Best in Show: Finds from the New York Baby Show

The other week, Josh and I spent the afternoon at the New York Baby Show at Pier 94 scouring the booths for the latest and greatest in baby gear. From well trusted names in car seats to gadgets helping to create smart nurseries, there were so many new products featured at the New York Baby Show.

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We searched high and low, snapped tons of pics, peeked into many booths and found a really great selection of gear from baby brands that we love, as well as products from new and upcoming companies!

Here are just a few of the many great products we spotted at this year’s New York Baby Show:

Pello

With is gorgeous textiles and poufy circular shape, Pello is described as a luxury newborn lounger. This new take on a pillow can be used for feeding or for a convenient way to help baby sit somewhat upright during his/her waking hours. When baby outgrows the newborn phase, this pillow looks ideal for helping to support during the sitting up and standing phases.IMG 2941 JPG 

Pello has a great selection of colors and fabrics. It can be found on Amazon and retails for $120.

Sage Spoonfuls

A longtime fan of Sage Spoonfuls, I love watching this baby feeding brand flourish. I’m so excited about the Happy Foodie stainless steel divided plate and lid. Plastic plates and feeding ware are among the first items to go in my house because they are the most used and abused. Our stainless steel lunchboxes have lasted 5+ years. 

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So, I can only imagine how well the Sage Spoonfuls Happy Foodie product line will do. Safe, non-toxic, BPA, lead and phthalate-free and easy to clean!

Britax Frontier

Since we first shopped for carseats 10 years ago, Britax has been one of my all time favorite baby brands. This is, yet, another brand that I’ve loved watching flourish and working with over the years. I was so excited to see the various new strollers and carseats on display, but what truly caught my eye was the Frontier booster.

 

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We are solidly in the booster phase with my preschooler, so boosters have been on the brain. This new fabric is chic and unique; combining safety with style is something that Britax does so well. And speaking of safety, the Britax Frontier’s Click Tight Technology makes car seat installation as easy as buckling a seatbelt. This technology is designed to be seamless, especially for families who travel frequently or need to switch seats regularly. Click Tight is a game changer!

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Volvo

And speaking of traveling, I loved that my dream car brand was at the New York Baby Show. I’ve been eyeing Volvo’s SUVs for quite some time. Sadly, the price tag hasn’t been in the budget.

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We decided that this specific Volvo was too small for our needs, what with our year-round sports, lake gear and coaching equipment.  Nevertheless, it’s fun getting a peek at my dream car at the Baby Show. Josh loved sitting in the driver’s seat and checking out the trunk. 

 

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With thanks to Momtrends, we enjoyed meeting up with fellow bloggers in the Blogger Lounge, as well as livestreamed our favorite finds from the show. My little guy loved having the chance to play! 

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Above all, we loved checking out all the awesome goodies and gear at the New York Baby Show. Stay tuned for more fun finds!

 

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Get a Free Snapfish Photo Mug on Select Tommee Tippee Products

When two of my favorite brands collaborate, that can only mean good things, right? Our friends at Tommee Tippee have partnered with Snapfish for a fun collaboration.

Tommee Tippee and Snapfish have partnered together for a promo for an exclusive offer for a free 11oz. photo mug from Snapfish. On select cups and mealtime products, be on the lookout for yellow stickers that indicate this cool promo. The offer is currently on specified stickered cups (excluding single valve) and mealtime products. Cups can be purchased at Babies R Us, Target or Walmart and mealtime products such as (plates and bowls) can be bought at BRU.

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I have more mugs than I know what to do with, but with Mother’s Day coming up, how perfect would this be for a gift for Grandma! I love personalized gifts, and I love giving them even more. 

The boys and I went on a shopping excursion a few weeks ago to take advantage of this promo. My Target only had pink cups on our first trip, but lucky us, we found some cool blue ones on another visit.

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As you can see, not all Tommee Tippee cups and feeding ware have the Snapfish promo, so be sure to grab the ones with the yellow sticker as seen above.

Once you purchase, you can go home and order the photo mug online with the code included in the specially marked packages.

So, if you’re on the market for some new sippy cups or straw cups or feeding gear, be sure to check out Tommee Tippee’s great gear.

 

Full disclosure: this is a sponsored post. Thank you for supporting NKT. As always, all opinions on NKT are my own.

