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.

 

 

 

 

Holly Robinson Peete to Host Webinar on Food Allergies

Because allergies run rampant in our family, this topic has been on my radar well before I became a parent.  Once I became a mom, introducing food to the kid with the possibility of food allergies became an even bigger reality.  Aside from real-life experience by helping my younger brother cope with being “allergic to the world,” my husband and I researched to educate ourselves for the uncertainty of having a child with food sensitivities.

Amidst all the gatherings this time of year, it’s the parties and family events that can be a cause of concern for allergic reactions.  After being so cautious with anything new that the three year old has eaten, over Christmas, he had an allergic reaction after having some cashews.  Of course, the reaction happened the evening of the post-Christmas blizzard and weather conditions would have complicated everything.  Thankfully, the kid is at an age where he can verbally communicate with us now, and immediately told us that his tongue was itchy—a telltale sign of an allergic reaction, and something that I always remember my brother describing after eating various things he was allergic to, when we were kids.

Always reluctant to let the kid have nuts in anything, for some reason, I thought he would have been ok trying cashews for the first time that night.  I thought he was in the clear with any nut allergies, but I was wrong.

The kid’s hives, swollen lips and an itchy tongue was enough to remind us that not all foods are safe for our allergy-prone kid.  Thankfully, we had Children’s Benadryl onhand to remedy the situation and that it didn’t require a trip to the ER.  We learned from this terrifying situation and are grateful it didn’t transpire differently.

Because of our family’s allergies and my interest in sharing this sort of information to other parents, I will be logging into a video webinar on the topic tomorrow.

Super Bowl Sunday is the second biggest eating day of the year after Thanksgiving. Since severe allergic reactions to food send 90,000 people to the emergency room annually, TV personality Holly Robinson Peete of CBS’s The Talk (who is married to former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete) will be hosting an online video webinar about handling food allergy dangers at gatherings like Super Bowl parties. Nine out of 10 people say they will be attending one this year, according to a recent Nielsen survey.  Since Holly’s four children all have some kind of food allergy, she has plenty of expertise in this topic.

After the webinar, I’ll be one of a few bloggers who will ask Holly questions pertaining to allergies and her experience.  It’s always interesting to hear other parents shed light on issues that hit so close to home.  I’ll of course share Holly’s insight after the interview, but I’d also like to invite you to watch the online webinar.

Allergy Friendly Superbowl Webinar with Holly Robinson Peete

When: Tuesday, Feb. 1, at 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT)

Where: Click this link
to get to the webinar, where you will be able to watch Holly via live video feed: http://agencyroad.na4.acrobat.com/allergyfriendlysuperbowl/

Full disclosure: I am being compensated for my participation in this webinar and Q&A via TheMotherhood. The webinar is being sponsored by Dey Pharma L.P.  As always all opinions on NKT are my own.

Dinosaur Train Introduces New Episode and Giveaway

It’s a chugging kind of day; I’ve got lots of cool train-related news today.

To start off, Buddy and crew are welcoming the new year with a new Dinosaur Train episode.  The Jim Henson Company property that follows a Buddy the dinosaur, along with his family and friends on their train adventures, is chugging along with a new episode called “The Good Mom;” “Diamond Anniversary.”

In the new episode, Mrs. Pteranodon meets fellow mom Millie Maiasaura, who hovers a bit over her kids. The moms share some mothering methods in a play date at the Big Pond.  And, Mr. and Mrs. Pteranodon decide to surprise each other with gifts on their anniversary.

The new episode can be viewed on PBSkids.com, so be sure to check it out if you missed it.

As fans of both trains and dinosaurs, Dinosaur Train, which airs on PBS, is one of our all around favorites.  We’ve been tracking Dinosaur Train’s adventures way before the very first episode even aired.  Dinosaur Train has been so well received, like many popular shows, licensed toys and products have followed suit.  I love Learning Curve’s Dinosaur Train toys and can’t wait to see what’s up next toy-wise.

But toys aren’t the only Dinosaur Train products worth checking out:  There’s a new line of pjs that are now available at Kohl’s, ideal for this frigid weather.  The Dinosaur Train Striped Footed Pajamas feature a dinosaur appliques and a striped pattern, and I’ve got one to give away.

Giveaway

Would you like to win a size 3t Dinosaur Train Striped Footed Pajamas?  Just tell me why you and your kid(s) like the show and comment below.

Want additional entries?

Tweet about this giveaway and be sure to @jenrab

Follow The Jim Henson Company on Facebook and tell them The Next Kid Thing sent you.

Comment on the NKT FB post associated with this giveaway!

Share this giveaway on any social networking site.

Please comment below for all entries.  This giveaway will end 1/25 at 11:59 p.m. and is available for U.S. residents.  All giveaway winners will be contacted via email, so please be sure to include a valid email address.

