After I reviewed and loved Hushamok’s hammock and I eager to also test out their MySeat. And I’m not disappointed! It’s a really great cushy seat perfect for your alert and interactive infant and you can begin using it once baby reaches around 12 weeks. It’s not a swing, but it’s natural movement is great and calming.

The MySeat can be used for infants, toddlers and young children. The weight limit is up to 50 lbs so both my almost-2-year-old and my 4-month old can take advantage of this nifty seat. The MySeat has a great natural look and I think it looks especially great with the Okoa stand. It’s not too tricky to figure out. My one complaint is that the shoulder straps aren’t adjustable in terms of length. They’re adjustable in terms of height but I’d like to be able to tighten/loosen them. I found a solution for it as you can see in my video, but I’m much prefer having adjustable shoulder straps. The crotch strap does adjust. The MySeat sits low enough to the ground that I’m quite confident that my toddler will be able to quickly catch on to getting in and out of it without any trouble.

The MySeat feels exceptionally durable and I trust that it will last a long, long time. If you’re in the market for a piece of baby furniture that will last more than 6 months you’ve found it! I love that I can keep on using my stand and I can fairly easily switch between the MySeat and the hammock. – Katie

Binth not only sent me their darling baby book (see my past review) but they also sent me two of their “FRIENDS” prints, which are absolutely charming. Each print is screen printed with hand-mixed inks. They come framed and ready to hang (or stand), which I love since all too often I purchase prints I love, but never complete the hanging process because I forget or procrastinate buying a frame! I loved hanging my “Doe Girl” and “Dancing Bears” on my daughters’ nursery wall shortly after they arrived (see photo below). Somehow Binth has an amazing ability to tie modern with vintage and make it perfectly balanced. I love the colors that are used – “licorice black and lavender with just a touch of cream.” The prints are high quality and will surely last through the ages and become heirloom items – they’re that adorable. – Katie

***Giveaway! Binth is giving away 3 prints (winner’s choice) to once lucky BC reader! To enter, visit Binth and leave a comment telling me what your three faves are.

Additional Entries by:

Tweet about this Review and GIVEAWAY on Twitter (include @BoutiqueCafe and @Binth in your Tweet). Please come back here and post a link to your tweet as well for an extra entry.

We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline April 15, 2011 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

Congratulations to Wendy R!

We’re thrilled to announce that the BINTH baby book giveaway (value $95) is extended to March 11th!! To enter please Click This Link to find our review and add your comment. These gorgeous books are the ideal baby shower gift, or indulge in a book for yourself to hold all the precious memories of your newborns moments. I know that baby Greta (Katie’s newborn daughter) is loving hers!

May I proudly welcome my little Lola to our review team on Boutique Cafe! I am so thrilled to get Lola’s opinion on the products we test and share with you our readers – and believe me she definitely has an opinion! Lola is now 10 months old, wears size 9-12months clothing, and LOVES accessories. She has lots of hair, and looks super cute in pigtails and hairbows.

If you’d like Lola to review YOUR product please send her a specific request to: daria@boutiquecafe.com and put “Daily Dish LOLA Review” as your subject.

Today I’m dishing on a fantastic line of diaper bags for modern parents from Babymel! As you know my daughter Lola was born in December, and ever since the ONLY bag I’ve been carrying has been my BabyMel diaper bag in the Amanda printed design. This bag is not big, bulky and overpowering, it’s just well designed and the ideal size. I love the functionality coupled with the gorgeous styling. I actually feel chic when I carry it!

The Amanda is equipped with:
Two insulated zip bottle pockets
Three large outer pockets
Internal elasticated large storage pockets
Zipped pocket to keep valuables
Wipe clean lining
Wipe clean outer printed fabric
An adjustable strollerstrap;
Changing mat;
Dimensions: H 26cm W 44cm D 12cm

For modern Moms on the go, each Babymel bag has a handy stroller strap (patent pending). The strap is easy to use, and a real life saver if your stroller is packed to the rafters with stuff. It’s designed to take your diaper bag from shoulder to stroller in the blink of an eye, and it works!

The company was founded in London in 2006 by the cofounders of StorkSak and it’s goal is to offer attractive and functional diaper bags at a fantastic price.

Babymel for modern Moms…like me! – Daria

Make nursing your baby a Stylish SNAP, with Ginger Snappz available on Etsy!

Our new baby girl Lola Olivia arrived on December 10th and since then I have been using my beautiful nursing cover sent from Ginger Snappz in their Yoko Flowers design. What a treat to have such a gorgeous cover, I feel spoiled each time I nurse Lola and get to drap the beautiful fabric over for coverage. We’ve had loads of guests dropping by, and I feel totally secure wearing this well made cover as it’s the perfect size to keep me modest. My favorite feature is how the neckline bows out with a flexible material to allow me to latch her easily, and I can gaze at her precious face while he nurses.

