Laugh it up (while breastfeeding) and you may help improve your child’s allergy!
Jun 18 2007

Sounds a bit far fetched, but according to recent research laughing results in the production of more melatonin which aids in relaxation and somehow results in your baby having fewer allergies.  They specifically mention that people with high levels of melatonin have lower instances of eczema.   The bloggers at Baby Babble (makers of Stoneyfield Farm’s Organic yobaby products) just mentioned this in a post called Breastfeeding? Laugh it up and you may help improve your child’s allergy.

I wonder if the folks at Stoneyfield have tried getting their cows to laugh while they are being milked. 😉

I happened upon their blog a few weeks ago when doing some research for Babble Soft and have found their posts to be pretty interesting so far.  My kids started having yobaby yogurts soon after they were eating solids.  Now Stoneyfield offers yokids yogurts that have less fat but still taste yummy.

Anyway, what a great reason to watch comedies, cartoons, and have your husband work on his sense of humor while you breastfeed!  If you happened to read this post while you were breastfeeding, I hope it made you laugh.

Aruni

Listen to Yourself: Baby Tips and Advice by Babble Soft
Jun 18 2007

I have been thinking about publishing a series of interesting, sometimes funny, sometimes serious, hopefully useful Baby Tips by Babble Soft for quite some time.  Now that I’ve started to get the hang of blogging, I thought this would be the perfect time to start.  Keep in mind these are based on our experiences, as well as those of our friends and readers.  Please always consult with your doctor before implementing any tips that might impact the health of your baby.  If you have a tip you’d like to submit please send an email to babblesoft blogger for possible inclusion.  Please check the ‘baby tips’ category to make sure your tip (in some form or fashion) hasn’t already been posted.  If it has been, feel free to comment on that post and support the tip.  We also welcome respectful challenges to the tips because as is noted in our ‘inaugral’ baby tip below ‘everything is relative!’  We will, of course, give anyone who submits a tip we publish credit and link back to their site!

Now here comes the inaugural Baby Tip by Babble Soft:

No matter what advice, tips, coercing, guilt trips, or loaded suggestions you receive, trust your gut/mind/heart above all else (unless of course you have a track record like George Costanza on Seinfeld and in that case do the opposite!).  In 99% [not verified, just something I thought would emphasize the point] of cases, new parents wish they had followed their thoughts/feelings about a stressful situation instead of acting blindly on the advice of friends, family, strangers, health care professionals, or innocent bystanders.  You and your baby are unique, the situation in your home, the situation with your spouse, and the situation with your family is also unique and there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution.  So if all the books in the world tell you to let your baby cry his lungs out and your gut tells you ‘this doesn’t feel right,’ then pick him up.  On the other hand if all the books in the world tell you to carry your baby 24/7 and you are about to have a nervous breakdown, put her down and take the break your mind/body is telling you that you need.  Make sense?  This tip is probably the hardest to implement and follow…but try to keep it in mind in between feeding, napping, eating, going to the bathroom, cleaning dishes, pumping, doing laundry, and changing diapers. 🙂

A great gift for Dad: 20% Off Baby Manager for Father’s Day
May 31 2007

In honor of Father’s Day, Babble Soft is offering 20% off on subscriptions of Baby Manager during the month of June 2007 using coupon code FATHER#1.  

We thought about offering 15% off for Fathers’ Day because we have noticed that dads generally need less incentive to try out new technology and gadgets.  However, in the interest of fairness and to acknowledge men’s more active roles (check out Daddy Clay’s blog) in the parenting gig, we decided to match our Mother’s Day offer.  Plus since about 42% of customers who purchased Baby Manager in the past were guys (who we assume were new fathers) we thought they deserved the same discount. 😎

In this day and age men are much more involved in parenting and although they can’t have babies or breastfeed (yet), overall they are generally more helpful around the house and with a new baby than their dads were (i.e., change diapers, get up at night, feed the baby, do dishes, etc.).  So if you know a new or expecting dad, get them a subscription to Baby Manager for Father’s Day and give them an excuse to play around with cool, new technology while helping out their spouse (which may be you)!  You can even take it for a test drive by signing up for a FREE Trial.

Dads, you now have a reason to replace your existing phone with a cool, new Smartphone; to assist the mother of your child in ways neither you nor she ever expected you could.  Imagine your wife asking you when and how much you last fed the baby and you being able to drag your mobile device off the nightstand and say in a sleep-deprived tone of voice “Honey, she had 3.5 oz of breastmilk/formula at 2:42 AM and I changed her diaper at 2:30 AM.”  She then replies “oh, thank goodness it’s 3:00 AM and I can go back to sleep for a little while longer…you’re the greatest!”  This scene can be a reality for all the tech savvy, new dads out there if you choose wisely and give them a subscription to Baby Manager for Father’s Day!  For a wonderful testimonial from a dad user see below.

