The Cost of Not Being a Stay At Home Mom (Infographic)

If you are a SAHM, you’ve no doubt probably run the numbers.  Is it more cost effective for you to work in the “real world” to bring in a second income to the family?  Or, could it actually make more sense for you to be a stay at home mom?  For this calculation, you have to be able to analyze the cost of the services you are performing as a stay ah home mom.  The infographic below does an excellent job of just that.

I think any mom can relate to the multiple hats and multiple responsibilities you have throughout the week including housekeeper, CEO, psychologist, facilities manager, computer operator, daycare teacher, and more!  So, if you are feeling down, take a good look at this infographic and evaluate yourself properly.  Don’t ever let anyone tell you that your job is not a “real job”!  Value yourself properly moms.  Your job is essential for the running of the family.

p.s. – The below analysis shows nothing about an income you can make at home.  So, if you are a SAHM who has found a job working from home, then just add that income to the bottom line.

(Click on the image to enlarge).

Via: DegreeSearch.org

At Blanketmybaby.com, we love all things moms, dads, babies and families.  Anything that can make families stronger, we want to promote and share.  Go moms!  Go families!  We love to be a hub for awesomeness to share about families, like the infographic above.  We also do baby blankets.  If you need a cute gift for a family member or friend, check us out.  We do personalized blankets too.

4 Safe Sleep Tips for SIDS Awareness

If you know anything about Blanketmybaby, you know that we love, love, love aden + anais blankets.  For our baby, we used them for everything.  They are excellent swaddlers.  They are great for a burp cloth when needed.  Perfect for a play blanket or a stroller blanket.  They are multi-functional and amazing.  And, they come in 4 packs, which are super helpful because you always have one handy.

Not only are they great blankets, but aden and anais is also excellent at getting out awareness for SIDS.  Recently, aden + anais wrote an excellent article about SIDS awareness.  Since October is SIDS Awareness Month, we thought it would be really helpful to pass on.

October is SIDS Awareness Month – Educate Parents on Safe Sleep Tips

Many people are aware that October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but did you know that it is also Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Month?  SIDS awareness and education should be very important to any parent.  This month, and every month is a great time to educate parents and caregivers on the importance of safe sleep for baby.

When talking about SIDS, it is important to understand that nothing can be done to prevent SIDS, however parents and care givers can reduce SIDS risk factors.  On October 18, 2011, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) came out with an updated study about SIDS risk factors; click her to view the full study. Educate caretakers on the following risk factors:

1. Room-sharing without bed-sharing

You’ve probably heard statements such as, “We shared our bed with our children and nothing happened”. However, there is a surplus of research that shows bed sharing with an infant is dangerous.  There is NO research that shows bed sharing reduces the risk of SIDS.  Here is a link to over 20 research studies that have shown a direct link between bed sharing and infant death (you must be signed in to Facebook to view the studies).  In the October 18^th study, the AAP stated “The baby should sleep in the same room as the parents, but not in the same bed (room-sharing without bed-sharing).”

2. Always place baby on his or her back for every sleep time.

Since the AAP recommended that all babies should be placed on their backs to sleep in 1992, deaths from SIDS have declined dramatically.  This rule still holds true today.  Keep in mind that swaddling a newborn helps to keep them on their backs while sleeping, however if baby is old enough to turn over, they should no longer be swaddled.  Instead consider a sleeping bag or sleep sack.

3. Remove all lose bedding, bumpers and toys from the crib.

According to the AAP, there is no evidence that bumper pads prevent injuries, and there is a potential risk of suffocation, strangulation or entrapment.   For warmth and comfort consider a wearable blanket such as the aden + anais® classic and cozy sleeping bags.  Sleeping bags eliminate the need for loose blankets in the crib.

4. Don’t let baby get too hot.

Overheating is a SIDS risk factor.  Many people think that babies need to be bundled with hats and blankets.  Dress your baby in as much or as little clothing as you would wear.  Keep in mind that the AAP recommends that while baby is sleeping, room temperature should be comfortable for a lightly clothed adult or approximately 61-67 degrees Fahrenheit.

Support SIDS research every month and remember that a portion of all aden + anais® swaddles and sleeping bags go to the CJ Foundation for SIDS.  Learn more about risk factors or print a down-loadable PDF with safe sleep tips for your customers.

How Online Reviews Can Help Your Local Business

If you are a local business, you know that online reviews can make or break you.  Check out this awesome infographic that gives some pretty telling statistics.  Be sure to understand the power of reviews and then develop a strategy to obtain them, and dominate on Google’s local search.

The best tip to get great reviews?  Be great!!!

