the importance of rear facing

Since Gracie has turned one we have been asked numerous times when we are going to turn her forward facing in her car seat. Well first off, she was barely 19lbs at her one year appointment, so for that reason alone we have kept her rear facing. But I have also been doing a lot of research on the benefits of extended rear facing and am convinced that this is the safest option for Gracie. In fact the AAP recommends leaving your child rear facing until the limits of the car seat (our car seat can rear face until 33 lbs).

What is surprising to most moms is that the benefit of turning your little one forward facing has nothing to do with what they weigh. A lot of moms think because they have a "big" one year old, that its safer to turn them around, which is not really true. It has way more to do with how the spinal cord has fused, which develops with age, not weight, meaning Charlie at 26lbs and 1 year was no safer being forward facing then Gracie at 19lbs and 1 year.

Another, non safety related reason I am keeping Gracie rear facing is she is totally entertained by Charlie since he is forward facing (but still harnessed). They sing and talk to each other. He hands her toys and her paci. It works really well for us!

I read an awesome article that goes into more depth on all of this here.

Lastly I will leave you with a video that really convinced me that Gracie will not be forward facing anytime soon! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think about all this, has it changed your thoughts on the subject at all?

Forward Facing Crash Test





Rear Facing Crash Test

snikiddy grilled cheese puffs

Tonight after dinner Gracie and I hit the Whole Foods to do a little shopping. We weren't there five minutes before she starting flipping out, so I was desperate to grab something to keep her quiet. I made the miraculous discovery of Snikiddy's Grilled Cheese Puffs. Gracie couldn't not get them in fast enough. She was devouring them, yet allowing me to get my shopping done in peace.

Granted a cheese puff still may not be the most nutritious snack around, but these at least were all organic, no HFCS, no hydrogenated oils, you get the idea!


We got a chance last week to try Snikiddy's Cherry Oaties, while perusing Whole Foods and those were a real hit too. Here is what Snikiddy says about their Cherry Oaties:

Not your conventional Oatmeal Raisin Cookie. The Snikiddies were not huge raisin fans, but liked Oatmeal so we replaced the raisins with yummy organic cherries, full of antioxidants. The cookies are made with Rapadura whole organic cane sugar and organic rolled oats and are “kiddy bite-size” with the perfect balance of oats, spice and cherries.

I do hope to start seeing Snikiddy snacks around at other stores, such as one with a large red logo in the shape of a target. The prices are a little high at Whole Foods on them, but not high enough to keep me from quickly shoving a bag in my screaming 13 month olds little chubby hands!

squeaky green

I am always on the look out for new green products, especially for my kids. While perusing the aisles at Target (yes, once again!), I stumbled upon Method's new line of baby products. I threw a bottle of their baby wash / shampoo in my buggy and was on my way.

That night I through the girl girl in the tub to wash her up. I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious this new baby wash made my girl smell. She was squeaky green indeed! I also love how the cap doubles as a cup to rinse her "hair" ( I know, she still barely has any!). Method claims this product is 99% natural too! I am so tempted to go back to the big red dot, and grab the entire baby line!!

I discovered, while searching for an image for this post, that Method has a kids line too. I totally have to go find that. Anything to keep my three year old from using his dad's soap and smelling like a grown man!

a better water bottle

I was catching up on some tivo yesterday and was told the Earth Day Oprah was really good. I love Julia Roberts and am always eager to learn some new green tips, so while the little ones napped yesterday, I indulged. The show was great. I learned a lot, but one thing really resonated with me. I have been feeling guilty about all the water bottles we go through, but kept using them because at least we recycle them. Well I heard the most astounding statistic yesterday that really sealed the deal for the fate of our plastic water bottles....

"More than 60 million plastic bottles end up in landfills and incinerators every day – a total of about 22 billion last year. " (according to Waste Management World)

Wow! That is a HUGE number! I also have heard less than 20% of water bottles end up recycled. We are flooding our earth with bottle of water. It's ridiculous!

