It is amazing to see anyone using your creation, much less a Celebrity.  I hope that Selma and Arthur are using and loving their Drool Monkey as much as we love ours!

I am very happy to announce that Drool Monkey has been photographed with Selma Blair and her son Arthur Saint on 7 different days so far!

Click on an image below for a slideshow.

Photos courtesy of www.selmablairstyle.com

Drool rash  is a rash that is usually seen around the lips, on the cheeks, the chin, the neck, and even on the chest. The skin can become red and sensitive and varies from a slight redness to in extreme case, scabbing.  These types of rashes are most commonly caused by the excess saliva (drool) that is produced during the teething process.  It is very common and a completely natural reaction of the saliva and skin.  You as a parent have done nothing wrong to cause it, so don’t worry.

Luckily there are many things that you can do help prevent or soothe the rash.   The main thing to remember is to keep the skin as dry and clean as possible.  The rash is caused by the delicate skin staying moist so keeping it dry is essential.  Experts recommend washing the area with warm water and patting dry, then using a soft cloth to keep the skin dry when the drool “escapes”.    The skin can be very sensitive so be extra gentle when wiping.

There are recommendations of applying a barrier cream to the skin around the mouth.  If you choose to use one please ensure that the area is completely clean and dry before applying a barrier cream.  You do not want to trap bacteria next to the skin.  Be warned, that there are even recommendations in forums of applying a barrier of diaper rash cream.  Personally, I would never want to risk putting anything that isn’t safe to ingest near my child’s mouth?  If you need to use a barrier cream or a cream to soothe the irritated skin, breastfeeding nipple cream could be a safer option.

If your child does get a rash, don’t panic.  These rashes are very common.  Check with your pediatrician and then continue to keep the skin as dry as possible.  If you have major droolers like me, it is not an easy task.  This is why I invented Drool Monkey for my first child.  She was a major drooler and began the teething process very early.  I needed something extremely soft to wipe her mouth and chin with and it had to be something that I could keep clean.  When I noticed she was naturally pulling blankets or toys to her mouth to chew on them, I decided to make my life easier.  I found that when she naturally pulled the absorbent fabric to her mouth it absorbed a lot of the excess drool keeping her skin dry and my job easier.  I then had the rest of the fabric always on hand to wipe when needed.

I would love to hear your experience with Drool Rash.  Please leave a comment.

If you want to learn more about drool rash, I found the following websites to be very informative:

Rash and Teething Relationship

How Much Does Teething Bother Baby – Drool Rash

Dr. Sears – Teething

How to Treat a Baby Rash

What’s better than homemade playdough? It’s an easy activity, you usually have all of the ingredients in your cupboard, kids love to help make it and best of all……..you don’t have to worry if your kiddies happen to “taste” the playdough (which we all know will happen at some point) because it’s completely natural.

There are lots of homemade playdough recipes out there. Here’s the one that I use. I have to admit that it’s the only one I’ve ever tried, so I would love to hear if you have a favorite.

Homemade Cooked Playdough

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon oil
(optional) food coloring

Combine the dry ingredients in a sauce pan letting the little ones stir.
Mix liguids and gradually stir them into the dry ingredients.
When smooth, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until a ball forms.
Now the fun part…Remove from heat and knead until smooth.

You can store the playdough in any air tight container.
Enjoy your super soft playdough!

My Silly Monkey with her Homemade Playdough

When I was pondering what to write for my very first blog post, I realized there’s no better place to start than the beginning.  People always want to know how and why I decided to design and manufacture organic baby products.  It all started when I found out I was pregnant with my first child.  Like all new moms I wanted to get only the best products for my baby.  I researched every purchase and did lots of research on the benefits of organics.  Now I didn’t ONLY buy organic, but I did try to make sure the products my baby would be in contact with the most were organic.

After my daughter was born and started to put everything in her mouth, I definitely wanted to make sure the cloth that she was sucking or chewing on all the time was safe.  You can imagine how I felt when she started to chew on a traditional stuffed blanket lovie that was gifted to us.  It was fuzzy, which I didn’t want her to ingest, and to top it off the care tag said surface wash only!  I quickly hid that lovie and made her a makeshift one out of organic cloth.  It wasn’t pretty but it was safe and I could wash and dry it daily, so I was assured that what she was chewing on was safe and clean.  Well, she loved it and I realized it was something I couldn’t live without. I hand embroidered a monkey face on it (my first attempt ever at hand embroidery LOL) because we affectionately called our daughter our little Drool Monkey.  People started asking me about it everywhere we went.  That’s when the “lightbulb moment” happened and I thought that maybe I should explore the idea of improving the product and bringing it to market.