P’kolino Introduces a Chalk Table

P’kolino, best known for their modern and innovative children’s furniture and toys, has added a Chalk Table to their product lineup. The Chalk Table, which has a cool pair of bench-style seats, features a reversible tabletop that hides a clever storage space underneath. Can this table be any more perfect for a budding Renoir or Matisse?
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Always a fan of clean aesthetic and functional design, P’kolino’s Chalk Table would complement any stylish preschooler’s room—boy or girl. I’ve been a longtime admirer of P’kolino’s Klick Desk and Little Reader, the Chalk Table is likely to find its way on to my shopping list, once we move to a bigger space. I’ve seen the great quality of a few P’kolino products in person, but I’ve yet to see this one, since it was just introduced. Once I have the chance to see the Chalk Table for myself, I’ll be sure to report back.

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The $90 P’kolino Chalk Table is available for pre-order now and starts shipping on January 20th…and it looks like they’re offering free shipping, too!

Best of 2009: Baby Genius Toys

At any given moment when a good song comes on in our home, it’s likely we’re having a mini jam session with the kid on the guitar, dad on the keyboard and me often playing the drums. The 2 year old band leader who “distributes” the instruments accordingly, has the rocking out routine down to a science.

Because music is such a big part of our lives, I appreciate toys that encourage musical value and Baby Genius does just that.

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New year, new horizons

Happy Monday and happy 2010, everyone. I hope you had a lovely holiday break and are recovering/transitioning ok! Our family enjoyed a very nice Christmas and quiet New Year; it was just the right amount of family time. After a hectic fall and holiday season, I took a much needed break from blogging and writing. Apologies for the lack of posts, but things will be back to normal this week.

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photo credit: Selva Ganapathy

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Music Monday: A Family Christmas

Way before tracking trends and kid’s products even became a blip on my radar, I stumbled upon Putumayo Kids music at a local gift store.  A huge advocate for diversity and lover of all things music-related, falling in love with Putumayo Kids was a given.

There are children’s music compilations and then, there is Putumayo Kids.  Putumayo’s various cds, which are geared to entertain, educate and inspire cultural curiosity in children, boast upwards to 3 million cds sold and stands apart from other children’s cds.  The compilations are well-thought out and enjoyable for both kids and adults—a must for our music-loving family.

616FLxA340L._SL500_AA240_This fall, Putumayo released A Family Christmas, which I found to be one of the best recent kid-centric Christmas music collections.  Putumayo’s A Family Christmas is a melodic departure from all the character-based songbooks, shows and cds that seem to monopolize the storeshelves, especially this time of year.  The songs on this cd are ones that we know and love, but the artists featured are none that I can recognize aside from Big VooDoo Daddy, (though you might recognize a few) which makes it even more appealing.  Can you think of a better way to enjoy the songs you hear a billion times over during the holidays than with a new fresh take on the classics for kids?

From Johnny Bregar’s acoustic take on “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” to Big Bad Voodoo Daddy retro-swing version of Louis Armstrong’s song, “Is Zat You Santa Claus?,” to The Christmas Jug Band featuring Angela Strehli and Maria Muldaur’s “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus,” Putumayo’s A Family Christmas covers all the music genre on one fun collection.  This compilation truly appeals to music lovers of all ages and from all walks of life!  My only complaint is that I can’t seem to locate Putumayo on iTunes.  Maybe the next one?

My personal favorite on the cd is definitely Mele Kalikimaka by Debbie Davis & Matt Perrine, which I consider a kind reminder and shout out to one of our family’s highlights of the year—our trip to Hawaii this summer to celebrate the kid’s Godmother’s wedding!
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Be sure to check out the Putumayo Kid’s site to check out their other award-winning cd collections.  Also, head on over to Amazon to give a listen to A Family Christmas, which is where I sampled this cd myself.  Music is a wonderful gift for everyone, especially cd compilations that have garnered awards like, Parents’ Choice Awards, National Parenting Publications Gold Awards, iParenting Media Award and Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award.

Without a doubt, after I pick up this cd from Barnes and Noble, Putumayo’s A Family Christmas will be blaring from our speakers on our drive back to Virginia for the holidays.  Putumayo is so cool, they’re offering a free MP3 download!  Just sign up here to receive your free download of the song “Jolly Old St. Nick” by Brave Combo from the new Putumayo CD A Family Christmas.

A Family Christmas can be found at retailers like Barnes and Noble, as well as online.

Gift Glossary: great video games

In the video game sector, titles and technology are constantly evolving. With many new handheld titles and fun family titles to choose from, I had a tough time narrowing down NKT picks. I could go on and on with this exhaustive list for great family video games, but I chose many of the ones below because I had the unique chance to experience them first hand. For the ones that I didn’t try out myself, I felt that their family-friendliness and entertainment value coincided with NKT’s scope.  And as far as giveaways go, this is a biggie!  Enter for a chance to win these recently released video games and NKT picks!
So, here they are:

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Great DVDs for Preschoolers

The next installment of the Next Kid Thing Gift Glossary is all about DVDs for toddler and preschoolers.  I’m all about less is more when it comes to tv watching, dvds and video games, especially for the smaller kids.  But a great show on DVD is often what separates me from getting dinner cooked without a meltdown.  So, here are a few dvd picks for preschoolers (and even one for toddlers) that are entertaining for everyone.

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