When Lesley from Weetravel sent me an email, I immediately had a look at her website. She runs a baby equipment rental company in Canada. A great concept for everyone who does not want to buy all gear. 
She also has a blog where you'll find great traveling products. Like this umbrella which you stick to your stroller or the Travelmate so your car seat can be wheeled around...
Optimist
- modern designs, cool stuff, beautiful items and handy gadgets for babies and young kids by a Dutch mom who was living in Toronto, Canada and is now living in Germany.
To go
Label your stuff!
A friend whose son will be starting school on a short notice, told me about 'Goed Gemerkt' (or 'Neatly Named' in English). They offer all kinds of labels for clothes, lunch boxes, sport gear etc. It is very easy to create your own label and select color, icon, letter type and of course text. A good idea for every one who is afraid of losing your child's belongings (and who is not?). Goed gemerkt ships around the world.
Water resistant Woobees
Heather sent me an email and introduced me to her company Woobee Kids. She was originally inspired to design the uniquely practical Woobee products after the birth of her first daughter. An outdoor enthusiast living is Seattle, WA, she wanted a highly effective and functional product line that is cozy for children and cool for parents. Woobee products promise to be water resistant and you will find blankets, bibs and burps. Woobee products are available at retailers in the USA and Canada and online at SnazzyTots.
Diaper bag finds
I never had a diaper bag; I just use my ordinary handbag which is always too full and gives me lots of stress to find something. Maybe it is time to buy one of these super practical though stylish bags which I saw at Kind+Jugend:
Allerhand from HongKong: Inside function outside style...They have a huge collection in pure and trendy colors. Also some great bags for kids, including a ball & bottle bag for soccer or other ball professionals...
Gittabags from the US: Trendy look combined with maximal functionality. It is amazing what fits in one bag with smart details like thermal pockets, cell phone compartments and clips for keys or pacifiers.
Hoppop by Baby Art
I am still recuperating from the Kind+Jugend fair in Cologne which I visit in the weekend. It is just unbelievable how much is out there. I have been walking around for hours and hours and collecting tons of brochures. Now it is hard to decide what is really worth showing on Optimist!
First product to show, which won the Kind+Jugend Innovation Award 2007 in its category, is the Hoppop by Baby Art from Belgium. Many of you probably know Baby Art, the 3D imprints of baby's hands and feet. These DIY kits are a big hit and are sold in 115 countries worldwide. Hoppop is something totally different: a diaper bag that transforms into a baby seat in just seconds. You need to watch the demonstration video: Hoppop is an amazingly smart product! It is being launched at the moment and should soon be available in your country.
Many more great finds from Kind+Jugend will follow this week...
Beautiful bag
Wanna have a bag with a picture of your little ones, or give your kids their own personalized school bag... All is possible with BeautifulBag. Just find the most adorable picture and have it printed on a backpack, shoulder bag, wallet or lunch bag.
Two Dutch ladies living in Malaysia started BeautifulBag and they aim to have beautiful bags around the world. I have already seen the first one in Germany (not yet me!). You can order online and they ship worldwide.
Label4Kids
It has been a bit difficult to post lately due to traveling. This week I stay on Ameland, one of the Dutch islands in the North Sea, where we are together with my husbands' family. These Label4Kids ID wristbands would come very handy for our little boys (0,2, and 3 years) who sometimes tend to run away... Label4kids offers name tags in every choice of colour, image, medical alerts, text amount and size. Choose vinyl labels, iron-ons or wristbands. You can order online and they will deliver worldwide.
Wrapper, Bunker and Shelter
Lodger offers wonderful fleece blankets with different purposes. The Wrapper is a wrap-cape and play mat, the Bunker a foot-muff for stroller or car seat and the Shelter can be used as baby-sling and wrap-cape. All in all, every blanket seems very cuddly and comforting. I always thought that fleece is not the right material to use for babies but I learned from an article on the their website that fleece is one of the materials recommended for 'safe sleeping' because it is light, highly breathable and has an optimum insulation of heat. You can check out the Lodger website for more information on 'safe sleeping' and for available countries.
Trendy personalized gifts
A friend who recently had a baby, told me she received a personalized backpack from Bulbby. Bubbly offers a wide selection of unique gifts like backpacks, drawing binders, shirts, door stickers and photo albums. Every item can be personalized with name and age in different logo styles and in all kinds of colors. The Bulbby website is currently available in Dutch and German but they ship worldwide.
Papa Pique et Maman Coud
Isn’t this cute? Typical French style to dress up your little girl with girlish accessories. The bandages brought back an old time memory of myself wearing it in my hair or on my arm…
The Papa Pique et Maman Coud website is only in French. What I understand of it (my French is just very basic) is that they sell in boutiques in France and you can order online with shipment across Europe.
