You know what I hate?

When your kid has a giant poop explosion while you’re out of the house and it’s in a favourite/expensive/heirloom outfit that you can’t just toss in the garbage. Where exactly are you going to put the poop soiled clothing for the rest of the day?

In the Handy Sack from Canadian company Generation Baby is fabulous for poop explosions and more! Carry a spare outfit in the Handy Sack and replace it with the dirty ones whenever necessary – they’ll stay contained until you can get to the closest washer & dryer. It also works to carry snacks, medicines, creams…anything that needs to stay away from the rest of the diaper bag contents. And it’s WAY prettier than a Ziploc bag!

Generation Baby products can be found in retail & online stores throughout North America.

Get $15 off a beautiful carseat cover with the code GBaby

Win a Handy Sack and a diaper tote from Generation Baby! To enter, email theopinionatedparent@gmail.com with GenBaby in the subject line and tell us one other Generation Baby product you’d like to see reviewed by The Opinionated Parents. Contest closes 6/29/07 @ midnight MST. Congratulations Tanyetta!

Most little girls love to don head accessories, and they look super cute until they start to dig into their heads causing the child to rub & pull until their hair sticks out in 40 directions and said cute accessory finally comes off.

These custom designed headbands by Matica Designs (available exclusively at Mom4Life.com) are soft, comfortable and are available in 7 colours and 16 flower choices to please even the pickiest little princess. They’re available in 0-24 months or 2-6 years, or can be custom made to your child’s exact measurements.

Also check out Matica Designs’ bow headbands, customized thin headbands and stretchy lace headbands that don’t leave indentations in baby’s little head.

Want to win a flower headband? We’ve got a summer green headband in 0-24 mos with a pink flower just sitting here waiting for a little girl to win it. Email theopinionatedparent@gmail.com with MATICA in the subject line and tell us another colour that the headband is available in. Contest closes Wednesday at midnight MST. Congratulations Travis!

Founded by Canadian mom Janet Beatty, Sugar and Spice is my new favourite online source for little girl bows. While I don’t have a daughter of my own at this time, I have nieces and several friends with daughters who I love to shop for. (And if the baby I’m currently manufacturing is a girl, look out Visa!)

Bows are tricky, though, because many of them are either ugly, huge or they fall out. Janet’s Grippy Clippys are the alterna-bow! She hand makes each one and puts a special soft gripper strip inside to make them really grip even the finest and thinnest hair.

Even the fanciest of fancy bows is only $6. (That’s Canadian, so our American readers can count on paying even less.)

We’ve got a bow holder complete with a pair of Grippy Clippys for one randomly selected T.O.P. reader. To enter, email theopinionatedparent@gmail.com with GRIPPY in the subject line and tell us one of the non-Grippy Clippy items available from the Sugar and Spice site. Contest closes Friday at midnight. Congratulations Avery!

I have a strange fascination with germs and the studies that show their concentration in various areas. Almost all of them show germs from fecal matter in the strangest of places. One of the grossest to the mind of a paranoid mom? The shopping cart. When I see people place their babies & toddlers directly in their carts I feel an overwhelming temptation to have a conversation with them that goes something like this:

Me: Would you let your baby lick that man’s butt? (pointing to a random stranger)
Her: No, of course not!
Me: You might as well be doing that when you let him touch the handle on that cart because you know he’s going to put his hands in his mouth. You need to use a Clean Shopper.

Instead, I usually just cringe and am thankful that I have one and am aware enough to keep the majority of strange fecal matter away from my kid. I keep my Clean Shopper in my vehicle at all times, which is a good thing most of the time. Except when it has food and other random kid stuff spilled all over it and I forget to take it in the house and wash it. Or I take it in and forget to take it back out. For those times, I was SO excited to discover the disposable Clean Shopper. At only $9.99 for a 3 pack, they’re the perfect solution for forgetful people like myself. They work just the same as the original one, but are made of waterproof polypropylene. I’m not usually an advocate of disposable products but this is one that I’ll always be keeping around because the alternative is just too nasty.

To the germophobe’s delight, Babe Ease also makes a similar product for public high chairs called the Clean Diner and disposable version of that too!

And people? WASH YOUR HANDS!

We’ve got a selection of Babe Ease products to give away, including a Clean Shopper, Clean Diner, Clean Changer & bib. To enter, email theopinionatedparent@gmail.com with Clean Shopper in the subject line and tell us what the newest Babe Ease product is. Contest closes at midnight MST on June 6/07. Congratulations to Betty, Jackie & Caryn!

As a mom who is so much more than just that, a traditional diaper bag isn’t always a viable option even when the bag I’m carrying contains not much more than Pampers & sippy cups. When I don’t want anyone to know, I carry my Cara Tote from Kipling. An international handbag and luggage company, Kipling has introduced an entire new line of totes featuring colorful patterns, durable materials and current styles that look nothing like a traditional “diaper bag.”

