23 Road Trip Hacks That’ll Save Your Sanity

by Ayren Jackson-CannadyJune 7, 2023

These brilliant ideas will help you survive—and even enjoy—your next family adventure

When it comes to a road trip, it’s often about how you get there, not where you’re going. Make sure that journey is memorable for the right reasons with a few tips and road trip hacks we’ve road-tested ourselves. They might not prevent the inevitable “Are we there yet?” but we know they will ease some of the other trials of taking a long car ride with kids. And to mix it up, try our list of car games when they need a break from the screens!

1. Give the kids the map. Hand over your GPS during times of the trip when you actually know where you are going. Let the kids “navigate” and tell you which way to turn. Or hand them a road map and have them help figure out the route. Get tips on teaching kids how to read a REAL map here.

2. Bring enough headphones for each kid. It will ward off any complaining or whining. If your crew likes to listen to or watch the same thing, try BuddyPhones, kid headphones that come with an audio splitter for sharing.

3. Surprise observations. During the trip, have each person write down an observation or memory from the day. If you’re traveling more than one day, do it each day of the journey, there and back. Don’t share what you’ve written until you are home. Then have each family member read out loud their main “thought” for the day. It’s okay if it’s, “I wish we were there” or “I saw a giant clown on the side of the road.” You’ll get some laughs and relive the trip in a new way.

4. Use a shower caddy for mess-free eating. Tired of balancing lunch on your lap? Give each kid—and yourself—a caddy so that meals are contained in one neat place.

5. Stash plastic cutlery and napkins in the glove box. It’ll make eating in the car that much easier.

6. Make a killer playlist. It can make or break a road trip. Trust us. Find family friendly tunes, starting here.

7. Beat the sniffles. Use a rubber band to lash a full tissue box to an empty one. Use the empty one to dispose of used tissues right after using, so they don’t end up all over the car/on the floor/in your snacks.

8. Make up some car bingo. Purchase a stack of ready-made car bingo games, or go the simple route by making a “checklist” of cool things you see on the road. The first person to fill up a checklist gets to pick where you make a pit stop for dinner.

9. Hang a shoe organizer on the back of each front seat. Big kids will be able to reach for books, snacks, and games on their own (and ideally they’ll be able to put everything back, too).

campers in an RV using road trip hacks — Adam Clark

10. Kick off your shoes. For long rides, many kids like to take their shoes off. Let them, but have a bag handy to stash the shoes or keep them by the door of your RV, so they’re easy to find for pit stops.

11. Download Sit or Squat. You’ll be able to scout clean bathrooms on your route. This is a road trip hack you can’t live without.

12. Chuck garbage into a plastic cereal container or old wipes box. They usually have lids so your vehicle won’t smell like Eau de trash. Put them throughout your RV or car!

13. Pack clothes in stackable laundry baskets (instead of suitcases). The idea is that each traveler has their own basket filled with clothes and other belongings (diapers, lovey, etc.). It’s much easier to see if you’re forgetting anything and it’s a cinch to load and unload.

14. For impatient travelers, use “Sticky Note Time Tabs.” How it works: Write increments of time (i.e. 1:15, 2:15, 3:15) on sticky notes and adhere them to the center console below the clock. Kids pay attention to when the clock time matches the sticky note time. When they notice it, you remove the sticky note (and give them a surprise, if you’re feeling generous).

15. Organize a glow stick dance party while driving at night. There’s nothing fun to see out the windows, so might as well bring the fun inside your vehicle. Hip hop hooray to kiddos’ fave tunes and score major brownie points for your efforts.

16. Cover seats with a fitted sheet. Be prepared for a mess by stretching a sheet over the seats. When you get to where you’re going all you have to do is shake the sheet out and BAM!… your ride is spotless once more. One of our more genius road trip hacks if we don’t say so ourselves.

17. Make edible necklaces for the journey. String flavorless floss with things like cereal, grapes, and pretzels. It will fill their bellies and keep them busy at the same time.

18. Get snap happy. Give the kids disposable cameras (or old smartphones) so that they can take pictures of what you’re driving by for a travel log.