Well, our family is done contributing to that waste. I am ordering us all a Sigg bottle this morning. Here are some facts about the Sigg bottle from their site:

• Weight – typically, SIGG bottles are 10-20% lighter-weight than Lexan, allowing you to lighten that load a bit in your backpack.
• Great Taste – SIGGs are truly taste neutral. Lexan brands may claim this but go ahead and put them to the test. Leave your filled plastic bottle out in the sun for a couple hours and see how your water tastes the next day – a bit like plastic we've been told.
• Durability – Check out Backpacker magazine's June 2006 issue where SIGG was put to the test against all the leading water bottle brands. When the smoke from the 100 pound cannon cleared, Backpacker declared SIGG "The World's Toughest Water Bottle" (See complete article under SIGG News).
• Style – SIGG's have been described as "works of art". For the extra few dollars, why not express yourself?

I am making the investment this morning. With what we spend on cases of bottled water, I figure this will balance out and actually save us money pretty quickly. I am also going to invest in a Brita Filter System, so we can have cold water ready for the kids at all times!

One thing I love about the Sigg bottles is all the designs they have. Which would you choose??

happy earth day

My earth day challenges to you today:

1. Recycle something
2. Change at least one lightbulb in your house to an energy efficient light bulb
3. Stop what ever you are doing and go see how many lights you can turn off or other appliances that could be shut or unplugged.
4. Don't buy another bottle of water this week.
5. Put your paper towels away for the rest of the day and use a cloth towel for all your messes!

Now go! :)

Leave a comment and let us know something green you are doing!

my meals for the week....could change at any moment!

Monday
Okay night one of project "eat what's in the house" here is what we ate....

b:
organic blueberry vanilla yogurt pancakes
l: met matt at Whole Foods for lunch
d: tacos with organic ground beef, organic crushed tomatoes and carrot puree added to them, corn, and left over fruit from lunch

Tuesday-

b: probably kashi blueberry waffles, fruit and vanilla yogurt
l: left over tacos or grilled cheese on honey flax, fruit and chips
d: something with chicken....be back with more details, organic green beans, annies mac and cheese

Wednesday:

b: kids will be at my moms due to a MonkeeMoos show I am doing
l: MonkeMoos show....not sure what I will eat
d:pasta of some sort

Thursday

b: TBD
l: playdate after school at a friend's house
d: organic peachy pork and rice

Friday

b: Corn Muffins with strawberry jam
l: TBD
d: grill out chicken and some sides TBD!!

So the week is still a work in progress!!! Share your menus.... I need some ideas!

meal planning sunday- earth day edition

One of the first steps in going "green" is to REDUCE, so in honor of Earth Day I am issuing a meal planning challenge! Last week Oprah did a show on waste. I don't watch Oprah often these days, but this show seemed worthy of my hour. Anyway, she showed how much we waste as Americans. It's ridiculous! So in honor of Earth Day being on Tuesday, I am challenging you, my readers, to plan your weeks worth of meals out of what is already in your pantry and fridge (as much as reasonably possible). I know I tend to over buy and then when I clean out my pantry and fridge I am throwing away a lot of things that are either not opened or only half way used. Let's get creative, some up with fun, new dinners and use what we already have!

I will post back my menu as soon as I make it! I challenge you to leave me a comment with your menu too (maybe we will inspire each other!). Ready, set, GO!

ps. Check back often this week for more Earth Day Challenges!!

a big blueberry diaper sale starts tonight!

I got this email this morning from Blueberry Diapers:

Get ready for the year's biggest sale! Buy 2 Get 2 Free on lots of products. Sale starts at 6 pm ET on Friday, April 18, 2008.

I can't tell you the last time I bought Gracie some new dipes! I really want to get 4 tonight because she has figured out velcro so we need to switch to all snaps! I noticed when cruising the site though, that they mostly just had minky and one sizes diapers. Does anyone know if they have stopped making PUL pockets and stuffable AIO's. Those are my favorites! Please leave me a comment if you know anything about this!

ETA: Did you shop the sale?? What did you get?? I went diaper crazy ( I haven't bought any in MONTHS!) I got 3 stuffable AIO's and 2 pockets, all snaps now that miss gracie has figured out Aplix! I am excited for some new dipes and have some oldies to sell off!

organic bump

If you haven't discovered the world of etsy yet, you are totally missing out! Esty is a great site where you can buy all kinds of things that are handmade. You can find the coolest, unique things there. I love to buy tees, dresses for Gracie, purses for me, and so on! Watch out though.....it's totally addicting!