[540SEO::SEO experts and local search optimization specialists]
Add this graphic to your site.

Swaddling Video Tutorial

If you are a new mom or dad, you may have heard the word “swaddling”, but you have no idea what that means.  If you are anything like me, you may have absolutely 0 baby experience on the day your baby is born.  I had never changed a baby’s diaper in my life!  But fear not, through the magic of the internet, anyone can become an expert!

Swaddling takes a little bit of practice, but it is well worth it.  The whole idea is placing a baby inside of a blanket that makes them feel like they are snug, as if they were in their mother’s womb.  While they are still little, this helps them sleep, which every mom and dad could use a little help in.  Below, is a swaddling tutorial from one of our friends.  It’s a wonderful job with a secret, two blankets.  It adds the extra support for your little baby burrito.  Enjoy the how to swaddle a baby tutorial.

Baby Baskets and Cribs

With a new baby on the way, a mommy goes into serious nesting mode.  I know.  I have seen it first hand.  This is an amazing part of the human psyche that occurs to help us take care of these little, helpless creatures that are on the way.  In my case, it was not only my wife, but my mother-in-law as well who took care of business.

One of the first items on the agenda is the nursery.  There are some major decisions to be made here for sure.  What are your nursery colors going to be?  Are you going to determine the sex of the baby?  (This is a huge question for all other matters.)  And maybe the most important question of the nursery is, “what will the crib look like.”

There are many options you can choose for the crib, from top of the line, beautiful pieces of furniture to Goodwill.  Sometimes, this is a matter of affordability.  I find it interesting though that our baby’s crib is probably the nicest piece of furniture in our house.  Hmm.  Something fishy about that.  Once you pick what the crib will look like, you can pick out the bedding as well.  You can either go with something traditional.  We have a large selection of baby boy crib bedding and girl crib bedding that have simple baby themes like princesses, fairys, firetrucks or airplanes.  We also offer character bedding such as Dora the Explorer bedding and Winnie the Pooh bedding, with more characters to come.

Another item you need to figure out are baby carriers.  Yes, the car seat is important.  In fact, most hospitals will not even let you take your baby home without the proper car seat and carrier.  But another beautiful option for around the house are Moses baby baskets.  These timeless pieces are perfect for your baby to wake, play, sleep and just lie in.  They are a comfy place for your baby that allows mom to be nearby at any time.  They are also extremely versatile, and a great way to take your baby around the house with you, while not taking up a lot of space.  In the world of bulky and clumsy baby furniture, a simple Moses baby basket is a wonderful piece to have.

Brady Bundchen Baby Boy

What happens when you put two of the most beautiful people in the world together and make a baby? Yeah, that’s right, you get an incredibly cute baby boy. Ben, the son of all world NFL quarterback Tom Brady and Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen, has to be one of the cutest baby boys in the celebrity world. And people cannot get enough of this family.

While father Tom is busy in the NFL season (his New England Patriots defeated the Baltimore Ravens yesterday), Gisele is busy playing the role of mother. A few weeks ago, she was spotted in Hudson River Park spending the day with their 9 month old son, Ben. The two seemed to be having an absolutely wonderful day, and if you didn’t know about the wildly crazy celebrity status, they would have been just like any other mother and son in the park. Here is a great picture of Gisele Bundchen holding her baby boy Ben in the air and playing with him. To see more of the two and their day in the park, read this article.

The two also spent some time at a beach recently.  It seems that the supermodel mom has not taken very long to get back into shape.  Apparently, when your fame, wealth and celebrity all come from your looks, there may be a bit more motivation to hop back on the treadmill.  Here are some more pics of Ben Brady and his mom at the beach.

When the baby was born in December of 2009, he went unnamed for about a week before the two were able to settle on the name Ben.  Tom Brady was quoted as saying he wanted a name that he could pronounce.  Ben seems to do the trick.  Here is a video that helped welcome the couple’s baby boy.  Tom Brady already has another another son, a two year old with former girlfriend Bridget Moynahan.

It seems the new parents were a little cramped in their old house, so they are deciding to build a new house.  I think they will have enough room for Baby Ben in this new $20 million dollar 22,000 sqaure foot mansion.  Hopefully, it won’t cut into baby Ben’s college fund.  I think he’ll be all right.

To check out some baby blankets that celebrities like Tom and Gisele love, check out our store.

Baby Blankets With Teddy Bear

Baby blankets and teddy bears have been childhood favorites for years.  It only makes sense to combine baby blankets with teddy bears.  That’s exactly what Angel Dear has done, and Blanket My Baby offers these blankets at a low price with personalization available.  Whether you are having a girl or a boy, we have you covered because we have teddy bear lovies that are both blue and pink.

