The Mom Crowd

My friend Staci put one of her daughter’s headbands on my daughter while I visited her. I instantly loved it, because it was super cute and it fit Ace’s head. The headband is from Bugalug Baby. Their headbands are two sided ribbons and have a clear, soft plastic toggle that adjusts the size of the headband.

What I honestly love most about the headband is that it stayed in my daughter’s hair the entire day, including a trip to the zoo. She never pulled it off her head once. She is constantly pulling out the smaller barrettes that I use. Also, I think it is easier to notice if she drops the headband rather than a barrette, because it so much more obvious it is gone.

I had a difficult time finding a headband or a bow for Ace’s Easter photo. I looked at Kohl’s, Babies R Us, and Target and I never saw anything like this. I ended up getting a bow at a boutique baby store, because the headband I liked at the store was eleven dollars. The headbands at Bugalug Baby are eight dollars a piece which seems to be about the going rate for these type of accessories.

One thing that I also like about the headband is that it also looks cute in my hair. So I am ordering two that I would like to wear myself and share with my daughter. I get twenty dollars a month to feed my baby shopping habit. I know what I am going to spend my twenty bucks on this month.

When I told Bugalug Baby that I was going to mention them they graciously offered The Mom Crowd readers a 10% off promotion code! Just use the promo code “MCR10″ when you are checking out.

By the way, they also sell the coolest barrettes too.

A friend of mine recently sent an email asking a few moms for our input on car seats and stroller systems. I didn’t even know that car seats fit into strollers until I registered at Babies R Us. Luckily there was a very knowledgeable customer assistant to inform my husband and I on all the safety features. We ended up choosing the Graco Safeseat in the color we liked best. Also, the stroller that is paired with the seat has rubber wheels. I have been grateful for the rubber wheels when I use the stroller at the park. Even though we didn’t know a lot about car seats when we registered, we are happy with our Graco Safeseat.

How Do You Choose a Car Seat?

Babycenter.com says, “All car seats currently on the market meet the U.S. government’s stringent crash- and fire-safety standards, so any car seat you buy new is technically safe. (The same isn’t true for secondhand car seats or car seats purchased more than a couple of years ago, which may have been designed to meet outdated standards or may have been damaged in an accident or been recalled for safety violations.)”

I knew that we wanted more than one child, so we bought a new car seat in a gender neutral color to be used multiple times. We were very blessed that my old office gave me a gift card to buy our seat.

More in depth help with choosing a car seat:
Buying Advice (Consumer Reports.org)
Car seat safety: How to choose and use a car seat (BabyCenter.com)
Choosing a Car Seat: What You Need to Know (ivillage.com)
Carseat Buying Guide (Car-Safety.Org)
Car Seat Ratings (ConsumerReports.org)

Child Seat Safety

“Child safety seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71% (less than 1 year old) and by 54% for toddlers (1-4 years old) in passenger cars.” according the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Traffic Safety Facts 2006.

There is a scene in Tyler Perry’s movie “Why Did I Get Married?” where Janet Jackson’s character is expressing her guilt on why her son passed. She explains how she was in a hurry, she thought that she had buckled her child in the correct way, and she had to swerve on the road and got into an accident. This scene haunts me. Every time I buckle in Ace I slow down and make sure that she is in her seat properly. I have heard of other mothers that have been in a hurry and something terrible happens. No matter how tired we are or how late we are, making sure that our children are buckled up safely takes priority over everything else.

More statistics on child seat safety:
Statistics on Car Seats from CarSeatSite.com
2007 NSUBS Results on Booster Seat, Child Restraint and Seat Belt Use
Car Safety Seats and Transportation Safety on American Academy of Pediatrics
Consumer Reports Car Seat Update from October 2007

Seat Installation

According to SeatCheck.org, “While 96 percent of parents and caregivers believe their child safety seats are installed correctly, research shows that seven out of 10 children are improperly restrained.”

What are the most common child safety seat installation mistakes? (from SeatCheck.org)

• Not using the right child safety seats for a child’s size and age;
• Not placing the child safety seat in the correct direction;
• Incorrect installation of the child safety seat in relation to the vehicle’s air bags;
• Incorrect installation and tightness of the child safety seat to the vehicle seat;
• Not securing or tightening the child safety seat’s harness and crotch straps;
• Improper use of locking clips for certain vehicle safety belts;
• Not making sure the vehicle’s seat belts fit properly across the child when using a booster seat; and
• Using a defective or broken child safety seat.

Locate a Child Safety Seat Inspection Station in your area:
Child Safety Seat Inspection Station Locator

How do you know when you are supposed to use the right car seat?

There are four basic types of car seats: Infant-only carrier, convertible seats, toddler booster seats, and booster seats. McKenna had the opportunity to interview Ms. Elaine Bobbey an Executive Officer for Evenflo at a recent Baby Expo in San Antonio, TX. In the video Ms. Bobbey explains the different types of car seats and what age you should use each one. She advocates that a child should use a seat until the age of 8.

