McNeil Recalls OTC Children’s Products; Helpful Links

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

If you keep up with the news, then I’m sure you’ve heard by now about the McNeil Recalls involving OTC children’s medication such as Tylenol and Motrin.  There’s no need for me to rehash what’s been already said, but as a quick synopsis:

McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the makers of OTC medication such as Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl and Zyrtec, have issued a voluntary recall on a number of products because they fail to reach quality standards.

Don’t want to wade through the long list of recalled products?  Head over to Tylenol’s site and enter your bottle’s product numbers here.

WAIT! Before you throw out your bottles of Tylenol and Motrin that are included in the recall, save them so you can get a refund and/or coupon.  According to the NY Times Bucks Blog, you have to call or email the company to get your coupon for new product.  It’s advised it might be best to reach a representative directly 1-888-222-6036.

Honestly, at this point, with various recalls lingering, I’m leaning toward the generic route if I need to administer any meds for the kid, which is truly, really rare.  (Note: I have no idea who makes it, but I like Target’s generic products) And back to McNeil, I’m one to try and push to get my money back in lieu of a coupon.  If you do get through to the company, let me know how it goes!

US News and World Report listed some helpful suggestions for alternatives to medicine for kids.

Humidity. Humidifying the air is useful for cold symptoms because it helps the cilia, tiny hairs in the lining of the nose and sinuses, move mucus out of the nose.

Nasal irrigation and saline sprays or drops. Both saline sprays and nasal irrigation work by the same premise—decreasing the amount of mucus and crusting in the nose, which reduces congestion and obstruction. Nasal irrigation kits, including the neti pot and squeeze bottles, are sold over the counter along with packets of ingredients that can be mixed with water to create a saltwater solution to flush out the nose. Saline sprays and drops are also sold over the counter and can be sprayed into the nose safely, without irritating the nasal passages in children, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Nasal suctioning. Using a bulb syringe to suck secretions out of the nose can help clear nasal passages in babies, Tunkel says. Parents should gently push the bulb into the nose no more than a half-inch deep. For best results, put several drops of saline solution into the nose before suctioning, the Mayo Clinic suggests.

The Hot Mom to Be Handbook Signing Brings Together Glamour, Celebs and Friends

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

After a day of exploring fabulous toys, last night I had the chance to indulge in an evening of pampering at the Hot Mom to Be Handbook book signing event held at Paul Labrecque Salon and Spa in NYC.  Written by Jessica Denay with a foreword by Trista Sutter, The Hot Mom to Be Handbook is described as being a fun, tongue-in-cheek guide to maintaining style and fabulousness while defying the stereotype that often goes hand in hand with motherhood.

 

I love getting dressed up just as much as the next girl, but as a mom who embraces working in yoga pants all day and opts for ponytails in lieu of fancy up dos, I could have used this book during my pregnancy as a reminder to keep the balance.

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Time to Play to Showcase Spring and Summer Toys

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

It might be raining and dreary here in NYC today, but I’ll be headed to Time to Play’s Spring and Summer Showcase, where Chris Byrne and Jim Silver, two of the biggest industry gurus, will be spotlighting this season’s hot toys.  If you can remember way back to last fall, I attended the fall showcase, where we learned about their holiday picks.

 

Time to Play Must Have toysMust Have toys from the 2009 Holiday Season

Even though I just did Toy Fair a little over two months ago (and am still reeling from all of that information), I am a big fan of the Time to Play showcase.  It’s an intimate event where media representatives and bloggers can meet with publicists and company executives to discuss—what else—toys.

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Kindiefest Set to Rock Out in Brooklyn

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

As Brooklyn sets the stage, get ready to rock out this weekend at the second annual Kindiefest.  The three-day kiddie music conference, described by Time Out New York Kids as “a mini South by Southwest for the preschool set,” will feature a public music festival on Sunday.

After growing out of showcases in 2007 and 2008, last year marked Kindiefest’s innaugural year for the family music conference.  The kid-centric music conference, which takes place April 30 through May 2, 2010 at Littlefield NYC in Brooklyn, includes industry-oriented events including the first-night party, keynote, two days of panels and a public festival on Sunday.

Though I try to cover music as much as I can on Monday here on NKT for “Music Monday,” admittedly, I’m such a novice, and am always trying to learn as much as possible about the family music genre.  The conference segment of Kindiefest, geared to artists, producers, labels, and publicists, includes panels such as Old School Meets New School and Gigs and Venues: From Libraries to Festivals and Everywhere in Between. I’m kind of wishing I could sit in on the conference and panels, to learn more about the behind the scenes of the family music industry, and to see what makes these kid music influencers tick.