19. Let the creative juices flow. Since playdough can get stuck in floorboards (and hair … and under fingernails), bring along a roll of aluminum foil and/or a box of pipe cleaners—both can be molded into shapes, animals, and skyscrapers.

20. Nip car sickness in the bud. If you or your kiddo gets nausea from reading on the road, simply tilt your head from side to side for it to go away. Just try it!

21. When you see a fun road stop… stop! This is how road trip memories are made. If you’re the planning type, visit roadtrippers.com to map out a few awesome layovers, and be sure to check out our favorite roadside attractions, too.

22. Pack a potty. This is an important road trip hack if you’ve got potty-trained littles: Open and lay a disposable diaper into the bottom of a toddler potty. If you’ve got miles to go before the next rest stop, pull over and let them use this—the diaper will soak up a #1 and contain a #2 until you find a proper spot for disposal.

23. Have plenty of other screen-free activities on hand. When your kids are bored of playing car bingo (it’s inevitable), have something else from our list ready to go.

How to Make It through the Rest of Summer & Keep Your Cool

By Jen Lumanlan

Tinybeans Voices Contributor

July 19, 2022

Ahhhh….summer. It sounds amazing.

Lots of time outside; the kids all splashing happily in whatever water-filled container you have.

Lots of unscheduled time, with no particular places to be or things to do.

Your kids get to just be kids for a while.

But here’s what’s also part of summer:

The crying and whining.

The endless repetitions of “I’m booooooored…” interspersed with refusals to help around the house.

And your triggered feelings.

What Happens When You Have a Big Reaction to Your Kid’s Feelings

When your kids don’t cooperate (which happens a lot when you’re together a lot), you probably go into one of four ‘modes’:

1. Fight Mode: You get combative! Your child might as well be an attacking bear that you’re fighting for your life. You will dominate them…through words (you can probably out-logic them), through your physical presence (towering over them) and/or through swatting or spanking them.

2. Flight Mode: You’ve got to get out of here! Your child might as well be an attacking bear that you’re running away from, and quickly. You check out mentally, or you physically leave the room—and when your child follows you it makes everything ten times worse.

3. Freeze Mode: The bear’s attacking, and you can’t figure out what to do. You’re mentally and physically frozen: should you counterattack? Should you run and hide? It is simply not possible for you to make a decision—about anything—at this moment.

4. Fawn Mode: Most common among people who have experienced abuse, this involves getting the difficult behavior to stop at all costs. You placate the child; reassure them; say they can have the thing they want…anything to make the crying/screaming/whining stop.

It doesn’t seem like any of these things should be part of any parent’s summer plans…and yet, here they are.

Summer isn’t over yet.

Are you gonna make it?

Here are 5 tips to help you not just survive but actually enjoy the time you’re spending with your kids this summer:

1. Don’t Multitask.
Whenever your attention is split, there’s a good chance you’re going to get frustrated. Have designated times to play with your kids—and put the phone away. Focus on nothing but being with them. At other times, tell them you’re not available now but you will be in 30 minutes/after lunch/when the timer goes off.

2. Slow Down & Simplify.
Do you need to go to every birthday party? Must you take something homemade to every gathering, or would a bowl of cherries be just as welcome? Could you eat take-out one more night a week, or cook twice as much on the nights you do cook, and eat leftovers every other night? Can you plan just a little further ahead so you don’t have to go shopping as often? The more you can slow down and simplify, the less overall stress you’ll feel, which will leave more gas in the tank to deal with the children’s meltdowns.

3. Be Realistic about What Your Child Can Do.
We hear a lot about having ‘developmentally appropriate’ expectations, but many parents expect their children to be able to do way more than they really can. A survey by respected organization Zero to Three found that over half of parents think that children under three can reliably resist the desire to do something forbidden when actually this starts to develop between ages 3.5-4. And 42% of parents think that children should be able to control their emotions—like not having a tantrum when they’re frustrated—by age 2 when again this develops between the ages of 3.4-4. If you’re expecting too much too soon, you’ll get frustrated when they can’t meet your expectations.

