Category: technology

December 29, 2017

Establishing a Bedtime Routine in Young Children with LectroFan Kinder

Establish a Positive Bedtime Routine with LectroFan Kinder

A good night sleep is important for children and adults alike. As parents, we all know how awful it can be the next day after your child has not had enough sleep the night before. They are cranky, irritable and will argue with you over everything.

This becomes amplified in toddlers and young children who don’t always have the words to express how tired and frustrated they are. When this is prolonged over months, it can have many negative effects on your child’s physical, mental and emotional well-being (not to mention Mom and Dad’s too). When your toddler or young child is not sleeping well at night, no one in the house is!

In order for your child to have a good night sleep, it is essential that you develop a predictable routine for them that is geared towards their individual personality and needs. No two children are the same but there are a few things that you can do to make sure the transition to sleep goes smoothly and that your child remains asleep throughout the night.

Set a bedtime and stick to it. It is important that you are consistent with what time your child goes to sleep. Make sure you give your child enough notice (I personally like to give them an hour notice) that it will soon be time for bed so that they can begin to prepare themselves mentally to unwind for the day. Some kids need to prepare themselves and get in some last-minute games, snacks or books before it is time for them to go to bed for the night.

A warm bath is the perfect way to unwind (who doesn’t like a nice warm bubble bath at the end of the day?!) for your child. You can use this time to talk about their day, what went well and what bothered them. They can then hop into their favourite pyjamas to settle in for the night.

A bedtime story that does not work your child up too much is perfect for transitioning to sleep time. You can choose either a chapter book or a nursery rhyme, the choices are endless! I like chapter books personally because it can be read over a length of time and your child is excited to read the next chapter the following evening.

Purchase a sound device like the LectroFan Kinder from Sound of Sleep that emits light and soothing sounds to not only help your child fall asleep but also helps to ensure that they sleep soundly and longer. Many children sleep better with white noise and fall asleep quicker listening to lullabies and/or nature sounds.

How many times did you rock your infant to sleep singing them a sweet lullaby? I am sure it is countless! These are some of my favourite moments during the day when it was time for them to go down for a nap but we also don’t want to make it habit-forming that they need to be held and rocked to sleep.

As adults we are the same, many of us fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer when there is calming white noise in the background. The LectroFan Kinder has over 75 sound choices to choose from that includes nature, environments, ambient noise and lullabies.

The Kinder is a small plug-in device that is controlled by an app on your smart phone. The device itself fits perfectly into the palm of your hand and is lightweight. There is a power button on the front and apart from that there are no other buttons or switches on the device. It is placed directly into an outlet in the wall of your child’s room. The lack of buttons is a huge bonus for those curious minds and fingers that like to press everything! This will ensure that only you can make changes to the device from your phone.

Once the Kinder is plugged into the wall, you can then pair your device with the app on your smart phone through your phone’s bluetooth. The app is quick to download and was easy to navigate. You get to choose the type of sounds you want your child to listen to and with such a wide variety of sounds and music it will be easy to choose a selection that your child will love. The device also has an option to emit a light, which is a must have in our home. No one likes to sleep in the dark in our home (not even me!) and this is a perfect addition on this product (a nightlight and sound machine in one!).

Are you looking for the perfect baby shower gift or product for your own home? The LectroFan Kinder can be purchased on Amazon and Sound of Sleep. New parents and seasoned parents will fall in love with the simplicity of design and comfort that the LectroFan Kinder will bring your child.

What is your number one tip for a successful night of sleep for young children?

Make sure to follow Sound of Sleep on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with the latest news and products.

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

December 21, 2017

Feel Confident and Safe with MYNT Tracker

I am an anxious person by nature. I double (and sometimes triple check) to make sure my stove is off. I re-check locked doors and even get my kids to double-check with me for a second pair of eyes (I really hope that they don’t grow up and follow in my steps with anxiety). I will put my keys in my purse only to be checking ten minutes later if they are still there.