I love support other women who are doing their own thing, so here are some great pregnancy tees from Flaunt It!

peanut butter..... the healthy way

A sweet friend of mine recently gave a bunch of us the peanut butter challenge. She was explaining to us that most of the store bought peanut butters are not natural and have adding preservatives and oils to them. I wanted to be so proud and say, but I buy Skippy Natural, it's a good one. She quickly pointed out to me that Skippy Natural is only 90% natural, so that means 10% other "stuff". I was shocked to find that most main brand peanut butters had hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup in them. I had tried true natural peanut butters before though and I didn't like them. I didn't like the texture, or the fact that you had to stir in the oil. I just wasn't sure I could make the switch. On Monday we met Matt for lunch at Harry's. They have a "make your own peanut butter" section there, so I told Matt I wanted to give it a try. It was just like grinding your own coffee! Charlie loves it! Matt loves it! Sweet,we are eating healthier peanut butter now! So, I am passing the healthy peanut butter challenge on to you now. Go grind some nuts and let me know what you think!

Oh and remember, if you start buying natural or organic peanut butter, it has to go in your fridge because there are no preservatives in it!

safety tat - a super cool product

A friend of mine just sent me the link to this really cool product called Safety Tat. All kids love temporary tattoos and this one serves a great purpose of giving your child a phone number in case he or she gets lost. There are several things I love about this product, first is that they only put a phone number, not your child's name. Second is I know my three year old would be super excited to wear this product and lastly, but definitely not least, there is a green aspect to them.
Safety Tats web page say this:

Tat Tip: Many of us -- including me -- have tried using a permanent "Sharpie" marker on our kids. Here's why we shouldn’t:

Excerpt from Wikipedia: "According to the manufacturer's safety data sheets (MSDS), various Sharpies contain: n-propanol, n-butanol, diacetone alcohol, xylene, and cresol. The first of these, n-propanol, is commonly used in cosmetics. The other four, however, are industrial solvents, chemicals that should not be sniffed, eaten, or put on the skin. As solvents they penetrate the skin and fingernails, and do enter the bloodstream."

mmmmmmm. Sounds tasty, doesn't it?

Here is my favorite combo pack below:

a better nalgene bottle

First off, sorry I have been missing in action this week. It's been spring break, so we have been extra busy.

So, now onto business! We all know that those convenient water bottles are just not that great for our environment. It takes more water to make the bottle than the amount of water in it. Reusable bottles are the way to go, but you have to be careful because a lot of the popular brands have BPA in them, and who wants to add that to our systems. Well Nalgene has just launched a new line of water bottles that are BPA free. You can check them out here. My favorite one is the Ultralite!

daily tea collection contest made easier!

We were having technical difficulties with the photo idea, so now all you have to do to win is surf MonkeeMoos and enter the URL's of your three favorite products! So easy and you can win $100 worth of Daily Tea Collection. Pass this contest on, post it on your blog! This is a great give away!

come out, come out, whoever you are!!

I have been blogging on Green Kiddos for several months now and with my obsessive checking of my stats I know there are a lot of you actually reading all this crazy stuff I write. So I am officially "un-lurking" you all this week! Come out and introduce yourself. Leave me a comment. Tell me you are actually reading this and if you have your own blog, leave the link in the comment so I can come visit you! I would love for Green Kiddos to become and community, but for that to happen, you all have to come out of hiding! So go!

eco ike - really cute organic tees

I stumbled upon this cute website. Eco Ike, yesterday and think the tees are just adorable! She has some really cute reusable bags on her site too! Check them out here!

win $100 of spring daily tea collection from monkeemoos

I rarely post things from my personal online business on here, but I thought you all might be interested in my contest that I have running right now. All you have to do to be eligible to win is submit a picture of your child wearing Daily Tea (past or current seasons). One lucky mama will win $100 worth of the new spring collection! Check out the contest today and share it with your friends!

because, really, I have nothing better to do with my time.....

59 words

Speedtest

just so you know.... its very addicting..... click the image to find out....

and the winner is.....

Heather from Devil Dog Family won the one year subscription to Kiwi Magazine! Congrats Heather! Check back tomorrow for our latest giveaway!!