Other awesome features include the adjustable neck strap so it fits any mommy perfectly. The inner corner of your Ginger Snappz nursing cover also boasts a terry cloth corner pocket to keep breast pads or use as a face cloth for baby when you’re on the go. Their covers are lightweight and easily portable, just fold them up and store in your diaper bag before you hit the road.

Ginger Snappz come in the most glorious selection of fabrics, they are drool worthy and perfect for the mom who loves to be stylish and fashion conscious. Each nursing cover is handmade with love and available on Etsy through their popular shop, now the only problem is deciding which beautiful cover to choose! ~ Daria & baby Lola

*** Giveaway! Ginger Snappz is giving away one of their beautiful nursing covers! Here’s how to enter. You can do as many of these as you’d like. Each one is worth one entry into our giveaway; please leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

• Visit Ginger Snappz Etsy shop and leave us a comment here telling us which nursing cover you adore.
• Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL of your tweet.
• Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL to your blog post.

Include a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: December 24, 2009 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

Giving Away 100 Tubs to Parents In A New Product Testing Challenge
Are you a new parent? PUJ is looking for you!! We love to share great opportunities with our readership, and this is one you don’t want to miss:

Vancouver, WA – November 2, 2009 – Puj, a leading designer of modern baby products that help Simplify Parenthood, is putting its new Puj Tub to the test, literally. The company is looking for 100 parents to act as official product testers for its new Puj Tub. The Puj Tub has been hailed as one of the best baby products to come on the market in years, offering a revolutionary new way to bathe a baby. With this new Puj 100 Tub Challenge, parents can see for themselves how easy bathing a baby with the Puj Tub can be.

Parents everywhere know how anxiety-inducing bathing a newborn can be – such a delicate creature slipping and sliding can quickly cause inner panic. With the Puj Tub, parents are able to bathe their baby in a standard sink so there’s no bending over a big, awkward bathtub. The Puj Tub cradles the baby in a cushiony, non-absorbent and non-slip closed cell foam that is also PVC and BPA free. And once the bath is done, the Puj Tub dries fast and folds flat.

The Puj Tub will be available for purchase at the end of November at a price of $39.99; however, through the Puj 100 Tub Giveaway, parents with a blog can go to the Puj site and apply to receive the tub for free in exchange for being a product tester and sharing their honest views on the product. The 100 selected winners will also be listed as official product testers on www.pujbaby.com . In this economy, giving consumers an opportunity to try a product at no cost is welcome news. For more information on the Puj 100 Tub Giveaway please visit www.pujbaby.com

Puj designs products for parents with the focus on making their lives easier. As parents and designers, Katie and Ben Richardson know how wonderful yet challenging parenting can be and have set out to design products that Simplify Parenthood. Having designed products for numerous name brand companies, it just seemed natural to begin designing products that helped them raise their own children. From shoes that fit baby’s feet perfectly to the latest innovation in baby products, Puj Baby makes parents lives easier. For more information on the Puj Tub and Puj please visit www.pujbaby.com.

Our house is all a-flutter with preparations for our new baby girl arriving in late December. It’s a wild race to find the perfect accessories, products and things to make life for mommy more comfortable and stylish too. I was needing to track down a gorgeous and functional baby sling so keep my hands free and busy with Boutique Cafe, then luckily ran into the sweetest slings from a cool company called Pippalily (guess what? They are Canadian too!)

If you’ve never “worn” a baby before, with Pippalily you’re in for a real treat! They have a wide selection of the most yummy looking fabrics to suit almost every moms personal style. I opted for the Burgundy Gothic Rose, and I can’t tell you how gorgeous it is! The great thing about Pippalily’s slings are how totally easy they are to use, its one step simple to get that baby in there and have your arms free to keep on movin’, but if you have any trouble never-fear because Pippalily has instructional videos on how to strap their slings on.

One word of advice I have is to make sure you take the time to measure properly before you order your sling. Everyone’s body is different and in order to get a good fit it’s best to take a moment to get accurate sizing. Pippalily makes that easy too, with simple instructions on how to measure your body for your pretty new sling.

An additional feature that I enjoyed was the matching Toy Strap Pippalily sent along for me to try. I adored that it matches my gorgeous sling, and keeps baby’s soother or toys secured where you want them. No worries about losing that precious soother or dropping it on the floor. You can quickly strap it to your diaper bag, stroller or sling and take it along for the ride. I love that!

Having practical products to assist you with parenting is a real bonus, and the fact that Pippalily makes you feel so great and stylin’ while using them is even better! Sling on your own Pippalily, and enjoy special closeness with your little bundle of joy. – Daria

When I hear the word “Mustela” the first thing that comes to mind is pregnancy products for women. I’m not sure why; perhaps I had a sample of their nursing comfort balm in my standard-issue diaper bag upon release from the hospital. Whatever the reason I had no idea Mustela had such a serious line of products for babies as well as moms.

