> Grieving a Miscarriage
Why won’t people stop saying “you can try again soon”? What is the “right” amount of grief? Are there more miscarriages now or does it just seem that way? What to tell the children about the baby who will not be? The questions answered here.

> When Does a Toddler Walk on His Own?
Every child develops at a different rate and, while it’s true that some children go upright and are toddling independently immediately, it’s equally true that some take more time to literally let go.

> Eco-Parenting in Eight Simples Steps
Raising children is hard enough without worrying about the environmental consequences of your parenting choices.  Don’t sweat it. You already care about your child’s well-being and green choices make it easier.  If you are losing sleep over diaper selection – biodegradable or cloth – let it go. Here are eight eco-parenting fundamentals.

Diapers aren’t the only problem. Parents buy products made with materials that are harmful to the environment when harvested or manufactured.

There are other options. Here are five ways parents can care for babies and the earth:

> Stop using wipes
> Find multi-use items
> Switch to cloth diapers
> Use organic ingredients
> Switch to organic fabrics

Click here for details.

Click here for some tips to recapture that spark.

Two beautifully designed blogs, fabulous baby product reviews and contests…that’s what you’ll find when you head on over to Organic For Baby (one of our BBA advertisers) or their sister site, Hip & Trendy Baby.

While you’re over there, check out Organic For Baby’s current contest for two beautiful organic hooded towels.

The author, Tabitha, launched both sites when she realized that in preparing for her new family, she found so many items that were fantastic and “one-of-a-kind”, so she she started to make a list. She wanted to always know where to find the products again. And that list eventually became these websites.

Both sites look for the best products in their respective categories. Hip and Trendy Baby looks for items that are, of course, trendy as well as useful and unique. Organic For Baby showcases products that are eco-friendly, sustainable and organic.

NewBornMom.com is an online baby boutique that carries 100% eco-friendly & modern products

We are excited to be giving away the “A Real Ham” Organic Tee (size 6-12 months) by Blirt. The shirt is made of super soft, high quality organic cotton. I’m sure your little one will look adorable and feel very comfy in it.

These organic tees put a modern spin on some old-school figures of speech…making them not only eco-hip, but playfully educational. Each tee comes stamped on the front with a caricature corresponding to the offbeat phrase, and on the tag it has a brief explanation of the figure of speech.

Here’s how to enter to win your own organic tee:

1. Go to NewBornMom and search through their site for your favorite item.

2. Let us know your favorite in a comment on this post. Make sure we have your contact info (email or blog address) either in your blogger profile or in the comment itself, so we can contact you if you win. Only one entry per person per giveaway.

We’ll select a random winner then post it here on BBA next week. This contest runs: Sunday, 9/14 – Sunday, 9/21/08 at 6pm ET.

With Triplets we’ve had to cut down on our spending. A LOT. It made no sense for me to return to work after having the babies; what I made would have ONLY paid for daycare for Triplets. Living off of one income is hard. Very hard. Money was always an issue, just not a big one. Two miscarriages, TONS of testing, five months of fertility treatments, triplets and one income later, it matters now more than anything.

The two miscarriages and fertility treatments really racked up our bills. While looking into how to cut our costs, I found out Going Green was the way to go. We chose to cloth diaper our triplets and, luckily, I already had most of our cloth diapers.

I was so overwhelmed when they came home (after 38 LONG days in the NICU) I just couldn’t deal with cloth diapers. Then my husband ran to the store at about 8:45 at night (and everything in our small town closes at nine) and spent about $50 on diapers. They lasted less than a week. That was it. I wasn’t going to throw away that kind of money. We cloth diapered from then on and are still going strong. With the help of my mother, we spent about $600-800 on diapers and they will last until potty training.

I also found out that cleaning Green cut our costs a lot. Vinegar cleans anything and has many uses. It is cheap at about $.99 a gallon. Add in some baking soda, borax and soap and there you have it! These ingredients can also be used to make your own laundry detergent. I found Clean House, Clean Planet and it goes into detail about why we should cut out commerical cleaners, not only for health reasons, but for money savings. No more harsh chemical smells in my CLEAN house.

To cut costs even more, we hang dry everything and made the switch to energy efficent lightbulbs. By simply not using our dryer, the power bill dropped almost $50 a month. Going Green does not have to mean spending a lot, but it sure means saving a lot!

:: Check out our previous contributors’ posts here. To add your own story, parenting tips or advice to BBA, e-mail us at babyblogaddict[at]yahoo.com.

We are giving away a Seventh Generation Natural Baby Starter Kit from Wee Generation to one lucky BBA reader!

The Natural Baby Starter Kit is an ideal gift for new parents or parents-to-be who want to create a natural, healthy lifestyle for their child. All products are free of chlorine and gentle on a baby’s soft skin. Many of these Seventh Generation items are included in the first 500 Wee Generation eco-diaper bags that are now available.

The kit is valued at $49.99 and includes:

• 2 packages Size 1 Chlorine-Free Diapers
• Chlorine-Free Baby Wipes
• Chlorine-Free Baby Wipes Refill
• Natural Baby Laundry Detergent
• Seventh Generation Tote

Here’s how to enter:

1. Just go to Wee Generation and click on Buy the Bag to check out their three designs. Which is your favorite?

2. Let us know your favorite in a comment on this post. Just make sure we have your contact info (email or blog address) either in your blogger profile or in the comment itself, so we can contact you. Only one entry per person per giveaway.

3. We’ll then run the number of comments in a random integer generator and come up with the winner then post it here on BBA on Wednesday.

This contest runs: Tuesday, 7/29 at 8am ET – Wednesday, 7/30 at 8am ET.

Don’t miss our new Quad Q&As below.