Online Resources
Essentials
Does your diaper bag rock? Do you love your maternity shirt so much you hope the baby’s late? Mamas tell us what you can’t live without and where to get it!
Resources
Simple Life Baby Portland’s forum for parents. Post anything you like. Anytime. Instantly.
Urban Mamas Urban Mamas rock. If you have any questions about anything ask this huge online Portland parenting group, they’re diverse, and just plain awesome. They also have a calendar of Portland events for families.
Newcomers Club Find a Portland moms group on this site
Mommies Network Find a Portland moms group on this site
Baby Blues Visit this site if you’re feeling overwhelmed with everything. This is a local Portland group.
Safe Mama Product safety for the eco minded mom. Find information about which brands to buy.
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics Product safety for baby shampoos and your own cosmetics.
Skin Deep Huge database with ratings on the safety of most cosmetic products. Extremely useful.
Ecovian Portland Use this website to find stores for Green Living, from cleaners, to restaurants, to spas, to boutiques.
Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Infant bereavement photography. Provides professional photography services to grieving families.
ThinkTwice Global Vaccine Institute Vaccinations are not mandatory. This site provides information on the other side of vaccinations, the risks and side effects of each shot, and the shot schedule. Many families personal stories, and legal information. An excellent resource whether or not you decide to vaccinate.
Ask Dr. Sears Very popular Dr. with some good advice.
Name Voyager Super fun site where you can see where your baby’s name ranks
Top Baby Names Social security site lists the most popular names by year.
Baby Center Online resource guide.
Baby Zone Online resource guide. They have Portland resources too.
Sitter Soiree Find a baby sitter at one of their Portland events.
Sitter City Find a baby sitter with this online resource.
Match Point For working parents, a social networking site.
Craigs List Online classified ads, buy and sell used baby gear locally among other things.
Cool Mom Picks A shopping website where some very cool moms pick some very cool gear.
Enviroblog Excellent blog which discusses many environmental issues. One of the authoresses is a Portland mom and regular contributer to Urban Mama’s Activistas.
EcoMom Alliance Be greener without staining your thumbs.
Breast Feeding The number one site for Breast Feeding Information, Support & Attitude
Dr. Jack Newman & Edith Kernerman Visual Guide to Breast Feeding. Site provides answers to some common questions
National Milk Bank An orginization that provides babies in need with breast milk. Donate, or use their services.
Comfy Bummy Learn how to use cloth diapers on their site.
Mamapreneurs, Inc. Join their club. They are moms. They own businesses.
Single Parent Specials “Perks for the single parent. Live your happily ever now!” Excellent Portland resource for single moms and dads.
Facebook A social site. Oddly addicting. You may be surprised how many of your friends are already on Facebook. An excellent way to keep in each others lives with minimal effort.
WordPress Now that you’re starting your family it’s the perfect time to start your family blog. Easier then e-mail you can have your own blog in minutes. Keep your family members up to date with photographs and stories. I’ve used other blog hosts and wordpress is my favorite by far. I can’t recommend it enough.
North Portland Tool Library A library for tools, free rentals for all kinds of tools. Great for setting up your babies nursery.
Diva Cup Now that you’ve had your baby, you’re wondering when you’ll get that familiar visit from beloved aunt flo. You can just pop the Diva Cup in and forget about it. Totally comfortable, hygienic, and washable. One of the best perks about the Diva Cup is that you don’t need to change it often. Pop it out at night, give it a wash and do the same in the morning, and voila you don’t have to worry about it at all during the day. Its AWESOME, it does come with a bit of a learning curve… don’t give up! Buy the Diva Cup at New Seasons or Whole Foods.
Travel with baby
Recommended Strollers & Carriers:
Orbit Baby Good looking and functional travel system. Has all the features, cup holders for mom, the removable pod for storage, folds super easy and small to fit into trunks, lightweight, steers easy, telescoping handles for different parent heights, smooth ride for baby, and car seat has multiple positions on the stroller.
Peg Perego Pliko P3 Classico A great stroller with lots of handy features.
Combi Center DX Carseat Works great with the Combi stroller
Snuzzler Snuggles the baby in the carseat, no flopping head.
Moby Wrap : This is a great baby carrier. I was impressed with how cute it was. I bought it for my sister, Jenny. She said when she transfered her baby from the car to the Moby he fell right back to sleep… whew. You know you all hold your breath with that one. The trouble she had was it’s a long piece of fabric and awkward to put on without it dragging on the dirty ground. Jenny discovered that if she puts it on at her house before she gets into the car it’s much easier. Find the Moby at Milagros and Mother Natures.
