Babies | Hip to be Mom

Parenting, sieved and seasoned to taste

May 212012

I think I’ve probably read all of 2 parenting books in all of the years after my babies were born. As you can imagine, with my kids being teens and megateens now, it’s been a while since I put Dr Spock back on the shelf. So you’ll excuse me for not having heard of attachment parenting… until this past week, or tiger mommying or detachment parenting for that matter.

I have to say I did glean some useful pointers from Dr Spock and company and I’m grateful for the free and plentiful advice handed down from older relatives. I value their wisdom and experience which, if you think about it, comes from years of having been there, done that. There’s so much we can learn from them without having to make those mistakes ourselves. I’m all for short cuts.

But still, me being me, I run it through my giant sieve for good measure and filter out the ones that fit in with our situation and beliefs. And throw in a few of my own. And that’s basically my randomly put together, sieved and seasoned to taste parenting style. What’s yours?

Restaurant tells parents to control their misbehaving kids

Posted by Clairity 7 Responses »

Feb 182012

It seems there’s been quite a lot of discussion in the news lately about keeping (I won’t use the word banning) kids out of airplanes and restaurants. In the latest article I read here this morning, a family restaurant in Atlanta has issued a statement to parents to please take their crying and unruly kids outside so the other diners can eat in peace.

The Grant Central Pizza in Grant Park put up this disclaimer in their menu:

“Dear all present and future patrons: GCP is proud of its reputation as a family restaurant, a title that we will work to keep. Unfortunately a number of our diners have posted unpleasant experiences because of crying and unsupervised children. To ensure that all diners have an enjoyable lunch or dinner with us we respectfully ask that parents tend to their crying tots outside.”

Apparently the restaurant owner was prompted to take action after receiving negative reviews, and an unpleasant encounter with a parent whose child throw a toy which hit another diner on the head. OMG, I hope it was a soft toy .

These days, children’s so-called toys can be lethal weapons. My idea of a toy would be, say, a harmless doll or a few tamiya models. But it seems, more and more, parents’ cell phones and iPads are becoming playthings and a source of distraction for kids.

As a mom, I’m all for bringing the kids out and having a fun time. Granted, kids will be kids but if they start misbehaving in public, we’ll just have to step in now, won’t we?

What do you say?

Scary thoughts about birth defects

Posted by Clairity Comments Off

May 222011

For first time moms, there are so many things to worry about. A friend was elated with news of her pregnancy but when she heard stories from other mothers about birth defects, she started worrying.

Of course, birth defects don’t affect everyone, knock on wood. But there are cases that Topamax, the drug used to treat epileptic children and adults, may be responsible for causing birth defects such as cleft lips.

Obviously that’s enough to scare anybody. A medication that’s meant to heal one problem causes another to an unborn child? Maybe the best thing to do is to hire a Austin personal injury attorney and try to take legal action and seek compensation. Any compensation is better than nothing, right?

O�Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath � Personal Injury Lawyers � 808 West Avenue, Austin, TX. 78701 � 512-494-9949

Kelty Kids baby carriers and strollers at 20% off

Posted by Clairity 4 Responses »

Mar 142011

Seeing this reminds me of the times we used to carry our babies around in a baby carrier. Of course, back then, the baby carriers were a lot less high tech.

Kelty KIDS Baby Carriers & Strollers FC 1.0 (Curry)
~~Normal Price: $149.95 Sale Price: $118.99~~
Now: $95.19
You Save: $54.76

This baby carrier looks more like a backpack. It has a waist belt torso length adjustment that grows with your baby and padded shoulder straps and a padded mesh back panel for your comfort. For baby, there’s the padded adjustable height child’s seat. It has a lightweight aluminum frame that allows you a 50-pound weight limit.

So yeah, this definitely looks much more sturdy than the one we had. And I love that it has a stand too so you can actually place baby and carrier near you instead of having to physically remove baby at a restaurant or restroom. Great for traveling and when you need both hands free .

You can easily find the carrier design that suits your needs and you can save 20% off the entire stock of Kelty KIDS Baby Carriers too. Check it out here. Offer ends April 1, 2011.

Which mom doesn’t love savings and convenience?

Posted by Clairity Comments Off

Feb 122011

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of PBM Products. All opinions are 100% mine.

When my kids were babies, I used to hog disposable diapers by the crates whenever there was a sale like I was planning to start a store or something . In the beginning, I was using cloth diapers but pretty soon, when I started going back to work, washing them became so much of a chore that I ditched them for disposables.

Thank goodness for disposables which you can now�buy on diapers.com without even having to leave the house. It sure beats trying to get through traffic hauling 3 kids and multiple crates of diapers, I tell ya. You can also check out�Bright Beginnings on Facebook for the latest cashbacks and specials to help you save money.

I remember spending a small fortune on diapers back then, but with the savings on Bright Beginnings diapers and milk formula sold at diapers.com, that’s a real bonus. Mom with kids are always looking to save because every cent saved goes into the kitty for treats, right?

Well, moms these days are much luckier than we were back then. There are so many conveniences and competitively priced products to choose from, and what’s even better, you can order stuff online.Which

The question of which infant formula

Posted by Clairity 1 Response »

Jan 022011

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of PBM Products. All opinions are 100% mine.

I hear from some of my mommy friends that they’re having a hard time finding Similac Advance Infant Formula at their regular retailers. If I were them, I would consider a�switch to generic formula as some of them are just as good.

I quite understand that as parents, we naturally want to feed our kids with the best there is. But sometimes, we just have to be realistic and accept that a�store brand formula can indeed be nutritionally equivalent to a brand name.

Maybe it’s worthwhile comparing the nutritional information on the different types of infant formula. Paying more sometimes may not be a guarantee of better quality.

I read recently on CBS’ moneywatch.com that even a brand name infant formula Similac has been recalled due to insects in the formula and I’m going like, what?

Maybe it’s time to think about trying a store brand infant formula alternative such as Parents’ Choice Advantage Infant Formula found at popular stores like Sam’s Club, Costco, Target and CVS. Its nutritional benefits, I’m told, are not too far off from brands like Similac Advance and all infant formulas are subjected to the same FDA standards.