Planning on Children in the Future-Items You Should Hang Onto & Put in Storage

One of the best things about having multiple children is that you likely already have all the items you originally needed for your first baby and can use those items repeatedly. If you are planning on having children in the future, whether soon or in several years, there are baby items that you want to hold onto so that you do not have to bare the expense again.

Below, we will look at some of the most important baby items you should hang onto and put into your self-storage unit.

Baby Clothes

It may sound like an obvious one, but a lot of individuals will get rid of the newborn and smaller sized clothes thinking they will not need them. Baby clothes are expensive, and you can save yourself a lot of money by hanging onto your first-born’s clothes.

To store baby clothes, you want to wash them first and remove any stains they may have. Then, allow the clothes to fully dry. Once dry, fold them up and store them neatly in a box and place into a climate-controlled storage unit for safe keeping.

Crib

One of the heftiest upfront expenses for any new baby is the crib. If you have a crib that your child has outgrown, you may want to think about placing it into storage to use it in the future.

Before you store the crib, do take pictures of how it looked when it was put together. Depending on how long you store it for, you may forget what it looks like assembled and a picture can help you piece it back together.

You should also label the pieces of the crib or write out a blueprint for it and keep all hardware in a small bag attached to the crib.

Lastly, always store the crib in a climate-controlled unit to prevent deterioration of the wood.

Toys

They say that you will spend a lot of money on baby clothes, but you will spend even more on toys. The younger the child is, the more expensive it seems the toys are too. From the bouncer to the walker to the entertainment, it adds up.

You should store all toys from your baby’s younger years as your new little one will use these toys as well.

If you decide to store the toys in self-storage, clean them very well and allow them to dry. You should dry out any cracks or crevices that may be present. Place the toys into storage containers and then label the exterior of the container. If you need to store a bouncer or other toys that are too large to fit in a container, clean them up and then place a sheet or protective cover over them.

Don’t Underestimate the Expenses a New Baby Brings

You likely still have many of the items you would need for a new baby, so take the time to store them and hang onto them as you will save yourself some money in the end. Some additional items to consider storing include the stroller, baby rockers, changing table, and car seat.

This post is a collaborative effort by St. Louis Dad.

How to Successfully Childproof Your Home & Possessions

Have you childproofed your home yet? If not, it’s time for you to change that by taking action. It’s a lot easier to do than you might think, and it’ll certainly save you a lot of time, energy and hassle later on. There are so many things that can get broken or damaged in your home if you’re not careful to protect them. You’ll only end up cursing your stupidity for not taking action sooner if something was to get broken later on.

babygate

As well as that, it’s equally as important to be thinking about the safety and wellbeing of your children in your home. Don’t forget that the home can be a very dangerous place for a small child, so their safety is not something that should ever be taken for granted. If you make that mistake, you’ll only end up regretting it massively later. Read on to learn about how you can get all this right for your family inside your home.

 

Don’t Leave Junk for the Bin Lying Around in the House for Too Long

 

Kids will start playing with and climbing on pretty much anything you leave lying around in the home. That’s why you need to be careful with what you leave lying about if it’s potentially dangerous for them. Rather than leaving things by the door for you to take out to the bin later, you should focus on getting them out into the bin right away. You certainly don’t want your young children to hurt themselves out of playful curiosity. It’s up to you to make sure nothing like that ever happens.

Invest in Some Plug Protectors to Avoid Major Problems

Plug sockets are often found at eye level for children sitting and playing on the floor. This means they’re always going to be attracted to them, and you have to mitigate that danger as best you can. If you don’t, you will put your child at risk. If they were to take something metal and push it in there, they would potentially kill themselves as a result, so this is not something to be taken lightly at all. You can easily buy plug protectors that cover the socket and stop kids playing with them.

Insure Your Electronics and Other Valuables

Taking out a big insurance policy for all the things that you own is definitely a good idea. Like it or not, your electronics and other most valuable items are more likely to get damaged and broken if your kids are using them. By having the security that comes with a good insurance policy, you’ll be able to achieve real peace of mind. Browse the options and find the policy that’s the right fit for you. That financial backup is priceless for most people, so don’t underestimate what the right insurance policy could do for you.