Ergo Baby Carrier “I’ve discovered a must have for Movin’ Mamas! It’s the Ergo Baby Carrier. It’s the best baby carrier that I have found. It’s comfortable, versitle and even allows for discreet breastfeeding. Plus it has a masucline look so partners feel comfortable wearing it too. I found mine at Mother Natures.” -Stephanie
Kiddopotamus Check out this super easy swaddler. And it’s cute to boot. Also recommended by this company is the Fleece Warmer All Carrier Cover, keep that baby warm.
Diaper Dilemmas Oh My!
Babies poop, here’s the scoop on how to contain it. How did diapering get so confusing? We hope to help your find your perfect method. Disposable? Eco friendly? Cloth? A diaper service? What about smell? What about diaper rash? What about not using diapers at all?
Diapers:
Seventh Generation Chlorine free disposable diapers. Buy at natural food stores, Wild Oats, New Seasons, Whole Foods.
gDiapers These are a different kind of diaper, not disposable, not cloth, cute as a button and flushable. Works for some, not for others. Buy at Wild Oats, Whole Foods.
Tidee Didee Cloth diapers without the washing, this is Portland’s only diaper service. Sweet!
Babyworks A local shop who know all about cloth diaper choices. Limited hours, call or check before going.
Milagros A local boutique with many cloth diaper choices
Mother Nature’s A local boutique with many cloth diaper choices
Comfy Bummy Cloth diapers are confusing at first. This site explains the difference between them and has educational videos on their site, it also explains the washing process.
Fuzzi Bunz A popular choice for cloth diapers. Buy at Babyworks, Milagros, or Mother Nature’s
Imse Vimse Jenn recommends these training pants she says “a lot of places have them and they are fabulous for potty training.”
Diaper Free
Diaper Free Baby Decided not to do diapers? Cool! Curious? My goddaughter wore diapers, her little sister didn’t. What?! This took some time for me to get my brain around, but it worked for Annie. As she said: “Hey, if it doesn’t work I’ll just throw a diaper on her.” It did work, and little Ellen has been potty trained since birth. This may be just your thing. I’ve just had another friend try it with great success with her baby. Fascinating! It’s also known as Elimination Communication or Natural Infant Hygiene.
Diaper Help
Yabo Cream
The best diaper rash cream out there. Here’s what Jennifer says: “So the best thing ever for diaper rash is this little known as of now baby skin care line that I found called Babybumz. It is made by a mom in Gladstone, Oregon and it is called Yabo Cream. It is all natural & organic and it will clear up any diaper rash in a flash, I couldn’t believe it when I tried it. It’s in a couple stores but I ordered it from the mom herself I just emailed her at babybumz@comcast.net and she mailed it to me. It is so easy to put on and it works miracles. $9.95 for a 2oz jar so definitely worth it!”
Diaper Genie A stink free diaper pail. No poopy odors in your home.
Wipe Warmer Keep wipes nice and warm. No cold jolt for baby = no screaming baby! Works great for some mama’s. Doesn’t make a difference for others.
Pee-Pee Teepee Have a boy? Keep from getting sprayed during diaper changes.
Swank Little Diaper Bags
Hey, if you gotta carry a bag that long, you better like it. We say splurge.
Fleurville You must check out this line of diaper bags, not only are they nondiapery looking but celebs like Brittney Spears carry them. Oh so cute. Be sure to take a look at “The Escape Pod” which is a little mini bag for a quick trip to the coffee shop. They also have cool bags for guys, so they can proudly carry that diaper bag and still feel like men. Nice.
Storksak Maybe the nicest diaper bags ever created, ever. These are like Coach bags but include diapers. They are very stylish, without being too trendy. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt both own Storksaks… we don’t really care, but find that interesting anyway. Who can resist those two, and for that matter Brittney… Anyway, Storksac also created a manly bag.
Petunia Pickle Bottom: Cake A high society bag for a high society gal. For the girl who must eat cake.
JP Lizzy Designer diaper bag. More cute bags. Whatever. Take a look
Baby Kaed Yet more designer bags. In case you didn’t get enough already.
Goober Baby Convert your already awesome bag into a diaper bag with these little add ons. And check out the little changing purse… as we love the mini bags.
Korbie The 3 in 1 bag. This is very cool, part diaper bag, part changing table, part bassenet, you have to see this.
Keep Baby Happy
Bumbo Seat Jenny highly recommends the Bumbo seat. She put her baby Ben in it and he loves being able to sit up and look around. It’s washable, light-weight, small, and portable so you can take it with you anywhere and easily hose it down if it gets dirty.
CD Player: Many mamas keep a cd player in their little ones room and play them some soothing music while they fall asleep. I love it when there’s a player in the room while we photograph newborns. It provides a constant white noise that helps drown out the click of the camera and our voices. I think it really helps keep baby asleep and that’s what we all want
Fun Mommy Finds
Camera Carrier I know you’re all taking about a million pictures of your babies, do you just throw your camera into your bag, no not you! If you want a posh little camera case and are willing to splurge this is it.
