Mama Speaks

Mutsy Grow-Up!

The Perfect Boost

Hard plastic, cheap seats, food filled cracks, ugly, need I go on. There is such a plethra of cheap, poorly made baby/child gear out there it's so nice to find products that you can actually enjoy. Mutsy has done just that and more with their grow-up![$50] booster seat.

There is nothing sweeter than seeing all of your children gathered around the table for family meals. And the Mutsy grow-up! is the perfect addition to your child seating to make that happen. It's soft and flexible seat has no cracks to fill with crumbs, the buckle is easy to use, easy to adjust and sure to fit small to big toddlers. And don't forget it actually looks good too! Available is 4 trendy colors combinations: apple, aqua, mandarin & raspberry, they're all so fun you'll try to find a reason to buy all 4 colors!

-Brittany

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Skip Hop: Table Fun

Foodie Fun

Good eaters, picky eaters, any kind of inbetween eaters will all be tempted to the table with the fun, whimsical sets from Skip Hop. The animal themed, 5 piece, Table Fun [$24] sets were designed by Eleanor Grosch and include a plate, bowl, spoon, fork and handled sippy cup that will get you through any meal.

The pieces are made out of melamine which has come into question lately but Skip Hop assures us that their melamine is free of BPA, Phthalate's and PVC. While we prefer to wash our kiddie dishes by hand, just because, these can be washed in the dishwasher if you keep 'em up top.

So, what will it be? Farm Friends, Circus Pals, Sea Critters? (We just stocked up on all three!)

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Bebalee

Food, oh food

With 6 little mouths to feed, food is obviously a big deal around our house. There's the shopping for food, preparing the food, cooking the food, eating the food, cleaning up the food and everything in between. I love eating the food, and shopping, preparing and cooking are okay, but cleaning up the after food.. the clothes... the floor...I could definitely do without. That's where Bebelee and their unique products make a difference with the hipster bibster and the snacker catcher.

None of my kids have ever been overly excited about wearing a bib, usually they're pulling it off and tossing it on the floor. I had given up on even trying and just resigned myself to either taking their shirt off to eat or basically using their shirt as the bib. So when I saw the hipster bibster [$15] I was anxious to give it a try. My little one was excited to put it on and didn't pull it off. The Velcro open/shut pocket caught most of his dropped food and it was super easy to clean up when the meal was over. We also had fun trying out the snacker catcher [$9]. It's a fun little 'tool' that clips onto your child's shirt and can hold simple snacks like a bagel or teething biscuit and keep the food from falling on the floor. Boy do I wish I had had one of these when my boys were younger. Can you imagine all the food that wouldn't have been dropped out of the stroller or car seat. Be sure to check out Bebalee's fun and unique products for your little eaters! Oh, and all of their products are BPA and lead free!

-Brittany

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My Little Seat

  Everyone gets a seat at the Table!

A take along booster seat, oh we've seen those before! I don't know about you but the benefits of having a seat for my little one do not outweigh the huge pain it is to carry a awkward, clumsy seat into a restaurant. Most likely my hands are already full with babies anyway. This is one of the many reasons why My Little Seat [$40] is absolutely awesome!

Now, I can easily bring along a seat {or two} everywhere we go. Grandma & Grandpas, friends houses, restaurants, oh the possibilities are endless. My Little Seat only takes up the space of a diaper, yes really, it's that small! Now that is something I can carry around. Created with fun fabric and style, this seat is a breeze to put on any chair and really works! With 4 ties and 2 harness straps this seat is able to keep squirmy babies to energetic toddlers safe and secure in their very own seat at the table. This compact fabric sling style seat is a must have for any mom that leaves the house!

-Brittany

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Bebe Au Lait

Dress Those Dribbles

A good bib is hard to find. I'm picky and need one for my child that is stylish, roomy in the neck, and easy to clean. The Double Reversible Bib [$22] from Bebe Au Lait truly is a mealtime revolution. Its four-sided design means you have four different surfaces to catch the drips and crumbs- in fabulous fashionable styles on one side and terry cloth on the other. Magnetic closures fasten in the front, going easy on the neck and giving you two sides to choose from. Then when you flip it over, two more sides!