Get Into the Habit of Using Cases and Screen Protectors

Lots of people don’t really like putting screen protectors on things like phones, tablets and other gadgets with screens. But it’s something that you won’t regret once you have your children grabbing hold of them and dropping them on the floor all the time. The same applies to cases. A simple phone case from somewhere like Custom Envy will protect it more and make it look nice. These things are worth considering unless you want that expensive Samsung Galaxy to get smashed up.

Don’t Risk Valuable Breakables by Displaying Them in the Open

If you do have a precious vase that dates back hundreds of years and is worth more than the house itself, why take risks with it? Putting breakable things like that on display in your home is asking for trouble when you’ve got children growing up and rushing around the place non-stop. Put them in storage or sell those things if you prefer. Whatever you choose to do, don’t put them at risk by leaving them on display where they could get damaged.

Lock Up Cupboards Containing Liquids They Shouldn’t be Touching

Don’t Underestimate Their Destructive Potential

Sure, your child might look like nothing but sweetness and light. However, you shouldn’t let that fool you because when they’ve decided that they’re going to smash and throw something until it breaks, it’s almost certainly going to break. The destructive potential of your little angel should never be underestimated! It’s certainly worth taking the right precautions so that you don’t end up with regrets later on. And don’t let their sweet cherubic faces fool you.

Keep Some Stuff in a Locked Room if You Have a Spare Room in Your Home

If you’re lucky enough to have a spare room in touto family home, you should definitely try to make use of it. That space should never go to waste when you have the chance to make better use of it. By adding a simple lock to the door, you can make sure that your most valuable and treasured things aren’t taken and damaged by toe meddling kids. It’s a great way to keep things safe and completely remove the possibility of something going wrong.

Use Childproof Gates for Safety

Stairs are obviously very dangerous for small children who are not yet able to walk independently. You should make sure that you have gates that shut off access to stairs so that your child can play safely without you having to worry about them crawling over to the edge of the stairs. They’re very adaptable and easy to install these days, so they can be used in your home in all kinds of ways in order to keep your child safe.

Nothing is safe in your home if it’s not protected from your children. And the safety of your children themselves has to be your number one priority too. All of those issues are addressed here, so make sure you start to implement some of the things that have been covered. Doing so will help you to childproof your home properly.

This post is a collaborative effort by St. Louis Dad.

Looking Naturally at Baby Mantra

babmantra2I never had much thought about using all natural products on my kids since I never used them myself growing up. I can not even remember using anything that was super fancy or organic. Even now as an adult most of the items I use for myself have a concoction of chemicals that I’m sure are okay for me, I just don’t understand them all, and that’s okay. I am not a scientist and I will leave the science to them.

So, I’m okay with what I use and when we found out we were having a kid I didn’t pay much attention to what we should use once we are tasked with caring for our kid. That is until I had heard about kids and babies getting rashes from different lotions and detergents on the market. Blast those culprits of skin irritations!

babymantraSo that’s when I started looking into different organic baby skin care products. From what I found on Baby Mantra I was happy to see someone making natural baby products for a reasonable price. I have seen some higher priced brands that apparently are not all cracked up as they claim to be. The pricing I see here falls right in line with what I am already spending when I pick up my kids’ lotions, body wash, etc at the store already.

My wife and I really like the calming lotion and natural baby body wash a lot. Both leave our kids’ skin awesome. At least to mom’s standards, I’m okay with them getting dirty.

Another thing I like about Baby Mantra is that while you can order online, it is also available in stores. Babies R Us and Walgreens here in the St. Louis area and a few other shops through-out the rest of the country. Of course anyone can order online.

BabyMantra.com sponsored this post in exchange for an honest review. Please visit BabyMantra.com for more awesome natural products for kids, and follow them on Instagram to see some great photos!