Category Archives: Resources

Resources, Websites

Great Website for Traveling With Kids

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I am preparing for an 8 hour flight with my toddler! Sounds daunting, doesn’t it? Well it doesn’t have to- a friend recently gave me some very good advice- “have high expectations of your children.” I had actually never thought of this before, though my husband and I have always taken our son along to everything we do with high hopes that everything will turn out well. But we hadn’t actually put words to what we were doing- having high expectations of him. Well said.   And it’s applicable in any situation, whether sitting through a restaurant meal with friends, visiting an art museum, or traveling across the pacific ocean.

My sister who has lots of experience traveling with her son (his first flight to Hawaii was at 8 weeks!) told me about a great resource:

Baby Travel Made Easy

Even though my son has already traveled by plane many many times, including two 11 hour flights, I thought I’d check it out to see if there was anything I could add to my bag of tricks.

Here is my favorite tip:

“Once the flight is under way, it’s time to play Santa Claus. (Santa flies, too, right?) Every hour or so, give your little one a gift to unwrap. The presents don’t have to be fancy or expensive; they might include books, snacks, or stickers. But it’s best to give items your child has never seen before, since these will hold his interest the longest.”

I loaded up on books, stickers, cars, and Legos yesterday.  We should be fine. Oh, and I’m counting on a 3 hour nap.  Is that too much to ask?

UPDATE: ok, so I just finished wrapping all the little gifts (like I needed one more thing to do!) and I think I might have gone a little overboard:

Giveaways, Products, Recommendations, Resources, Websites

EcoMom Review and Giveaway!

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Since becoming pregnant I discovered that wanting what’s best for my child and thereby strictly buying natural skincare, organic clothing and safe toys is definitely an expensive venture. In this world of big box stores it’s tempting to throw in the towel and just go conventional. Do you feel the same way?

Great news- you don’t have to! There is an e-commerce store that is the answer to all of our econo-woes. Eco-friendly Baby Products – EcoMom. This fabulous site is one-stop-shop for all things healthy and green, and offers everything from natural make-up and skincare to baby food, organic clothing and safe toys: It truly is what we’ve been waiting for. A place where we can find products during pregnancy and keep going back even after the toddler days are over, because they have products for school aged children too. The best part is that we don’t have to do our own research for the safety or true “green-ness” of anything they offer- all of their products go through a rigorous evaluation that is based on criteria they developed in conjunction with Healthy Child Healthy World.  EcoMom has also added to that criteria to take into consideration usefulness and price.

I encourage you to check it out!  Between now and June 30, 2010, they are offering Integrative Mom readers a 15% discount off of your first order- use discount code SBBL320 at checkout.  They also have a new program called EcoPass which is a $99 annual membership, which provides a 15% discount aon every order, as well as free shipping without the usual $75 minimum requirement.

EcoMom recently sent me a few items to review, and to give you an idea of the range of products on their site, these items made a recent visit to the playground complete.

What do we usually take when we venture to play?
Water, snacks and toys.  EcoMom sent me a Green Toys Recycle Truck, a Ecousable Stainless Steel Water Bottle, and $20 worth of organic baby food and snacks from Plum Baby and Revolution foods.

I have had a stainless steel water bottle for my son since he was 6 months old, but he’s never been that excited by the plain solid color of it and I think it might be too heavy for him. When he saw the Dino Water Bottle sitting on the table, he ran up to it saying his name over and over again desperately trying to reach it. He loves the bright orange and colorful dinos, and after I filled it with water he was so pleased and happily sipped away. It also has a hook so I can conveniently clip it to the diaper bag, and seems lighter than the other one he has. This is definitely our new favorite.

As for the green recycle truck, I can’t say enough good things about it. (I never imagined I’d get as excited as I do about toys for boys!) It feels sturdy, and proved to be as it held up when my son tried to ride around on it. I feel good knowing it’s made from recycled milk jugs, and it doesn’t look cheap, like most plastic toys do. He LOVES sorting all kinds of things in the 6 different recycling slots, and I know this is planting seeds for his green future. (He already helps his Dad bag up the recycling every night and puts it outside for the trash man to collect- playing with the truck reinforces this!)

The food and snacks are great- I  previously reviewed Plum Organics here.

GIVEAWAY!

I’m excited to announce that EcoMom has offered 2 giveaways to lucky readers of Integrative Mom.

One winner will receive the Recycle Truck and Ecousable Water Bottle, and one will receive $20 worth of baby food from Plum Organics and Revolution Foods!

HOW TO ENTER:

Simply leave a comment on this post!

For additional entries, do any of the following and then come back to this post and leave a comment telling me you did:

Just remember to come back and leave a separate comment for each one you do, and each comment will count as an entry. This giveaway is open to US shipping addresses and will close on Friday, June 4th. Random.org will choose the winners, and I will announce them on Saturday, June 5th.

Good luck, and tell your friends by using the Share This tab below!

Resources, Websites

Thinking About Cloth Diapers?

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Green as I may be (my husband calls it light green) it took me a while to get up the nerve to try using cloth diapers.  I briefly used a cloth hybrid when my son was a newborn, but when he turned 1, I was ready to go all out- mainly because I was ready for him to be potty trained and I heard babies in cloth make the transition sooner.  I knew nothing about this, so I turned to Sara Ingmire at Diaper Daisy.  Her site is so great- you can do a two week cloth diaper trial for free to decide if this is right for your family before buying tons of pricey dipes!  You also try different brands and styles- I had no idea there were so many to choose from, and this new world could be quite daunting without expert advice!  Sara is always available to answer any questions or challenges you might face, and responds quickly by email.  At the end of your trial, you simply return the ones you don’t want, and are charged for the ones you keep.  (As an added bonus if you keep them all you get a $20 store credit!)  This is what came in my first package:

I had lots of questions and concerns and Sara was there to support me.  I highly recommend her site for a diaper trial and cloth diapers!

www.diaperdaisy.com

Recommendations, Websites

CSA Time!

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Spring is here, which means it’s time to sign-up for a CSA!  CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and when you sign-up to become a member of one you are paying your local farmer for a share of the farm.  It is the best of all worlds.  Your money goes straight to the people growing your food, you eat locally grown and in-season foods, and you’ll eat tons more vegetables than you ever thought possible!  It usually works something like this:  You pay upfront for the whole season so the farmer has the money he needs to grow your food.  Then once a week you’ll either go out to the farm to pick up your “share,” or you’ll pick it up at a designated drop-off location in your city.  Week after week we are amazed at the bountiful veggies in our share, and we look forward to using new recipes and getting creative with some things we’ve never even heard of!  It really adds variety to your meals, and takes the guesswork out of grocery shopping.  Ever had one of those moments when you’re standing in the produce section of the supermarket thinking, “I know we need to eat more vegetables, but what should I buy?”  Never again.  Visiting the farm is a great field trip for city dwellers, and I believe it’s really important to teach our children where their food comes from.  In fact, studies show that when children are involved in the process of growing vegetables, they eat more!

My baby feeding a baby goat on our recent visit to Green Gate Farms

Feeding a baby Goat on our recent visit to Green Gate Farms

There’s something special about being able to thank the people who plant, care for, and harvest the food you put in your body.  This is in stark contrast to conventionally grown supermarket food that has been flown in from thousands of miles away and been touched by countless hands and machinery.  Also, when you break down the cost of everything you receive in your box each week, you’ll discover that belonging to a CSA is less expensive than shopping at the store.

Ready to find one in your area?  Here is a database of CSA’s around the country.  Visit www.localharvest.org for more information.