When I can’t find something in the place that I thought it was in, I go into full-out panic mode. My anxiety kicks in and I begin to have an attack – face goes red, sweating and being sharp with those that are around me. It is truly not a pretty sight! Most of my anxiety is over my keys, my phone and my wallet.

I know I am not alone in these habits. So many others also become anxious at the thought of losing their phone, keys and anything of value. As a society we are constantly on the go so we know that this is a reality – it is easy to misplace or leave something behind. We have so many things that we are multitasking that our brains tend to go into over drive.

What if there was a device that could safely track your valuable items and help give you that piece of mind that you need to function day-to-day?

The MYNT tracker is a sleek technology designed to attach or even be embedded into valuable items to track their location. It has the shape of a typical USB but much smaller design – it is 2 inches in length, 1 inch wide and an incredible 1/8 inch thick. It definitely packs a lot of power in such a small design! The tracker has a stainless steel shell allowing it to hold up against a lot of wear and tear including being water-resistant.

The tracker uses Bluetooth to connect to an app on your phone to monitor and let you know when the item that the MYNT tracker is attached to has become too far away. The app is easy to download from the Google or Apple store. Once the app is downloaded you would pair the device to your app and you are ready to be worry free! The app has three great features that includes: separation phone alert, separation location and distance indicator.

Common uses include:

smart phone
keys
wallet
car
purse
backpacks
your child’s clothes (this would be a huge bonus if going to an amusement park or location that is overly packed full of people)

The uses are really unlimited and you are in charge with what you feel is important to you and what you want to track. The tracker also has a remote control function allowing you to use it for camera, smart phone and more.

The tracker was very easy to set up, I literally took it out of its packaging, downloaded the app (a quick and painless and hit the MYNT button on the tracker. It began to pair immediately and took me through a couple of steps to let me know how to use the app and tracker. It gives a peace of mind knowing that at any given time I can check my app and see that my keys are nearby.

The MYNT tracker is available for purchase on Amazon and Amazon Canada.

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

October 3, 2017

Fitness On Your Time with Aaptiv

When you talk to your friends, co-workers and family about fitness, what is your number one barrier to exercise?

For many women, their greatest barrier to participation in fitness is TIME.

As Mothers, we tend to give so much of ourselves to our children, our spouse, our family and friends that we have so little time left over for ourselves. When we do get time to ourselves, we are usually exhausted and not motivated enough to give a workout 100% (not to mention most times we don’t have anyone to watch our children or they have their own extra curricular activities).

BUT exercise is crucial for our mental, physical and emotional well-being. Exercise not only helps improve our physical fitness but helps with sleep, metabolism, stress and so much more. The benefits of exercise are too important for us not to be putting ourselves first.

So how we squeeze in an extra fifteen to thirty minutes a day of exercise?

Aaptiv is a mobile app for your phone that contains a broad range of traditional workouts with more focused workouts such as cardio for weight loss, maternity program and yoga for beginners. The app is designed to be just like a personal trainer without the expense. You have your own coach at the tips of your fingers and in your ear for the whole workout – this is that extra motivation that we sometimes need.

Once you download the app, you can go through and choose a specific workout or program that suits your needs on that day. Plug your headphones into your phone and get ready for extra motivation to help get you through that workout that you have been avoiding. The workouts vary in their time range so you can choose the correct time needed for your workout (on the right hand side of each workout it tells you exactly how long that one will take). I loved that each program has a beginner, intermediate and advanced setting.

The workouts were very easy to follow and motivating. I also enjoyed listening to the meditation programs during the afternoon to help me de-stress and re-focus my mind (beats trying to accomplish this with caffeine that usually makes my stress worse).

For Moms to Be and New Moms, Aaptiv has a special program just for you! Top fitness talent, including Kira Kohrherr of FitBump and yoga guru and author Kristin McGee, have helped to designed a specialized pre and post natal program. The program is divided up into the three trimesters and post natal. Since this is usually a time where we don’t give ourselves and our bodies enough love and attention – this is a great way to help us keep on track with our fitness and health goals.

