baby supplies

Tips and Advice on Choosing the Best Baby Bottle for Your Little One

April 2, 2018 by Kathryn Leave a Comment

Baby gear has come a long way over the years, and that’s especially true of baby bottles. The standard bottle has evolved from a clunky and somewhat dangerous glass bottle to a lightweight and shatterproof plastic design with an infinite number of specialty shapes, nipple designs and sizes.

While some women do manage to stick solely to breastfeeding a little one, the vast majority of parents will use baby bottles at some point…even if only when a baby is finally old enough for other beverages! So choosing a bottle that works well for you and for your baby is a must.

Why Use a Baby Bottle?

Ideally, babies should be exclusively breastfed for at least six months. But there are still occasions when mothers need to have a bottle handy, whether because mom is still working or just enjoying a night out. Thankfully, affordable and easy-to-use breast pumps mean that Baby can still get the breast milk he needs. Make sure to use a baby bottle that protects the breast milk quality! And when your little one is older, a baby bottle is handy for letting him drink water, milk or juice before he is able to use a cup.

What Kind of Bottle is Best

There is no shortage of choice when it comes to finding the best baby bottle. But no matter what brand you choose, a good baby bottle should have some features no matter what. It should be comfortable, and include an anti-mastitis breastfeeding latch. It should be made of high-quality, BPA-free material and be easy to use. And, perhaps most important, the perfect baby bottle should have multiple sizes and nipple designs to suit babies at different ages.

Tips for Bottle Feeding a Baby

While some babies may be happy to hold their own bottle as they eat, bottle feeding should still be a time to bond with Baby, so make sure to still play an active role! Keep a proper hold on the bottle to help minimize the air that is swallowed, especially if your baby suffers from colic. And make sure that bottles and nipples are properly sterilized for newborns!

Benefits of Baby Bottles

There are so many occasions when using a baby bottle makes life a little bit easier for a busy mom. But while baby bottles can also help feed Baby when Mom is away, they also give a dad and extended family members the chance to bond with baby a little bit more. While Mom takes a break, Dad gets the chance to interact with the baby in a very special way. If your little one uses a baby bottle, consider handing over one feeding a day to a family member.

With so many different baby bottles to choose from, finding the best baby bottle for your little one can take some trial and error. If you also breastfeed, make sure the nipple flow on the bottle mimics the slower flow of breast milk. And if you’re planning on bottle feeding often, choosing a bottle with a design that’s comfortable to hold is a must. In the end, a bottle that you and your baby both enjoy is the most important consideration of all.

Check On Baby Easily with the VTech Safe & Sound Video Baby Monitor-Giveaway

July 19, 2017 by Kathryn 139 Comments

Of all the baby items that have evolved over the years, I think my absolute favourite innovation is the video baby monitor. I still remember the old audio baby monitor I used when my oldest son was born and it caused me nothing but grief.

I constantly thought that I heard him waking up, only to rush upstairs in a panic and find him fast asleep. Even worse, the monitor would sometimes even get its signals crossed and play me the sound of strangers’ conversations!

With video monitors, that hassle ended for good and I was thrilled. But most of the trendy new monitors use Wi-fi and a phone app to let parents check on their little ones. While this is super handy for some situations, it’s far less handy with a Wi-Fi connection that’s not always reliable. That’s why I love the way VTech has combined the best of both worlds with the VTech Safe & Sound Pan & Tilt Full Colour Video Monitor! [Read more…]

Find the Best Gear for Your Baby at the Best Buy Baby Sale-Giveaway

February 21, 2017 by Kathryn 156 Comments

One of the things that always amazes me about baby products is how many innovations are still being made when it comes to baby care. In just the few years since my boys were babies, products are now safer, more comfortable, more versatile and more effective when it comes to raising a happy baby. And Best Buy Canada has done an amazing job of finding those top products and offering them to parents at a great price!

Even better, from right now until March 9, Best Buy Canada is making its great selection of baby products even more appealing during the Best Buy Baby Sale! If you’ve been longing to stock up on baby gear for a new little one, this is the time to do it! As I glanced through the sale items, I couldn’t help but think about what I might have bought if these products had been available when my boys were babies. These are my top pics for must-haves for any new moms!

Graco Maddox 3-in-1 Crib

If there’s one thing that instantly makes a piece of baby gear more appealing to me, it’s versatility. And this crib boasts plenty! Its convertible design ensures that when baby outgrows the crib in its initial configuration, it can be converted into a toddler bed or a daybed so that one purchase will provide years of use for your little one! [Read more…]

The EquiptBaby Diaper Bag Makes Parenting Easier with Features Moms Love-Giveaway

July 21, 2016 by Kathryn 70 Comments

Taking care of a baby is exhausting, whether you’re a first time mother or you already have a house full of children. And if there’s one item in a mother’s arsenal that can make her day either much easier or much harder, it’s the diaper bag. A good one keeps items organized, holds all the essentials and is easy to use and carry. An awkward one may require constant rummaging, be too small to be useful or be so big that it’s impossible to carry comfortably.