Being newly back to work mom, I love to use my Kipling tote for all of my school goodies. The straps are strong & sturdy enough to easily hold my piles of marking & books and the washable liner is perfect when I forget to remove my son’s half eaten PB & J sandwich before tossing my work back in. Not that I’ve done that. Ahem. The main inside compartment is deceptively huge. When even an early primary teacher doesn’t fill it, you know it’s big! It’s got convenient pockets inside perfect for a cell phone, pens & a notepad and a little cash & lipstick.

I particularly enjoy this bag now that I’m officially the mom of a toddler rather than a baby. The kitchen sink can now stay at home and me, my kid & my Cara Tote from Kipling can leave the house in style. Use it as a diaper bag if you like – people will be none the wiser – but it’s one of those great bags that is truly multi-functional. It’s also the perfect size for a short weekend getaway! (Getaway? What’s that?)

The bag pictured above is the Cara tote in “fireworks red” and it will be available in stores in June retailing at $94. My personal fave is the upcoming “fireworks green” edition which will be available in stores in September and got me my first non-sarcastic “Nice bag” compliment in a year and a half.

Bathing a slippery newborn baby can be slightly terrifying, and it’s made worse when you have to wrap them in a towel and hope they don’t kick out of it and freeze while you chase a toddler around the house with pajamas in hand. While I love hooded towels for the toddler set, as soon as you’ve got a big and a little to bathe they’re no longer the perfect post-bath accessory.

What is, you ask?

The gorgeous terry velour bath sacks from Bambini Carini, an upscale company devoted to manufacturing and distributing boutique style baby accessories for the discerning shopper.

Available in 13 exquisite designs including my favourite ‘melrose‘ (pictured at right) the bath sacks are luxuriously soft, hooded for warmth and feature turned cuffs too keep those tiny hands warm. The bathsack retails for $52.00 USD.

Bambini Carini products are available at select retailers. All of their products are available all prints.

Enter to win a luxurious melrose pattern bath sack and matching bib (total value $68 USD) by emailing theopinionatedparent@gmail.com before midnight MST on 5/30/07 with Bambini Carini in the subject line and the correct answer to the question “According to the website, what does Bambini Carini mean?” Congratulations Nicolette!

I’ve always loved doing little girls’ hair in baubles & braids, and the great clips by investment analyst turned crafty mom extraordinaire Teri Dimalanta of Giddy Giddy make it even better! (And far less frustrating.)

Each adorable felt design is hand made and the clip is sewed securely inside so there are no painful snags and they stay on even the finest of baby hair. She designs clips in three categories – flowers, animals and food, and each category has clips for the little and the big girls in your life.

There are so many things to love about Giddy Giddy clips. They’re adorable; they’re not bows; they stay in – really; they’re not choking hazards; they don’t leave semi-permanent indentations in those precious little baby heads; and they’re made by a mom! I see no reason not to make these your hair clip of choice.

Giddygiddy clips area available at several online and retail locations.

We’ve got a set of Giddy Giddy clips to send to one lucky TOP reader. To be entered in the random draw, email theopinionatedparent@gmail.com with GIDDY in the subject line and tell us your favourite Giddy Giddy design. (Me? I’m partial to the ladybug.) Contest closes 5/29/07 at midnight MST. Congratulations Laurel!

As a new-ish mom, it’s been a while since I’ve carried a real purse. Everything gets tossed in my diaper bag and I just hope to be able to find something when I need it. The one item I consistently need and can never find is my cell phone. (Yes, I’m an addict. Admit it – you are too.)

The Bead Shop from Fashion Angels Enterprises makes these fabulous Ziplettes mini-purses that are perfect for my cell phone. (Actually, I need three because it’s also perfect for my iPod and as a grab n’ go credit card & lipstick holder.)

Ziplettes are available in 16 styles from white to black and everything in between. They’re a pretty cool concept – the Ziplette can be unzipped as much or as little as you need to store your stuff. If you unzip it all the way, it’s a super long zipper sewn into a coil (fascinating for even the coolest kids & parents!) The sequins & other funky trims are sewn in between the zippers so the zipping action is totally smooth.

Perhaps the best feature is that they easily clip to a diaper bag, a belt loop, your purse, backpack or really anywhere. Great for tweens & teens, and awesome for moms who need some bling for their ring.

Enter to win the white on white ziplette seen here. Email theopinionatedparent@gmail.com with Ziplette in the subject line and tell us your favourite Ziplette style available from the website. Contest closes at midnight MST on 5/14/07. Congratulations Jonathon!