Paint, a company that creates non-toxic nail polish for kids and polish removers with our little girls (and their safety) in mind

4 month old having toes painted with non-toxic nail polish for kids

. It is made in the USA and invented by a genius stay-at-home mom (doesn’t it seem like the very best products are created by moms?!) I was given the opportunity to try out Girls Rule on Darah. I actually gave my mother the honors of painting her toes first when they came for a visit a few weeks ago. I have to say, applying polish to squirmy baby toes is tough, but Darah and Grammy both had a really good time together during the process! I used the nail polish remover that they sent to wipe off those smears; easy peasy. The polish remover didn’t have that nasty chemical smell that you typically find in polish removers, which was really nice. The next time I put polish on Darah’s toes I will have a hair dryer on hand to help expedite the drying process. It isn’t that Piggy Paint takes any longer to dry than other polishes, but rather that Darah is a baby on the move! The women at the daycare center noticed her polished toes the day after they were done and raved about how cute she was. I’m not gonna lie, I beamed with pride at my little cutie that day!

I also brought the polish with me to California, because all of the cousins on my husband’s side of the family were together for the first time ever. I simply could not wait to get to paint my nieces’ toes! I was only able to paint the toes of the 3 year old, Anna, but she was very eager to get her toes painted. She sat very still throughout the process, and even helped me blow on her toes to help them dry. She showed off her pretty pink toenails to everyone in the house that day. Getting to paint her nails is a precious memory that I will keep with me forever.

The polish does require touch ups every few days, but that just provides you with another opportunity to have quiet, quality time with your little one!

Buy It: If you have a little girl and you want to paint her toes, please don’t go to you

r polish collection. Get her bn-toxic nail polish for kids that you can be confident won’t hurt her. Piggy Paint is the perfect choice, and the color selection is very nice.

Win It: One very lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to score a $15 credit to Piggy Paint! This contest will run until January 9th at 7:59pm CSTwhen a winner will be selected via random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning notification email before a new winner will be selected. Open to residents of the United States.

How to Enter:
Mandatory Entry: Visit Piggy Paint and tell me your very favorite color polish.

Additional Entries:
1. Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect
2. Subscribe to my blog via RSS or email
3. Become a fan of Piggy Paint on Facebook (leave your username)
4. Follow Piggy Paint on Twitter (leave your username)
5. Add my button to your blog (2 entries, so leave 2 comments and leave a url to your site)
6. Make a Piggy Paint purchase (5 entries, so leave 5 comments and include the email address you used when purchasing)

Disclosure: I received polish and polish remover for review purposes only. The opinions expressed are solely my own.

Hearing Those Belly Laughs

December 31, 2009 · by Tiffany Merritt · 6 Comments

Belly Laughs

So yesterday Tim was holding Darah (she was facing out) and I was telling some story, just being my usual animated self. At some point during the story, I guess I made a face and stuck my tongue out. Darah let out a huge belly laugh, which made Tim and I both stop dead in our tracks. It was an AWESOME moment that I’ll never forget. I can’t wait for her to do it again!!!

2 Things I Should Have Packed: Travel with Baby Checklist

December 28, 2009 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

We are back from an absolutely fabulous visit to my in-laws in California. The journey there and back was very long, but our baby behaved beautifully. We had such a great time; it was the first time in 4 years that all of Tim’s siblings were together, and in that time 4 little girls have hit the scene as cousins to each other. You can imagine the fun we had watching them play!

We packed a lot of things for our baby. Some of the things we didn’t really need. However, there were 2 items that I never even considered packing but that I missed greatly. I’m passing this along to you in case you have travel plans with a baby in your future and are compiling a travel with baby checklist.

1. The Boppy. I always knew that the Boppy breastfeeding pillow was a great product, but I thought that I could get by just fine with a pillow for the trip. WRONG! In the past 12 days I have used a thin pillow, a thick pillow, a jacket and my arm muscles alone, each in an effort to create a comfortable nursing environment for Darah. Quite simply, nothing could hold a candle to the Boppy. The pillows came the closest, but she kept sliding off of them, so I had to wrestle with them each time I fed her. When we got home today I got the Boppy out, and it was the most peaceful feeding she has had since before we left.

2. A monitor. My in-laws have really thick walls, which is terrific for keeping a room quiet during nap times. The down side is that it is really difficult to hear a crying baby if you aren’t really close to the door. I found myself making frequent trips to our room to check on her, and a few times I checked on her only to find her sobbing, which means she had been crying for several minutes (I’m not one to let my baby cry; it’s ok if you don’t agree with me, but it’s how I roll). If I had brought the monitor, I could have been more present at meal times, playtime outside or while watching movies.

Since we already had full suitcases and since these items take up a decent amount of space, a good idea might have been to have had my mother-in-law purchase these items used off Craigslist and just keep them at her house. But as I said, it really didn’t occur to me that I would need them. Now I know!