4. Embrace the Drop-off (Outdoor) Playdate.
If you have any access to the outdoors, and there are other families in your ‘pod,’ take turns hosting outdoor playdates. If you have a garden, the other child could bring a lunch and then you just turf them outdoors for the day—they can collect rocks, make ‘houses’ for imaginary friends; build things out of cardboard…Even traditionally indoor-based toys like LEGO and Magnatiles that they’re bored with using indoors can be fun again outdoors. Chances are having another child around will actually keep yours occupied for longer…and then your child goes to the friend’s house another time, giving you several hours off. Even if you go to the playground or park instead of your house, you could work for the life of your laptop battery, or hang out with a book. Win-win!

5. Pay Attention to What’s Going on in Your Body.
In our culture, we have an idea that everything worth paying attention to happens in our brains. But very often our bodies tell us when something’s up—like when we’re getting resentful because our child has been asking us to do things for them all day. We might feel a tightness in our shoulders, heat across our chest, nausea, or a headache long before we yell at our child, walk away from them, freeze, or fawn. We can learn to pay attention to these signals and act on them early in the day rather than letting the frustration build until we explode.

Navigating kids’ big feelings is challenging for every parent. It can be doubly challenging when you can’t stay calm in these moments, perhaps partly because you are remembering difficult events from your childhood. But just because you’ve responded with frustration up to now doesn’t mean it always has to be that way. You might think that your child needs to change their behavior but none of the ideas here involve doing that. When you change the way you show up with them, they most likely won’t do as much of the behavior you find so difficult.

And so you will make it through the summer.

Jen Lumanlan

Tinybeans Voices Contributor

Jen Lumanlan fills the gaps in her parenting intuition through research, via a Master’s in Psychology (Child Development) and another in Education. Her podcast, Your Parenting Mojo, provides rigorous yet accessible information on parenting and child development to help parents tame the overwhelm and raise resilient, thriving children.

Dole Recalls Salad Products for Possible Listeria Contamination

by Tinybeans TeamJanuary 12, 2022

We’re not saying it’s okay if your kids refuse to eat their salads, but if they had an aversion to iceberg lettuce processed at Dole Fresh Vegetables, Inc.’s Springfield, OH and Soledad, CA production facilities recently, it might not be the worst thing.

Dole Fresh Vegetables, Inc. is voluntarily recalling all Dole-branded and private label packaged salads processed at these two facilities due to a possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. So what’s that? Listeria monocytogenes is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. If you’re healthy and you get it, you’ll probably just have a few days of fever, headache, stiffness, nausea, cramping, and diarrhea (um, no thanks). But—and here’s the kicker—it’s been shown to cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

photo: Courtesy of FDA

You don’t have to toss out everything in your fridge or pantry by Dole (or the private labels also affected). Take a peek in your fridge and get rid of packaged salad mixes containing iceberg lettuce that has a product lot code beginning with the letter “W” or “B” and a “Best if Used By” date between December 22, 2021 and January 9, 2022. The product lot codes are located in the upper-right-hand corner of Dole’s packaging.

Currently, the private brands include HEB, Marketside, President’s Choice, Kroger and Little Salad Bar.

No illnesses have been reported with the products being recalled to date, and you can specifically check your products against recalled Dole products on the FDA’s website.

—Shelley Massey

Feature photo: Rawpixel via Pexels

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This Starbucks Funnel Cake Frappuccino Gives Us Major Summertime Nostalgia

by Sarah ShebekMay 11, 2021

You can have your (funnel) cake and drink it too, thanks to a new Frappuccino from Starbucks! It might be the flavor you never knew you wanted and it’s serving major summertime nostalgia.

The funnel cake frapp debuts today and features the flavors of strawberry and whipped cream, appropriately topped with funnel cake pieces and a dusting of powdered sugar. Unlike the traditional Strawberry Creme Frappucino, this one also blends in coffee for a caffeinated kick; and unlike the traditional funnel cake, you’re sure to have a mess-free consumption experience—just watch the whipped cream!

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“We wanted to capture the joy of this time of year, and we thought about those simple pleasures that really encapsulate summer,” said Sara Bennett, senior product developer for Starbucks R&D team. “That led us to state fairs and funnel cake – just wanting to channel that sense of carefree fun.”

