The Top 10 Must-Have Essentials for Babies up to 3 Years Old

Bringing a new life into the world is a beautiful journey filled with wonder and excitement. As your baby grows from a tiny bundle of joy to an adventurous toddler, certain essentials become indispensable for their well-being, development, and happiness. From the coziness of swaddle blankets to the stimulation of educational toys and the practicality of high-quality tableware, here are ten must-have items that will guide you through the incredible first three years of your child's life. These essentials not only ensure their safety and comfort but also contribute to the joyous moments and precious memories you'll create together on this remarkable journey.

Certainly! Here's a list of 10 essential items for babies up to 3 years old:

1. Swaddle Blankets: Swaddle blankets provide comfort and security for newborns and infants. They help with sleep by mimicking the womb's warmth and coziness.

2. Educational Toys: Age-appropriate educational toys stimulate a child's cognitive development. Items like building blocks, interactive books, and puzzles engage young minds and encourage learning through play.

3. High-Quality Tableware: Invest in safe and durable tableware for your child's meals. Look for BPA-free, non-toxic materials in plates, bowls, utensils, and sippy cups to ensure their safety.

4. Stroller: A reliable stroller is a must-have for outings and walks. Choose one that suits your lifestyle, whether it's a compact travel stroller or a rugged jogging stroller.

5. Car Seat: Safety is paramount when traveling with a baby. Make sure you have a properly installed rear-facing car seat suitable for your child's age and size.

6. Diaper Bag: A well-organized diaper bag makes outings smoother. It should include essentials like diapers, wipes, changing mats, baby lotion, and a change of clothes.

7. Baby Monitor: A baby monitor with audio and video capabilities helps you keep an eye on your child while they sleep or play in another room. It offers peace of mind and convenience.

8. Childproofing Supplies: As your baby grows into a curious toddler, childproofing becomes crucial. Secure cabinets, outlets, and sharp corners with safety gates, outlet covers, and edge protectors.

9. Convertible Crib: A convertible crib that transforms into a toddler bed is a long-term investment. It adapts to your child's growth and provides a safe sleeping space.

10. Child-Friendly Books: Building a love for reading begins early. Board books with vibrant pictures, touch-and-feel textures, and simple stories are perfect for infants and toddlers.

Remember that every child is unique, so your specific needs may vary. These essentials provide a solid foundation for a safe, nurturing, and stimulating environment for your baby as they grow into a curious and active toddler.

KiddiKutter kid-safe knife, cuts food not fingers!

One of the best family bonding activity is cooking, but is it safe to let children around kitchen? I totally understand that the idea of giving children under the age of 10 a knife of any kind seemed dangerous. Today we would like to give a special introduction to KiddiKutter because we received so many questions about “What is the best knife for kid?”, “Is there any recommended kid-safe knife?”. Let me tell you about that..

Content:

| Kid-safe knife types

| About KiddiKutter

| Why we love KiddiKutter?

| Little chef pictures

Kid-safe knife types

1. Safety knife

Slightly older children (think: 3- to 5-year-olds) can be introduced to safety knives. Many of these knives have real metal blades with a flat blunt edge. They make easy work of most fruits and vegetables, save for hard squashes and watermelon rinds. This is a good knife to practice safe knife holding and handling.

2. Nylon knife

Start really young cooks off with a nylon knife set, which mimics the weight, shape, and feel of a chef’s knife without the sharp edge. The serrated edge makes cutting bread, cheese, soft fruit, and vegetables possible.

3. Small Santoku

A smaller knife with a sharp edge is the perfect in-between knife for children 6 to 10 years old. Their hands aren’t quite large enough for a full-sized chef’s knife, but they have the hand-eye coordination required to yield a real knife blade.

Read more: 3 Types of Knives for Tiny Chefs

About KiddiKutter

When Maria Georgiou’s son was three, he asked if he could help in the kitchen. But because he had dyspraxia (clumsy child syndrome), handing him a knife was courting disaster. However, this sparked an idea. In 2000, Maria began looking for a solution that would allow little ones to assist in the kitchen. KiddiKutter was born. With worldwide trademarks, the children’s knife has passed strict European and Australian safety certifications to ensure it’s safe and nontoxic to use with food, something other companies have not done.

Maria has been nicknamed the ‘accidental entrepreneur’ as a one-woman business success, and as a result has made it through as a finalist in, The Housewares Innovation Awards 2019, England.

Here to look more about BabyLux’s new comers!

Why we love KiddiKutter?