Aaptiv can be started on a free weekly trial and then membership for unlimited classes starts as low as $9.99.

Make sure you follow Aaptiv on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up to date with all the latest programming and fitness updates!

How do you ensure you include at least fifteen minutes of exercise a day into your daily routine?

Disclosure: I received a trial of Aaptiv in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

July 21, 2017

Bring Creativity and Imagination to Life with Stikbots

Kids love to create and design, build new worlds and create new stories. As children, we would spend hours making up plays, dressing up in costumes, using dolls for puppets and forcing our parents to watch all of our performances.

Technology has changed a lot in the last fifteen years but the desire to create and design has not changed. Children now not only have the power to create unique, exciting and adventurous stories but they can bring them to life and keep these memories with Stikbots.

Stikbots are bendable figures that children can easily move and pose into whichever position they want. Each figure also has suction cups on their hands and feet to help hold them into place once your child has planned out their scene. Stikbots began with a simple figure (that comes in roughly fifteen different colours) and has expanded into the animal kingdom with dogs, cats, monkeys and even a panda! The array of figures that your child can use really helps them to bring their story to life, we have a huge animal fan in our home and he loves watching animal documentaries so for him being able to recreate animal videos is huge!

To help your child bring their story to life, Stikbots also has the Stikbot Studio Pro Animation Set. This set includes two Stikbots, a stage (that comes in blue and green colours that is easily interchanged), tripod and two prop boxes. When you use the green stage, you can easily add in animated backgrounds (think space, disco and more) while using the Stikbot App.

We loved the Stikbots and how easy they were to use and create images and videos. We downloaded the app first so that we could fully take advantage of the green stage features. The app was easy to download and even easier to use. The figures themselves are very easy to manipulate into different positions and the suction cups worked perfectly to hold them into place on the stage and props. Our youngest (6) had no problem figuring out how to place the figures and use the props to make them appear to float or jump in the air. Once they placed their Stikbots and chose their background in the app, they had the option to either take a picture or video of their creation. After they had taken the photo or video, they could edit the image by cropping, adding wording, images and more through the app.

The Giveaway!

My Canadian and American readers can now enter to win their Stikbots prize pack! Enter via the Rafflecopter form below – good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned products in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

June 29, 2017

Win with State Farm® Canada and Telematics #BeABetterDriver

Car insurance is one of the most important purchases you will make as an adult and as a driver. As a driver, you want to ensure that you get the best possible rate but still have the appropriate amount of coverage. Not always an easy task right?

State Farm® Canada wants to make insurance easier for you and have been doing so since 1938. Quality service and relationships are at the heart of what State Farm® Canada does and now you can connect with them 24/7 via their mobile app. This easy to use app puts a lot of control into your own hands when it comes to your insurance. You can access the Telematics program, the Alert program and you can even manage your insurance and make a claim, all from your smart phone where and when you want to do so.

The Telematics Program is connected to the mobile app and is the first fully mobile telematics program in Canada!

You are probably sitting there wondering what is telematics and why does this matter to me?

Telematics is State Farm® Canada’s usage based insurance program that allows you, the driver, to learn more about your driving habits and in turn rewards you with additional savings on your car insurance based on how you drive. It can monitor how you brake, start, speed and how much you actually travel. All of your good driving habits will add up in savings for you – you can save up to 25% on your car insurance, who doesn’t want to save that kind of money?!

Signing up for the program is as easy as visiting the App Store or Google Play and downloading the app. Once the app is downloaded, you can sign up directly for Telematics and begin to monitor your driving. You can monitor your score in real time and it also helps to challenge you to improve your driving skills, who doesn’t love a good challenge?

State Farm® Canada wants to reward you and encourage you to be a better driver with a fantastic giveaway!

From now until July 31st, Ontario residents can enter to win 1 of 50 $100 Amazon gift cards! Entering is as simple as visiting the contest website, entering the contest and then downloading the State Farm Canada app. GOOD LUCK and happy driving!

Disclosure: I received compensation for this post. All opinions expressed are my own.