If you recently traveled, did you leave anything behind that you wish you hadn’t? Did you pack something that you never even got out of the suitcase?

Eco-Friendly Paper Plates: A Must for New Parents

December 22, 2009 · by Tiffany Merritt · 417 Comments

When we brought our little peanut home from the hospital, we were struck with the irony of caring for a newborn. In our case, we had a baby who slept the vast majority of the day, and yet, we never had the time to get ANYTHING done. Making meals became a major hassle, and cleaning up afterwards could literally take a few days to accomplish, by which point we had cooked another meal, and so the vicious cycle of having a seriously gross kitchen never ended.

One solution we found was to use disposable dishware. By eliminating the majority of our dirty dishes, we were able to keep our kitchen from getting out of control, and that really did feel like an accomplishment. I would recommend that anyone who is trying to adjust to life with a baby seriously consider getting some disposable products! These products also come in handy for when you have company over for a few days.

I really do feel as though having some disposable dishware is something that parents need, at least at the beginning of their journey and for when they have visitors. However, there is something to be said for the environmental impact of such a decision. I will fully admit that when we used disposables a few months ago, they were paper. We would never buy Styrofoam plates, but paper products still take a while to decompose, and they are made from a resources that takes decades to replace. I didn’t know what other option I had, though.

And then I found Conserve® brand, put out by an amazing company called Baumgarten‘s. Baumgarten‘s is a company that takes environmental stewardship very seriously. Their Conserve line has cleaning products, disposable dishware and cutlery, emergency flashlights, and Plastibands (environmentally friendly rubber bands). I had the opportunity to use several items from the disposable & compostable dishware and cutlery line during the week of Thanksgiving, when my household of 3 turned into a household of 7! I knew dishes were going to be a nightmare, so I went to my handy disposables. This time, however, I had products to use that were completely guilt free!

Conserve dishware and cutlery are made from sugar cane fiber and corn starch respectively. These are resources that can be reproduced on an annual basis, which makes them extremely renewable. Furthermore, the material is 100% biodegradable and also compostable! These products can be completely broken down in a compost pile in about 6 weeks, which is just amazing. Check out where these products fall on the Environmental Friendliness Meter!

Environmentally Friendliness Meter

When my extended family started using these products during their visit, we asked them to rip up their plates and cups after use so that we could put them in the compost bin. This inspired some really great conversations with them about why we compost, and even about why we recycle (because my extended family doesn’t do either of these things). By the end of the visit my father was asking if my husband would build a compost bin for him the next time we go to their home! I could also see the act of tearing up plates and cups to be a lot of fun for children, and a great way to initiate a conversation with them about protecting the earth.

You may be wondering how sugar cane and corn starch products held up once they were holding food. Just great! I didn’t see any difference in quality between the Conserve disposable products and the heftier paper disposable plates, cups and bowls on the market. From the Conserve website, “The Conserve® Brand Promise is that our products will perform better AND be will be significantly better for the environment than other products offered on the market. We believe that sustainability should not come at the cost of performance.” My one suggestion for them is to make a larger bowl option. We ate chili one night, and I wanted a BIG bowl of chili, but had to settle for making a few trips back to the kitchen for more!

Overall, I thought these products were simply amazing. I can’t tell you how fun it is to throw your “plastic” cutlery into the compost bin, knowing that it will be gone in 6 weeks! We don’t use disposable products all the time anymore, but we do still need them when we have visitors, or on those days when we are just too lazy to deal with dishes. It’s great to know that these moments do not need to come at the cost of the environment.

Buy It!

Conserve brand dishware products are available for purchase through the Baumgarten‘s site. The cutlery can be found for purchase here. The prices may seem a bit high, at first, but just think of the long term cost of continuing to use non-renewable resources, or resources that don’t renew quickly, on products that get used for half an hour, at best. If you work outside of your home, consider passing along this information to your purchasing department, and help your place of business go green, too!

Win It!

Baumgarten‘s wants to help you take the step you need to go green in your home by offering two lucky Stuff Parents Need readers their Tableware Party Pack, including 50 compartment plates, 85 salad plates, 50 8oz cups, 100 forks and 100 spoons. That’s over an $80 value, each! Woo hoo for eco-friendly disposable dishware! The contest will run until December 30th at 7:59pm CST when a winner will be drawn via random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my winning notification email. Open to residents of the United States.

How to Enter:

Mandatory Entry: Go check out all the amazing products in the Conserve line, and come back here and tell me one product in their line you would like to see in your own home.

Additional Entries:

1. Subscribe to this blog via reader or email (2 entries)

2. Make a purchase at Baumgarten‘s(leave me the email address you used for the purchase) (5 entries)

3. List one way that you are going green at home or at work (1 entry)

4. Grab my button and leave a link to your site so I can find it (1 entry)

5. Follow me using Google friend connect (2 entries)

6. Subscribe to the Conserve brand blog (1 entry)

Disclosure: I was provided with samples for product review purposes. The views expressed in this post are strictly my own.

