This post was sponsored by IntelliBED, a premium mattress company, all tips are my own. My favorite story I heard about the founders — who are all grandparents — is that they were already well into making their adult-size mattress and decided to create mini mattresses for all their grandchildren; when they received positive reports that the children all slept better, they decided to make it a product. I don’t know if that is myth or legend but in this case, necessity was the Grandparent of invention.

Save 10% off a mattress, either large or mini. Or enter to win a child’s mattress (for a limited time)!

There have been so many scary studies about environmental hazards impacting our babies that it can be hard to know where to start when trying to create a healthy nursery. Fear not, new parents. Let me guide you. Before you freak out designing your baby’s non-toxic bedroom, consider three important regions:

1. Walls – look around.
2. Furniture and mattresses – sit down.
3. Floors – get all the way down.

That’s not so bad, right? Let’s go through them one by one.

Beginning with the walls.

Once you’ve pinned the perfect baby room, odds are high you’ll want to change the walls. If you want to repaint, choose No-VOC paints to limit the exposure to dangerous fumes. You know that “new paint” smell? That’s the nasty chemicals. No-VOC paints don’t have that. Alternatively, you can leave the paint that’s already on the walls and liven it up with artwork or decals. But if you’re gonna tackle wall color, let someone else paint your baby’s room (relax, mama!). [Read more: Paint without the fumes.]

A few things about furniture.

If you’re a rookie, you might not realize how much babies and toddlers explore their environments with their mouths. It is 99% certain that your baby will chew on the crib (my own stat) so paints and coatings are especially important.

Also many recent models of cribs have been recalled — like every single drop-sided crib (!) — so pick a new safe one and check the recall lists before setting it up, ok? [Check recalls.gov for your crib and other gear. Make sure you know about the latest crib standards; they evolve to keep babies safe not just to prevent us from saving money with hand-me-downs.]

Baby Atlas from Making a House a Home enjoys his healthy nursery.

Going to the mattresses.

Did you know that a newborn baby sleeps for 14 to 20 hours in the early days? The place he lays his head is super important. The intellIBEDmini mattress is composed of non-toxic, hypoallergenic, anti-microbial intelli-GEL. One of their team members told me that the filling is so safe you could eat it (not that you’d want to, but it’s nice that you could). Atlast (above) enjoys his. [Read more about the links between mattress toxins and infant health.]

Moving down to the floor.

After your baby’s bed, the next place you’ll be spending lots and lots of time is the floor. While it may be tempting to choose a floor covering based on how it matches your color scheme and theme — which I have totally done before I knew better — I urge you to spend your money on a safe choice or just leave what’s already there. Trust us. A brand new synthetic rug may do more harm than good. Hard-wood is good. Eco-flooring is good. Wool rugs are good. [Read more tips on choosing non-toxic flooring from Toxic Free Kids

Save on a new mattress!

Save 10% on any mattress from IntelliBED with the discount code: COIHeatherRookieMoms98. You can enter to win a healthier child's mattress (for a limited time)!

Related:

• Cheat sheet of non-toxic tips and eco-wisdom
• 5 Honey-dos for the nursery

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Disclosure: This post was sponsored by IntelliBED. All mattresses and mattress toppers/wrappers are made from the same material that is used in very high-end hospital beds for burn victims. It is a premium price product and very heavy (which becomes an issue if you have to change the sheets a lot).

[Photos from Whitney, Lana, and myself]

This homemade owl beanie is so cute, I had to share. Not only is it a simple sewing project, similar to the make a baby hat out of a tshirt post I did a few years ago, but the whole Owl in a Tree is a clever mom and baby costume idea. The mom behind this project is the author of the blog Humpty Was Pushed.

She provides step-by-step instructions in her post.

While she sews her owl eyes and nose to the hat, you could just as easily cut them from felt and glue them if they are just for one or two wearings.

Now that I know how to make a baby hat out of a tshirt, I have a hard time getting rid of any tshirts that have their hems intact. I see each of them as potential beanies!

Sewing not your thing? Buy one of these on Amazon.

Toxic goo in the baby bubble bath? WTH?! It drives me CRAZY to learn that our baby body wash has bad stuff in it. When I searched the Internet for recipes to make my own homemade baby soap, I was disturbed by the suggested ingredients. Lye?! No thank you. In fact, I believe that when in doubt, water is better than all the chemicals.

Now crafty, cheapo, and organic moms can come together on this activity; it is easier than you think to make to make your own natural baby wash. I found two different recipes that are good enough to eat, which is super important considering that babies slurp their own feet:

Oatmeal baby bath from Pennie Mills for Momtastic

1 cup of whole oats

Whirl oats in a blender or food processor until they are reduced to powder. To use, sprinkle powder into the bath and swirl.

