5 Fabulous Baby Products

If you're expecting a little one and want ideas for budget-friendly, versatile baby gear to help you care for your bundle of joy, I hope you'll find this vlog helpful:

Since that video ended up a bit longer than I'd anticipated, here's a summary:

1. Boppy pillow

• Tammy Mommy's recommended uses:
• counter pressure after surgical birth
• comfortable seating after an episiotomy
• arm support for mom during nursing or bottle-feeding
• infant upport for tummy time
• fall protection for supported sitters
• Pros: versatility, popularity (easy to find used, on Craigslist)
• Cons: originally designed to help supported sitters, not to aid in nursing; allows small new babies to roll toward you, especially if you have a small build
• Tammy Mommy's Suggestion: Get a "bare naked" pillow and at least two covers (find one to suit your unique taste here), or--for a product exclusively suited for nursing--try My Breast Friend, instead.

2. Moby-style Baby Wrap

• Pros: 
• more stylish and more comfortable than backpack-style carriers
• more conducive to movement and more comfortable, for mommy and baby, than pocket-style carriers or slings--particularly as baby gets bigger & more mobile
• versatile, with several ways to position baby
• easily transportable, washable, and "makeable" (I think I just made up that word!)
• Cons:
• a bit pricey, if you get the name-brand model
• slightly challenging to wrap, the first few times
• Tammy Mommy's Suggestion: Buy some fabric, and make your own or buy a homemade knock-off! Also be sure to check out these videos (& more on YouTube) that show you how to wrap it.

3. By-Your-Side Infant Seat

• Pros:
• Higher than most infant seats, providing greater safety (especially with animals and other children) and convenience (particularly after having a surgical birth)
• Longer than many similar seats, accommodating babies who are long
• Neutral colors, storage shelf, and soothing music
• Cons:
• A little pricey, compared to traditional bouncer seats
• Hard plastic and pathetic pillow
• Cover that's difficult to remove
• Takes up a lot of room, similar to a small swing
• Tammy Mommy's Recommendation: If you buy this  or a similar seat, be sure to use a protective pad, and use this seat for sleeping, but only when baby is congested and uncomfortable lying flat, and  only with baby secured in 5-point harnass.
• Side note: It's currently very hard to find, brand new; I'm not sure why, but I'll try to contact Bright Starts and find out. I am selling mine, soon, though, so if you live in Wisconsin, I know where you can buy one!

4. Piddle Pad

• Pros: inexpensive & time-saving
• Cons: NONE
• Tammy Mommy's Recommendation: Buy one of these to protect each item that has stainable, hard-to-remove fabric covers (car seats, infant swings, bouncy seats, etc.).

5. Diaper Champ

• Pros: Easier to use and less expensive than the Diaper Genie; helpful for those who use cloth diapers
• Cons: NONE
• Tammy Mommy's Recommendation: This is my #1 "must-have" nursery item! Make sure to be consisten with the "default position" so you eliminate icky odors as much as possible.

Wow! That took a lot longer than I hoped it would, this Friday afternoon! I hope it's helpful to Stephanie and other mommmies-to-be. If any of you other "seasoned" moms have suggestions for them, please comment below!

This is

reminding you that the days may at times be long, but the years--especially that first half year!--is really way too short!

5 Fabulous Wood Learning Toys for Toddlers from Melissa & Doug

Well, I figured that if I waited until a day when I had time to make both myself and my home look presentable enough for video, I'd never get around to vlogging, so here I am--no makeup, spitup on my shirt, hair in a pony tail--you know, the "mom" look! :)

Well, here it is, my first vlog (video + blog):

I seriously had already finished this vlog and was waiting for the video to upload, when I noticed that Melissa and Doug are having a Twitter party tonight, at 10 p.m. complete with GIVAWAYS! I might just have to bit the bullet and get on Twitter, people. (Do any of you Tweet?)

If you'd like to continue to see these each Friday, please let me know! (My blog isn't monetized, at least not yet, which means I'm not making any money off of it. So if I don't have any readers--or any who like seeing these, I'll seriously lack motivation for posting!)

Like I mentioned in the video, I'm not getting any "kick-backs" from Melissa and Doug, but I do really like the company. (Among other reasons I mentioned, it's a family-owned business and still offers truly personal customer service: if you call, a REAL PERSON actually answers the phone, and if one of their products is defective, they actually replace it--for free!) If you're like me and tend to shop online these days, I figure videos like this is the next best thing to trying before you buy.

Here are pics and links to the Fabulous 5 Wood Learning Toys for Toddlers that I featured in the video, plus the "bonus" one:

Here's the Magnetic Hide-and-Seek Board.

Here's the Fishing Magnetic Puzzle Game

Here's the Rainbow Stacker Wooden Favorite

Here's the Magnetic Chalkboard/Dry-erase Board.

Here's the Vehicles Mix-n-Match Peg Puzzle

Here's the Barnyard Jumbo Knob puzzle.

Please share this blog with your mommy friends, and don't forget to let me know if you liked my first vlog!

Signing off in hopes of a sunny spring weekend--in your area and mine, this is

reminding you that the days may indeed be long, but the years are oh-so-short!

P.S. This Latches Board is on my "mommy wish list," but the price is just a bit much for this momma! If anyone has a used one or sees a good price on one, could you please let me know? Thanks!