This fantastically fun xylophone is brand new from P’kolino. Made with sustainable rubberwood and metal with a bright, yet non-toxic water based finish, this playful and fun melody-maker helps your child develop an early interest in music and teaches shape & color. This unique xylophone breaks down into individual pieces that can be rearranged to create new sequences. Plus, when not playing tunes, your child can stack them high to build a tower. Clean up is easy as well, since these clever blocks nest into each other for a tidy playroom. Suitable for children ages 1 year and older.

+ Playful Rubberwood Xylophone $29.99

+ P’kolino

Back in the day, as recommended by a bazillion baby rearing books on the planet, most parents chose white rice cereal for their baby’s first solid food. Then the great white out debate began, not to mention arsenic scares in rice, and baby advocates started telling parents to start Baby off with healthier fare, like brown rice cereals, brown rice mash or vegetable purée. Now, it’s a whole new game, as brand new research says you should consider starting your baby off on solids with healthy finger foods. Researchers on the study compared a group of spoon-fed babies to a group of self-led weaning babies. What they found is that babies who are allowed to self-wean and who are then introduced to solids by feeding themselves versus having a parent spoon feed them, were able to better master skills related to self-food regulation. In turn self-food regulation is directly connected to health benefits for life such as a lower BMI and a preference for healthy foods like carbohydrates.

A new research study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests that perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) may reduce the effectiveness of common childhood vaccines. Researchers working on this study, headed up by Dr. Philippe Grandjean, chair of environmental medicine at the University of Southern Denmark, studied children born in the Faroe Islands due to reports of increasing amounts of PFCs in the drinking water and fish located within close proximity to the Islands. Children in the study received the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP) vaccine at 3 months, along with the recommended booster at age five. The researchers tested the immunity of the children, at age five and seven years, and drew some blood to test PFC levels. What they found wasn’t good. Higher levels of PFCs in the blood correlated with much lower immune responses. In fact, by the age of seven years, children with a twofold increase of bodily PFCs were up to fours times as likely to have an immune response that was no longer even clinically active. Basically, children with the highest PFC levels weren’t as protected or weren’t protected at all against disease, even though they’d been vaccinated.
 

When you put your baby in her crib, the last thing you want her to sleep on is a bed of hazardous chemicals, right? Well, unfortunately traditional baby mattresses are filled with toxins including PVC, phthalates and fire retardants. Since your baby will spend 10 to 14 hours a day on said mattress, choosing an eco-friendly one is important for her health and safety. We recently discovered Greenbuds organic mattresses and are excited to have three of their wonderful green sleep products to give away. One grand prize winner will win a Greenbuds Magnolia Deluxe Organic 2-in-1 Crib Mattress and an organic cotton sheet set worth $492, and one runner up will win an Organic Cotton Waterproof Mattress Protector from Greenbuds sized for standard crib mattresses worth $54.95. Ready to win a safe sleep environment for your green baby?

Here’s how to enter to win a Greenbuds Organic Crib Mattress and Sheet Set Worth $492 or a Mattress Protector Worth $54.95!

1) Like GreenBuds on Facebook. (And if you’re feeling extra friendly, you can like Inhabitots on Facebook too!)

2) Add a comment to this post with your answer to the following question: What’s your trick for getting your baby to snooze soundly? Please be patient – comments don’t appear instantly because they must be approved.

Learn more about Greenbuds and the giveaway prizes after the jump.