Get your Funnel Cake Frappuccino starting today at Starbucks locations nationwide and in Canada. It joins the company’s other summer food and beverage offerings and is sure to have you dreaming of state fairs, sans the crowds and nausea-inducing rides!

—Sarah Shebek

Featured image courtesy of Starbucks

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5 Ways To Make Your Pregnancy Easier

by Jamie AderskiApril 2, 2021

Pregnancy is a beautiful and exciting time—but could do without the backaches, nausea and sleepless nights. It may feel like you are at the whim of the little human growing inside of you, but there are things you can do to feel better and enjoy your pregnancy! Read on for five ways you can make your pregnancy easier on you (and possibly your partner, too!).

1. Balance Out Cravings With Vitamin-Packed Foods

Go ahead, have that bowl of ice cream if you're craving it, just try to balance it with a healthy choice. We know what we should eat, but that doesn't always mean we will actually eat it. Plus, pregnancy hormones can mean lots of food aversions, even colorful fruits and veggies that you normally love! If you know you cannot stomach those big salads right now, be sure to supplement your diet—vitamins are a great option to ensure you are getting optimal nutrition for yourself and your baby.

2. Take the Guesswork Out of What Nutrition You Need

Check out MegaFood Baby & Me 2™ Prenatal Multi. These vitamins are made with real food like broccoli, carrots and oranges and paired with key nutrients like iron, vitamins B12, B6 and D3*. They also include choline to support baby's brain development, and methylated folate (the active form of folic acid) to support fetal health.* Just two tablets daily are all you need, and the best part: You can take them any time of day, even on an empty stomach! Perfect for mamas with sensitive tummies and nausea. Ask your doctor which prenatal vitamin is best for you!

For a limited time, shop now and save 20% on prenatal and postnatal vitamins and supplements with code MEGA20. Offer ends 6/30/21.

3. Nausea Relief

Uh-oh. The dreaded pregnancy symptom—nausea. It's fairly common, normal and you can do a few things to keep that gurgly feeling at bay. Keeping some plain crackers, minty gum, and gingered-food items on hand can be a big help. Even better: keeping these Baby & Me 2™ Morning Sickness Nausea Relief* Soft Chews close-by and at the ready! The magic formula? Vitamin B6 in combination with 250mg of ginger supports nausea relief from morning sickness, especially among pregnant women*. We love that these are only two grams of sugar per chew, with no added colors or artificial flavors, and are non-GMO and vegetarian!

4. Use Pre & Probiotics for Optimum Health

One of the foundations of health is in your gut, and pre and probiotics are all the rage for this very reason! They can help with digestion, nutrient absorption, energy levels and all-around wellness. Talk to your doctor to find a pre and/or probiotic that will be best for your needs—there are lots to choose from. Pro tip: Look for at least 10 billion CFU's per dose to get the most out of your pro (or pre). We like Baby & Me 2™ Prenatal Probiotic + Prebiotic with 14 unique probiotic strains and 30 billion CFU's of active bacteria, plus these supplements have added ginger to help soothe upset tummies and promote healthy digestive function*.

For a limited time, shop now and save 20% on prenatal and postnatal vitamins and supplements with code MEGA20. Offer ends 6/30/21.

5. Postnatal Health Is Just as Important

Don't forget about your health after the baby, as well. Postnatal recovery takes time. In all the craziness that is being the mom of a newborn, getting rest and eating well may not be at the top of your to-do list. New moms need support, including help staying on track of their health while they take care of their newborn. Baby & Me 2™ Postnatal Multi help support optimal nutrition for mom after birth with key nutrients like vitamins C, D3 and E, plus minerals like iodine and chromium to meet changing nutritional demands while breastfeeding*, choline to help support baby's brain development* and Moringa leaf, which may help support milk production*. Whether or not you choose to breastfeed, a multivitamin can help keep your health and well-being balanced!