Black Bean Dip Recipe: Easy!

December 20, 2009 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

The next time I make this black bean dip I will double it because it doesn’t last long enough. This is a great dish for those nights when you want something really fast, because it comes together quickly. Hooray for quick and tasty food!

Recipe name: Baked Black Bean Dip
Servings: 3

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup light sour cream (optional)
1 clove garlic, diced
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 cup grated cheddar
4 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup sliced black olives
1 small tomato, diced
tortilla chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place beans, sour cream, garlic and cumin in a food processor (I’ve been through several over the years, and this one is by far my favorite). Process until mixed but still chunky.
Spread mixture in a pie plate (I used other bakeware, so it really doesn’t matter). Top with cheese, onions, olives and tomato.
Bake 15 minutes.
Serve with tortilla chips and sour cream, if desired.

Pacifier Clips: No More Destroying My House!

December 15, 2009 · by Tiffany Merritt · 52 Comments

My baby is really serious about her pacifier. She has always been a baby who has needed to suck in order to comfort herself, and I quickly lost interest in serving as her personal pacifier. As soon as we got the green light from our pediatrician to give her a binky (at 2 weeks) we did!

Darah is now 4 months old. She is learning how to grab things, which is absolutely precious. She seems to be especially fond of grabbing her pacifier, taking it out of her mouth, and dropping it somewhere. Usually, within minutes she is crying for it, but she doesn’t yet know how to locate it and pop it back in her mouth. Tim and I are CONSTANTLY roaming around the house looking for lost binkies. We decided that we either needed to purchase 10 pacifiers and place them all over the house, or we needed to get something that could help hold her pacifier in place (a cheaper and more logical choice, obviously).

I found some ridiculously cute pacifier clips at the Etsy store Freakie Toes (don’t you love that name?!). Varinia, the shop owner, kindly sent me a clip to try out on Darah and review for you. I received the clip pictured on the right (cute packaging, right?). There are many pacifier clips on the market, but here’s what I particularly love about the clips from Freakie Toes. First, the snap on attachment works with both popular styles of binkies. You can snap it around a pacifier that has a hook on it, or you can snap it around the base of a pacifier that doesn’t. Darah has rejected every pacifier out there except for MAM, and they don’t have the hooks on them. This made finding a pacifier clip very difficult. But the clips from Freakie Toes totally work!

The second thing I really like about these clips is that they are downright lovely. I’ve seen many pacifier clips that can get the job done, but they are so unfortunate looking that they can make the cutest outfit look a bit sad. This just won’t do for my little doll. The flower that serves as the attachment piece is absolutely precious! Notice that is has a little rhinestone in the middle, too! Darah’s pacifier clip is basically a little brooch, and it adds to the cuteness factor of whatever she wears.

Freakie Toes has several clips to choose from on their site, and if you want to customize the color of the ribbon, that can be done. This especially great for anyone who dresses their little ones in colors beyond the traditional pinks and whites. Varinia also has some really cute beaded clips for sale if you aren’t interested in having the flower on the clip, or if you just want something different and fun! Either clip sells for $9.00. Trust me when I say that if you don’t have a pacifier clip, you’ll spend way more than $9.00 replacing pacifiers as they get lost!

Buy It!
Freakie Toes has precious and practical gifts for any little one who loves a binky (and the parents will enjoy it, too!). These clips would be perfect stocking stuffers or would be appreciated at your next baby shower. For the week of the contest, Freakie Toes is offering a 10% discount (less shipping) to all of my readers. Simply convo Varinia with what you want to purchase and she can make a custom listing for you with the adjusted price (don’t forget to tell her that you are a Stuff Parents Need reader).

Win It!
One very lucky parent is going to snag a pacifier clip for his/her little one! This contest will run until December 21st at 7:59pm CST. Be sure to leave your email address in the comments or have it listed in your profile. The winner will be selected via random.org and will have 48 hours to respond to the winning notification. Open to residents of the U.S.

How to Enter:
Mandatory entry: Head over to Freakie Toes and tell me if you would prefer a beaded pacifier clip or a flower rhinestone pacifer clip, and what colors you like best.

Additional entries:
1. Subscribe to my blog via email or RSS. Leave a comment with your email address for the subscription (2 entries, so leave 2 comments)
2. Make a purchase at Freakie Toes (5 entries, so leave 5 comments). Be sure to leave the email address you used when making your purchase.
3. Grab my button and add it to your blog roll (leave a url so I can find it!)
4. Follow me on Google friend connect
5. Enter my mineral makeup giveaway (listed Monday, December 14th)

Disclosure: I was sent a pacifier clip for review purposes only. No other form of compensation was received for this review, and the opinions expressed are my own.