You will be amazed at the softness of the water and of your baby’s skin.

And if you have a little more time…

Baby Bath Milk from Jessica at MomFuse.com.

1 cup powdered milk
¼ cup corn starch
¼ cup finely ground oats
2-3 drops lavender, rose, or chamomile essential oils

Mix ingredients together and put in a shaker style bottle. To use, sprinkle a small amount in warm bath water.

Jessica has eight-month-old twins, so if she can find time to make them non-toxic, gentle baby wash, so can we. She also gives instructions for making your own wipes solution, baby powder, and baby oil in her article about making your own natural baby products.

Related Links:

• The rest of our Makin’ It series of DIY projects for parents
• 9 better lotions and potions you can make in minutes from Healthychild.org

If you want to clear out some old toys to make room for new ones, I’d like to remind you about this worthy cause.

*** Updated ***  As of May 2012, we have an address not for Iraq, but for Afghanistan. Items are being packaged in the Bay Area and shipped to Kabul.

Please send clean stuffed animals to:

Trust In Education  
985 Moraga Road Suite 207  
Lafayette, California 94549

Four years ago, Asha from Parent Hacks asked us to spread the word about sending our used stuffed animals and toys to children in Iraq. She was contacted by a member of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers stationed in Iraq who offered to distribute any and all toys she received. She was pleased at the outpouring of toys and gifts, but I know we all have more to send.

At the time, we packed a mailing box full of some of my husband’s old stuffed toys (his family had a “tradition” of giving him stuffed toys every year that he never even touched!) and some of Holden’s gently-used little stuffed animals and doodads.

Read more about Edmay Mayers’ passion for the Iraqi children and also about Asha’s toy drive.

Also, if you are drowning in stuffed animals, but your child is not ready to part with them, consider this storage solution/bean bag, available on Amazon.

[teddy picture via flickr by fanz]

At seven months old, Sawyer is eating and drinking whatever he can get his mouth on. Still nursing but also bottle-feeding, spoon-feeding, and dabbling in finger food. And, as always, I have some very strong opinions! I have a whole new arsenal of baby feeding products in rotation so wanted to share a few of my favorites:

Milkmakers cookies. First of all, YUM! I was skeptical about these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that claim to boost milk production, but after trying five cookies, I give them two thumbs way up. These cookies are super tasty, almost like the ones I make at home. Since all baby mamas deserve a special treat, I think these would be a terrific gift. Since there are so many variables in play, I can’t say for sure if my production increased but I think it did a bit. If you want the stats, I can make a chart!

Rookiemoms readers, save $5 off any from milkmakers.com with code ROOKIEMOMS at checkout. Offer expires 4/30/12.

The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet includes a heap of recipes for purees. I’m always looking for new inspiration and this book is focused on nutritious, quick, tasty baby food organized by month. Score. I also dig the cover and green tips. As a third-time-around baby-food-maker, I haven’t found much in there that I don’t already know, but if you’re a rookie, it’s a very handy reference.

Potato ricer. My Mother in Law got this kitchen gadget for us last Christmas to make the perfect mashed potatoes. I busted it out for the first time to convert sweet potato into baby food mush. It works just like a play-doh fun factory extruder (or a huge garlic press). It strains out skin and stringy bits for babies. And when we’re done using it to splooge out baby food, I hear it makes perfect mashed potatoes.

OXO tot feeding spoons. The shape and the squish of these spoons makes it easier to feed a new-to-solids eater. Though Sawyer is still covered with food by the meal’s end, these are my new favorite utensils for scooping and scraping drippy purees. You can’t see very well from the picture, but they’re shaped like spades, soft spades.

Other than these four recent discoveries, I find myself using a few tried-and-true techniques for blending up baby food with my stick mixer and ice cube trays. I will have to share a few of my cheats with you another time.

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I was sent the cookbook and cookies for review consideration.

Did I tell you guys about my DIY New Year’s Resolution? I can’t remember if I put it down in writing here. It was to make use of my extensive craft library. I have at least 25 books on my shelf packed with sewing projects, creative ideas, and even specific patterns to copy. I pledged to myself that this year, I would stop buying books in this genre, and start using them. As of April 23rd, I have made hardly any progress.

I did successfully sew an easy skirt for Scarlett, according to the directions Cori shared with us. And, inspired by countless posts I’ve seen on other blogs, I have been wanting to make a necklace or scarf out of a tshirt for over a year.

One night, with a renewed enthusiasm for my craft book collection, I paged through P.S.– I Made This, a fashionista craft book with the subtitle “I see it. I like it. I make it.”

