Archive for December, 2008

Toddler Christmas Gifts - How to Handle Holiday Gift Exchanges

by Edie Mindell

How to successfully navigate the perilous waters of a gift exchange can be a tricky task. At the holiday season we are beset with many different kinds of gift exchanges. There is the office gift exchange, the neighbor gift exchange, the gifts we exchange with our friends and the great white elephant gift exchange. While each of these exchanges has their own fun and pitfalls perhaps the most perilous is the family gift exchange.

Gift giving between siblings might be a fun tradition that is not too difficult - sure last year you received a novelty holiday sweater that has not seen the light of day since, but it is all in good fun. When it gets truly tricky is when the gift exchange flows down to the next generation to nieces and nephews.

Get it right

You love your nieces and nephews. You carry a photo of their pink pudgy faces and show off your precious babies at every chance, but shopping for a baby or toddler when you have none yourself is sometimes difficult.

Appropriate gifts

The last thing the mother of a 9-month old needs is more choking hazards to worry about, or a large toy which encourages climbing, or toys that make incessant noise without secession. Fortunately you don't need to be Dr. Spock to know what kinds of toys babies or toddlers of any age are bound to love without causing their parents hardship.

Most toys are divided into age appropriate categories and labeled. All you need to do is read the label. If there is no age label then a little bit of common sense will come to your aide. If your niece is 18-months old she is likely to enjoy simple toys like dolls or trains. The complicated toys with delicate parts will break and frustrate. Think also of mom and dad. Noisy toys will find themselves hidden out of earshot.

Mom knows best

This maxim applies to all mothers, even the moms of your pint sized nieces and nephews. Before you go out and complete all your holiday shopping it is always a good idea to run your list past the toddler's mom. Tommy (2-years old) might love a remote control car, or 17-month old Suzie might enjoy coloring books and bright markers.

Yet if these gifts will inspire those little free spirits to run into the busy roads or create great works of art on the walls, then maybe they should wait.

Running your gift selection past parents helps you avoid these pitfalls that you might not know about otherwise. You can also be sure your gifts are not being duplicated. You might be given an even better gift idea.

Spoiling your babies at Christmas time should be fun! Remembering a few simple rules before you shop will ensure your success.

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Consider Moses Baskets for Holiday and Unique Baby Shower Gifts

by Edie Mindell

A Christmas gift basket of a different sort for the newborn baby would be a moses basket. The moses baskets are the perfect gift for using when visiting family and friends as the baby will then have some where to sleep other than the car seat or other carrier.

What to get for the parents who seem to have everything and want for nothing is often a perplexing question. When babies are new it seems that gifts are showered upon them from all sides. New parents like to shop for and pamper their new babies. Friends and family also ask parents what their wants and needs are to insure that the baby is well supplied. Grandparents are perhaps the biggest spenders sparing no expense to spoil that baby even though the baby has not been born.

The Christmas Question

This initial cascade of baby gifts is fun, but the holiday season can create a problem: What can I possibly get for this baby that she doesn't already have in duplicate? Holiday shopping should be fun, especially when the gift is for a baby or toddler. To this end when searching for that perfect Christmas gift for baby think of obscure, but fun items that will enhance baby's well being but might be considered non-essential.

Non-essential items are more interesting to select and often fill a need mom or dad didn't even know they had. This is why these particular items often escape selection in the deluge of gift giving that precedes and follows the baby's birth. A perfect example of a great Christmas gift idea for a baby is the Moses Basket.

A basket?

Moses baskets are made to create a portable bed for baby. These baskets can be quite simple woven and lined with cute linens or very ornate with handles, frilly details complete with a shade canopy. A Moses basket allows baby a safe place sheltered from the drafts of winter to sleep or rest when mom or dad's arms are otherwise occupied.

Different from a swing, bouncy seat or play yard, Moses Baskets transport easily from room to room, take up very little space and create a warm snuggly bed.

What's the point?

This gift is the very definition of filling a need that mom didn't even know she had. Most new parents get the bouncy seat, which is portable and the baby swing, which is not so portable thinking that is plenty. What happens in reality is this: their tiny new born slips and slides so much in the bouncy chair that it can't be used until they get bigger with more muscle control. The swing works well but limits mom to being in the living room because it is difficult to move.

A Moses Basket solves these problems. The basket is easily moved from space to space. It is not large and is warmer and more supportive of new babies than a bouncy chair. The smaller size allows mom and dad to take baby with them to any room while they work or relax.

Form and function

Even the simplest Moses baskets are beautiful. This makes them a welcome addition to any dcor. Baby accessories like swings sometimes create an eyesore that parents can't wait to remove once they are out grown. A Moses basket does not carry this same stigma.

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