This year, Baby Safety Month is dedicated to promoting safe sleep practices. Parents and caregivers are reminded that the safest place for a baby to sleep is in a fully functional, properly assembled, JPMA Certified crib, cradle, bassinet, play yard or toddler bed.

JPMA offers several tips on safe sleep practices for baby. For example,

• Crib slats or spindles should be spaced no more than 2 3/8″ apart, and none should be loose or missing.
• Use bumper pads only until the child can pull up to a standing position. Then remove them so baby cannot use the pads to climb out of the crib.
• Put baby down to sleep when they are drowsy, but not asleep. Teach your baby to become an independent sleeper and how to be able to fall asleep on their own.
• Create and maintain an enjoyable bedtime routine from birth and into toddlerhood but keep in mind that habits, sleep patterns, and routines will change often and learn to adapt with them as your baby grows.

A Safe & Sound for Baby brochure with more safety tips on how to select and use products for your child can be downloaded here.

Scandinavian Child is a proud supporter of Baby Safety Month. To learn more and to find more product safety information, visit www.JPMA.org.

For more information, please visit the JPMA website.

Let me tell you a bit about myself. I’m Clair, a blog reader, turned blog “post-er”. I’m a student at Meredith College in Raleigh, NC and have been a “mother’s helper” since I was in 5th grade. Once I got my license, babysitting quickly became a priority. Soon there was a car seat in my car because I was sick of transferring car seats, and about a year later I added a booster seat to my collection. My high school senior superlative was “Best Mom.”

Oliver (3) and Clair

I have changed more diapers than most people have under the age of 20. I have watched a baby born three months early grow into a healthy 2-year-old. I know how to: reheat breast milk, burp a baby, open a Pack-and-Play with one not-so-smooth motion, push a stroller with another baby in a carrier, sooth a fussy baby, play Star Wars, swaddle a newborn, pretend I’m Cinderella, install a car seat, and put my needs on the back burner.

What do I do with all of this information and skill when I don’t plan on having a baby any time soon? Enter Scandinavian Child.

I met Erin Lane at a Capstrat networking event for students looking for jobs and internships. Once Erin started talking about her company, Scandinavian Child, I knew this was the perfect internship for me! I contacted Erin, arranged an interview and starting in May, I began my marketing internship at Scandinavian Child.

I am thrilled to be combining my love for children with my love for marketing, and working for a company that has children’s best interests in mind. From a marketing perspective, I have learned that you must continuously get to know your clients and keep up with the changes. In the juvenile industry, trends are always changing. We, as marketers, have to be in constant communication with parents to see what they love at that moment. So, part of my job is to (get this!) read blogs! Blogs are the place where moms (and dads!) are openly speaking their mind, and companies want/need to know what parents want.

One of my biggest projects so far was to help coordinate models, props, and locations for our Micralite FastFold Superlite Stroller photo shoot. After a month of lots of logistical planning, our two day shoot went off without a hitch! The pictures turned out great, and I am thrilled that some of the success was because of my hard work.

After about two months of working in the marketing field, I have learned that I love all things media! I love pictures, video, and have discovered a new found love- social media. Scandinavian Child has given me the opportunity to start learning the practical applications of marketing. I know when I go back to Meredith in August, my marketing classes will feel much more real and valuable.

I am seeing the behind the scenes of the juvenile industry, and I see how much work goes into making products safe, functional, and stylish. I love that I’m supporting a company whose values line up so perfectly with my own.

Clair Fabrizio is a marketing and communications intern, under Erin Lane, for Scandinavian Child. She is a twitter addict and technology nerd.

This past Tuesday night, we gathered up our families and drove over to Carousel Farms, a family-friendly farm with no alcohol or profanity allowed. They feature bull riding, cattle roping and barrel racing.  It’s fantastic! Plus, they have some of the best ice cream in Raleigh, which made all of us very happy.

The show lasts about an hour and a half and if you get antsy watching, you can always take your kids to ride the pony’s, get their face painted or even brave the mechanical bull.

We all had an awesome time.  If you’re local, you should definitely check it out.

Singing the national anthem

$5 Pony Rides

Brenda and Erin Brave the Mechanical Bull:

We had a busy schedule that didn’t afford much vacation time, but we were able to steal away for many special moments. In fact, the day we arrived was extra special for our 8-year-old daughter who got to see a real, live Princess on her wedding day. Crowned Princess Victoria married Daniel Westling, so my husband took our two kids downtown to see the Prince and Princess in their carriage just after the ceremony. Truly, a special occasion!

Here is a picture of Princess Viktoria and her husband Daniel on their wedding day.

We spent most of our time in the Swedish countryside where my in-laws have a lovely cabin on a lake. I am reminded every year why it so important for us to go there – it isn’t just because of the experience of pulling potatoes from the garden and seeing the farm animals on the hillside, it is about living the Swedish summer life and learning the Swedish language. Our kids have an amazing time and we get to experience it all through their eyes.