Then, instead of putting down the book and cutting up my t-shirt, I putzed around online and found this video where the author, Erica Domesek demonstrates how to a fringed scarf from a tshirt.

Although she and her project are adorable, when I started cutting, I ended up going in a different direction. I cut strips of tshirt, pulled on them to let the edges curl and then tied them together a bit randomly into a very long loop. I twisted the loop to make a necklace and then used more bits of tshirt to tie the layers together.

I think I like the results, but honestly, every time I wear it, I worry that it looks like I’m wearing a rag around my neck! Maybe I need to stick with the scarf project.

If you search Pinterest for “tshirt necklace”, you will find 8 zillion beautiful examples like the one below. I think this project is worth experimenting with because a) a necklace fits everyone and makes your outfit look better b) it’s free and c) if you end up with a rag, you can just wipe up a spill.

Want a different DIY project for moms? We have a bunch on our Makin’ It series page.

I started this list a long time ago (like when I had a toddler in my arsenal of boys) but decided to finish it in time for Earth Day a mere three years after I began writing it. Presenting five earth-friendly ways to spend time with your toddler:

1. Eat > Share a smoothie (Here’s another smoothie recipe to try)
2. Get dirty > Release ladybugs or start a butterfly garden
3. Invent > Upcycle cardboard boxes
4. Ride > Get there with a bike trailer
5. Splash > Put on your wellies and jump in the puddles

Please share your ideas in the comments!

Related: 5 super green baby activities

Reprinted from the wayback machine cuz I’m super busy today.

Holden and I used to cook together a lot. Before his little brother Milo joined our family, Holden would stand by my side at the kitchen sink and crack eggs, stir with a whisk, or rip greens for a salad. Unfortunately, I must confess, I now put the two of them in front of a 25 minute kid show while I race to get dinner together most nights. So I was a perfect candidate for this lesson a few weeks ago.

Holden and Shayna cooking at Eat Real Fest

At the Oakland Eat Real Festival, an amazing event aimed at helping folks “put the food back into fast,” Holden cooked on stage as part of the children’s cooking demo. Along with 3 other children, he helped make “Scissor salsa salad” under the guidance of Shayna Marmar.

Shayna is a from-scratch cooking teacher-extraordinaire. She started Honeypie Cooking & Events in Oakland to bring fresh, seasonal, and delicious foods back into our kitchens.

Scissor Salsa Salad, all kid-made

As she was leading the children through food preparation, Shayna talked about eating fresh real whole foods as often as possible. We sat on hay bales as she encouraged us to get our children more involved in the creation of their meals. She has seen many parents who said their children hated veggies eat their words while their kids ate salad for the first time.

I emailed her after the event to find out if she had any tips for the Rookie Moms who want to cook more with children, and she told us to get out the safety scissors:

While safety scissors are not generally thought of as a cooking tool, they work great in helping kids of all ages cut various fruits and vegetables. Keep a pair in your kitchen drawer, specifically for cooking, and your child will instantly be able to assist with food preparation tasks without the use of a sharp knife.

Help your child along by cutting the fruits and vegetables into slices/strips beforehand. Foods that can be cut with safety scissors include tomatoes, bell peppers, apples, peaches, cabbage, and cucumbers, among others.

She offered a ton of great hacks for getting kids involved in cooking; here are a few other tips I picked up from the demo:

• Leave your perfectionism at the door; better that the food products are kid-made than perfect.
• Do rough cut prep in advance so kids can avoid a lot of waiting time as well as large knives on counters.
• Think about what foods can be torn by small hands: lettuce, herbs, bread…
• For safer cutting, have a pair of kids’ safety scissors dedicated for use on food (see above) or use a butter knife for other foods that won’t easily fit in the scissors.
• 

  Mashing out some tortillas

  Don’t have a rolling pin? Wash some tools from the play-doh kit or use a cleaned can. Let kids use their hands to pound out dough and smash out tortillas.

• During the final tasting, ask kids “what would you change next time? what would you add more/less of?” to get them thinking and engaged in the process. Holden said “more tomatoes,” a big boy said “more spicy,” the little girl said “just right,” and the big girl refused to taste it. (can’t please everyone!)

Taste test, hmmm more tomatoes please

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I want to thank Shayna for sharing her tips with us!

Shayna offers cooking classes & parties for older children, teens, adults, and families as well as workshops for teachers & parents highlighting tips & tricks for involving children in the process of preparing and eating wholesome and tasty foods.

She can also turn your next kids birthday party into a healthy cooking party, emphasizing fun in the kitchen. How brilliant is that?! She also blogs at Peas and Carrots 123.