Mama Calling Cards What a fantastic idea from local desinger Marlynn owner of Event Bliss! You must check these out.
Bella Band Wear your prematernity clothing just a little longer. Gives good support. Buy at Generations on Hawthorne.
Baby book Local Olympian and fabulous artist Nikki McClure has created this precious baby book to document baby’s first 1000 days. Beautiful.
Baby Plus A prenatal education system, Baby Plus babies are calmer and learn easier… worth checking into.
Music To Your Ears, And Baby’s Too
Recommended Baby Music Trust Us!
Elizabeth Mitchell
Folk children’s music. Easy on the ears. You’ll love her voice. She has several records, you’ll want them all.
Frances England
Absolutely adorable. More children’s music to check out, pretty much just Frances and her guitar, super sweet.
Renee And Jeremy
Sweet music. You’ll love it as much as your little one.
Play
De Soto Records came up with this album for children. On the more rambunctious side.
Zooglobble Honest reviews of children’s music. A great resource.
Children’s Music That Rocks Honest reviews of children’s music. Another great resource.
Pandora Just type in the name of an artist you like and they play them along with artists with a similar sound. Like having a radio station that only plays music you love. An excellent way to find new music. A little more informational then Last.
Last Fm Just type in the name of an artist you like and they play them along with artists with a similar sound. Like having a radio station that only plays music you love. An excellent way to find new music. A little more social then Pandora.
Feed Me!
Nourishment For Baby and Mommy
Thyme Management Dinner solutions. Yummy homeade food without the cleanup.
Your Natural Chef Chef Abby Fammartino creates delicious menus from locally sourced ingredients. She has a weekly menu and delivers to your home. Great for after baby comes and you want to eat healthy for your recovery but just don’t have the energy to get to the farmers market.
Portland Home Chef Chef Brittany Baldwin uses only the freshest locally grown ingredients. She brings the food to your home and prepares your meals for the week. She even uses farm fresh eggs!
Gaia Baby Food Make wholesome baby food in these fun and important classes. Whether your baby is tasting foods for the first time or a picky toddler Gaia Baby Food has a class for you.
Organic Fresh Fingers Lunch. Microwavable organic finger foods for kids.
Local Harvest family farms, farmers markets, real yummy real fresh food.
Organics to You Delivers a fresh organic fruit and vegetable box to your door each week.
City Garden Farms Portland based CSA (community supported agriculture)
Portland Farmers Market They have locations all over Portland on different days of the week.
Eat Wild Buy locally humanely organically raised meats and poultry right from the farms. The best meat you’ll ever buy.
spud! Do your grocery shopping online and have it delivered to your door.
New Seasons Do your grocery shopping online and have it delivered to your door.
Dinner At Your Door Start a dinner co-op or join one.
100 Mile Diet Learn about eating locally produced foods and how to do it.
Slow Food USA The slow foods movement is growing and for good reason. It’s delicious.
My Breast Friend This is a well recommended nursing support pillow.
Bebe Au Lait Pretty much every nursing mama who has one loves it. This is a chic piece of fabric which fits over your head like an apron, but has a ridged neckline so you can easily see what you’re baby’s doing. A stylin’ modest way to nurse in public. It must be hard to choose which one to buy, they’re all so cute! Find Bebe Au Lait at Spoiled Rotten, Posh Boutique, Polliwog, Meringue, and Goodnight Room.
Straplettes Cute little bra charm so sleep deprived mommy can remember which boob to feed baby from.
Lily Padz Nursing pads, but different. Non absorbent, no one will know they’re there.
Nice Cubes Frozen Organic baby food. Local Portland owned business.
Snack Trap Jenny claims that mama’s are always asking about where she got her Snack Trap, they want to run out and get one too! This is a very simple little cup with two handles for your tyke and a lid that’s easy for them to grab the snack but won’t spill the snack. She buys one whenever she sees them. Find Snack Trap at Segal’s for Children in Beaverton.
Piggy Platter Portlander’s Perry and Penny came up with this spill free placemat. I don’t know anyone who has one (anyone?) but it looks like a great idea. Buy online.
Mally Bibs What, leather bibs for babies? You must be crazy! These fantastic bibs simply wipe clean, no laundry, have a magnetic closure… oh so easy. A splurge, why not? Buy Mally Bibs at Polliwog
High Chairs
Wasn’t into having a baby throne? Here’s some hip alternatives…
Boon Kind of a throne, but much more cool.
Stokke Tripp Trapp A modern chair that fits your child for awhile
Svan of Sweden Another great chair to choose
Eddie Bauer Booster High Chair This is so cool, just attatch this ‘high chair’ to your regular dining chairs. ‘Voila’ no throne.
