Cool seats

I ordered this bamboo carseat topper from Innobaby recently. It's supposed to keep baby cool, as opposed to the sweaty tushies that come from sitting on those hot, polyester car seats and strollers. It is light sensitive since it's natural bamboo, so it needs to be kept from bright sun, but I'm hoping that the little shade that I have on the car window will stop it from discoloring too much. I also got the ramie (a natural fiber) topper for her stroller and so now she is literally, chillin'. Innobaby.com

No sunglasses better than cheap sunglasses

I just pulled out these Retro Baby Banz that my mom got for my daughter while she was still in my belly. I picked these based on a few things. 1. They're 100% UVA and UVB protective. (As tempting as cheap sunglasses are for both you and baby, don't do it. As a woman who's had melanoma, I have to be very careful with the sun, and one thing my ophthamologist told me is never to scrimp on glasses. Cheap ones are even worse than none actually because they fool the eye into thinking it can dilate, which in turns lets even more rays in then when you squint. 2. They've got a great band that holds them onto the little ones' heads. 3. They are awesomely retro (also available in non-retro styles). babybanz.com

Sleep tight, organically

My husband and I recently bought a new King-size bed to accommodate our part-time co-sleeping daughter. Even though she always starts out in her crib (also outfitted with an organic mattress), she nearly always ends up in our bed during the night, so we decided that our mattress should be organic too. We went with a SavvyRest natural rubber mattress. It's three layers of mattress actually. We were able to try it out at a retailer near us and decided on a soft layer of Talalay rubber on top with two layers of Dunlop (firm and medium) on the bottom. Now we're all sleeping like babies, when the baby is sleeping that is.

Crawl baby crawl

I use their chlorine-free diapers and all their cleaning products, and I just entered my daughter into Seventh Generation's Million Baby Crawl to fight toxic chemicals in our homes. They report that since 1976, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has required safety testing on only 200 of the more than 80,000 chemicals on the market. Gross.

http://www.seventhgeneration.com/million-baby-crawl/

Ergo is for Ergonomic

I (not me in the pic) carry my daughter in an Ergo baby carrier and at least 10 people a day must comment on it. Back in Brooklyn, where my daughter spent the first 3 months of her life, Ergos are a dime-a-dozen, but it seems that they haven't migrated down to Miami, where we're living now, because people are completely fascinated. Here's why...it has a little hood that snaps up over baby's head when they're taking a nap or if it's drizzling or too sunny. They're much more comfortable for mom or dad than other carriers and are the healthiest for baby's hips, they have a little zipper pocket for your keys (keep your cell phone out though...dangerous waves near baby), they're available in organic cotton in great colors, and you can carry baby on front, hip or back.

ABCs with no BPA

I just started using these bath-time, foam letters and my daughter loves them. I might be giving her too much credit for a 9-month-old, but yesterday she pointed to the letter M when we asked her which letter was for Mama, then pointed to P for papa. I never would've guessed a Sassy foam product like this to be BPA, PVC & Phthalate free, but it is. A-W-E-S-O-M-E.

How do you take a shower?

A friend asked me this today and my answer was Merry Muscles. It's a little jumper designed by an occupational therapist to help with muscle development and coordination. When my daughter was smaller, she spent more time in it than she does now, since she's now more interested in crawling, but when she was tiny, I hung hooks in every doorway of my house and moved the jumper around to whatever room I was in. I still use it in the doorway of my bathroom to, you guessed it, take a shower. I put her in and sing Old McDonald while she dances and I have an awesome long, hot shower. Win, win.

