Cynical Parent

My playpen is one of my favorite things I own (as it relates to my kids’ stuff). It is so versatile and makes things like cleaning house, days at the beach, and traveling SO much easier when you have a young toddler or mobile baby always trying to get into trouble.

But how do you know if you’ve got the best playpen for toddler fun and safety?

A good playpen can be used for all sorts of things.

Not only can it be a safe place to put your little one while to take care of some chores or a portable napping spots, but the best playpens can be used for safe outdoor play, days at the beach, homemade ball pits, and so much more.

That’s why it is important to know that your playpen will grow with your little one. One of the most important things to look for when you are shopping playpens is its long-term usage. I use my playpen all the time, even now that my son is 2 years old!

Not all playpens are created equal. Only four made it on my list of the best playpen for toddler fun and safety.

Let’s check ’em out.

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One of the most important things to consider when setting up a nursery space for your new baby is where and how you’re going to store all their stuff (and babies tend to come with a LOT of stuff).

We searched the web and found some genius baby closet ideas that will make your life easier and will make your baby nursery super organized.

When you bring your baby home, your heart is going to swell. But, it may seem like your home shrinks. Why? Well, babies need a whole lot of stuff. During the first year, they grow so much! Between the massive diaper blowouts and the constant growth spurts, your baby is going to require tons of clothes.

In addition to all the different clothes you have for the baby, such as onesies, your baby will also accumulate massive amounts of cute teensy tiny socks, shoes, hats, and so on.

But, that’s not all!

There are also all the baby blankets, bibs, and diaper supplies to fill your closet.

Given the massive amount of stuff you have for your baby, organization will become a key to surviving that first year. Organizing your baby’s closet will save you quite a bit of time – and headaches!

By using a closet organization system, you will always know where things are when you need them – after the diaper accident happens or the clothes are outgrown.

Let’s take a peek at some of the genius baby closet ideas we found, and hopefully you’ll see one that will work for you!

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As your little one enters “toddlerhood,” you’ll probably notice that he or she is becoming increasingly interested in reading books (or more accurately, having books read to them).

As you follow your child through this reading journey, you’ll likely come across what I think is one of the best parts of reading to your child – interactive books!  

We are going to look at 10 of the best interactive books for toddlers, many of which my own have read and thoroughly enjoyed. But why are we looking at them and what makes interactive books awesome?

Keep reading to learn more! (And while you’re at it, check out one of our other recent posts about teaching your toddler to read – it pairs nicely with this one!)

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Meltdowns, fits, tantrums – whatever you call them – they are exhausting for everyone involved.

However, they are a normal part of child development. They also happen to be great learning opportunities for both kids and parents. (Yay, I bet you’re happy to learn while dealing with a tantrum.)

Dealing with tantrums is no one’s idea of a good time, and kids who throw tantrums aren’t having fun either. It’s natural to be inclined to yell at the child, possibly even pop the child on his or her bottom, or put them in their room.

However, many of the traditionally accepted ways that parents deal with temper tantrums are not always particularly effective.

Let’s talk about some other ways to deal with toddler tantrums.

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Before our daughter was born, I’ll admit, we were pretty clueless about most baby products.

Like most people, we set up a baby registry and put a bunch of stuff on there.  Some of it was pretty straightforward – clothes, blankets, etc.  But there were definitely other products where we had no idea if we’d ever actually use them.

One of these mysterious products was a rock ‘n play sleeper.

Between the pack ‘n play, the crib, the bouncer, the bassinet, and everything else you could put a baby into, were we really going to use a rock ‘n play?

Yeah, sure, add it to the list.

Little did we know it would become not only our favorite purchase, but we would go on to buy a second one. A different one. It would end up being the very reason that we were finally able to get some sleep in our little girl’s first few months of life.

So which ones did we buy? And what we do we think is the best rock ‘n play sleeper? Allow me to explain…

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If you or your wife is giving birth for the first time, you’ve probably heard of the “push present.”

A push present is exactly what it sounds it like: a gift for pushing out the baby – to the woman who did all the pushing – typically given by the baby’s father.  Makes sense.

Giving birth to a child isn’t easy.  It’s an accomplishment of sorts; after all, it’s commonly referred to as a “miracle” (despite the fact that having children is incredibly common, and has been since the beginning of the human race).

Okay, I’m only kidding (a little bit); I don’t mean to downplay the monumental event that is childbirth. It is literally life-changing.  So naturally, it’s an occasion that may be worthy of a gift.

When is this gift generally given? What are the best push present ideas?

Where did the idea of the “push present” even come from? And why is it semi-controversial?

Relax, I’ll explain all of this – so keep on reading…

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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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