Category Archives: Age 3-5

I need your help with my 3 year old..please

Age 3-5, Bedtime, Personal, ,

I’m exhausted as a result of getting an average of 4.5 hours of sleep a night for over 3 years now. You must know though that despite what professionals say I feel like sleep is a waste of time and it’s not something that I look forward to like some people (like my husband). I am not, however, a night owl or party girl. I know that I need sleep for health and sanity reasons so I go along with the whole sleep thing even though I think it is time waster.

Here are a few facts about the situation that I am desperate for help with, for my 3 year olds sake and ours:

– She’s 3.5
– She always goes to the bathroom before going to bed
– She doesn’t fight going to bed
– We have a consistent bedtime routine that she enjoys that includes bathtime, stories and singing
– She starts stirring and/or crying after being asleep for about 1.5-2 hours
– She doesn’t remember crying the next day
– My husband and I don’t run into her room after every sound she makes
– If we don’t go into her room to soothe her pretty quickly she’ll stir or talk herself into a full wake
– She seems to get her best sleep between 4-7a.m.

My husband and I are EXHAUSTED. This has been going on every night for over a year. She doesn’t ask to sleep in our room, but we’ve thought about moving her into our room. We aren’t sure what good that would do except that we wouldn’t have to get out of bed to help her.

Your tips and feedback are appreciated!


Please forgive any spelling errors. I wrote this post on my iPhone.

Personalized Plates for Kids

Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Guest post: TheFind.com, New posts, Personalized, , , ,

I’ve been searcing for a personalized gift for the children on my holiday gift list. I came across some personalized melamine plates and thought they would be perfect. What could make mealtime more fun than your very own plate? It is also a good way to teach preschoolers how to spell their name. The will see it emblazoned across their plate at every meal. That is assuming they eat their food and uncover the design underneath! These plates are the modern day version of the circular piece of paper I drew on as a kid and my mom sent it away to be laminated and returned to us. It was special to eat on my own personalized plate and I loved to eat my meals on it. I’ve found several personalized plates, a bit more sophisticated than the designs back in the day. You may even find some that coordinate with your home’s decor. The letter to Santa plate can be customized with a custom letter from your kids. Sweet! There are several sites which offer these plates and one place I always turn to again and again for personalized childrens items is Etsy

custom-plates

Plates featured above:

Pink Polka Dot plate, $22 at daninotes.etsy.com, Candy Cane Striped plate, $22 at daninotes.etsy.com, Letter to Santa plate, $22 at daninotes.etsy.com, Baseball plate, $24 at mollycarolinedesigns.etsy.com

Save at Etsy with coupons from TheFind.com’s coupon site.

From our friends at TheFind.com.

Chipoupine Teddy Sweater review + a giveaway

Age 3-5, Baby & Kids Clothing, Contests, New posts, , , ,

Why Madelyn (3 years old) loves it

Similar to Madelyn’s favorite 3 year old blankie warmly regarding as Fuzzy, her new Chipoupine sweater is ultimately plush and comfy. She would wear it 24/7 if she could.
It’s like she’s wearing her blankie. This sweater will keep her warm in the coldest Atlanta weather.

Chipoupine fuzzy sweater

Ultimate Comfort

This sweater fuzzy inside and out. The stylish lining inside the neck area and arm cuffs adds to its whimsical Bjork’ish’ design. Not only do I love the big green dot on the sweater but my 10 year old loves it to and treats it like a great excuse for a Nerf target and chases Madelyn around house shooting at her. Don’t worry, he shoots the super light darts at her and isn’t allowed to get her from shoulders up. The over-sized arms are nice as they cover her arms well and keep them very warm. The 100% microfibre fabric lets Madelyn’s skin breathe.

Design

Madelyn is wearing the Sweater teddy turquoise. The low v-neck design is nice because like me Madelyn isn’t fond of high necks. For me it’s a claustrophobia thing.. not sure about her dislike for high necks though. Maybe it’s a toddler thing like socks with seams.. she doesn’t tolerate them at all.

Visit Chipoupine.com to see all of their kids clothing line.

GIVEAWAY!

Chipoupine is giving a lucky The Mommy Insider reader their choice of “Teddy” sweater (color and size) or “Russia” sweater (color and size).
If you don’t see the entry form here, click here to open the contest entry form, to enter the Chipoupine Sweater Giveaway.

My review of the new Evenflo Symphony 65 car seat and a giveaway

Age 0-1 year, Age 1-3, Age 3-5, Contests, New posts, Travel, , , , ,

I know you’ve heard it a million times… 4 out of 5 car seats are installed incorrectly according to a recent NHTSA study.

On with the good news..
Evenflo Symphony 65 convertible car seat
Evenflo’s new Symphony 65 car seat features the exclusive SureLATCH system, designed to provide a super-fast, tight and safe installation every time with a simple Click, Click, Push.

My experiences with and thoughts about the Symphony 65

Latch System

With SureLATCH, the Symphony 65 car seat is properly installed in 3 steps. The SureLATCH is easier than our pre-Symphony 65 car seat with the latch system. I don’t have to put my knee in the seat and push down like I’m trying to squish an elephant in order to get the latches in and the car seat tight to the seat. If your car doesn’t have the Latch system, you ca install the Symphony 65 with the seatbelt and given that it is installed correct, it will be just as safe.