They're made in Canada and are still in the same packaging from the 70s, when they were probably first designed, but are adjustable (you let seams out as the baby grows), made of baby body-hugging cloth and have a metal ring at the top to prevent head bonking on doorways.

http://www.merrymuscles.com/

Folding tub that isn't toxic

I just bought one of these Flexi Bath tubs for my daughter today. It only comes in pink, blue and white in the U.S. right now, but the colors are great, with different shades of the same color going down the seams. Looks cool, is space-saving and is PVC-free and is supposed to accommodate up to a 4- year-old. She had a great time in it, along with her PVC-free Boon duck, Jane. Find a location at http://www.arealcoolworld.com/

Clean eats

I tested this Tiny Diner mat out the other day at a restaurant and it worked pretty nicely. I was able to lay down snack food and toys without having to wipe down a slimy table first. It even has a little food-catcher area that hangs off the table. It wasn't fool-proof, but saved some pieces from the floor. Several suction cups kept it on the table with no problems. Made by Summer Infant. BPA, PVC and latex-free.

Here come the 123s

One of my daughter's favorite (ok, my favorite) CDs is They Might Be Giant's 123s. I put it on at dinner time every night and can't help dancing a little to it. I love their new song, Electric Car, on their newest album Here Comes Science. Check out the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAv6M1Bai0c

Keep it together

I remember reading a recommendation for Baby Buddy Secure-A-Toy snap on tethers before my daughter was even born. I ordered 4 packs of them because they sounded so useful. I'm now using all of them...one on the high chair, one on the carseat, one on the Ergo carrier and several on the stroller seat. They're also BPA, lead and phalate-free, which is important, since babies usually end up chewing on the cords more often than the toys themselves. They have adjustable snap lengths as well.

The Nosefrida, the ultimate snot-sucker

The Nosefrida may look weird, but man does it work. Compared to those bulb-aspirators, it really does the job. My husband calls me the "Booger hunter" when I use it, because I am always able to get whatever is lurking inside my daughter's nasal passages out, with a minor fuss on her part. The tube only goes on the outside of the nostril as opposed to a bulb-aspirator, which makes it more baby friendly.

You'll need to press the tube into the filter section very hard to hear a click, which isn't currently in the directions, but has been added to info in their next order.

Happy snot-sucking.

Squeaky clean

Erbaviva products have been my favorite since I was pregnant. They are pure and gentle, using only plant products and no -ethyl anythings in the ingredients list. The shampoo is scented with organic lavender and chamomile.

I love the bar soap made from milk, honey and essential oils. Comes in cute little, canvas, reusable bag.

Safe swimming

I just ordered these Schlori cotton swim floaties for my daughter since summer is upon us. They are free of pesticides, mercury, lead and other harmful substances that plastic floaties can contain.

Order at peaceloveorganicearth.com.

Scratch the sippy

The Nuby straw cup is a great way to skip right over the sippy cup and help baby develop strong sucking muscles and coordination since they need to bite the straw and suck at the same time in order to get liquid out. My daughter started drinking water out of hers at 4 months and still loves it.

We just introduced the Beaba toddler soft cups and she has so much fun drinking water straight out of a cup. Love the colors and the wide base. Both are BPA-free.

Sun, Sun, go away

I was given a Flap Happy sunhat as a hand-me-down before my daughter was born and the day she outgrew it was a sad one. Luckily Amazon.com carries a wide selection of prints, both for boys and girls. The best part about these hats is that they have very large brims, which I find most baby hats do not have. I also love that they're 100% cotton. Even though polyester makes for good sun protection, it's hot and it's, well, polyester. The tie strings on these are easier to size than velcro ones too. Check out styles and prints at flappyhappy.com.

"Just right" sized glass containers for heating home-made baby food

These glass containers by Innobaby are the perfect size for heating up 2-4 oz. of homemade baby food. The lids are silicone and snap on oh-so-snuggly. They're a bit pricey, but totally worth not having to worry about plastic leaching into baby's food. The glass is thick enough that I just heat them up in a pot with a shallow of amount of water on the stovetop. They also fit into the Beaba Babycook steamer for reheating. Buy Buy Baby sells them as well as oompa.com.

The Teethifier. Like a Furminator, but for babies.

The Teethifier, made by KidGear, is the newest teether I've acquired for my daughter. It's designed to hit those molars, but I'm going to try it out early (she's only got one tooth so far). It's 100% rubber and is PVC, Phalate and BPA-free. Also love that it's gender-neutral school bus-yellow. So ugly, it's cute.