Mar 24, 2015 | Staying Organized with Babies & Kids
No one understands better than us here at Baby Smiles Labels how difficult it can be to get your child to eat healthy. Many children tend to be picky eaters and creatures of habit, demanding the same snacks over and over. It is always important to encourage your children to eat healthy from a young age, establishing great eating habits for life. Packing nutritious snacks in your child’s lunch before dropping them off at daycare can seem like a daunting task, but we are here to help. Here are some fun and healthy snacks you can send your child off to school with!
Ants On A Log
Here is a classic that has been bringing fun and nutrition to kids for many years! Many kids would also find joy helping creating this nutritiously delicious snack. Here is what you are going to need to make ants on a log:
- Celery
- Peanut Butter/Almond Butter (your choice)
- Raisons
Sound simple right? Well it is! Simply cut the celery into smaller sections (about three inches) and spread some peanut butter in the valley of the celery. Once you have done this simply sprinkle the raisons or “ants” on the peanut butter and there you have it! Not only do they have a fun name but they are also hold vital nutrients for your child. If you feel so inclined you can also replace the peanut butter with other fillings such as tuna salad!
Fun Fruit Skewers
This snack might be better suited for a play date at home than to bring to school with a point stick being involved. This is simple and fun! All you need is a variety of fruit, depending on your child’s taste you can really use any fruit you’d like. Simply cut the fruit up, shapes are always fun if you have cookie cutters! Once you have cut up the fruit you can then start adding the piece one by one onto a wooden skewer. This is often served with a side of yogurt for dipping!
Yogurt Popsicles
Yet another recipe that will require your child to eat at home as you wouldn’t want your child’s dessert melting in their lunchbox at daycare! Yogurt popsicles are a healthy way to give your child a delicious dessert that is packed with calcium and vitamins. For this recipe you will need to purchase a popsicle tray if you do not currently have one. All you need is your child’s favorite flavor or yogurt (you can even use low fat), and some type of solid fruit. You can use strawberries, blueberries, mango, or whatever fruit you prefer! Simply mix the solid in a bowl with the fruit, if you wish to lighten the consistency you can add some regular milk, soy-milk, or almond milk. Once you have mix that together you can go ahead and pour the mixture into the popsicle trays. For the popsicle stick it is always fun to use a pretzel stick as a substitute! Enjoy!
Hummus & Soft Dips
Hummus has a smooth texture that is easy for babies to swallow. Cut up some pita bread into some tiny pieces, spread a little hummus on them and you have yourself a quick and healthy snack! Get a small container of hummus and put those pita chunks into a plastic bad, and it becomes a fantastic meal for you baby while you’re on the go. Salsas and other dips work the same way. Be extremely careful when using hard chips, ensuring that they are small enough for you baby to easily eat.
Personalized Labels To Protect Your Child’s Snacks
We hope that some of these healthy snack recipes will be a success when it comes to your child’s healthy eating habits. If you have a child in daycare or schooling and are sending them off to school with a healthy lunch, make sure to have it properly labeled. Your child will never mix up their lunch box with another kids again with personalized labels from our collection. Visit the remainder of our website today to check out our waterproof, customized and dishwasher safe labels. Happy snacking!
Mar 24, 2015 | Staying Organized with Babies & Kids
As parents, we know how important it is for our children to eat health, brush their teeth and stay active. However, we also live in a time when technology is king and throwing on a movie or having them play video games can be much easier and allow you to get things done. It is important to keep in mind that while this is okay to do from time to time, children need healthy outdoor activity. Playing outside with your child will not only allow for some bonding time between parents and children, but will also provide them with physical activity and allow them to use up all that energy they are packing. We know that it can sometimes be difficult to come up with fun and creative ideas for outside play, but Baby Smiles Labels is happy to help! Whether you are in sunny California or in snowy Illinois there is an outdoor activity for you and your child.
Backyard Balloon Volleyball
This is a great backyard game for younger kids, for any kids above six, feel free to switch to an actual volleyball. Otherwise the game is really quite simple! If you are one of those rare families that happens to have a volleyball court in their backyard, great! However, we know that this is not realistic so we have come up with an easy alternative. All you need to set up backyard balloon volleyball all you need is some string and a couple of balloons. Just simply set up the “volleyball court” by running a piece of string from one end of the backyard to the other. Divide up the players into two teams and set them up on either side of the court. One team starts by serving the balloon over the string to the opposing team. To make it even more fun and active, children can use both their feet and hands to get the balloon over the string. Each time the balloon touches the ground, it is a point for the opposing team, the first team to 15 points wins!
