According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, up to 80% of car seats in use today are installed incorrectly. That’s a staggering statistic!

Whether you choose an infant car seat (rear facing only, up to 20lbs.) or a convertible seat, (rear facing, from birth up to 30lbs. later turned forward for toddler use) we highly recommend you have it installed by a professional – and it’s getting easier and easier to find one. Many baby retailers, from the larger chain stores to boutiques, now offer this service, sometimes even for free. There’s a great website we recommend for finding a certified car seat installer in your neighborhood. Simply plug in your zip code and you’ll be in for a smooth ride!

As parents we’ve all been there: reminding, urging, nagging, even pleading with our kids to do everything from washing their hands to brushing their teeth to finishing up their homework. The list goes on and on and on as there’s always something we want or need our kids to do. Well, now thanks to an innovative and fun charting system, our jobs as chief negotiators may have just gotten a bit easier.

We recently came across these high quality, laminated (aka sticky-finger-proof!) charts at Sticker Planet, a fabulous store that is nestled in LA’s Historical Farmers Market. These job charts come with coordinating, reusable stickers that are easy and fun to put on and take off, creating the perfect visual reward system to help kids achieve their goals.

From the create-a-chart to the potty chart, you can easily find the one that is just right for your child’s age and stage. We can’t think of a more perfect way to motivate kids to pick up their toys and remember their p’s and q’s! Who knows, with this kind of encouragement, they may even remember to thank you for such a cool gift!

It’s not often that The Baby Planners get a night on the town sans hubbies and children. But that’s exactly what happened when we hit the red carpet, yes, with cameras and lights a’flashing, to attend the Hot Moms Club launch party for their new super community. And super the party was!

Not only were there yummy eats, feng shui tips, hand and neck massages and pyschic readings, but we also went home with an indulgent bag of goodies – now that’s hot!

We love Hot Moms Club founders Jessica Denay and Joy Bergin as they’ve created a fabulous web destination and a place where all moms can feel their best.

We’re thrilled to be joining “the club” as their new columnists and baby planning experts! Visit the site now to see all that HMC has to offer, our column starts in April.   We’ve never felt so cool being this hot!

Just as we’re getting over the fact that Valentine’s Day has become the new Halloween, with bag fulls of heart shaped candies and chocolates coming home with our lollipop-stained children, here comes St. Patrick’s day.

When we were kids, the threat of getting pinched was enough to make us wear green to school and frankly, that was enough. But somehow, along with all the other candy-fueled school celebrations, our children will be spending this coming weekend sorting through their green bags of goodies which will undoubtedly be filled with green cookies, green cupcakes, green jellybeans… and we wonder why childhood obesity is such a problem in our country?

When the topic of celebrating St. Patrick’s day with a class party (any old reason will do) came up in one of our daughter’s classrooms, more than just a few eyebrows were raised when one parent suggested foods such as celery and green apples as opposed to the now ubiquitous cookies and juice at every single class event. Thankfully, the teacher saw the light in this “healthy” alternative and the class will now be enjoying a kiwi platter in the shape of a shamrock. We’re still not convinced that a few cookies won’t be thrown into the mix. Because as this generation of kids is finding out, a party just isn’t a party without a little sugar.

Just got back from Mom2B, an industry trade show in Las Vegas that highlights the best of the best in all things baby!

It’s always fun for us to attend these things… we run into some old friends like Woobee and BabyLegs and meet some new ones who will become old ones by the time we hit the next show! We couldn’t possibly share all of our great new finds in this one post, but here are a few that we just couldn’t keep to ourselves!

The Prego Planner is an upscale, fashionably functional and one-of-a-kind pregnancy organizer and planner for the uber organized mom-to-be. Founder Heather Patterson is not only as adorable as her planners, but she’s completely committed to finding and creating innovative products for new and expecting mothers. Yay, Heather!

Of course we saw some of our favorites in diaper bags and slings, but we came across a bunch of new and fun stuff, too! Everything from Oopsy Daisy! – the Original Rinse free shampoo for baby. That’s right, no water necessary – amazing!… to Polished Mama, a non-toxic, odorless, yes, odorless! and long lasting nail polish for expectant moms…. to Jak’s by Miss Oops. Jak’s are the latest fashion weapon used to fight, are you ready?… butt-crack! Ladies, we’ve all been there. This stretchy piece of lace is a band worn over pants and under shirts. They appear as a lace camisole layered underneath a top but in fact, are the latest trend used to cover butt-crack and muffin tops. Mmm-hmm.

And just when we thought we had seen it all, we couldn’t have been more wrong. Two words: Mally Bibs. Not only are they totally original in both design and color, not only are they double sided, not only are they durable, washable, and adjustable but, get this, they are made of 100% baby safe leather! We couldn’t believe it either but these gorgeous bibs, along with these other fabulous finds we’ve mentioned, have definitely become part of The Baby Planners Picks! Enjoy!