More detailed information about the types of car seats:
Types of Car Seats (ConsumerReports.org)
Graco’s Guide for First Time Parents
NHTSA Video, “Not Sure Which Car Seat to Use?”

Car Seat Recalls

Car Seats are important for the safety of our children and we need to be aware if our seats have been recalled. To find out if your seat has been recalled you can look at the list on SaferCar.org.

How did you choose your car seat? How would advise anyone buying a car seat for the first time? What type of car seat do you use?

San Diego Momma

Over fish tacos and a view of the Pacific this past Monday I had the wonderful opportunity to meet, Deb, the witty and eloquent writer behind SanDiegoMomma.com. It all started when I won a Chris Trapper cd from her website. It turns out that we both have a special place in our hearts for alternative folk. This is the first person that I have met in real life from my virtual community (besides that boy I met in an AOL chat room my Senior year of high school.) I think we were both nervous that the other wouldn’t be as fabulous as our online reputations reveal us to be. Luckily we were. I appreciate Deb’s honesty and sincerity in her blog posts. If you don’t believe me check out her post titled, “BeautyPalooza.”

I also had the opportunity to interview Deb on film for our upcoming Mom Crowd Videos! Stay tuned…

Check out San Diego Momma’s post about our visit here.

BlogHer Conference 2008 in San Francisco

I am jumping out of my skin that this July I am going to be able to attend the BlogHer ’08 Conference in San Francisco. Reading all the live blog posts and videos from last year’s conference in Chicago inspired me to start The Mom Crowd. I can’t wait to be around folks who actually care about things like learning SEO and Google Analytics.

Another great reason I am attending the BlogHer conference this year is that Heather B. Armstrong (a.k.a Dooce) is going to close the general session. She will be speaking on what it is like to live life under a microscope. Like thousands of other bloggers and internet readers I have read her blog for a long time. I am still not completely over the fact that I was double booked and I couldn’t attend her meet up in Austin during SXSW Interactive. Hearing her speak will definitely make up for it.

At the conference I will get the opportunity to meet women who are coming together and changing the future of the internet. The internet is a tool to share our voice with thousands of people. BlogHer is bringing women together to talk about how far is our reach as bloggers and how we can honestly make the world a better place by sharing our voice. They ask the question “If you believed your blog could do anything, what would you reach for?” I would reach for a place where moms can connect when they are lonely at home and be inspired, informed, and encouraged. We all need support and to learn from each other’s experiences. The theme of the conference is “Reach!” I hope to gain some insight and tools to help make our goal a reality.

The early bird special just ended this past Monday, but you can still register at the regular rate. San Francisco is a nice bonus. If you have gone to a BlogHer conference in the past or are planning on going this year – let me know your thoughts about the conference in the comments section.

As I was passing time at the airport bookstore an article on the cover of USA Today caught my eye. The headline reads, “Day care’s new frontier: Your baby at your desk.” The article by Stephanie Armour explains how some companies are allowing parents to bring their infant up to 6 or 9 months in age to work with them. Most of the referenced companies are desk jobs. A company in Austin called T3 even gives parents their own private office when they start bringing in their baby with them. The companies and their employees have concerns about productivity, liability issues, health concerns, and what is best for the baby.

If my old job as a Human Resources Specialist allowed me to bring my baby with me to my desk, I may have been tempted to stay, but I wouldn’t have done it. I don’t know if I could have handled the demands of a boss, emails, managers on the phone, co-workers, my growing inbox, and on top of all that my baby too! Some moms are able to handle all that, but not me. Also, I know some moms have to work and it would be a huge blessing to have their little one beside them all day. Although there are some moms who definitely enjoy the break they get from their baby when they are at work.

I would have had some health concerns about bringing my child in the office. I think our building was cleaned maybe twice a year. Our building was old and had bad circulation and many employees got sick often. I don’t know if I would have brought Ace into that environment with co-workers that came into the office clearly too sick to work. The USA Today articles cites one company where bringing in babies would not work in their office because of the open floor plan. My old job where each person gets their own corner of a large square cubicle would not have suited a pack-n-play and swing. We had so many folders and drawers I would have been afraid of a stack of files falling on my baby!

Productivity specialists are raising eyebrows at the practice, saying it could amount to favoritism for parents and rankle co-workers who don’t want to put up with a baby gurgling — or worse — in the next cubicle.

As a Human Resources major I can see both the benefit of retaining great employees and the downsides of jealous co-workers and annoyances. I think for babies in the office to work the culture of the company has to be the right setting. Some clients may be put off by the mom in the meeting wearing a Baby Bjorn and standing while everyone else is seated at the conference table. I think if I were that mom all I would be thinking is “Don’t cry! Don’t cry!” and have a hard time paying attention to the meeting. I also believe that the baby would be a total distraction to everyone else. A baby is a lot more interesting than any power point slide show.