Egg Shell Crack Game
With the Easter holiday right around the corner this is a great game to get kids outside and in the spirit! To begin, make sure to have all of the children outside, caution, this game can get messy! To begin, like the kids up into two lines facing each other, each child should have one hard-boiled egg. At the signal, whether that be “go” or a whistle, the kids will tap their hard boiled egg against their opponents. The children with un-cracked eggs will advance to the next round. Repeat the game through multiple rounds until you have found a winner! Once a child is out of the game, encourage them to continue peeling and enjoy their hard-boiled egg until the game is over!
Outdoor Activities For Winter
We don’t want to forget about those of you who may not have California weather throughout the year! Sometimes when it is snowy and cold outside it can seem like the perfect excuse to stay inside and avoid the cold. However, it is important that your child releases their energy but being outside and staying active. It is easier than you think to get kids outside during those chilly winter days! Here is a list of some fun winter games and activities:
- Ice Skating
- Build a winter bonfire and make s’mores
- Sledding
- Ice Fishing
- Winter Picnic with hot cocoa, soup & sandwiches (don’t forget the blankets)
Don’t forget to wrap yourself and your child up if you are going out in the snow, we don’t want anyone catching a cold!
Stay Active!
Sending your children outside to play in the fresh air is always a great idea. If your child is playing with others don’t forge to label their toys, back packs and lunch bags with personalized labels. Design and order yours from Baby Smiles Labels today!
Feb 27, 2015 | Staying Organized with Babies & Kids
So you’ve had your first baby after carrying him or her for the past nine months. On behalf of all of us at Baby Smiles Labels we would like to say, congratulations! Becoming a mother is an incredibly exciting, life-changing experience. It does, however, come with a slew of challenges. Those first few months with a new baby can be intense. Everything you have prepared for while pregnant, the books you’ve read, the advice you’ve taken, has led up to this moment. However, once your bundle of joy arrives, it’s difficult to remember everything you need to do. Adjusting to life with a new baby is far from easy, but never fear, we at Baby Smiles Labels have compiled a list of a few common challenges new mother’s face and how to cope with them. Read below to make your life with a newborn a little bit easier!
Getting A Good Night’s Sleep
You’ve probably already heard of this one: becoming a new mom means not getting enough sleep. With your newborn crying to be fed every few hours, sleep deprivation is inescapable. You’re going to be next level tired. This can cause headaches, irritability, memory problems, confusion, and even depression—all things you don’t want to deal with when you’d rather enjoy your new baby! So how do you manage? You’ve probably already heard of this, too: get some sleep in whenever you can! Understand that it won’t be a full night’s rest, but a few hours here and there can really make a difference. If you have any friends or family members willing to babysit while you sleep, even better. It also helps to realize that this phase of your child’s life won’t last forever; you’ll get your full eight hours in no time!
Feeling Close To Your Baby
This one is tough. After giving birth you expect to feel a closeness with your child that you’ve never felt with anyone else before. But when your newborn is on a loop of eating, sleeping, and crying, barely acknowledging your efforts, the mother-baby bond can be difficult to feel. If this is you, don’t think this makes you a bad mother! Realize that bonding with your baby takes time. Experts say babies don’t even begin smiling until they’re a month old, so it can be hard to tell whether or not you’ve made a connection. Until then, all your newborn needs is food and sleep. It’s important to be patient and not become too frustrated with yourself. Your newborn will grow faster than you know!
Making Time For Yourself
As a new mother, most of your life becomes dedicated to taking care of a tiny person that is entirely dependent on you to survive. This is a daunting job, one that will take up almost every minute of every day. When devoting so much of your time to caring for your newborn, it’s easy to forget about caring for yourself. This can be detrimental to your mental health, as it can make you lose your sense of self. That’s why it’s so important to set aside some me-time every day- even if it’s just for a few minutes! Take the time to do what you enjoy, whether it’s watching a TV show, exercising, or even getting some extra sleep. Your sanity will thank you!
Let Baby Smiles Labels Help!
As you can see, being a new mother is challenging. That’s why we at Baby Smiles Labels are here to help! Use our custom labels to keep track of your newborn’s items so you have one less thing to worry about and can devote more time to your little one. Contact us today for more information about our products, and get ready to make your life a little bit easier!