Patterns exclusive to Bebe Au Lait like the mod Soft Spot and neutral Shrine Aqua make messes so much cuter. With four sides to use you'll go through a few meals before needing to wash- and then they are completely machine washable. No wonder it was the winner of an iParenting Media Award. It's a total winner with me.

-Steph

Sloppy Baby

Sloppy Chic

Are you tired of the excess laundry that having a baby generates?  Tired of pre-treating drool and spit-up stains on you’re precious little ones adorable outfits?  I was, until I found Sloppy Baby’s stylish bibs and burp cloths [$25].

Bibs are so great for stopping wet messes, but not so great for an accessory to a cute outfit.  Ducks, teddy bears and race cars aren’t my thing so when I found the Samantha bib and burp cloth, I was thrilled.  The modern chocolate and pink dot print looks adorable!

The best part is the absorbent fleece layer on the back, thick enough to stop even the drooliest teether! And, the burp cloth makes a great changing pad in a pinch.   Anyone who wants a fashionable way to stop soggy-chest syndrome should give these necessities a try.

Win it!
We're giving away a Samantha Baby Blanket [$48]! To enter, email giveaways[at]mamaspeaks.com with Sloppy Baby as your subject. Giveaway ends 01.10.09

-Brittany

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VerTerra

From Tree to Tabletop

With busy days and nights that you'd much rather spend with your kids than with your dishes we know how easy it can be to turn to disposable dishes. Plates add up fast and it's so much easier to toss them than wash them. Unfortunately what paper plates like in maintenance time they make up for in environmental cost. Aside from the energy and resources used to produce them many contain chemicals, waxes and dyes, harmful toxins that can leach into your food. And while you might toss them and forget about them they don't go away so easily.

We're happy to say we've found a disposable option that won't cause such worry. VerTerra's line of organic, compostable dinnerware is durable, versatile and worry free. Made from fallen palm leaves and water (yes! that's it!) these dishes are not only beautiful but practical. The plates, bowls, cups and serving dishes are microwave, oven and refrigerator safe and are sturdy enough to take whatever dish you can serve. Best of all, because they're made completely out of plant material they're 100% compostable and will biodegrade naturally in 2 months!

All products are currently sold in packs of 10, 12 or 100 and average around $1 per piece. That's definitely a much higher cost than paper but lower impact is worth it. Also, while these are billed as single use and can be tossed, they can be washed and reused. We were able to get 2 weeks worth of uses out of standard use and gentle washing.

Whether you give it a go for daily use or stock up for a special occasion, we challenge you to ditch your standard disposables and give VerTerra a try.

Win it!
We're giving away a sampling of VerTerra products to one reader! To enter, email giveaways[at]mamaspeaks.com with VerTerra as your subject and let us know where their products are made. Giveaway ends 12.17.08

Bumkins and Dr. Suess

We Wish You a Merry Grinchmas

We already know we love Bumkins diapers and have been delighted to see their BPA free products popping up at Babies R US so, when we heard of the opportunity to team up with Mom Bloggers Club to spread the word about Bumkins Dr. Suess line and Grinchmas giveaway we had to jump on board.

We're generally not big on branded product but Dr. Suess is one of the classics we are happy to stand behind. Bumkins offers a full line of apparel from Thing 1 and Thing 2 tees and onesies perfect for twins to the Coverall Suess Suit [$25] that brings a splash of Christmas cute. Speaking of splash, the waterproof line will keep little ones dry from shoulder to bum with bibs, smocks, aprons and diapers.

Of course, with Christmas just around the corner there are those of us big and small who are feeling a bit Grinchy. I say embrace it and pass it along with the Grinch gift set [$25] complete with themed onesie, ornament and gift box. Afterall, in the end that Grinch ends up quite Merry.