Co-workers may be jealous because of favoritism, but the opposite may be true. Parents with little ones at work may be discriminated against or looked over for promotions, because “they can’t handle it.” The article also shares how fathers have taken the opportunity to bring their little one to work with them. I wonder if the mothers would haven even more discrimination than the fathers with babies. The parents may feel pressure to produce more to keep up with other employees. I think I would have an issue with a parent that isn’t keeping up their end of a project. Of course, I would have grace for them, but deep down it would totally annoy me. The article mentions that parents are paid for their time when they are tending to their little one, but where do you draw the line? Would they have a clock in and clock out system on their computer? Will a parent have to work 10 or 11-hour days to ensure that they got their 8 hours of work done? It seems logistically difficult, but could work for company cultures that are open to flexible schedules and have understanding employees.

Many companies balk at the concept of babies at work full time. At Ernst & Young accounting firm, parents can get subsidized, backup child care in their homes.

Some companies offer alternatives to bringing your baby to work such as subsidizing the cost of childcare in the home. I had a co-worker that had a nanny come everyday to her house. I know she felt better about herself for working knowing her children were home. Another alternative is on-site child care. You can get your work done while someone watches your child. You are within a few minutes walk if you have some time to spend with them. GDC Marketing and Communication in San Antonio, TX is a great example of how a small company with on site child care, and a welcoming corporate culture can all work together to maintain a work-family life balance.

If my baby were at work with me I would get nothing done. Even now I wait to get my blogging done at night when Ace doesn’t need me because she fell over and banged her head again.

What are your thoughts about the article? If you could bring your baby to work with you would you? If you don’t work outside the house anymore what would it look like if you brought your baby with you to work?

For more thoughts about the USA Today’s article check out Laura Vanderkam post in the Huffington Post.

I am currently in Oceanside, CA traveling again with my baby. I have written before about traveling to the Philippines with my baby when she was seven months old. Now she is ten months old and mobile. Here are some tips that I have learned and done this trip that has helped our family. Hopefully this information will help you the next time you travel with your little one.

Bringing the Big Stuff

We did not buy an airline seat for the baby this trip, because the flights were short enough that we could hold her the entire time. We checked in her car seat and base. I was worried about losing them, but my friend said that they did not have any problems when they checked in their car seat. Continental Airlines made us put the car seat and base in a large plastic bag.

We used the stroller around the airport to hold our stuff and occasionally our baby. We checked in the stroller at the gate and it was ready for us right when we got off the plane.

Borrow or use the hotel’s pack-n-play if you can. We are in a nice Motel 6, so they don’t have offer a crib. We are able to borrow one from our friend to use while we are here. My friend also borrowed her neighbor’s pack-n-play to keep at her house to use for naps.

Buy Food and Diapers When You Get There

I packed enough jars of food, snacks, and diapers to last us two days to save space. Then we got here and I made a run to the local grocery store to buy all the food and diapers we needed. I like to buy Beechnut when I buy jars of food and they have them here too. Bananas and unsweetened apple sauce cups travel well. We also keep a package of diapers here with us in the hotel and take as many we need for the day.

Snacks, Snacks, and more Snacks!

Yes, every mother carries snacks for their little one. This is an age-old trick, but it is completely true! I am not sure how I feel about Gerber’s wagon wheel snacks, because they seem so unnatural and chemically created, but they don’t make a mess. During the trip I am being a little more lenient about her snack consumption. I give snacks to Ace when she gets fussy towards the end of the flight and while we are trying to eat at a restaurant. Mostly in public places!

Transferring From One House to Another in the Middle of the Night

Ace’s normal bedtime is at 6:30 p.m. We certainly did not want to be back in the hotel for the night at 6:30 p.m.! We opted to put Ace down at her normal time in a pack-n-play at our friend’s house and then transfer her when we were ready to go back to the hotel. Transferring did not go well the first time we moved her. The second night we got a routine that worked. We bring the car seat to the pack-n-play and move her as quickly and smoothly has possible. Then we get her to the car as fast possible. When we get the hotel room one spouse holds the baby while the other gets ready for bed. She doesn’t sleep if we lay her down with all the commotion going on. Then I nurse her and it is lights out and quiet time. We lay her down and everyone goes to bed. This process works well for us. It is nice to be able to go out with a baby and not feel tied down to the hotel room.

Traveling to a Different Time Zone

California is two hours behind our Central time zone. There are two schools of thought on moving time zones. One method is to pretend that you never left your time zone and stay on the same schedule that you always use. I think this would work well for babies who are very scheduled oriented. The other method is to try and adjust your baby to the new schedule by keeping them up later or putting them to bed earlier. Ace is a flexible baby so we chose to keep her up and get her on Pacific Time. It only took her about two nights to get adjusted. It will be a challenge to get her back on Central Time, but we are prepared and know that it is coming.

Staying calm and keeping an easy-going attitude has kept this trip a success. It also helps not to be in a hurry everywhere. We know everything is not going to go smoothly, but everything can be dealt with. Knowing that there is a grocery store around the corner has also been a big relief. Sometimes it is nice staying the States!

How about you? Do you have any travel plans coming up? How do you handle moving between time zones with your little one?