Baby Carriers are Beneficial to Your Baby.

Choosing to use baby carriers can be a smart choice for you and your baby. They can provide comfort, as well as strengthen the bond between a parent and their child. Newborn babies need nurturing and warmth during those critical first months of life and using a baby carrier helps with both.

Infants need to adapt to the outside world as well as being outside of the womb. A baby carrier, like Baby Bjorn carriers can simulate the womb experience as well as provide much needed comfort for the newborn, allowing your baby's energy to be focused on early growth. While supported in a baby carrier your child can hear your heartbeat, and feel the rhythm of your walking and breathing, much how they felt it while in the womb. As a result this encourages positive growth.

Baby carriers and slings can also reduce the risk of premature infant mortality, a fact that was discovered by accident. A shortage of incubators in a hospital in South America forced medical practitioners to wrap premature infants to their mothers in order to provide them with the warmth and stability that would normally come from the incubators. In doing so it was discovered that the premature babies who were strapped to their mothers using baby slings thrived as well and sometimes even better than those in the incubators. This is a testament to the effectiveness of not only baby carriers, but attachment parenting in general.

Another added benefit of baby carriers is that they help soothe crying and colic. According to extensive research, when babies are worn in infant carriers for at least 3 hours a day, they tend to cry 43% less during the day and 51% less at night. This significant reduction in the amount of time spent crying results in a happier, more balanced baby with milder temperament.

The benefits of baby wearing are not only for the infants. One of the obvious benefits of carrying your child in infant sling is that it allows your hands to be free to be able to perform your daily tasks. Baby slings offer a more convenient way to carry your infant, especially in places where a stroller would often be difficult to navigate, such as large crowds or up and down the stairs. Using baby carriers has also been linked to reducing the instance of post partum depression in women, as the act of wearing your newborn simulates the womb effect for both baby and mom.

Basically, a baby carrier or sling should be on every mother's necessity list for the new baby.

Fandangling Review and Giveaway

One thing parents buy when they are awaiting their new bundle of joy is a crib mobile. Most babies like to stare up at it and watch it go around. It is mesmerizing to them. The only bad thing about a traditional mobile is when your baby can pull themselves up; you have to take the mobile down. It becomes a safety hazard. Noah had an adorable little duck mobile that he would love to watch but when he got old enough the ducks had to come down. It was kind of sad for me because he had loved it since birth. Anne Zacharias, a mother of two came up with a brilliant idea, a mobile you attach to a ceiling fan named Fandangling. You don’t have to take mobile away anymore. Older children can also have mobiles in their rooms. They are really cool and can be soothing for a toddler.

Noah has a sea creature theme in his room. His room is painted light blue that matches his Sea Creature border perfectly. He has pictures of sea creatures and a sea creature quilt on his wall. His room is really cute so when I had the opportunity to try out a Fandangling mobile I was really happy to see that they had one called Underwater Adventure – Blue that has little stuffed dolphins and turtles.

The day we received the Underwater Adventure – Blue Fandangling, Noah wanted to play with it. He thought they were his newest stuffed toys. I tried to explain to him that they are for his ceiling fan. He didn’t totally get it until he saw it in motion. Noah loves his new dolphins and turtles. He watches them go round and says round and round, round and round. He definitely thinks it is really cool. He doesn’t remember his crib mobile of course and he loves to watch things spin. He will turn on his ceiling fan in the middle of the night to watch it go around. We occasionally make the light in the dining room spin around and so Fandangling is perfect. I hope you check out Fandangling’s website and order some of the cutest ceiling fan mobiles for your little bundles of joy.

Fandangling also donates 10% to multiple charities some of them are Animal Friends, ACEP and Build. I love this statement on their website: At Fandangling, We believe that Giving Back can truly make a difference in people’s lives.
I also have a coupon code to share with you guys. The coupon code is worth 20% off. The code is FANDANGLING10.

Thank you to Fandangling for sending me a complimentary mobile for my son to try out and providing one for the giveaway.

I have a giveaway for you. One (1) reader will win a Fandangling mobile of their choice.

Mandatory Entry: Visit Fandangling’s website and tell me which one you would like to own

You must do the mandatory entry for the extra entries to count.

Extra Entries:

Subscribe to my blog via email. It must be verified

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Join Fandangling’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/fandangling

Follow @sheilacakes7 and @Fandangling on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway including a link to this post. This can be done once a day.

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This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada Only

This giveaway will end on March 21,2010 at 11:59 PM EST.

Ella's Kitchen Review and Giveaway

I had the opportunity to work with an adorable company called Ella’s Kitchen. Ella is a beautiful little girl whose parents decided to make a baby food and fruit smoothie line for Ella. It all started when Ella’s dad decided that Ella and all kids in her generation should have healthy fun food to eat. They think on a kid’s level and come up with things that appeal to kids senses and tastes. They even incorporate kid friendly textures too. I think this is really cool that Ella’s Dad came up with this idea. Ella could in fact be the next Betty Crocker.