Tommee Tippee Tableware Streamlines Travel for Families on the go

Like many families, we spend a lot of time on the road in the summer. Whether it’s visiting grandparents out of town or heading to the beach, we’re always on the go, and rely on gear that helps us get to where we’re going. 

 

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I can’t tell you how many meals we have when we’re on the road: granola bars before rugby practice, Go Go Squeeze before swim meets and, yes, even cereal with milk on the road down to Va. Like most toddlers, my 3 year old is still perfecting his eating skills, so he needs tools that help him accomplish those tasks. Tommee Tippee has a great range of feeding tools that work so well for families on the go.

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Tommee Tippee’s Easi-Roll bib is my all-time favorite bib for my kid, and as gifts for baby showers. This super-practical bib is softer, yet durable and easy-to-clean after the messiest meals. I love that you can put the bib into the dishwasher after eating. The best thing about this best is that you can roll and tuck it right into your diaper bag or carry-on to have it accessible for road trips or any time you’re eating on the go.

 

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TT’s Section Plates remain a mainstay for all meals at our home. These plates are sectioned off into three compartments, making it easy to portion food for toddlers and keep them from not touching! Unlike other toddler plates, this plate has an ergonomic shape that makes it ideal for little hands to grasp (when they’re not snoozing, that is!)

 

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Pop Up Storage Cups always come in handy for road trips. In addition to Goldfish or Cheerios, we love throwing my toddler’s little collectible toys in the Pop Up Storage Cups. Whether it’s little bouncy balls or crayons for his coloring books, the Storage Cups are great to contain items to keep within reach in the car. Added extra: they fit perfectly in the car and booster seats’ cupholders.

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Easy Scoop Feeding Bowls are another fave for summer excursions. Some mornings in the summer, we start our days early to get prime spots at the beach. This often means we’re eating breakfast in the car, which is where the Easy Scoop Feeding Bowls with Lid and Spoon come in handy. C’mon, whomever thought of stashing the spoon in the lid is a genius!  When we don’t misplace the lids, these bowls are ideal for easy eating at the beach.

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Do you have any favorite gear that helps you when you’re on the road? Whatever you’re up to this summer, I hope you streamline your travels with easy-to-use gear when you’re on the go.

 

Full disclosure: This is a sponsored post and I am being offered compensation for my time and effort. As always, all opinions on NKT are my own.

tommee tippee Now Available at Walmart

One of my all-time favorite baby brands, tommee tippee, is now available at Walmart. The beloved baby brand known for their bottles, nursing accessories and feeding gear, can be found at select stores and at Walmart.com.

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When the company first made its way to the States several years ago, tommee tippee could only be found at a few baby stores. But now, it’s great to know that tommee tippee is more accessible than ever with its availability at Walmart.

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I’ve done many round ups professing my love for this brand, but truly, I almost always include tommee tippee bottles or bibs in baby shower gifts for friends and family. And since my older brother and his wife are expecting their second baby this summer, I’m slowly stashing away baby gear for them.

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With thanks to a generous gift card from tommee tippee, I picked up a few new Closer to Nature bottles for my new baby nephew gift stash. Of all the offerings online, I loved seeing all the newborn gift sets and, of course, my favorite roll-up bibs that are perfect for stashing in the diaper bag or babysitter bag.

 

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In need of baby shower gifts or new feeding supplies? Be sure to check out tommee tippee over on Walmart.com!

 

Full disclosure: I was provided with a gift card to facilitate this review. As always, all opinions on NKT are my own.

Tommee Tippee Fiesta Fun Time Collection Now Available on Amazon

Leave it to Tommee Tippee to change it up and add some vibrant colors to the otherwise pastel-hued baby gear aisles.  Tommee Tippee has introduced the Fiesta Fun Time collection, which is now available on Amazon.  This limited edition collection features Tommee Tippee’s Closer to Nature bottles in six jewel-toned colors including Green Glory, Turquoise Treat, Party Purple, Rascal Red, Grass Green and Sea Breeze Blue.  The Fiesta Fun Time Collections comes packaged with all the aforementioned colors in the 9 oz. Closer to Nature TT bottles.