It’s safe.

KiddiKutters have a certified food-safe coated stainless-steel blade with rounded teeth that cuts food, not fingers. The easy grip handle is BPA free, and yes, they are fine in the dishwasher. They’ve passed all the relevant safety tests world wide for your peace of mind.

With KiddiKutter, you can have your family bonding time with children while keeping them safe.

In today’s modern world, promoting a healthy diet amongst children is more important than ever. One of the best places to spark your little one’s imagination is by letting them join you in the kitchen. As a parent, it’s natural to worry about sharp tools. With KiddiKutter, you can have a safe family bonding time.

Read more: Bonding time! Do these 6 STEAM activities with your child

KiddiKutter cuts food not fingers!

Children love to help in the kitchen cutting up their own food and help preparing dinner. They can learn so much in the kitchen including, maths and chemistry, not to mention improving their fine motor skills cutting small pieces of fruit or vegetables. Using KiddiKutter knives will also improve hand eye coordination.

KiddiKutters will cut most food that a sharp knife will but by using a sawing action. Always remember, they are not sharp, so KiddiKutters don’t chop.

Kiddikutter is now NDIS approved.

As with any activity involving small children, we advise that there is some adult supervision. KiddiKutters have proven useful for both children and adults with special needs, in particular  Autism and visual impairment. They are great to carry in your nappy-bag for cutting up fruit and nibbles while you having picnic.

Read more: Recommended toys to develop child's skills for the future!

Little chef pictures

“While other businesses may try to copy KiddiKutter knives, they never match the quality! ”

— Maria Georgiou, KiddiKutter Owner

5 Family bonding activity to play at home and 'hide' from COVID-19

The Coronavirus is shocked the world. I saw that there are people waiting in line to buy masks, every online store that sell masks are already sold out. We are all very worry about it. How was your children at home? We may can watch the TV all day or just enjoying the sofa, but our children need to do lots of activity, otherwise they may start to get cranky. Despite from Coronavirus, it is a great moment to have a family bonding time.

Family bonding activity to ‘hide’ from Coronavirus at home

Activity 1. Playing with blocks

We all love open-ended toy, it can be played for a long time with a little help from our imagination. They can make houses, towers, bridges, even cars. The benefits of playing stacking blocks at home include:

• Developing their imagination

• Practice maintaining patience

• Develop self-confidence

• Can learn about the concepts of shape, size, balance, to color

Recommended toy:

• Plus-Plus

• Moomu

Activity 2. Color matching popsicle stick game

These colored ice cream sticks/craft sticks are so valuable! One can do so much with it, and they don’t cost that much. You can even collect the non-colored ones and color it yourselves.

Hold up a popsicle stick or have your child choose a popsicle stick. Ask them the color on the end or have them guess the color. Now have your toddler find the matching “popsicle.” Now your child can insert the popsicle stick into the correct color of “popsicle.” Pretend licking of the popsicle must occur. That is always my toddler’s favorite part.

Read more: 9 Fun ways to play with popsicle sticks

The color matching popsicle stick game idea is from here.

Activity 3. Cutting practice

This activity will let you capitalize on your toddler’s interest in cutting, but will also provide a controlled environment for them to practice cutting. Luckily, this cutting practice goes perfectly with learning shapes. Not only will this activity help to teach shapes, but it will also give your toddler or preschooler some great cutting practice!

Once you are done prepping the rectangles, get your toddler ready and pull out the scissors. Usually toddlers will need help with holding the paper and sometimes they will need help with opening and closing the scissors. Try to let your toddler do as much as they can on their own, but don’t worry if they need a lot of helping.

Read more: PDF file for your baby cutting practice

Activity 4. Fashion show at home

Children, especially girls, understand what beauty means. They even find out what make up is and try various products to their faces. Girls are also usually able to choose which clothes make it look beautiful even if only at home. Then, parents can make a catwalk stage for children to do a fashion show. Let them experiment in determining the clothes to the accessories you want to wear. For makeup, Moms can help them not to over-apply. Then, prepare a variety of colorful lights placed on the floor and play fast tempo music to add to the lively appearance of the little one.

Activity 5. Play house

Although only in the house, you can invite your little one to build houses or tents from simple materials. You can create temporary play house with a bed linen fabric that is placed under the order of benches. Parents can also sew any cloth that is made into the shape of a house, then place it as a dining table cover. Little can also play in it like a house or tent. Moms want to try to make it? Here is a guide to how you can follow.

“Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family”

— Anthony Brandt