Today's Fresh Blogs...

• 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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• Tricks for keeping toddlers hydrated

  Published: July 31, 2007, 12:51 pm

  Tags: 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, Feeding Nursing, Health Development, Travel Going Out

  Beat the heat with some kid hydration hacks, from Sara: We're traveling in the very hot and dry country of Turkey this summer with a two year old, and have found the following to be helpful in keeping her hydrated: 1) "Juicify" your water -- Miss J doesn't get much juice, so a little bit poured into a glass of water at mealtimes encourages

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• An easier way to apply sunscreen to kids' faces

  Published: August 2, 2007, 10:32 am

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

  Cheri's summer-simplifying tip: I have found a way to make applying sunscreen to my kiddo's face SO much easier!  I was always finding myself chasing their faces around and telling them to "Look up!"  Finally I had my son lay flat on the floor.  He barely moved his head at all, and I could really see where I was

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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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• 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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• Danger Rangers DVDs teach kids about common safety pitfalls

  Published: August 8, 2007, 1:14 pm

  Tags: 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, Fun Toys, Health Development

  Through action adventure storylines and songs catchy enough to be labeled "brain worms," the Danger Rangers work toward their real mission to battle the 90% of childhood injuries which are preventable through education. Season 1 also covers a vast array of safety topics ranging from animals to caves to medicine to wheeled vehicles.

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• Pureed vegetables disappear into more easily-accepted foods

  Published: August 12, 2007, 1:40 pm

  Tags: 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, Feeding Nursing, Health Development

  Liz is doing what she must to get the vegies in: My one-year-old is going through some sort of regression that only permits him to eat macaroni & cheese (with homemade cheese sauce I learned from Parent Hacks, thanks!), yogurt, applesauce and crackers. I was having a nervous breakdown because of the lack of veggies in his diet, but every

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• Oversize long-sleeved shirt as parental snot guard

  Published: August 14, 2007, 11:38 am

  Tags: 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, Health Development

  Jodi at The Mom Tech Review passed along this decidedly low-tech tip. Parents of snotty toddlers rejoice! If you kid has a cold and likes to wipe his snot all over you, protect your clothing with a large long sleeve t-shirt or an old work shirt (steal from your husband).  Not only does it keep germs off you, but it is really easy to feel

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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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• Ice cubes help keep a sick kid hydrated

  Published: August 20, 2007, 6:31 pm

  Tags: 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, Feeding Nursing, Health Development

  Here's Kip's novel method for keeping the liquids going into his ailing daughter: Sarah (now 5) was having a sore throat. Quick strep test came back negative, so a virus was suspected, and the doctor said to keep liquids going in. Sarah was perfectly willing to eat popsicles all day long, but somehow I wasn't convinced that an all-popsicle diet

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• Singing scales while brushing teeth

  Published: October 1, 2007, 12:29 pm

  Tags: 01 03yrs Toddler, Bathtime, Health Development

  Toothbrushing + toddler how-to, from Rachel: My daughter is 2.5 and is able to regularly brush her teeth, but does not always want to.  If I want to get in there to finish the job, I encourage her to open wide by singing "Ah!"  like when the doctor looks down her throat.  When a regular "Ah!" gets boring, we

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• Tie-down straps make dining room chairs unclimbable

  Published: October 2, 2007, 9:44 am

  Tags: 01 03yrs Toddler, Gear, Habitat, Health Development

  John's "foil the climbing toddler" babyproofing: My first son was very tall as a toddler and an excellent climber.  Whenever he was being 'too quiet' we would find him climbing onto the dining room table and often spinning the hanging light above the table.  While at Lowes I stumbled upon the answer to our problem.

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• Baby bottles make good infant medicine travel carriers

  Published: October 2, 2007, 11:18 pm

  Tags: 0 01yrs Infant, 01 03yrs Toddler, Getting Organized, Health Development, Travel Going Out

  Gretchen's simple solution for keeping sticky medicine droppers and bottles together: I hate that the Infant's Motrin doesn't have an integrated dropper, because the bottle and syringe get separated so easily. I tried keeping it in a small plastic bag, but if I wasn't able to rinse the syringe, it got super messy. While packing for a trip

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• Use old mattresses as jumping pads

  Published: October 3, 2007, 3:00 pm

  Tags: 01 03yrs Toddler, 03 05yrs Preschooler, 05 12yrs Kid, Fun Toys, Habitat, Health Development

  Debbie's response to a recent IKEA mention: My three-year-old son wet his inexpensive toddler mattress (SULTAN BLUNDA) all the way through (yeah, he's got talent--as does my husband for forgetting to put a pad on it that day). We replaced the mattress right away so he could sleep on something dry and not smelly. Then I cleaned the old one. It's

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• Dry erase marker on the bathroom mirror: an all-purpose noteboard

  Published: October 9, 2007, 4:33 pm

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

  It's cold season again and, right on schedule, we're all sniffling around here. So was Tiffany and her family, and here's how she kept track of all the medicine doses: My entire family was sick last week (me, my husband and our 16 month-old son) so there were countless medicines to keep up with. I kept track of the different medicines and the

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