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chicco giveaway

Chicco is one of my favorite baby gear brands. We used their infant car seats with Ames, and I’ve got one of their umbrella strollers. I’m all about easy-to-use, easy-to-carry stuff, and Chicco seems to do it right. In celebration of Car Seat Safety Month, Chicco is highlighting a new product – nope, not a car seat. But you can take this with you wherever you go…

Say hello to the Fun Travel Activity Nest!

Play mat, baby gym, shady canopy, nap spot, older sibling/animal-deflector… this thing really seems to do it all! It folds up in a compact & lightweight manner, too, for playdates and vacations. And that cute little toy bar? It adjusts down to the mat for tummy time. Smart, right?

Chicco offered me an exciting opportunity… I got the choice to either review one of these badboys for the sisters, or give one away. We are done traveling for the summer (and year…. and possibly forever), so I’m passing this one up to you guys!

One of you will receive a

Fun Travel Activity Nest!

Simply leave your name and email address below.

I’ll draw a winner Saturday evening.

And while we’re on the topic of travel & I have your attention, I’ll use this platform to pass along a few car seat safety tips. September only has a few days left, right? And don’t shoot the messenger. I’m only elaborating on what I’ve read from Julie Prom, car seat safety expert.

1. Kids should rear-face for as long as their seat allows. We’re talking at least up to age two, if not longer. In all of the studies I’ve read, I have not seen one injury resulting from a car accident with a rear-facing child. Forward-facing kids in accidents? It’s too grotesque to even share. Regarding turning your baby early… I’ve heard every excuse in the book, and I’ve experienced a few myself. I’m sympathetic to the fussy babies and the long-legged babies and the carsick babies and the mature, interactive babies and all of your babies. But safety must come first. It simply must.

2. Kids should ride in the backseat. We have an ongoing situation with Lucas, our eleven year old, who desperately wants to ride up front if the seat is available. Sometimes we let him. Sometimes we don’t. He’s almost my height and weight, so I oblige him frequently. But in reality, his muscles/bones/etc are not as developed as mine. And it’s safer when they’re in the back. Always.

3. Don’t put your infant car seat on top of a shopping cart. One day, we saw carts topple in the grocery store. TWICE in ONE trip! Both carts had babies in car seats up front. The cart gets top-heavy, older siblings get mischievous, and things get unsafe. Take this opportunity to wear your baby, or encourage them to sit up on their own in the appropriate place in the cart.

Enjoy the giveaway! And the tips… buckle up!

60 Comments

Rach Kincaid

60 Comments

Reply Anonymous September 20, 2011 at 10:06 AM

Steven.meganlee@gmail.com

This would be great for my little one! – megan

Reply Cece's Mommy September 20, 2011 at 10:26 AM

Therese

ceceandmedesigns@gmail.com

Reply emily September 20, 2011 at 10:28 AM

this looks so fun!!!

emily.terreberry@gmail.com

Reply Rebekah September 20, 2011 at 10:37 AM

Rebekah

rebekahcfisher@gmail.com

Love your safety tips!

Reply Anonymous September 20, 2011 at 10:57 AM

Maria

gabi428@aol.com

Reply momof3 September 20, 2011 at 11:15 AM

love me some chicco too!!!

jana
janacaballero@hotmail.com

Reply Chelsea September 20, 2011 at 11:16 AM

This is adorable!

Chelsea Thom
chelsea.thom90@gmail.com

Reply Anonymous September 20, 2011 at 11:24 AM

Teresa

thereserenoir@gmail.com

Reply Anonymous September 20, 2011 at 11:27 AM

Whitney

Whitneymckevitt@gmail.com

Reply Jill September 20, 2011 at 11:34 AM

ooh this would be great for family visits, keep the dog hair off of all of our stuff (blankets, etc) and have a ‘safe’ spot we can feel good about leaving our BRAND new baby! Woot!

Reply Noelle September 20, 2011 at 11:55 AM

Noelle
noellegmclaughlin@gmail.com

Reply Kalen - Kentucky Cupcake September 20, 2011 at 12:22 PM

Kalen (at) KentuckyCupcake (dot) com

:) This is adorable and such a great idea. May get one regardless if I win or not.

And I totally agree w/ you about car safety… I understand the excuses, but they don’t justify risking decapitating your child. A common one I hear is, “But it’s safer for me driving because they scream their head off otherwise.” I *totally* understand/empathize with that one. Unfortunately, even if you *do* wreck because they’re screaming, they’re STILL safer because they’re rear-facing.

Reply Heather September 20, 2011 at 12:28 PM

what a great giveaway and some helpful hints. For our future twins, we are doing some heavy duty research on which car seats to get, and we are making sure they will last long enough for the babes to ride backward for a while.

Love Chicco and love this little play thingy. So much fun!

Reply Jina September 20, 2011 at 12:54 PM

looks fantastic.
Jina
bug7780@gmail.com

Reply Meanwhile Photography September 20, 2011 at 1:36 PM

Rachel

nathan.a.lee@gmail.com

Reply Sami September 20, 2011 at 3:10 PM

Samantha samiandkyle2010@gmail.com

Reply Nichole September 20, 2011 at 4:07 PM

This would be perfect. We are always on the go on weekends.

nichole

lizzy.post[at]yahoo[dot]com

Reply Holly September 20, 2011 at 4:12 PM

Super cute and small enough go wherever! Love it.

Reply The Gearys September 20, 2011 at 4:22 PM

Very cute and certainly great for the upcoming baby in November.
cwergley (at) gmail (dot) com
As for ERF, I am in agreement. Our son is nearing two and has learned to sit comfortable with his long legs crossed. He has a baby sister coming in 2 months and I figure they can be ERF buddies for awhile:-)
My infant seat always went in the actually cart leaving me little to no room to shop. My son would have bananas and cucumbers surrounding his body when space got low inside the cart!

Reply Anonymous September 20, 2011 at 4:28 PM

So cute!!

Elly
ellydeb(at)yahoo(dot)com

Reply Sandra Kohlmann September 20, 2011 at 5:50 PM

Thanks for speaking up about rear facing car seats! I’ve never heard about problems with keeping kids reaf facing, except from parents who turned their kids around at a year. The people I know who went forward facing at one year all had “reasons” for doing so, but I know of so many kids who stayed rear facing until as late as three years and did just fine. Why wouldn’t you do what is safest for your baby?

Sandra
sandra.kohlmann@gmail.com

Reply Emily L September 20, 2011 at 5:51 PM

Emily L

mlebritt@gmail.com

Reply Unknown September 20, 2011 at 6:17 PM

You’re awesome for giving this up! Thank you sharing the safety tips! So many people just don’t think about those things.

Sarah

sarah.ogle@gmail.com

Reply kayleen September 20, 2011 at 6:37 PM

Kayleen

kayleengamo@gmail.com

Reply kbochniak September 20, 2011 at 6:46 PM