 

The Recess Monkeys are among the performers at KindieFest's music festival on Sunday, May 2.

 

Nevertheless, I’ll be on the lookout for tweets and updates from some of my blogger friends who, I’m sure, will be reporting from the frontlines.  However, I’m most excited about Kindiefest’s festival, which is geared to anyone and everyone that loves music.  The festival will showcase the ecclectic sounds of Bill Harley, Recess Monkey, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, Clementown, The Royal Order of Chords and Keys and Ralph Covert.  Tickets cost $15 for an entire family, which is quite a bargain considering that many concerts in the area cost more than that for just one ticket!

If you’re in the NYC area this weekend, be sure to help support the family music industry by checking out the Kindiefest public festival.  If you’re heading to the Kindiefest festival on Sunday, let me know!

 

Kindiefest– The family music festival

May 2, 2010

Littlefield NYC

622 Degraw

Brooklyn NY, 11217

Tickets are $15 (free for infants)

Doors will open at 11:30

Showtime 12-4

 

Makedo Makes for Crafty Construction

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Earth Day has come and gone, but hopefully, the important lessons from the day continue to linger in your home, as I hope it will in ours, too.

There are so many fun and fabulous green toys on the market, especially now that the eco-friendly segment continues to grow as parents become increasingly more aware.  But one concept of green toys I hope to see more of, are upcycled toys such as Makedo.

Makedo robot

 

Makedo, a concept that I learned about at Toy Fair, is a connector system that enables materials including cardboard, plastic and fabric to easily join together to form new objects or structures.


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Pass the Corn-Fork, Please

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Happy Earth Day, everyone!  Many of us do our best to live greener and wiser, especially for our children’s benefit.  Aside from the ever-so-important 3Rs–Reduce, Reuse and Recycle–there are a host of ways families can help Planet Earth.

Year round, I try to feature sustainable products that would complement our lives, but for Earth Day, I thought I’d showcase some innovative green and eco-friendly items that I’ve dogeared just for this week.

Dandelion In line with our family starting a new chapter in the suburbs, we’re implementing quite a few sustainable changes to our everyday way of life.  The kitchen and the way we eat has been an ongoing process, but specifically, I’m hoping to phase out plastics in the kitchen as much as possible.

The kid’s tableware and cups have taken over their own shelf.  I just noticed that more than half of the plates, cups, forks and spoons are plastic, which concerns me.  They’re likely full of pthalates and other elements that we just need to avoid all together.

 

When I was at Toy Fair, I fell in love with Dandeloin products, including their Natural Tableware Products.

 

These bright yellow forks, spoons and knives stand out among the crowd of plastic kiddie-sized cutlery.  Dandelion’s line of tableware are constructed of corn—as in, on- the-cob.

 

That’s right…corn.

I like corn as much as the next person, but I’m not a fan of all the food that’s being processed and engineered with corn.

Dandelion ReUsables tableware thrusts the use of corn into a new light.  According to the company, Reducing our dependency on both petroleum-based plastics and disposable ware in general, is an essential step toward a healthier future for our families and our environment.

Dandelion uses a unique corn (PLA) formula. Unlike conventional plastic, which is largely made from petroleum, our bioplastic is primarily made from corn! Polylactic acid (PLA) requires significantly less fossil resources, and generates far fewer green house gases than conventional plastic. And corn is a renewable and sustainable resource.

Dandelion ReUsables is sustainability at its best.  Before grabbing a package of those convenient plastic kiddie forks and spoons, consider all the resources it took to get them on the shelf.  Dandelion ReUsables is a fantastic alternative to the conventional options out there.  When we move, I hope to replenish our tableware supply and minimize the usage of plastic by going the corn route.

 

In addition to forks, knives and spoons, Dandelion also has bowls, plates and soon, sippy cups.  Dandelion ReUsables can be found online and I even saw a link to them at Kmart online.  They range in price, but it looks like they are in the $6-10 pricepoint.

Sesame Street Introduces New Gardening Line

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Last year, Michelle Obama visited Sesame Street to tout the importance of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Later in the year, the First Lady cultivated her own organic garden at the White House to further emphasize the value of healthy eating and gardening.

