Archive for category Product Review

The family has been enjoying the third season of True Blood so much that I thought it was time for LTD to get into the action by getting him the Billy-Bob Lil’ Vampire Pacifier. The Mommy put the kibosh on the idea as we are slowly beginning to phase out pacifiers. However, I think the fangs are worth mentioning if anyone out there in Beyond the Car Seat land has a baby who watches True Blood a lot. In conclusion I will just add that you don’t need a vampire pacifier to be scared by a baby. When you see all those little sharp Chiclits teeth coming at you, it can be truly terrifying. Time to get the garlic and Van Helsing.

As long time readers of Beyond the Car Seat know I don’t write negative reviews. My thinking being that I don’t want to lend any bad product any ink in order to keep the phrase, there is no such thing as bad publicity, at bay. However, occasionally products stink enough that I feel duty bound to bring them into the light. The first item up for bid is the Snack Ball by Boon. Now normally, Boon makes well designed cool products, but it seems that with the Snack Ball they went for style over substance. The lid, which slides open is never quite tight enough causing the contents to fall out whenever the ball is in a diaper bag. Also, the Snack Ball isn’t really cut out for the riggers of childhood in other words its no Timex. This thing takes a licking and does NOT keep on ticking. Of course the disappointing part is that I wanted it to work so I could stop using my high tech ziplock bag.

An even more disappointing product is Dreambaby’s Stay-Put Cutlery & Bowl Set. To quote The Mommy, ‘great idea, poor execution.’ The set is designed with a suction cup on the bowl so it stays on the high chair tray with the fork and spoon attached by to their own suction cups via a short cord. There is only one problem with the set, it is built so poorly and out of such shotty material that the suction cups don’t suck they suck. It really is a shame because it is such a simple smart idea that they should have taken the ten extra minutes to make it actually work. When it comes to feeding a baby there are enough challenges and headaches that you don’t need to pour fuel on the fire. Here’s to hoping next time both companies get it right because the children are the future so we better treat them well.

Since LTD had a minor meltdown the other day at the daycare center in the gym I thought it would be a good idea to bulk him up by bringing out a toy from the past. The Barbell Stacker by Zolo is a plush barbell with four “weights” totaling “300” pounds. There is a strict no steroid policy at the gym so LTD will have to go all natural when working out. The little guy is too small for an ipod so he will have to rely on the rattles in the barbell and weights for music. Also, it is a good thing that the set is soft and felty because they don’t make weight lifting gloves in his size, I checked. Hopefully, the barbell’s will allow LTD to feel the burn, maximize the gain and be more confident at the gym’s daycare center.

LTD is now always on the move and not only is he leaving a path of destruction in his wake, he is also leaving things behind every time we leave the house. Okay, some times The Mommy and me are to blame for forgetting to take the travel cup out of the fridge when playdates end. However, his hat, jacket and sweaters are on him. At 16 months he shouldn’t be so forgetful, it’s not like he has such a busy schedule. The solution was clear, it was time for name labels in his clothes. The Bright Woven Name Labels from All Things Labels are not your father’s old camp labels. These bad boys are woven out of strong thread. We used the heat seal style that we ironed on instead of the sewing them on.

When I was a kid, my clothing labels were simple black and white jobs that the army uses. These days the little guy demands labels that sport whales and lions. Unfortunately, the labels won’t stop all the members of the family from forgetting clothing items all over the world, but hopefully now we will at least get them back.

We used a cool mist humidifier in LTD’s room all during the dry days of winter and we just keep using it out of habit now that it’s summer. The humidifier helps his little seemingly always stuffed up nose and is easy to use so why not. I have had bad luck with the various humidifiers for our bedroom, but LTD has a simple no frills one that always work. And besides it’s a penguin. Crane makes a series of cool mist humidifiers for kids room with all sorts of great animals. In fact, we bought ours at Target and if I had thought better we would have gone to Buy Buy Baby or online to get a cooler animal. Not that the penguin isn’t cool it just doesn’t have the impact of the elephant with it’s mist emitting trunk.

The humidifier doesn’t have a filter, so you never need to search the stores for one. The penguin fills up with ease and only has an on/off switch and a dial for the high/low setting. So far the only draw back is all that water cause an accumulation of detritus on the inside surfaces. The crud wipes away easily, but you need to unplug the base and empty it in the sink for cleaning. An activity that I don’t do often enough. All in all, it has worked better than any fancy one I have every used and looks like a penguin, which is always a plus.

ELC’s Twistasaurus is one of those toys that provided me with an a-ha moment. LTD had access to it for a while before he really started using it and then one day I looked down and he was twisting and unfortunately shouting. The titular dinosaur toy features a red bolt and five dinosaur parts: legs, torso, middle, neck and head which as the Latin name suggests twist together to form the complete thunder lizard. The head, if screwed on properly, makes laughing dino sounds when button are depressed. I will admit that the sounds can be a little creepy if you are not expecting them. The amazing thing about Twisty is that LTD can actually unscrew the pieces like a little dinosaur plumber. He is very close to getting the pieces back on, but hasn’t quite mastered it yet which is the main reason the dinosaur plumbers union rejected his bid for membership. My favorite part of Twistasaurus is watching the little guy concentrate and focus his entire brain on unscrewing the dino parts. And yes, his tongue is usually sticking out the whole time.