Infinite Slide™ Harness Shoulder Straps

I love this feature! I don’t have to take the seat cover off to re-lace the straps as Madelyn gets taller. The Symphony 65 car seat straps slide up and down on a rail system (Infinite Slide) and I can easily adjust the shoulder straps while Madelyn’s in the car seat. “The Infinite Slide Harness Adjustment System makes for easier height adjustment with no rethreading.”

Seat Tilt and Headrest Adjustments

Changing the tilt of the car seat is easy as is changing the height of the headrest. Both are one-handed operations.. unless you try to do both at the same time in which case you are a great multi-tasking mommy and I envy you.

Protection and Comfort

The Symphony 65 car seat features energy absorbing foam liner and side impact protection. The pieces in the headrest that round out for side impact protection also keep Madelyn’s head from falling to the side when she falls asleep in the car seat. Madelyn has enough room to sit ‘criss cross apple sauce’ as they say in school, proving that the Symphony 65 is a very spacious yet safe car seat. Great for long road trips. Comfort Touch fabric makes the seat both aesthetically and physically pleasing for the adults driving the car as well as for the child sitting in the seat. Energy absorbing foam liner.

Evenflo Symphony 65 convertible car seat

Cup Holder

A cup holder is something that I believe no car seat or stroller should be without. Madelyn can reach the Symphony 65’s cup holder unlike with our Britax.. which didn’t have a cup holder. Granted, the seat is almost 3 years old. Before using this car seat she had to put her cup in the actual seat’s cup holder but then couldn’t get it back out! You think she would have figured out that she shouldn’t do that, but she kept trying. The Symphony 65’s repositionable cup holder folds up small so it’s not in the way or bulky and best of all, Madelyn can reach it.

Age

The Symphony 65 accommodates children from 5-35 pounds and can be used rear or front facing. This could be the only car seat your child needs.

Design and Style

The Evenflo Symphony 65 is available in two stylish designs, one great for cars with a grey interior and the other for beige.

The Symphony 65 is larger than my old Britax which I think is fine but it doesn’t fit well in my husbands Volvo sedan which has bucket seats. In his car, the car seat comes within about 6 inches of the front seat so the person sitting in front of Madelyn may get an back massage in the form of tiny feet kicking the seat.
Buy the Evenflo Symphony 65 Convertible Car Seat at Amazon.com for $199 or less.

GIVEAWAY!

We are giving a lucky reader an Evenflo Symphony 65! Leave a comment below (jump link) telling me why you want to win a Symphony 65. Winner will be chosen at random. Entries accepted through December 17th. Re-tweet this post then fill out the comment form a second time with your Twitter ID for 2 extra entries!

Review of Bersica Futurewear: high-tech and innovative clothing line for children, a giveaway + 30% off coupon code

Age 3-5, Age 5-7, Age 7-10, Baby & Kids Clothing, Contests, Eco-Friendly, New posts, ,

Bersica Futurewear uses a new finishing technology called NanoSphere® on their fabrics which provides a natural self-cleaning effect and an extremely high level of liquid and dirt repellence, something that I as a mom appreciate.  Who knew I would have cared how dirt repellent clothes were 10 years ago before I had kids?

Madelyn loves her Bersica Futurewear clothes (photo right) and even said "I love these Mommy, thank you!" when I put the pieces on her for the first time. She got right up on her step stool in the kitchen and starting posing for pictures right away.. too cute. I don’t know how I feel about the tongue sticking out though.

Bersica Futurewear Benefits:

  • Highly abrasion resistant
  • Remains at its highest performance even after extreme spills and washings
  • These clothes make a tremendous amount of sense to wear while kids are active such as when riding a bike or at the playground.
  • Even when your child is sweating the lining of the pants or shorts will not stick to your child’s skin
  • The inside texture of the pants and shorts is very soft
  • The stitching is great.
  • Can be machine washed – for other washing and care instructions visit the website.

Bersica Futurewear fabric benefits

  • Extremely water and liquid repellent
  • Extremely oil and dirt repellent.
  • Breathable
  • Protects from UV rays
  • Self-Cleaning
  • Contains no harmful chemicals.
  • Requires less washing saving you money

Bersica Futurewear is available for toddlers and kids from 12 months all the way to 12 years old and in a few colors and most pieces are in the $30 range. The benefits of Bersica Futurewear are great and the concept is amazing and much needed in the world of parenthood.

Watch a video on how truly repellent Bersica Futurewear children’s clothing is. It’s a pretty amazing video!

COUPON CODE

Use coupon code MOMMYINSIDER to get 30% off your purchase through 1/03/10

GIVEAWAY!

Bersica Futurewear is offering two lucky readers a $50 gift certificate!
Leave a comment below (click here to jump) related to this post to enter to win. Extra entries can be earned by (1) tell me something you learn about Bersica Futurewear on their website (2) Retweet this post and leave your twitter user name in a seperate comment. Entries accepted until December 13th.