Here is a photo of the kids picking Smultron. This is a fruit that looks like a miniature strawberry. They grow wild and kids pick them and string them on pieces of grass – then eat them up.

Scandinavian Child Kids Picking Smultron in Sweden

We also went out on the little boat to visit some beaches and islands around the lake. On our last day, Anton and I were dropped off up the lake side and hiked back along the waters’ edge. Anton found pirate treasure! Okay, they were just some very old railroad ties, but they were still pretty cool and we had a great adventure!

In the middle of our visit, I took a side trip to Paris to visit our friends at the Beaba Concept Store in Paris.  We had a fantastic time!  We were honored to be among the first Babycook Cooking Class  students at the world famous Alain Ducasse cooking school.  Here is a photo of my masterpiece, a recipe you can find in the Babycook recipe book. 

SCI CEO, Brenda Berg, at Beaba Babycook Cooking School

The goal of our trip was merely to connect and engage with parents. And we exceeded every hope of our goal.
We talked with parents in our suite, in the hallway, in the sessions and at the parties.

The feedback on our new lillebaby diaper bags and Micralite FastFold Superlite stroller was phenomenal.

Best yet, we had a great team. We had the privilege of being joined by Kadi Prescott, Kate Lord, Lauren Horseley and Gena Morris. They worked with us throughout the weekend to spread the word of Designs Without Compromise and we can’t thank them enough.

Here’s a little montage of the weekend! I need some time to digest all the we learned and put it into a more comprehensive post, but until then, enjoy…

Safety. Style. Functionality.
We are Designs Without Compromise.

I was privileged to be asked to sit on a panel at the Triangle AMA Social Media Bootcamp on Crucial Connections: Effective Engagement and Outreach. As part of that privilege, I got to attend the entire session, which was so totally fabulous I really can’t put it into words. Cord Silverstein of Capstrat and his planning team put together a truly talented line-up of speakers.

So what was so great about yesterday? I LEARNED.

I spend a lot of my job at Scandinavian Child engaging in social media but I definitely don’t know it all. I don’t even come close. This was evident by all the gems I took home from the event, specifically on video (courtesy of Gregory Ng of Brooks Bell Interactive.) In fact, Jim Hazen of Capstrat made a point to call himself a “learner” and not a “guru”, which I thought was great. This is still a relatively new medium and we’re all find new and improved ways to use it.

Here are a few things I didn’t know that I thought I’d share:

• There are many tools that can help you track forum and discussion board conversations.  Check out boardtracker.com, boardreader.com and omgili.com.
• When posting a title to your YouTube video, use the word VIDEO as many people actually search that way. 
• When writing a description, lead with a URL.  YouTube only shows the first two lines and most people don’t click through to see more info.
• You can add tracking codes to URL’s with Google Analytics for specific campaigns.  As an example, you can blast out a URL on Twitter and a seperate URL on Facebook and compare your visitor stats.  Search URL builder.
• For bragging rights, you can analyze your “social media influence” on Twitalyzer or Klout.com. (Both Scandinavian Child and I are spiders, in case you care. On Klout, I am a persona and Scandinavian Child is a connector.)

I actually learned a substantial amount more about analytics, but it’s hard to put into concrete though here, so you’ll just have to check out Jim’s presentation once it’s uploaded to Slideshare.

As for my panel, I got to sit in with Chris Moody and Jeremy Smith, two fun guys who have a wealth of knowledge in the social media realm. We talked about the importance of the pitch and having normal, everyday conversations with people.  Online relationships are just like real life relationships.  You have to talk in order to have someone talk back to you. 

Bottom line: Have a goal in mind when you start in social media.  Know what your objectives are and HAVE FUN!

Unfortunately I missed Nathan Gilliat’s presentationon Social Media Monitoring but you can view his presentation here. And since I came in late for Cord’s Crisis Communication topic, I’ll share that one with you too.

Want more? Visit the following sites for more recaps or visit Slideshare for access to all presentations.
KarlSakas.com
Media Two Point (oh)

Erin serves as Director of Marketing Communications for Scandinavian Child. A drama queen with a strong love of Starbucks, she can also be found at her personal blog Tales from a Marketing Mama. She has an adorable 18 month old son and a hilarious, fabulous husband.

We have been utterly thrilled with the response to this contest. Some amazing photos and blog postings have gone up talking about how wonderful it is to be able to get out and about with your children. Have you checked out our Facebook fan photos?

Parents have taken their children to the Farmer’s Market, the beach, the library and the grocery store. And it’s all been made easier by their carriers. Whether you choose to use a lillebaby EveryWear carrier or not, we know that baby wearing makes life easier on parents and caregivers.

It is our goal to have contest entries from all 50 states. We just need 11 more to reach our goal,so if you know anyone in the following states, please tell them about our contest. There might just be a surprise in store for them.

Alaska
Hawaii
Oregon
Idaho
Wyoming
North Dakota
Arkansas
Alabama
Maine
Vermont
Delaware