Cynical Parent

At 18 months old, your baby isn’t such a baby anymore. Suddenly, you look across the room and your little guy isn’t toddling anymore… he is running!

He is getting curious and into everything. It’s getting harder and harder to keep him entertained for long periods of time with his baby toys. Finding the best toys for 18 month old toddlers can be a challenge!

This can be a difficult age because toddlers are busy but aren’t great at solo play or immersed in pretend play yet.

For toddlers, you want a toy that entertains, excites, and educates. This can be a recipe for a house full of toys that lay in the toy box and clutter the closet.

Instead of spending hours at the local box store scouring the shelves in an effort to find the perfect toddler toy, keep reading for my list of the top 7 best toys that will capture your toddler’s attention and really keep him busy!

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As a parent, you do whatever you can to help your baby sleep better.  It’s pretty simple: the more your baby sleeps, the more you can sleep.

When our daughter was a newborn, up until about 4 months old, we had a lot of crutches when it came to sleep. We used a rock ‘n play, a swaddle, a white noise maker, and the Magic Merlin sleep suit (which we wrote about here).

All of that was great, and worked for a little while.

But once she started getting bigger, moving around a lot more, and we moved her to her crib to sleep, we had to get rid of all these crutches (except the white noise).

Now what?

If you’re lucky and your baby is a good sleeper, you may not need to do anything else.  But for us, it was time to move onto the next logical sleep aid:

The baby sleep sack.

What is a baby sleep sack and how does it make your baby sleep better?  Which is the best baby sleep sack?

Keep reading, and we’ll get into all of that below.

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Is your toddler constantly climbing out of his crib? When my son first climbed out of his bed (at 8 months old!) and tumbled to the floor, I starting searching the internet for “how to keep toddler in crib” to save my sanity and help keep my kiddo safe!

As a parent, I do not look forward to transitioning to a toddler bed. I don’t want him getting out of his bed a million times or climbing the walls. He’s a tricky one, that boy.

Currently, my son is 2.5-years old, and guess what? He is still in his crib. Success!

Keep reading for to learn the secrets I’ve discovered for how to keep your toddler in his crib… for the sake of your sanity and his safety!

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Many kids go through a dinosaur phase.

My son is 2, and he loves to read his favorite dinosaur book and scare the snot out of me by running around the corner roaring! If you search the internet for the best dinosaur toys, there will be pages and pages of results.

For several years there wasn’t much happening on the dinosaur front. However, in recent years we have seen Jurassic Park make a resurface on the big screen. As a result, dinosaur toys are getting more popular than ever!

Okay, so there are seemingly millions of dinosaur toys out there…which ones do you get for your kid? We’ve done a bit of research and came up with a list of the best ones out there today.

Keep reading and we’ll dive right into our list of the 10 best dinosaur toys for kids!

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I’m guilty.

Even after hearing everyone tell me about how bad “screen time” is, I still let my not-quite-2-year-old daughter watch TV.

I instinctively know it isn’t good, but sometimes it just fits so perfectly into your day.

You’re trying to get something done.  They want to be entertained.

And there’s this magical box (okay, we’re not in the 90’s anymore – it’s more like a magical window) that will allow all of that to happen.

But then there’s this voice in your head that reminds you: “TV is bad for kids. Don’t get your toddler hooked on watching TV at such a young age.”

I know.  Thanks little voice in my head for reminding me.

Even though I’m pretty sure that TV watching is a bad thing, I wanted to research this a bit more.  Is it ACTUALLY bad? How bad is it? What about short periods of watching?

Let’s dig into it.

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When you find yourself expecting and the shock/excitement/oh-crap-I’m-having-a-baby emotions start to wear off a little, you will likely find yourself looking up to find all the baby “unfriendly” areas of your home. Wall outlets, table corners, toilet seats, and… stairs.

Keeping kids safe around stairs requires the best baby gates for stairs – but which one actually is the best?!?

There are baby gates that mount to the wall and there are baby gates that pressure mount between the doorway to the stairs.

While pressure-mounted baby gates are my go to for rooms and doorways, they are not as safe and effective for use in stairwells. They’ll work for a while until the baby is pulling up to stand and then entering toddlerhood. Once the child is big enough, it may be easy for him to push the gate over or loosen it with a carefully placed tantrum.

Shopping for baby gates to keep your little one safe around stairs can be overwhelming – there are so many choices! We’ve made it easier for you by narrowing the list of the best baby gates for stairs down to four…

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Are you getting ready to kick your toddler out of the crib? Before you make the big move from baby’s crib to the big kid bed, you need to have a firm understanding of how and when to transition to a toddler bed.

Why am I emphasizing you must know how and when to transition from a crib to a toddler bed?

Well, because sleep is important.

And, if you switch your child from the crib to the toddler bed before he or she is ready, neither of you will be getting as much sleep as you need.

As parents of little ones, it is very easy to start looking forward to the next big milestone, such as the transition to a toddler bed. We are excited to watch our little ones grow up, but this is really one of those times where you are going to want them to stay put for a bit longer.

Trust me.

If you are not ready for a kid who can come and go from his bedroom whenever he pleases, then it may be worth holding off for a bit.

Let’s take a look at not only when to transition to toddler bed, but the right way to do it.

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If you’re the parent of a newborn baby, you may be wondering when and how to help your baby transition to crib. When babies are first born, they are so small they can sleep just about anywhere. Many parents opt to have their little ones close at night in a bassinet or Moses basket.

However, as they grow, parents are faced with making sleep decisions. Many questions arise about where the baby will sleep.

The nursery? A sibling’s room? The master bedroom?

But before deciding which room baby will sleep in, you will likely face the challenge of transitioning your baby from a bassinet to a crib.

This change can be an intimidating change, especially if your little one is just starting to sleep through the night. We transitioned my son around 3 months (because he was too long for his bassinet). My daughter (who just turned 3 months) is still in her bassinet.

As a seasoned mom, about to make the transition for the second time, I have put together some tips for getting through this transition.

Keep reading for 7 hacks to effectively get your baby to transition to a crib!

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There are few things more precious to a parent than sleep. So, when you are purchasing a crib and mattress for your baby’s nursery, there is no doubt you are thinking about your sleep as much as theirs. Crib mattresses can be a tricky buy.

What is the right firmness? Softness? Are there special materials to avoid? With so many options, what is the best baby mattress to buy?!?

To help simplify the process, we’ve done the research for you. As you’re considering what the best baby mattress is for your baby, ask these three questions:

1. Is it safe?
2. Will it last beyond the crib and into toddlerhood?
3. Will it help me sleep by making them sleep?

Here are our picks for best baby mattress for your baby’s crib, each designed to make sure your little one sleeps well (and you do, too!).

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If you have kids, then you have already realized that your once beautiful car is more like a minefield.

Kids and clean cars simply do not mix.

Even the most organized, cleanest moms will inevitably have to battle the car chaos. That’s why I searched high and low for kid-friendly car organization ideas.

Think I’m exaggerating? Unless you have a strict no food in the car policy, then you will find crushed goldfish crackers and smashed fruit snacks on the floorboards and in between all the crevices.

For those of you saying, “My kids just won’t eat in the car,” I’ll let you try that rule on a road trip with a toddler. Have fun!

For the rest of us, it comes down to being clever. We want to take back our cars, but we also understand that until the kids are driving themselves, they will be in our car making a mess of it.

Let’s check out these car organization ideas.

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