Why buy both a baby blanket and a teddy bear?  With these animal lovies, you can combine the friendship that a teddy bear gives with the comfort of a security blanket.  It’s the best of both worlds.  Your little boy or girl will love these blankets, and we offer them for a low price of only $13.  You can shop all of our Angel Dear animal blankets here.  We not only have teddy bears, but lions, tigers, lambs, frogs, ducks, zebras, giraffes, hippos, puppies, kitties and more.

Many of our customers like to have more than one of these security blankets on hand.  That way, one can be with your child and the other can be in the wash.  There is probably very little question that once your baby lays eyes on the cute teddy bear head and feels the softness of these blankets, they will want to be with their new friend very often.  Make these blankets even more special by adding a name through our personalization option.

Dora The Explorer Bedding

If you’ve followed us in the past, you’ll know that we are trying to become THE only location online for all of your baby blanket and bedding needs.  This last weekend, we took another step towards the domination of this vertical, as we’ve added Dora the Explorer bedding to our site.  We realize that shopping moms are not only looking for baby blankets, but baby crib bedding sets and even toddler bedding as well.  So, we are taking it upon ourselves to deliver the goods.

In the future, look out for many more character bedding themes coming to the site.  We plan on adding Winnie the Pooh bedding, Star Wars bedding, Yo Gabba Gabba bedding and many more!  Right now, many of these items are being linked to Amazon, where you can get them on the cheap with excellent shipping options.  The great thing about Amazon is that all of the sellers are always looking to win the price war.  So, you as the buy, win!

How To Swaddle A Baby – Video

I think my wife is the Swaddle Queen.  We knew going into our pregnancy that these aden + anais blankets were great.  Our customers tell us all the time, and the swaddle blankets are our top sellers.  Well, there is good reason why.  The blankets are perfect for swaddling.

In this video, you’ll see why they are so good for swaddling.

1. They are large, 47 x 47 (these blankets are larger than the aden and anais at Target or Babies ‘R Us)
2. They are stretchy – you can wrap the blanket around the baby and give it a good tug to secure your swaddle.  When you have a fussy baby or an escape artist, like we have, a tight swaddle is a must.  You don’t want the baby waking himself up i the middle of the night by an arm out and scratching his face.
3. They are soft – just one touch, and you’ll know exactly what I mean
4. They are breathable – your baby will stay warm, but he won’t overheat.  We’ve had hot 90+ degree weather here in September.  Wrapping our baby in these blankets is still fine because they breath so well.

There are certainly a lot of great baby blankets out there, and each serve their purpose.  But when it comes to swaddling, you can’t go wrong with aden & anais.

A Few Fun Outfits

Tomorrow, Emil will be 3 weeks old.  Wow!  Mommy and Daddy and son are all adjusting to how to live life together.  So far, so good.  Daddy just wants to say that mommy is amazing!  We’ve chosen to breastfeed (for all sorts of reasons which have been reinforced lately), but that’s a tough go for a new mom.  Feedings every 2.5-3 hours, while still trying to recover from labor.  Little Emil has to use a guard while he is feeding because he has a bit of recessed chin, but I think we are slowly training him off of it.  We take joy in small victories at this stage!

We have had all kinds of fun visitors and have received tons of cards and gifts from friends and family.  Thank you all sooooo much!  It sure takes a lot of the pressure off of being new parents, when you know you have a loving, supporting community around you.  With all of these cute outfits, I thought I’d show a few off.

First, may I present the Emil Jordan. Notice that my son, unprompted is reaching out for a stylish dunk.  There is absolutely no question about it … this talent does not come from the Sztanyo side of the family.  So, thank you Uncle Spencer for this awesome outfit and hopefully the ability to dunk one day for real!

Emil Jordan

I believe all of the girls from SD1 will appreciate the next picture.  Emil is wearing his “Happy Turtle” shirt.  Now, there is a bit of a history behind this shirt that I find to be quite hilarious.  Let’s just say that my wife is not the “fastest” person in the world.  Funny, her co-workers have picked up on this unique trait.  Two years ago on a company trip, Witni’s co-workers gave her the nickname, “Turtle.”  My wife believed that it was because, “she was coming out of her shell.”  Poor child.  They had to tell her the reason behind the name.  Well, now we have a new little happy turtle!  We’ll have to see if Emil will live up to be more like the Air Jordan or more like the Turtle.  As long as it is a Ninja Turtle, I’m cool with it.  By the way, Emil is enjoying all the muslin cotton goodness of his Mod 4 Pack laying on his fish blanket.

Happy Turtle

Just a hunch.  More fun outfits to come.