Today's Fresh Blogs...

• Special for Parenthackers: Swap stuff at Zwaggle

  Published: July 23, 2007, 9:03 am

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, Getting Organized, Saving Money

  Ryan very thoughtfully included all us Parenthackers in an invitation to use Zwaggle! I haven't tried it myself, but it looks fascinating, especially during summer clear-out mode. Thank you, Ryan! There's a cool website, zwaggle.com, and using points instead of money, it allows you to post and get used kids stuff. We've been able to recycle a

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• Freeze old teethers for cool boo boo relief

  Published: July 22, 2007, 10:43 am

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, Fun Toys, Gear, Health Development

  Good thing Sara didn't throw out all those old teethers: Remember those water filled plastic teething toys?  My daughter is well passed teething, but I popped them into the freezer and now when she has a "hurt" I offer her a frozen frog or fish to put on it.  Cold compresses are good for a lot of things, but playing with an

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• Fill baby's high chair tray with water for warm weather splashing

  Published: July 21, 2007, 9:00 am

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, Fun Toys

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• Turn a large plastic storage container into a splashing pool

  Published: July 31, 2007, 1:51 pm

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, 01 03yrs Toddler, Fun Toys, Habitat, Saving Money

  Fun in the sun, with prolific blogger Sherry: Based on the hack for the water play set, I got inspired and went one step further.  I live in an apartment building and though we have a courtyard, we don't have a private yard.  We also live on the top floor.  I often bemoan our lack of a yard with a pool when it gets hot and

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• Mattel/Fisher-Price toy recall

  Published: August 2, 2007, 8:13 pm

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, Fun Toys, Health Development

  Many of you emailed me with news of the massive Fisher-Price toy recall currently underway -- thank you. In general, I don't post recall notices here; the CPSC covers this territory well, even offering an RSS feed of recall notices for toys and children's products. But I feel like this is just too huge not to mention. Check the Mattel website

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• Extra shower curtain rod as swimsuit drip-dryer

  Published: August 3, 2007, 9:26 am

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, 13 18yrs Teen, 18yrs Grownup, Bathtime, Habitat

  A timely hack from the Hengst family: Put an extra shower curtain rod in your shower to hang wet towels and swimsuits from in the summertime.  The water drips right into the shower and not on the floor. If you happen to be remodeling your bathroom, there's a double shower curtain rod for just this purpose. A small tension curtain rod

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• Presto Printing Mailbox: Send email and digital photos to offline relatives

  Published: August 3, 2007, 11:56 am

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, 13 18yrs Teen, 18yrs Grownup, Getting Organized, Habitat

  HP is currently offering a $50 discount on the Presto Printing Mailbox ($99.99 instead of $149.99), and Presto service is $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year. Win it! One lucky Parenthacker will win a Presto Printing Mailbox and three months of Presto service! Answer the following question in the comments or on your own blog (be sure to share the

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• Shower curtain as changing pad

  Published: August 4, 2007, 2:13 pm

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, Gear, Habitat, Poop Pee Potty Etc, Saving Money, Travel Going Out

  need one. I even change our infant in her crib, no need for extra furniture taking up valuable space and money.

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• Turn a hotel air conditioner into a humidifier

  Published: August 5, 2007, 9:36 am

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, Health Development, Travel Going Out

  From Mommyprof: If you are in hotel with the little ones and find someone develops a cough in the hotel room, you can make an impromptu humidifier by soaking a bath towel and then draping it over the room air conditioner turned to heat or air con, depending on the season/your comfort.

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• Stash extra pacifiers in crib corners

  Published: August 6, 2007, 1:37 pm

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, 01 03yrs Toddler, Gear, Sleep Yours Theirs

  Kurt's hack brought back memories -- we did just this when our son was a baby: If your child sleeps with a pacifier she probably also wakes up from time to time crying because the pacifier is no longer in her mouth and she can't find it (or isn't looking). Out of bed you get to check on her. No matter how good your night vision is it can be

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• "This Little Piggy," the extended version

  Published: August 8, 2007, 11:52 am

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, Behavior, Fun Toys

  Instantly the game is 10x as long and can actually be an entertaining tickling diversion for the older kids, too.

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• Alarm clocks work for early-waking babies, too

  Published: August 10, 2007, 9:35 am

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, Behavior, Habitat, Learning, Sleep Yours Theirs

  Lisa's hack is fascinating -- an incredible reminder that babies are capable of a lot more learning than we think: I read a hack not too long ago about a toddler (about 3 yrs., I think) that used to wake up way too early until the parents started using a radio alarm clock to get him to sleep longer.  My son was probably about 6 mos. old

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• Blowout damage control: pull the onesie off down over the legs

  Published: August 10, 2007, 9:09 am

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, Fashion General Cuteness, Poop Pee Potty Etc

  of the lucky parents whose infant has those ghastly blowout diapers where the poop shoots up their back, take advantage of the crossover fold shoulders on most infant onesies. Take the shirt off DOWNWARDS rather than over the head. The crossover fold on the shoulders makes it possible to put the shirt on over their big heads, and ALSO to take

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• Track medicine dosage right on the bottle

  Published: August 15, 2007, 9:44 am

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, Getting Organized, Health Development

  Excellent hack from Kristi: Perhaps it's Mommy Brain, but I sometimes forget where I am in the dosage schedule of my son's medicine.  I found it helpful to use a Sharpie, which I have on hand anyway for all the things I need to label for daycare, to write the days of the week on the top of the bottle.  I only write as many days

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• Let baby "finger paint" with baby food in restaurants

  Published: August 16, 2007, 11:06 am

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, Fun Toys, Travel Going Out

  my first child was about 8-10 months old and we wanted to go out to a restaurant for dinner she was always too finicky to sit still and would fuss unless one of us was standing up holding her UNTIL we inadvertently discovered she would sit contently for a whole dinner if we put a drop of sauce or baby food on her tray to play with. This worked

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