Then there’s the EquiptBaby Diaper Bag. And when I say that it’s in a class all its own, I mean it! This bag takes the must-haves from the best diaper bags, eliminates annoyances from the worst ones and then tops off its design with innovative features I have never seen on a diaper bag before, yet loved at first glance. I recently received the EquiptBaby Santa Rosa Diaper Bag so that I could see its differences for myself and I was impressed as soon as I pulled it out of the package.

One of the highlights of the diaper bag for me? The hard bottom of the bag! It’s such a simple addition to a regular diaper bag, yet it makes such a big difference in the ease of use. Instead of having to worry about a full diaper bag tipping over and spilling contents as a mom juggles the bag and the baby, the flat plastic bottom ensures that the diaper bag sits upright securely for easy access to the contents.

But that’s just the start of what makes the EquiptBaby Diaper Bag such a great choice for parents. Multiple pockets in the interior lets a busy mom keep bottles and snacks separate from clothes and diapers…and even leaves enough room for mom essentials like sunglasses and a wallet too! Best of all, one of those organized interior pockets is insulated, so bottles and snacks stay cool all day. When my boys got old enough to drink milk and juice, keeping it cold and fresh was a constant challenge. This diaper bag makes it easy and convenient to bring refreshments out of the house!

EquiptBaby also offers an ingenious Bassinet and I think I loved it even more than the diaper bag. This handy little bassinet is big enough for a baby up to about nine months of age and protects little ones from the sun and insects while outside…yet it folds up to be no bigger than a Frisbee for easy packing! I loved the idea of being able to have a comfortable spot for Baby to rest anytime and anywhere without having to lug around heavy baby gear.

Want to see the EquiptBaby difference for yourself? You’re in luck! One very lucky Mommy Kat and Kids reader is going to win their very own EquiptBaby Diaper Bag, a $70 value! To enter to win, just leave a blog comment about what feature of the EquiptBaby Diaper Bag you love most.

From the expandable sides of this diaper bag that let it hold extra gear for a long day or road trip, to the stylish colour and shape of the bag that lets a parent still feel trendy while carrying it, there’s just so much to love about the EquiptBaby Diaper Bag. Find a retailer near you or shop online at EquiptBaby.com and see how much easier your day can be when you have a great diaper bag to carry!

EquiptBaby giveaway

Try the Best Gear for Your New Baby FREE from Mothers Lounge LLC

August 3, 2015 by Kathryn 22 Comments

One of my favourite things about becoming a mother was discovering all the fun new products available for me and my baby that could help make my life easier. From baby slings to nursing pillows, it seemed that as soon as I had discovered an inconvenience of motherhood, I also discovered that somebody had created a product to solve my problem.

But finding the best place to buy those innovative products was sometimes a challenge. That’s why I love the incredible selection of must-haves offered by Mothers Lounge LLC.

This mom-owned company runs a variety of online boutiques offering the very best and most useful products for mothers and their new babies. Recently I had the chance to check out a few of the products myself and I fell in love as soon as my items arrived.

I chose a few pairs of baby leggings from Baby Leggings and an innovative sling carrier set from Seven Slings to see what the quality and style of the items was like. As soon as I pulled out the first pair of leggings and felt how soft and stretchy they were, I was wishing Mothers Lounge had been around when my boys were babies!

[Read more…]

Give Your Baby with Extra Supervision with the D-Link Wi-Fi Baby Monitor-Giveaway

January 22, 2014 by Kathryn 177 Comments

When my oldest son was a baby, we bought a basic audio baby monitor so that I would hear him wake up in his upstairs bedroom even if I was working downstairs in the kitchen or out in the backyard. I quickly learned that an audio baby monitor was almost more trouble than it was worth. The audio quality was poor, the range was limited and often I’d think that I heard my son, run up the flight of stairs, peek into the room and find him still fast asleep. When Benjamin was born a few years later, I didn’t even use a baby monitor.

But times have changed and the technology has come a long way since my oldest son was born. Today’s baby monitors are nothing like the distorted, low-range audio unit I used and recently, D-Link introduced one of the most high-tech and useful baby monitors yet. The D-Link Wi-Fi Baby Camera uses cloud technology to send live audio and video playback right to your phone so that you can keep an eye and ear on your baby at all times. I recently received the new monitor to review and I was so excited to test it out.

Even though Benjamin is four years old, he still wakes up in the middle of the night and keeping him in bed once he’s woken up has been a struggle for years. I decided to set the monitor up in his room both to test it out and so that I could use it when he woke up in the middle of the night. I set it up in his room, downloaded the app and got ready to configure the camera. [Read more…]