Books
These have all been recommended to us by mama’s who’ve found them helpful
We’ve included links to Amazon, but we recommend supporting your local Portland bookstores
Mayo Clinic Guide to a healthy pregnancy
The Pregnancy Bible “A great preggo book I found is, “The Pregnancy Bible”. It has a lot of great information- answered pretty much every “general” pregnancy questions I had. Plus it was really reader friendly with lots of great photos. I especially enjoyed the “Week by Week” section which includes a great photo of what your baby looks like that week in your belly and a picture of what you may be looking like from the outside. Along with the photos it gives brief descriptions of how your baby has grown and what symptoms you may be feeling.” -Jenny, mama of two boys
Body Soul & Baby A doctor’s guide to the complete pregnancy experience, from preconception to postpartum
Great Expectations Your all in one resource for pregnancy & childbirth
BELLY LAUGHS The naked truth about pregnancy and childbirth, fun and funny
The Girfriends’ Guide to Pregnancy Fun book, fast read. Enjoy!
Be Prepared: A Practical Handbook for New Dads The funniest, straight forward guide for the new dad
The Baby Name Wizard A magical method for finding the perfect name for your baby
The Happiest Baby on the Block Understand your newborn
The No-Cry Sleep Solution Gentle ways to help your baby sleep through the night
The Baby Book Everything you need to know about your baby from birth to age two
Birthing from Within Preparing to give birth
Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day Good potty training book
Top 100 Baby Purees: “A great book for making easy baby food…Top 100 Baby Purees by Annabel Karmel. All you need is a food mill/food processer and ice cube trays. Very simple recipes” -Stephanie
The Chemical Maze A pocket guide to what all those chemicals are and what their effects are on your body. Small enough to keep in your purse. Recommended by Doctors.
Oh So Clean
Eco-friendly Cleaners That Work
We’re green, we try to do our part to keep this planet healthy… so why is it so hard to find green clean products that work? We’ve tested and tried… on the toughest of tough… the greasiest of grease… the poopiest of poop… and here’s what’s come out spic and span and shiny clean enough to show our mothers in law…
Mrs Meyers I couldn’t resist the packaging. I had to try it. All of their products smell wonderful, I’m especially fond of keeping the geranium wipes handy in my bathroom to wipe down the countertop. We always use the laundry detergent, dryer sheets, countertop spray. Haven’t tried their new baby line, but it looks spiffy. If you have a review of it let us know how you liked it!
Seventh Generation – Kitchen Cleaner I was about to give up on finding a green way to clean my black stovetop. Greasy splatters, even small ones reared their ugly heads everytime dinner was made. Alas, I thought nothing would work but the ol’ 409. But guilty was I everytime I sprayed it day after day after every meal. Oh the chemicals! Then I found this, and hello miracle! I couldn’t believe it worked so well, my black stove is shiny as can be, and with hydrogen peroxide as the main ingredient I feel guilt free to spray away.
Grapefruit Seed Extract I just received the biggest rave about everything this stuff does. Amy kept saying, It works, it really works! I tried on this and it worked and I tried it on that and it worked… Let’s just say Amy tried it on a lot of things, and it worked beautifully on everything. It’s like a magical wonderland of useful purposes. Sounds like a great extract to keep on hand. If you have a personal experience, share it with us. We’d love to hear.
Dad’s House Cleaning LLC Get someone to do it for you! It’s tough to find someone you trust to come into your home and get it as clean as you would. Scott will come over and make your place spic and span. You’ll thank your lucky stars. We aren’t sure if this still exists… anyone know?
Sleep Solutions
Dreamy Cradles, Cribs, and Bassinets :
Where to put that sleepy little one? Did you stick em in a drawer? A cosleeper? A cradle? Did you decide not to have a crib at all? Ever? Do you have the most fabuolous crib in the world? Portland mama’s are awesomely diverse and creative on the sleeping baby front, here’s what you all are doing.
Amby Baby Several of my mama’s have this and love it. It comes well recommended. It’s kinda like a bassinet/swing/ hammock. Baby’s love it. Check it out.
Arm’s Reach A cosleeper. Closer than a bassinet means mama doesn’t need to get out of bed to breastfeed baby.
Snuggle Nest A baby snuggler with incline that fits in your bed, bassinet, or crib.
Vineland Bassinet This affordable bassinet has all the features and a nice style.
Caraboo Bassinet Local company Baby Star makes a custom bag for the darling Caraboo bassinet. Buy online.
Stokke Sleepi Norwegian design bed. It starts as a bassinet, converts into a crib then a toddler bed.
Ooba Nest Collection Gorgeous modern design crib and bassinet. The crib converts to a toddler bed.
Oeuf NYC More modern design. Crib converts to a toddler bed.
Blik Surface Graphics Fun wall art for your nursery