For a limited time, shop now and save 20% on prenatal and postnatal vitamins and supplements with code MEGA20. Offer ends 6/30/21.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

—Jamie Aderski

These Are the Days Pregnancy Sickness Is Likely to Start, New Study Reveals

by Jennifer SwartvagherJanuary 21, 2021

Unfortunately for many women, pregnancy and nausea seem to go together. Now researchers from the University of Warwick have narrowed the time frame that pregnancy sickness will potentially start to just three days. This opens up the possibility for scientists to identify a biological cause for the condition.

Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy was previously referred to as “morning sickness.” Previous research from the same team revealed that term was misleading, as sickness could occur at any time of day. The term “pregnancy sickness” is now considered more appropriate.

Pregnancy sickness usually ends between 12 to 14 weeks of pregnancy. For some it can be severe, including what is known as hyperemesis gravidarum—when the symptoms continue throughout the pregnancy. In the past, the cause was seen as psychological (yeah, cue the eyerolls!) but this study shows further evidence that it is biological in nature and linked to a woman’s stage of pregnancy.

Researchers from the Warwick Medical School and the Department of Statistics at the University of Warwick found that the time period in which a woman will likely experience pregnancy sickness can now be pinpointed to a specific three-day window. In other words, they can predict when you’re most likely to start feeling crummy!

Pregnancy due dates are calculated based on the last day of the last menstrual period, but this study also has found that the date of ovulation is a more accurate starting point, thanks to fewer variables.

256 pregnant women kept daily symptom diaries to compare when their symptoms began, including recording the date of their last menstrual period as well as date of ovulation (determined by a urine test). Researchers compared the results and found that most women started getting “the sickness” 8 to 10 days after ovulation.

Lead author Professor Roger Gadsby of Warwick Medical School said, “For researchers it narrows our focus in terms of where we look for the cause. If we know that symptoms occur in a very narrow window 8-10 days after ovulation, researchers can concentrate their efforts on that particular stage of development to find the cause of the condition, both anatomically and biochemically. In the past, women suffering with nausea and vomiting in pregnancy have had their symptoms trivialised and overlooked because it was thought there was a psychological basis for the symptoms. This research further reinforces that nothing could be further from the truth, that this is a biological problem related to the development of the early fetus.”

(Sing it, Roger!)

The research also discovered that 94% of women do experience some form of pregnancy sickness, a rate much higher than previously.

Professor Roger Gadsby adds, “What we’ve shown is that more people get symptoms of pregnancy sickness than has ever been shown before, and one of the reasons for that is that this research has picked up mild early symptoms that tend to fade by 7-8 weeks. In other studies those symptoms would have faded by the time the research started.”

Next up? What the heck do you do about it?

—Jennifer Swartvagher

Featured photo: Anastasiia Chepinska on Unsplash

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5 Tips to Prioritize Healthy Eating during Pregnancy

By Dr. Alan Lindemann

Tinybeans Voices Contributor

January 6, 2021

Photo: Derick McKinney on Unsplash

The start of the new year is perhaps the most common time for people to begin a new healthy eating regimen or go on a diet. While traditional dieting is off the table, women entering the new year with a new pregnancy may find themselves wondering how best to eat mindfully to support themselves and their unborn children.

These five healthy pregnancy eating tips will help you get some of the essentials down. If you have any specific concerns, always contact your trusted care provider.

Here are some of the most common questions I receive from pregnant women about how to manage diet during pregnancy.

1. What kind of diet helps control morning sickness?

Eat a balanced diet with equal parts protein, fat, and carbohydrates. This is not a time for low- or high-carb or specialized diets.

Especially during the first trimester, low blood sugar can cause problems, from nausea to not feeling like eating. When you wake up in the morning, eat a couple of crackers and drink some water or juice, then lie back down in bed and let the food get into your system. When you do get up, you should feel more like eating. That’s the time to eat a small amount of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Then take your shower. It’s hard to even imagine that the timing of a shower can cause nausea, but it does. It is the combination of low blood pressure and low blood sugar.

2. How do I eat for two, three, four, or five babies? Eat three meals a day with three little meals in between. (This will help control nausea as well.) All meals should include protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Aim for 1/3 carbohydrates, 1/3 fat, and 1/3 protein in each meal. A mixture of 40 percent carbohydrates, 40 percent protein, and 20 percent fat also works.