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These BPA-free bottles feature the Easi-Vent valve which aims to eliminate excessive air flow. Breastfeeding mamas on the go will appreciate the breast-like nipples that mimic bfing.  As an exclusive bfing mama, TT bottles were among the only bottles that worked for us.  There was never nipple confusion, and TT bottles just made sense for us.  And as someone who LOVES color, I absolutely love this variety pack of the Fiesta Fun Time TT bottles.  My personal favorite color in the collection is the Party Purple, not just because we love to party, but purple for epilepsy awareness.

The Tommee Tippee Fiesta Fun Time Collection includes six boldly colored 9 ounce bottles and is available now at Amazon.com

Full disclosure: This is a sponsored post, but as always, all opinions on NKT are my own.  Affiliate links are included in this post.  

Top Tommee Tippee Favorites

If you’re anything like us, when we find a brand we love and trust, we stick with them…and that, of course, includes baby gear.  After having two babes, and reviewing hundreds of products through the years, I’m more brand-loyal than ever.

One brand, in particular, that I love and trust for my two guys is Tommee Tippee. Tommee Tippee, known for their baby gear and toddler feeding accessories, have a wide range of products that grow with your family.  In fact, we were quite smitten with this UK brand from the very start!  In 2009 when Tommee Tippee launched in the US, I attended a very cool blogger event, where I was intimately introduced to every single product that was going to be available stateside.

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Five years later, the brand has solidified their name as a baby gear staple in American homes.  As a mama who has used this brand loyally over the years, I’m thrilled to be a part of their Tommee Mommee blogger initiative. 

In honor of this, I thought I’d share just some of my favorite Tommee Tippee favorites, many of which we use daily.

 

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 1.  Explora Truly Spill-Proof Drinking Cups in 3-Ring Circus

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This limited edition design of Tommee Tippee’s drinking cup features whimsical graphics of animals doing their thing in the circus.  The modern flair of these graphics give these convenient cups a fresh appeal for parents and toddlers.  These are definitely my favorite sippy cups because they’re easy to clean, spill proof, but especially because they don’t utilize that spout that so many cups have.  These cups are a great transition for kids who are almost ready for open cups.  These cups are exclusive to BRU.

 

 

 

2.  Easi-Roll Bibs

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When it comes to eating, these bibs are my best friends.  Of all the silicone bibs out there, these suit our needs the best.  They’re colorful, soft and rollable, which makes them easy to transport in a diaper bag.  After my wanna-be independent toddler feeds himself yogurt for lunch, I love throwing these in the dishwasher.  If you’ve seen my Vine or Instagram stream of Small’s sleep-eating videos, perhaps you’ve spotted cameos of the Tommee Tippee Easi-Roll Bibs!

 

 

 

 3. Easy Scoop Feeding Bowls with Lids and Spoons

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Bowls with attachable spoons: seriously, Tommee Tippee thinks of everything.  What makes these bowls so great is that if you start a meal and need to dash ff to big brother’s practice, you can literally eat on the go.  I appreciate the convenience of this set and how you can keep things compartmentalized and hygienic, all while transporting.  Genius!

 

 

 4.  Travel Bottle and Food Warmer

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For a family that takes frequent road trips, the Travel Bottle and Food Warmer was our saving grace during the infancy stage. When the Smalls was nursing, it was so convenient being able to warm a bottle with the warmer and not having to plug anything in.  The stainless steel container kept hot water hot, taking a page out of the old school Thermos method.  Even better, I was able to thaw frozen breast milk on the road with this warmer, too.  This is certainly something that’s an excess in terms of baby gear, but definitely a necessity for traveling families who need to keep liquids warm or thaw food/milk on the go.

 

 

5.  Section Plates

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For toddlers, the feeding frenzy doesn’t get any better than having the convenience of Section Plates.  TT’s Section Plates are perfect for allotting portion sizes and for presenting foods for tots who are quite visual at this stage.  The Section Plates are perfect for finger foods and work for self-feeding meals, too.  

 

 

6.  Insulated Bottle Bag

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Another one of my favorite travel essentials is the TT Insulated Bottle Bag.  Even though I’ve always carried a diaper bag that has ample pockets for bottles, I often found that it was much more convenient to use these insulated Bottle Bags.  The velcro strap made it easy to attach to bag handles on the outside of my bag, lowering the chance of spilling bottles IN my bag and increasing the convenience factor of finding the bottle amidst the depths of my bottomless bag.  Another item of baby gear excess, I absolutely loved having this bottle bag for those fleeting baby days.