To accommodate our holiday guests in our tiny dining room with its four-top table, my husband ordered a new camping table from Amazon.com. It arrived in a cardboard box big enough for a 7-year old boy and a 4-year old girl to lie down in. How do I know this? Because my kids got in the box, of course.

In an excellent post about the most basic and universally loved toys on GeekDad, the author says:

Boxes can be turned into furniture or a kitchen playset. You can turn your kids into cardboard robots or create elaborate Star Wars costumes. A large Box can be used as a fort or house and the smaller Box can be used to hide away a special treasure. Got a Stick? Use it as an oar and Box becomes a boat. One particularly famous kid has used the Box as a key component of a time machine, a duplicator and a transmogrifier, among other things.

He notes humorously that this toy can be procured easily from Amazon.

[They] include one with virtually every order I place there.

Here are a few inspirational photos of cardboard boxes, the most versatile toy in your house this week.

from The Imagination Tree

to make while keeping your box-sitting toddler company: cardboard thank you postcards (via designsponge)

homemade marble run – this one is from a cereal box by Made by Joel

Cardboard shape sorter from Parents.com (this article has 11 more box ideas, but is super annoying to navigate due to the ads and one-idea-per-page format.)

I love the Dr. Seuss feel of this silly bedroom set. Make a few “frames” for kids art? via Tip Junkie who has 32 cardboard box ideas posted.

Probably not feasible for most of us, but we do have a handful of small people, furniture and animals who could inhabit a box, via Busy Being Fabulous

Another one from Parents.com. Unless you are a stylist for Parents magazine, your cardboard kitchen won’t look this cute, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

Have you come up with anything cool to do with cardboard?

Update: Two fabulous friends shared their boxes with us over on our Facebook page.

Cori’s kids show us in fast-motion what fun a box can be.

Mike knocks our socks off with this pirate ship he made for Emme to navigate puddles at the park.

After returning from a jaunt to Tahoe with his toddler, Ainslie, our friend Doug gave me tips on fun stuff to do in the snow. (That’s right old friends, I’m embarrassed to admit it but snow is something we visit out here — not endure. And we “jaunt”).

For the baby set:
Walk around with Bjorn and congratulate yourself for being active.

Sharon reports:

We would have normally planned to go snow shoeing or skiing and planned a romantic dinner out. But we spent our time walking around the village, shopping a little, having a nice dinner, going for a long walk, and taking lots of pictures of Ainslie.

Our friends, Doug and Sharon, are total bad-asses. So, when they recommend to take it easy with your rookie baby, you should listen.

Last year, Whitney and I did their 22 mile charity bike ride and were proud to complete it. Sharon did the whole thing 6 months pregnant while Doug had a 30-pound toddler in the bike trailer.

Since my New Year’s resolution every year since Julian was born has been to walk 10,000 steps a day, and so far I have failed miserably, I have a new piece of advice for myself. I should be doing as many errands as I can on foot. I did so much better when I was on maternity leave and then when I was working 4-hour days. Now, I’m not doing nearly as much walking.

If you are reading this looking for a suggestion for the day, this is it: Run errands. For reals, girls, run them. Ok, walk if you’re not a runner. Put the kid in the stroller, backpack or front carrier and head out the door to the place you need to go. If it’s within two miles, this is a reasonable feat. For most of us, however, I’d guess we can get food or necessities less than two miles from home. We can do it. If you do it, come back here and brag. I’ll give you a virtual pat on the back. This is your 49th rookie mom challenge.

P.S. If you live up in the hills, you can drive to the bottom of the hill and start from there.

Like they used to say on TV, membership has it’s privileges. Both of the Bay Area children’s museums that I have been to are part of a consortium of Children’s Museums that have reciprocal memberships. This means that if you get a one-year membership at Habitot in Berkeley, for example, you can go to the Discovery Museum in Sausalito for a significant discount. Also, if you travel to a place with another children’s museum, you are totally in.

The point, however, is not the membership. The point is that these are destinations with rooms for crawlers. Usually they have mats on the floor or different textures and large scale shapes that babies and young toddlers can put their grubby hands on, in and through. The Discovery Museum Tot Room, for example, has at least four waterbed-type areas for babies.

If you live near one of these places, and buy a membership, consider it a mommy meet market. Go there when you and baby are feeling lonely, let down your hair, and have a juice box or two.

Your 47th weekly challenge is to seek out a children’s museum and make a special trip there with your baby. Tell us, how was it? (Baby too young for this outing? Start at the beginning.)

Photos: Minnesota Children’s Museum;  Children’s Creativity Museum in San Francisco