If you eat a balanced diet, three big and three small meals will cause you to gain about 2—3 pounds per month. If you are carrying twins or multiples, you may gain about 4 pounds per month—though no one really knows the optimum weight gain for twins, triplets, or quadruplets. Stay in touch with your doctor and monitor your weight as your pregnancy progresses.

3. What do I do about food cravings? For the most part, eat what you crave. The old ice cream and pickles tradition aren’t really so bad for pregnant women. The ice cream includes all the food groups: protein, carbs, and fat (avoid low-fat ice cream). Pickles might supply electrolytes that the ice cream doesn’t.

4. What if I’m hungry all the time? Try to eat food that is good for you. Fruit (pears, apples, oranges, bananas, grapes), cottage cheese, eggs, and nuts are all good choices. Avoid processed cheeses (i.e., Velveeta, spray cheese).

5. What if I’m not hungry at all? Your first job is to avoid vomiting.

Dealing with nausea, anorexia, and optimal weight gain during pregnancy requires not only attention to what to eat, but when to eat it.

Not being able to eat is hard to manage because it goes against what we think we know about pregnancy. Just the notion of not being able to eat during pregnancy is counter-intuitive. Find something that will stay down, even if it is Coke and potato chips. Start out with a very small amount. If it stays down, wait 45 minutes to an hour and try to eat a small amount of a healthier food.

Remember that pregnant women are extremely sensitive to smell. They can easily lose their appetite by smelling the wrong thing, even cooking food. Those who are not pregnant smell cooking food, get hungry, and if they don’t get to eat in 60 to 90 minutes, they may even get nauseated. This bodily reaction goes into warp speed with pregnancy, reaching the nausea stage within 15 minutes. If you’re pregnant, cooking for your family, and feel hungry, eat a piece of cheese or some fruit while you’re cooking and you may still be able to eat with your family.

Another option is to avoid cooking. Pick up take-out food or get someone else to cook. If you can eat three meals a day with three to four small meals throughout the day, pregnancy will go better.

Dr. Alan Lindemann

Tinybeans Voices Contributor

An obstetrician and maternal mortality expert, “Rural Doc” Alan Lindemann, M.D. teaches women and families how to create the outcomes they want for their own health and pregnancy. In nearly 40 years of practice, he has delivered around 6,000 babies and achieved a maternal mortality rate of zero! Visit LindemannMD.com

Recall Alert: Shane Erickson, Inc. Issues Nationwide Recall of Wash-Free Hand Sanitizer

by Gabby CullenDecember 29, 2020

Be sure to check your hand sanitizer! Shane Erickson, Inc. is voluntarily recalling various lots of its wash-free hand sanitizer due to the potential presence of methanol. Exposure to methanol risks includes nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, permanent blindness, seizures, coma, permanent damage to the nervous system or death.

Recalled products include the following: lot 2020/05/11 and MFG: 2020/05/10 L/N: 20200510-3 of imc Wash-Free Hand Sanitizer 50 ml, 100 ml, 300 ml and Wash Free Hand Sanitizer 300 ml lot 2020/05/11 and Thrifty White Pharmacy Wash-Free Hand Sanitizer 300 ml lot 2020/05/11. Check this link to see more information including UPC codes and product labels.

No adverse effects in regards to this recall have been reported yet. Consumers with questions can contact Shane Erickson, Inc. by phone at 952.252.1254 or email sales@imcsuccess.com Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Central Time Zone.

—Gabby Cullen

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Must Have Items That Will Transform Your Labor and Delivery

by #MomLifeOctober 27, 2020

Clarissa Sidhom

I help mamas find style, sanity, and sisterhood! As a mom to two boys, my parenting and lifestyle blog shares fashion, home, and kids ideas to make life easier and more beautiful.

After a very traumatic birth experience with my first son, I was determined to do whatever I could to make my second son’s birth positive and joy-filled. Here are 5 items I brought to my second birth that completely transformed labor and delivery!