Mustela’s Bébé line, which includes daily hygiene, bath time, diaper change and skin protection products, is designed specifically for your baby’s delicate skin. To introduce me to the line the company sent me a handful of travel-size product samples from their Dermo-Pediatrics line and a small tube of their High Protection Sun Lotion (SPF 50). Granted, a tablespoon of product isn’t much to review but it was enough to get me interested in learning more, and here’s what I discovered about Mustela’s Dermo-Pediatrics infant care products. They are:

• created with the collaboration of healthcare professionals;


• for children prone to problems such as eczema, irritations, rashes and sensitive to intolerant skin;


• hypoallergenic, non-irritating, fragrance-free, paraben-free and have no artificial colorants;


• tested under dermatological and pediatric supervision (not sure what that means but it sounds impressive);


• composed of “specific ingredients of natural origin.”

We tested the body milk (lotion) from the Stelatopia line, which is designed to help with eczema, and though we couldn’t give it a thorough review due to the amount that was sent, I can say it went on smoothly, absorbed quickly and didn’t have a greasy feeling at all. Those are all important qualities I look for in a lotion, especially one whose purpose is to relieve the symptoms of eczema. As far is its powers of moisturization, the jury’s still out on that (i.e. it will take more than a tablespoon to test for that!). We didn’t have a chance to test the cream cleanser…I always forget to grab it before putting the little ones in the bath and I can’t leave them once they’re in water. Dang!

But we were able to give the sun protection lotion a good test run and taking my kids’ opinions into consideration, it received a mixed review. Mustela’s High Protection Sun Lotion (SPF 50) is a 100% mineral sunscreen, which often makes for a thicker sunscreen. In this case it was definitely thicker than my kids are used to slathering on their skin. The oldest two complained it was hard to apply and the youngest two complained because it was hard for Mom to apply. With two squirmy little ones I need something that goes on quickly and easily, but this sunscreen gets one vote in its favor due to it being made from minerals (titanium dioxide and zinc oxide). That’s some of the best sun protection you’ll find!

Mustela’s sun protection lotion is also hypoallergenic, fragrance-free, water-resistant, extra-broad spectrum (IR & long and short UVA/UVB rays). It also has a unique combination of zinc salts and natural plant active ingredients (aloe vera and soy phytosterols containing Vitamin E) that provide protection against free radicals. It also costs about $15 for 1.6 fluid ounces, a price I’m a bit hesitant to pay just so I can hear more whining from my kids during those long summer days. I guess the jury’s still out on this one too since it looks great on paper and does a great job preventing sun damage (no sunburns while my kids had it on) but is a pain to apply and a pain in the budget.

I wish I had more personal feedback to offer you on their other products, but Mustela’s reputation alone makes their products worth a try, especially if you’re looking for a daily regimen designed specifically for delicate newborn skin. Oh, and don’t forget about their products for moms!—Emily

I’ve had four kids and every one of them has experienced baldness at an early age; you know, it’s that special horizontal line of exposed scalp that runs from ear to ear. Even alternating how they sleep didn’t help. Time spent in their crib, carrier and car seat didn’t help. But now there’s something that just might. Baby Sharmooz just might reduce (and even eliminate) the infant balding phenomenon, and if your little one is already experiencing some hair loss Baby Sharmooz can quite possibly slow down the loss and speed up the re-growth. So how does it work?

Baby Sharmooz looks like a satin pillow without the fluff but it is a 100% satin headrest designed specifically for infants. Satin has been shown to help adults with hair loss and dry skin and now moms can use this same technique on their little ones. One side has satin with a cute safari print or chenille accent while the other has a nonslip backing to help it grip to fabric and keep it from shifting.

We received the hot pink Baby Sharmooz with cheetah trim and tested it out in both the bouncer seat and car seat. It stayed in place on the bouncer seat and our little one didn’t even seem to notice it was there, but in the car seat she discovered it pretty quickly as it did shift a little. It went from satin headrest to satin plaything pretty quickly, but I was just as okay with that. Kept her busy and that kept me happy! Because we were a little past the infant balding stage we weren’t the best test subjects, but after our week in Anaheim I noticed the hair on the back of her head seemed to have worn off a bit again. I sure wish I’d had our Baby Sharmooz with us; it might have spared her some feminine balding!

Besides hair loss the satin has other benefits such as minimizing cradle cap, tangling, and dry hair and scalp. Note: this is not a crib product. If you’d like your little one to sleep on satin try a fitted crib sheet. Also, once baby begins to roll over you can use your Baby Sharmooz as a “lovie.” Shower the next mom-to-be with Baby Sharmooz; every baby deserves the royal treatment!—Emily