Happy Father’s Day to all you Super Dads out there! 😀

Testimonial
“My wife and I are missionaries in Bolivia. Our first child was born here while our extended family was in the U.S. On our own for child care, we found that waking up every few hours to feed and change the baby was challenging.

Since we wanted to put our baby on a schedule, we decided it was best to take shifts at night. My wife took care of him from 11 p.m. until 3 a.m., and I took care of him from 3 a.m. until about 10 a.m. We shared responsibilities during the daytime. We learned quickly that it was not helpful for me to get up with the baby at 3 a.m. only to have to wake up my wife and ask her when he was last fed. When we downloaded Baby Manager for Pocket PC, it transformed childcare in our house.

First, we no longer needed to bother the other person with questions about diaper changes, bottle feedings, and breast feedings. It was all there. Second, since my wife breastfed our baby and pumped, Baby Manager provided an easy way to ensure she was “keeping up” with the baby by pumping as much milk as he needed. Finally, not only did we have the answers to our pediatrician’s questions, she was actually impressed with the level of detail and information we had from the reports on bottle feedings, breast feedings, diaper changes, etc.

Baby Manager helped us get through the first difficult months of child care. We needed to develop the good habit of recording important information about our baby, and Baby Manager helped us do that. In turn, it helped me and my wife to communicate better about baby care. It is the best solution for a single parent, or for a family with multiple caretakers, who need to collaborate and share this vital information.

We are now expecting our second child and are excited that we can count on Baby Manager to help from day one!”

-J. Eggen, La Paz, Bolivia
http://eggens.blogspot.com

Mr. Bobbles’ Blankets – What a funny name!
May 22 2007

After looking off and on for over 2 years (Yes TWO years!) for the perfect toddler pillow, I finally turned to the Internet, did an exhaustive search and happened upon Mr. Bobbles’ Blankets.  Over the years, I have been in Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Amazon.com, and pretty much any store or site that I thought might carry them and was often disappointed and shocked that I couldn’t find a good toddler pillow.  Target would always tell me to check back just before school started.  Of course I would come back only to be told “if we had them, they would be in aisle number X” and they were never there!  A friend of mine found one at the Salvation Army store once but by the time I made it there they didn’t have them anymore.

I ordered two pillows…one for our son to use as his nap pillow for school and of course one for our daughter…just to make sure there would be no fighting over the pillows. They have washable, replaceable pillowcases AND you can wash the pillows themselves…with kids the washability factor is key.  I liked them so much that I bought two more for my niece and nephew. 

I contacted the genius, Renee Sirulnik, behind these pillows and we have been helping each other promote our businesses ever since.  It’s amazing the relationships you can build over email and the Internet! If you buy a subscription to Baby Manager, you will get a coupon code to save money on purchases at Mr. Bobbles’ Blankets through the end of May 2007.  If you buy from Mr. Bobbles’ Blankets you will get a coupon code for 15% off a subscription to Baby Manager through the end of June 2007.

Renee just shared with me that they are in the process of launching a new line of crib sheets that have zippers for safety and she has added a new line of designer fabrics (funky/retro inspired prints in flannel and percale).  She also has a new Pirate theme fabric coming out soon so any of you with kids who get caught up in the Pirates of the Caribbean III movie mania, this fabric just might be for you! 

As for the funny name, you’ll have to read her About Us page to get the story! Please check out her site and share your thoughts.

Aruni 

Project Cuddle on Oprah
May 14 2007

I’ve decided that I need to start watching more Oprah.   I usually don’t have the opportunity to watch her show often, but on many occasions I hear about a show that I wished I had seen.  So now I’m recording them.  On Friday night I was able to watch two shows from last week.  One was called A Mother’s Day Special where Maria Shriver interviewed Demi Moore and Vanessa Williams on their motherhood experiences.  The other was a show Oprah called Cheers to You where she visited people at their place of work and then brought them on the show to experience the applause that she experiences almost every day.  On that show, she brought in a woman, Debbe Magnusen, who founded a program called Project Cuddle.  What an amazing program!!  Debbe helps pregnant women either become better equipped to mother their own kids or helps them find an adoptive family for her baby.  So far she has helped 570 babies and their families.  Pregnant women call her and she helps arrange prenatal care for them immediately.  She then helps identify the ‘perfect’ adoptive family.

Debbe happens to be friends with John Stamos’ mother and John has used his celebrity status to help promote Project Cuddle.  What a great thing to do!  I definitely agree with Oprah:  Cheers to YOU Debbe!

 Aruni