Feb 27, 2015 | Staying Organized with Babies & Kids
We’re sure you noticed that as babies grow older, their curiosity increases tremendously. But once they begin crawling, and especially once they begin walking, it is extremely easy for babies and toddlers to injure themselves once they gain access to more hazards around the house. In fact, one of the biggest threats to a child’s safety can be it’s own home. That’s why it’s extremely important to properly baby proof your home. Follow these essential childproofing tips from our team at Baby Smiles Labels to ensure your baby is safe in every room of your home.
Kitchen
- – Install stove knob covers so your child is unable to accidentally turn on the stove.
- – Always turn pot handles toward the back of your stove so your kids can’t reach them.
- – Keep items such as knives, glass dishes, and other heavy or breakable items secure with drawer and cabinet locks.
Living Room
- – Arrange your furniture in way that gives your toddler ample room to crawl, run, and play. This will also give them less obstacles to trip over and injure themselves while exploring.
- – A coffee table that is all sharp corners at just the right height is a risk for your toddler to run into. Consider putting it in storage until your child is older or cover the corners with foam covers.
- – Securely anchor objects like TVs that could fall on a baby who is using them to pull up.
Bathroom
- – Poison-proof areas in your bathroom where you store cleaning chemicals.
- – Place soft covers on your bathtub spout to prevent your baby from getting hurt if he or she hits their head.
- – Nonslip mats next to the bathtub are great to keep your toddler from slipping.
General Tips
- – Babies will pull on cords if they are curious, which can lead to items falling on them. So it’s important to secure all cords to prevent this from occurring.
- – When babies start pulling up and playing on furniture, make sure to use edge guards on sharp corners to keep them from injuring their heads.
- – Use baby gates to block off the tops and bottoms of staircases.
Baby Smiles Labels Can Make Your Life Easier
With a small child at home, you have enough on your plate. That’s why Baby Smiles Labels is here to make your life easier! Use our durable, customizable labels to keep track your baby’s bottles, clothes, and other items. It’s just one less thing you have to worry about, so you can focus on what really matters: your baby’s safety. Contact us today to find out more about the customizable label solutions we have to offer!
Jan 22, 2015 | Staying Organized with Babies & Kids
There is nothing more frustrating than trying to clean all the nooks and crannies in baby bottles and sippy cups and still not being able to get all the gunk out! We’ve been there, so the team at Baby Smiles Labels thought it might be helpful to pass on our method of cleaning and sterilizing bottles and cups to our customers for their own use. It may not seem like a big deal at first, but If cups and bottles aren’t fully cleaned, you run the risk of bacteria building up that can make your child ill, so it is important to adhere to strict cleaning practices.
Step-By-Step Bottle and Sippy Cup Cleaning Guide
- First, start by removing any excess liquid or residue by running the cup or bottle under a cold tap. Really try to get as much as you can out of the bottle or cup using just water, as this will make the later steps easier.
- Dissolve a mild dish detergent in warm water, as per the detergents instructions. Disassemble the cup or bottle into as many pieces as possible and submerge all the pieces in this mixture.
- Use a bottle cleaning brush or sponge to scrub away any particles and residue that remain in the cup or bottle. You may also use a nipple cleaning brush to get into the hard to reach places of the top of the baby bottle. A toothpick also works very well to remove residues from tight crevices. If you would like to fully sterilize the cup or bottle, proceed to step 4. If not, skip to step 6 for rinsing and drying.
- Place a pot of water on the stove on medium-high heat until it boils. After making sure your bottle or cup can withstand high heats (dishwasher safe bottles and cups can), place the pieces into the boiling water, making sure they DO NOT touch the bottom of the pot.
- After 10 minutes in the boiling water, carefully remove the pieces of the cups and bottles using tongs.
- Rinse the pieces one more time to ensure there is no soapy residue remaining.
- Place pieces out to air dry.
Congratulations! Now your child’s bottle or cup is now clean and, if you used the full sterilization technique, completely germ free!
Never Lose A Bottle Again With Baby Smiles Labels
Every week it seems like I lose another sippy cup: leaving it at daycare, church, et cetera. The personalized labels from Baby Smiles Labels that I use on cups, bottles, school supplies, clothes and pretty much all of my childs belongings, make it incredibly easy to tell exactly what belongs to my child and avoid mixups with other children. Best of all, they are waterproof, microwave and dishwasher safe, so I never have to worry about them coming off, even when I sterilize their cups! Contact us today to get started on your customized label solution for your child.