On the website Ella says:
When I was little my dad made a promise to me and my brother that he would only use stuff in our products that is natural, is pure and helps make us healthy. I told him everything has to taste great, and he agreed! We now have lots of scrummy foods that babies and little big people love.

The pouches are really interesting combinations. Not just your normal strawberry and apple. Some of the more interesting flavors are Carrots, Apples and Parsnips another one is Broccoli, Pears and Peas. All of the Ella’s Kitchen products are USDA certified organic. Ella’s Kitchen promises never to use salt or sugar in their products. They also promise to never use anything in our products that has no nutritional or health value. I love the beliefs and promises of Ella’s Kitchen. They work closely with nutritionists. I love how they always put children first. Ella’s Kitchen is a great company to work with and purchase products from.

Noah loved all of the Ella’s Kitchen pouches. I thought the Strawberry Apple one was really good. I could actually taste the strawberries. Noah’s favorite part of eating the pouches was deciding which color he wanted to eat. He didn’t know what the flavors were so he did the next best thing and chose the colors. He enjoyed tasting them all. They didn’t last long at all. He gobbled them down. A few of the days he ate two of them. He would ask for them over Goldfish and my son loves Goldfish. I was excited to find something that was so good for him and that he enjoyed eating. They are just the right size for Noah’s little tummy. There wasn’t any leftover and it was a great snack or addition to a meal. We will definitely be buying Ella’s Kitchen products and enjoying them for a long time.

The website is jam packed with information about Ella’s Kitchen and even some recipes incorporating the pouches. You all know how much I love to cook. The recipes look delicious. You can also find out where to purchase Ella’s Kitchen in your area along with signing up for the newsletter so, you can keep up with everything going on in Ella’s Kitchen.

Thank You to Ella’s Kitchen for sending me some products to review and providing the grab bag of products for the giveaway.

I have a giveaway for you!

One (1) lucky reader is going to win a grab bag of Ella’s Kitchen Products.

Mandatory entry:
Go to Ella’s Kitchen and tell me which pouch you would like your little one to try

You must do the mandatory entry to receive the bonus entries.

Extra entries:

Become a Fan of Ella’s Kitchen Facebook Page

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This giveaway will end March 8, 2010 at 11:59 pm EST
U.S. residents only please.

Lavender Lab Review

When I was pregnant with my son I was reading a parenting magazine. I saw an ad for Cloud B baby products and instantly fell in love with them. I immediately went to the website and looked at how adorable they are. It was something; I wanted my son to have. Cloud B is a company that makes products to help children sleep easier and better. Cloud B the baby sleep specialist, was established by two new mothers with the philosophy that every baby deserves a sound night’s sleep for healthy development. Cloud B’s products are developed in consultation with an advisory board of pediatricians and sleep specialists with a single focus: to achieve a better, safer sleep for baby. They have an array of items from the Sleep sheep family to Lullabags. Cloud B has won many awards for their products.

When my son was 2 months old I bought him the sleep sheep on the go. It is a stuffed sheep with a sound machine in it. It helped lull my son to sleep every night. We got it on vacation when we were in Virginia Beach. It not only helped him get to sleep but it helped me sleep as well- which is always important as new mom.

I wanted Noah to have the Twilight Turtle under the Christmas tree for his first Christmas. This time I ordered it on their website. It‘s so cool. The twilight turtle is your own personal planetarium in your child’s room. My son loves the stars. He will sit there and say let’s count the stars. He will also sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. On a few occasions, when our power has gone out during a storm, Twilight turtle has been my son’s comforting night light.

I had the opportunity to try the Lavender Lab. It is a stuffed dog that is filled with lavender. When I opened the box, my son was very curious to see what was inside. I pulled out the Lavender Lab and Noah started reaching for it saying, “I want my puppy.” I was interested in its soothing lavender scent. I handed it to Noah and he sniffed it and said “mmm smells good.” The lab is cuddly soft and just the right size for a child to hug. Noah noticed that the Lavender Lab has a purple nose and purple ears. The idea behind the Lavender Lab is you place it on your child’s pillow (or your own) and when it is bed time you remove it and the scent of lavender helps you fall asleep.

There is a really cute story about the Lavender Lab that comes with it. It has really helped my son fall asleep faster. He had been staying up late since I moved him to a toddler bed. He loves to carry around his Lavender Lab with him around the house. He named it Puppy. He will hide his Puppy and say where is puppy? There she is. I admit sometimes after a long day, I spend a few moments cuddling with Lavender Lab.

Sleep Sheep and Twilight Turtle have been treasured “friends” of Noah for nearly three years and still in excellent condition. I am sure Puppy will be around for years to come.

When someone asks me what is something every new mother should have? I always mention Cloud B. I talk about all of the wonderful products they make and how much my family love s them. I also will recommend them as a baby shower or new baby gift. I whole heartedly believe in Cloud B and it is a must have for any parent of a young child.