Since then, announcing her Let’s Move campaign, which focuses on combatting childhood obesity, Mrs. Obama has made it her mission to educate families and kids about making healthy choices, including cultivating your own seeds—figuratively and literally.

Mrs. Obama's Garden

So, when Sesame Street, together with Ferry Morse, introduced their new line of gardening products geared to kids, the marketplace area at the Annual Easter Egg Roll was an impeccably-timed venue to help even more kids learn about gardening first hand.  The kid and I had a fun time learning how to plant watermelon seeds, or um, excuse me—wataaaahmelons.

Jack learning how to plant seeds

The Muppets of Sesame Street can be seen on packets of watermelon, pepper, sunflower, pumpkin, garden beans and tomato seeds, for parents and children to plant together.  The new product line also features Sesame Street-themed gardening totes complete with an activity booklet, seeds, tools, labeling stakes and stickers, a mini garden kit and a mini greenhouse with recipe card.

 

Sesame Street’s new gardening line is a perfect way to encourage kids to be green while going green.  As part of Sesame Street’s My World is Green and Growing initiative designed to support children’s innate curiosity about nature, each product includes educational materials that teach children how fruits and vegetables begin with seeds and grow to become food for the table.  Additionally, it compliments Sesame Street’s ongoing Healthy Habits for Life initiative, helping children develop healthy lifestyles they can practice forever through fun and simple every day activities.  Materials include a booklet with activities for children, planting tips for parents and healthy recipes parents and children can make and enjoy together.  The following items are available now:

  • Seed Packets – $1.99
  • My First Mini Greenhouse – $4.99
  • My First Mini Garden – $5.99
  • My First Gardening Kit (tote) – $10.99

“Research shows that introducing young children to the natural world is the first step towards helping them develop a caring attitude towards the environment,” said Maura Regan, Sesame Workshop’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of Global Licensing states.

Be sure to head to Lowe’s to grab a few gardening items for the kids. I found them at the back of the store, close to the garden center.  Though I wasn’t too impressed with the plastic Sesame Street gardening tools (though, they’d be perfect for the littlest gardeners), the kits do look cool.  Even if you don’t pick up the tote or kits, the seed packets are reasonably priced at $1.99. We’ve got some peppers, sunflowers and green beans to plant!  Let’s hope they fare better than our watermelon seeds which didn’t make it back from DC in tact!

 

BabyBjorn Debuts Organic Line

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

With Earth Week just upon us, BabyBjörn’s new offerings are a perfect segue to next week’s eco-friendly and sustainable goodies, gadgets and gear.

Last September, BabyBjörn went a little greener:  three of its most popular products are now being offered in organically grown cotton, including the BabyBjörn Baby Carrier Original Organic in Walnut (below left) and the BabyBjörn Baby Carrier Active Organic (last one) and BabyBjÖrn Babysitter Balance Organic in Walnut/Khaki (below right).

Organic cotton is grown without chemical fertilizers or pesticides and from plants which are not genetically modified. BabyBjörn’s Organic textiles meet the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).  In addition, all fabrics that come into contact with baby’s skin are Class-1 Oeko-Tex certified, which means that they are absolutely safe and free from harmful substances.

 

In the baby days, I couldn’t have survived without our BabyBjörn Carrier Active. Not only are carriers wonderful for bonding, but when running errands, traveling or using public transportation, it was nice to have baby close and still have both hands to maneuver.  For busy parents who are on the go, the Bjorn is a product to consider.


The main caveat I had with our BabyBjorn, was after our kid hit 8 months, it was difficult to wear him because he was so heavy.  He was always in the 100 percentile, so after a certain weight, babywearing was tough with our particular carrier.  I’ll have to check out the new carrier with more backsupport for our next kid.  Also, I had to “settle” for our blue carrier, but if we had the option 2 years ago, I would have much rather gone the organic and natural colored route.  If the organic option’s there and you can afford it, then why not?

 

BabyBjörn’s Organic Line is now available in department and juvenile specialty stores throughout the United States and Canada.  In addition to the Organic Line, BabyBjörn will be introducing the Comfort Carrier, which is set to launch in May.

 

2010 Best Books for Babies

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Beginning with Books, a literacy organization that promotes childhood reading, released their 2010 list of the Best Books for Babies.  The list includes a lineup of colorful and interactive books, some of which may even be in your own babies’ libraries.

According to experts, it’s never too early to start reading to babies.  In fact, regularly reading with babies and young kids encourages them to become enthusiastic lifelong readers, according to Beginning with Books.

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