Did You Know it is SIDS Awareness Month?

What is SIDS?

It's Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and is the leading cause of death of babies in the US. Many times SIDS happens because a baby may have abnormal or  immature functioning of the heart and/or breathing. The bottom line is that no one knows for sure why SIDS happens. 

There are things we can do as parents try and prevent SIDS from happening.

• Put your baby back to sleep. Meaning, don't lay them on their tummy. This doesn't mean that your child shouldn't get tummy time. Just try and give them tummy time when you are in the same room. 
• Buy a swaddle blanket, or a baby sleeping bag. These are handy and your child can't get all twisted up in them like they can with a blanket. Plus it keeps them warm because they can't push it off like they can a blanket.

Source

• Get rid of the bumper. Many crib sets still come with a bumper. There are some safe ones out there, but there aren't many.  I cut my son's up and made pictures on the walls with them. The room still looked cute and I felt better knowing he was safe.
• Give them the binky. There's been thoughts that the pacifier is bad. It's good to give them when your baby knows how to latch to feed. Once that is established, give them the binky. What you don't want is nipple confusion to happen. Once they are ready for the binky, the sucking motion keeps them breathing. It's a good thing. When they start throwing their binky out of the crib it's their sign of saying, "I'm done with this thing." After they get a lot of teeth, a pacifier isn't the best on them. 

Mom4Life has their prevention of SIDS products on sale this week.

Earth Mama Angel Baby

On Zulily they have Earth Mama Angel Baby products! They are marked down 60%! I've done a few reviews for them and can say that I simply love their products! They carry teas for Mama, lotions, Bobby Tubes and much more!

This is off of the Zulily site: "Supporting moms and babies through the entire birthing process, Earth Mama Angel Baby creates herbal products that offer natural solutions to natural discomforts. All of Mama’s products are safe, vegan and free of all toxins including artificial preservatives, fragrance and dyes. They do not contain lanolin or nut oils either. Earth Mama Angel Baby products match mamas' high standards and are ideal for the whole family." -Earth Mama Angel Baby

Hurry products on Zulily go fast! You do have to have an account to get things through them. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Travel Tips For Babies

Traveling with kids is hard. It's even more hard when you are traveling with a baby.

I used to get so stressed out when I went places. Now I just think, I can always go shopping when I get to my destination. That thought process really helped me.

Travel tips:

Somethings you just can't buy in the store. Like a child's favorite blanket, forgetting a mom's breast pump would be a pricy thing to pick up at the store. I've gotten in the habit of replaying my day and packing to go with that.

I make a list of everything I might forget about.

If you are driving plan on stopping often. Your baby may sleep the entire time. Other times your child could be very needy/cry the entire time. If you prepare to stop often, you won't get disappointed if you end up having to. Remember babies love to be held. Don't drive around and hold them. They need to be in a car seat. This is why you may need to stop often.

If you are pumping and your pump has the ability to be battery operated, bring many batteries. Have a mini cooler to store breast milk. Check with your hotel ahead of time to make sure they have a refrigerator in the room. 

Have extra clothes and diapers handy.

Here are some helpful travel items for baby:

Baby MEDBASICS

The first thing that I think is a travel must is Baby MEDBASICS. It's a helpful travel pack that is portable and is filled with infant emergencies. Not everyone know what to do if a baby chokes, has a seizure, spikes a fever. It's best to call 911. Sometimes you don't have time for that and have to act fast.

 

Color-coded tabs helps identify different topics.

Included topics are: Choking, CPR, Fever, Bleeding, Burns and Poison.

It's spiral bound and pages are coated.

Easy to follow and detailed illustrations.

A page for your emergency contact information. Your child's allergies could be included in this section.

Dimensions: 5" x 6 1/4".

Comes in 3 different colors. 

It is $25.

I could have used this a few times when my kids were little. 

1. My youngest son Isaak spiked a fever with meningitis. Thankfully the on call nurse was very helpful and quick. Not all doctors have on call nurses. 
2. It would have been helpful to store all the boy's doctors and their phone numbers in. 
3. My oldest son Mica was allergic to penicillin. He was on home IV antibiotics to get rid of a staph infection. All the sudden my 7 month old was covered in hives. I was on the phone to home health right away. They contacted Mica's doctor and told me what to do. It's information like this that can and should stay with a parent all the time. That's where this book would have been handy.

MyLittleSeat Compact Fabric Travel High Chair 

This product called MyLittleSeat Compact Fabric Travel High Chair is for a little older baby.

 

I think it's so cute! It stays compact. It's a high chair that folds down to the size of a diaper! It has it's own matching bag.

Dimensions: 5" x 6 1/4".

Comes in 3 different colors.

For babies who can sit up with no help (6 months to 30 months).

Fits many chairs. 

Made to go to visit places that do not have children.

Comes in 6 different patterns.

Attaches to a diaper bag, suitcase or stroller with a clip. 

It is $29.99.

ecomom - Baby Samples Review and $15 Giveaway!

ecomom sent me some baby samples to review. They have of 2,000 healthy, smart and safe products for babies, kids, moms and dads.

These are the products they sent me:

My sister and I have both tried their Earth Mama Angel Baby Organic Milkmaid Tea. It tastes good, smells wonderful, helps boost breastmilk production and is caffeine free. ecomom sells a variety of their teas: For different stages in pregnancy, heartburn and No More Milk for mamas that are weaning.

My sister has had huge issues with breastfeeding my newest nephew since he has Trisomy 18. Her nipples are sore a lot. She uses Earth Mama Angel Baby Natural Nipple Butter.  I love that it is ok for both mom and baby. I never knew that with some nipple creams, they are unsafe to digest. With this brand there are literally no worries. It is 100% natural plant-based nipple cream, made with out lanolin to safely soothes, moisturize and protect sore nipples.

I had the great opportunity of trying out Kiddo - Hellomellow Avocado-Mango Butter Body Massage Oil on my nephew Emerson and cousin's baby Alex. They both were calmed and soothed. I rubbed their feet, backs and tummies. If you give your baby a tummy rub, rub in a clockwise motion. The oil is made with bergamot, chamomile and sweet orange infused body oil. I thought they had a hint of citrus to them when I was done.

Kiddo - Hellomellow Diaper Rash Bumbutter is a great diaper rash cream. Mainly because all the ingredients are pure! They include: Avocado, mango butter, essential oils of bergamat, orange and chamomile.

I'm so excited to get and try out Episencial Soothing Cream for eczema, itched and bothered skin! My youngest son Isaak has eczema issues on his scalp right now. I've managed to get the symptoms to decrease. He had scratched it, so I put this cream on the places that are scabbed over. It really didn't make his hair greasy looking like most products do. It's free from additives, has probiotics in the cream and is BPA free.

ecomom wanted me to tell you about their great new program called ecopass. This allows readers to purchase a $99 annual membership, which provides for a 15% discount on every order, as well as free shipping with no $50 minimum requirement. ecopass pays for itself in as few as four orders and costs only $8.25 a month.

Now for the giveaway. It is for a $15 gift certificate to ecomom.
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This contest closes in 2 weeks, September 19 at 10 pm. This is open to US and Canada Readers.

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Disclaimer: The opinions on this post are my personal take on the products. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I am not compensated to provide my opinion except for receiving the products themselves to test out. If you have questions about this post please contact me at: alissa4illustrationAThotmailDOTcom