Win it! + Want it?
With any Bumkins Dr. Seuss purchase receive a free Grinch Superbib! You'll also be automatically entered to win a four pack of Dr.Seuss How the Grinch Stole Christmas Ornaments! Just enter grinch08 at checkout to receive your complimentary bib.

Extra Win it!
We're giving away one Dr. Seuss bib ourselves! To enter, email giveaways[at]mamaspeaks.com with Grinchmas as your subject. Giveaway ends 11.29.08

So Easy Baby Food Kit

Easy Peasey Peas . . . and Carrots . . . and Apples . . .

I probably don't need to tell anyone the benefits of making your own baby food - less waste, less expensive, more nutritious - you know all that. But really doing it is one of the harder practical challenges of being a new mom. The introduction of solids into a baby's diet can be overwhelming, and to add the planning and execution of making the food, well, it can be enough to make even the most health-conscious of us turn away. But apparently it doesn't need to be so hard. The So Easy Baby Food Kit from Fresh Baby [$38] is a great way to learn the basics of starting solids and get going on making your baby's first foods.

The kit consists of a cookbook, a how-to video, an information card to keep in the kitchen, and two storage/freezer trays for your purees (BP-A and Phthalate -free, of course). Of the bunch, I'd say the cookbook is the highlight. It includes a range of information from establishing healthy eating habits to introducing the first solid foods to instructions on making and serving fruits, vegetables, and a few proteins like beans, nuts, and tofu (please note that this book does not include sections on preparing meats or grains/cereals).

As an organization freak, I have to say the real kicker is the second half, which contains single pages for each food to be introduced. Organized by age of introduction, each page of this section is devoted to one specific food, and it includes every piece of information you need to incorporate it into your baby's diet. These pages are broken down into "Shop" (selection, storage, and quantity), "Cook" (all the steps for the prep, pureeing and freezing) and "Serve," which includes variation suggestions on how to spice up the foods according to age, and ideas for great food combinations, or "Medleys." It is with this latter portion that the cookbook also functions as a workbook/record keeper. Each page includes tables where you can keep track of the date when you introduced the food, variation, or medley to your baby, and how he/she liked it.

The information card is another great at-a-glance tool that includes helpful tips and quick summaries of some of the information from the book, including a first foods by age chart and a table with lists of the best sources of various nutrients. And the storage trays freeze and keep your one-serving portions at the ready for baby's first meals. After just a few weeks of devoting about half-an-hour per week to making baby food, you'll end up with an assortment of fresh foods that are ready to be tasted and tried (and most likely swallowed).

Of course you still have to do the work involved in making the food - you still have to prep, cook, and puree your fruits and veggies. But the kit brings together all the information you need from what types of foods to choose according to age, to how to select and prepare these foods, to how to introduce them to your child, making the whole process so much less daunting. Oh, to go back in time and do it all again - it could have been so easy.

Win it!

We're giving away a Baby Food kKt to one reader! To enter, email giveaways[at]mamaspeaks.com with Fresh Baby as your subject and let us know one food you'd love to make, homemade for your baby. Giveaway ends 11.29.08

-Beth

Thomas Paul Melamine

Dish It Up
 

Can you be in love with a dinner plate? Yes, you can. Practicality meets fashion in dinnerware with the Thomas Paul melamine collection. These complementary dishes are all about the personality, and not about the matchy matchy. Behind dark cabinets no more-you’ll rethink just where you store your plates, because these belong on display. A perfect hostess gift or treat for yourself- just when is the last time you gave your dinner table a makeover?
 

Available in dessert or dinner plate sets of four [$28, $36]. Sturdy and fun, the Thomas Paul melamine collection is also a big hit with the kids. Each plate is a different pattern and color, so everyone gets to be unique. Hide them in the dishwasher if you must as they are dishwasher safe, but these dishes, my friends, are even a delight to hand wash.

Thomas Paul goes beyond your cupboards and also offers wall art, rugs, and pillows to accent your home with fresh but classic colors and styles. It’s retro for the retro and modern for the modern. Each creation and design opens itself for interpretation by the decorator. This is how you can fall in love with even a dinner plate…

-Steph