 

 

Full disclosure:  This is a sponsored post.  Samples were provided to facilitate reviews; however, as always, all opinions are my own.

 

 

 

 

Oogaa Feeding Products Put the Fun in Function

Plastics in baby bottles and feeding products has been a topic of discussion for some time now. The research has been done, and BPA and phthalates are chemicals we should try to avoid.  Even though there’s been some conflicting info floating around, it’s safe to say, these are chemicals we don’t want in our baby products.  

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On that note, we’ve seen an increase in baby products made of different materials such as silicone, stainless steel and glass.  One of my absolute favorites has been silicone, because of its versatility, durability and convenience.  The rubbery texture of silicone often doubles as a teether AND it’s virtual kid-proof.  

Healthy Child Healthy World recently shared an article on silicones in our baby products, but the consensus on its safety seems to be: more research needs to be done, but it’s safe to use for our babes.

We recently received a line of Oogaa feeding products to review.  These products, made of silicone, are, hands down, some of my favorite feeding products to date.  To start, they’re bright and fun, something that’s welcomed after such a cold and gray winter.  

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The spoons have cool airplanes, boats and other designs in the middle that make them not only fun tools, but also more weighted.  Like many who already do this, mom and dad use the fun airplane or train spoons together with those sound effects to make baby eat that baby food.  

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We’ve been using the placemat on top of the high chair tray for easier clean up when eating yogurt or other messy foods that the toddler insists on feeding himself.  The portioned plates, though, are perhaps my favorite. I can cut up fruit and cheese and put in each compartment so that the tot can pick and choose bite-sized pieces himself, but to also control portion sizes.  With the two boys eating such different amounts of food, I often forget that the toddler has a much smaller appetite and pickier palate, and food often gets wasted because of this.

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Best of all, after eating, clean up of these Oogaa products is super simple.  Because of the products are made of silicone, it’s easy to just throw them into the dishwasher.  

There’s a variety of awesome Oogaa feeding products ranging from the spoons to plates to placemats.  The plate and spoon set would make an ideal baby shower gift—talk about functional!

Here’s a little vlog we did when reviewing these fun feeding tools from Ooga:

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Full disclosure:  I received these products to facilitate this review.  As always, opinions on NKT are my own.

Pack This: Laptop Lunches

Always a fan of promoting healthier eating choices, I spotted Laptop Lunches, these fun lunch containers over on today’s Eco Baby Buys.


I was recently asked to review the toys from the latest happy meal, and as much as my kid is obsessed with the show that said toys are promoting, I had to decline the review opportunity.  I appreciate convenience as much as the next person, especially when we’re traveling, but as we all know, fast food isn’t always the best choice. With the unlimited selection and creative possibilities of packing fun and healthy meals, I think Bento Boxes are the new happy meal.

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Earth’s Best to Roll Out New Products

A few weeks ago, together with some other parenting bloggers and members of the media, Earth’s Best invited me to attend a luncheon at Rouge Tomate in honor of their 25th anniversary. Even though I spent most of the luncheon being a mom since the kid was having a tough time in the childcare area, I missed most of the presentations, but did get to hear snippets of about Earth’s Best history and future.

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PBS Kids Go Launches Fizzy’s Lunch Lab

With all this talk about eating healthy and reforming the nutrition standard of school lunches, PBSKidsGo.org has impeccable timing with the upcoming launch of Fizzy’s Lunch Lab.

Fizzy’s Lunch Lab is a fun new website (and more) geared to early elementary school kids that addresses smart food choices and living healthy. Through the silly animated adventures of Professor Fizzy and pals, kids can learn about the good, bad and not so yummy foods.

PBS said that the site will feature animated and live-action shorts, interactive recipes, food facts and games that are all geared to engage kids to make smarter food choices.


From the event I sat in on the other day, I learned that some kids really have no idea how to eat healthy. They know what they’re taught; and just like most things, the kids learn from example. I love the idea behind Fizzy’s Lunch Lab and how PBS leverages the web, humor and the quirky Professor Fizzy to engage and motivate kids. The graphics and dialogue are pretty impressive. Well, then again, it is PBS, so there’s no surprise there!

The site doesn’t officially launch for a few more weeks, but you can check out the site and see the above preview and also to get a feel for Professor Fizzy’s antics.
If you’re on Twitter, you can follow Fizzy’s Lunch Lab here, and where I just learned that they will be making an iPhone app as well!