1

Extra Long Phone Charger

When you desperately need to play Candy Crush & ignore your pain

$17.59

There is nothing worse than being in pain and having no distractions from it. Many hospital beds don't have easy access to electrical plugs, which means charging your phone across the room. This 6 foot phone charger is a game changer!

BUY NOW

2

Structured Supportive Pillow

Hospital beds are the worst. Make them better.

$69.99

After laying in bed for 24 hours during my first labor, I cried not from contractions, but from the discomfort of the hospital bed! This pillow gives you a lot of support to change positions. This will also be very helpful during breastfeeding when you're sitting up in bed in the middle of the night!

BUY NOW

3

Peppermint Essential Oil

Fight pain and nausea naturally

$12.95

During the hardest parts of labor (and even during morning sickness), I put peppermint oil on cotton balls and slowly breathed it in. Peppermint helps with nausea, but it's also a strong enough smell to distract you from contraction pain. The brand is important- make sure it's a legitimate company that doesn't put synthetic fillers into their bottles.

BUY NOW

4

Portable Bluetooth Speaker

Connect your favorite songs to your favorite memories

$69.99

We created a special labor playlist so we would always connect certain songs with our son's birth. This portable speaker helps not only with labor music, but with party music to help pass the time!

BUY NOW

5

Stylish Robe for Unexpected Visitors

For your braless, milk-stained moments

$29.99 BUY NOW

Postpartum is messy for a while. Feel put-together, unexposed, and ready for any unexpected visitors with a cute robe! This link has lots of cute patterns and colors for any style.

Our Favorite Clever Photo Ideas for Monthly Pregnancy Pics

by Jamie AderskiAugust 25, 2020

Congratulations, you’re making a human! Pregnancy is one amazing journey. And trust me, you’ll want to remember these moments. You are cute AF right now, a glowing goddess of motherhood, nausea, swollen feet and all! Here are creative ways for documenting your pregnancy in pictures. Take pics monthly—or wheneverly, whatever schedule works for you.

It’s not a food baby!

Celebrate your growing bump with these super adorbs fruit tees. This three-piece set includes one shirt for each stage of your pregnancy, with a fruit that shows baby's size during that time: peach (12 weeks), eggplant (24 weeks) and pineapple (36 weeks).

Available at producetees.com, $105 for three-piece set; individual shirts are $35.

Simply Sophisticated Selfies

A weekly side-selfie of your growing bump is gorgeous. Add black and white and you’ve got pure elegance.

See this image and more on the How to Paint the Sky blog.

For the Overachiever

You are all about the details. We have a great way to document all the things: a weekly board to update your progress! This handmade board makes it easy with fun prompts about baby's size, your cravings and other news of the week.

Available at Etsy store Barefoot Barnwood Shop; $28.

One Dress=Success

Simple (and practical!). One stretchy dress for every photo. I love this one; I wore it through both pregnancies. It’s a perfect fit for all maternity stages, and even postpartum. The 3/4 Sleeve Shirred Maternity Dress from Ingrid & Isabel comes in seven neutral colors and cute stripes.

Available at ingridandisabel.com, $59.99.

We Are Family

Get your family involved! What a great way to help prepare a soon-to-be big bro or sis for the exciting times ahead. We love this idea from Momtastic.

LOL

Pregnancy can be hilarious. Chronicle the fun stuff with a letterboard, your bump and the truth! Laughter will follow, promise.

See this image and more on the Samantha Box Instagram account.

Fun and Games

The couple that plays together, stays together! We love this idea from Anette Dittgen. For a series, just draw the loading image further along each time. It's the perfect way to commemorate this gift that's worth waiting for.

See this image and more on the Anette Dittgen Instagram account.

Stickers!

"Monthly milestone marking." Try saying that three times fast! We are loving these cute stickers! In addition to showing how many weeks your bun has been in the oven, they give fun facts like baby's size and when they develop certain skills (17 weeks—baby can hear music you play!).

Available at amazon.com, $14.99.

—Jamie Aderski

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Up Your Baby Photo Game With 12 Instagram-Worthy Props

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These brilliant ideas will help you survive—and even enjoy—your next family adventure

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