Back up and running

Just a quick note to let everyone know we are back up and running. It took a little longer than we expected but we believe all of our server issues have been resolved.

Sorry for any inconveniences anyone may have encountered. If were trying to place an order before and were not able, please try again. If you experience any troubles, please contact us so we can get the problem fixed.

Thanks to all for your patience!

Gina, owner
Belly Rubs 2 Baby Hugs
--A Division of Supermommy's Superstore, LLC

International Shipments

Effective February 1, 2008, all international shipments, including shipments to Canada will be shipped via USPS Priority Mail International. We realize this is more expensive for smaller, lighter shipments, however, the deliveries arrive in a more timely manner, include partial or full insurance coverage and provide tracking. As before, all international shipments incur shipping charges. Even if shipping charges do not appear in the cart at checkout (i.e. purchases over $150), shipping charges will be added to your total amount and charged to your card. We apologize for any inconveniences this may cause but we made this decision in the best interest of our customers and to insure we are offering the best customer service possible.

Thanks to all for your business!

Gina, owner
Belly Rubs 2 Baby Hugs
--A Division of Supermommy's Superstore, LLC

New Parent Tip-of-the-week: White Noise

Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay this week! Our site has been up and down all week so we have exhausted ourselves trying to get it back to full speed. We apologize to anyone who has had trouble contacting us or placing an order.

This week's tip is to help baby (and parents) sleep better. Doctors and scientist have said that white noise soothes babies and helps them sleep better and longer. We have found this to be true at our house and have found an inexpensive item to create white noise and help your baby (and you) sleep better.

Visit your local department or hardware store and buy a small fan--the noisiest one you can find. Wal-mart and Target often have smaller fans, less than a foot in diameter for under $10. Place fan in baby's room well away from the crib and baby monitor. Do not turn the fan's airflow toward the crib either. We recommend a wall mounted fan or place the fan on a dresser out of baby's reach, making sure all power cords are tucked away and outlets are covered. We have our fan turned straight up so the air is blowing toward the ceiling.

Now, find the setting that offers a gentle hum but not so loud that it drowns out baby's sounds over the monitor. You may want to test out the settings while baby is down for a nap so you become acquainted to the sounds over the baby monitor. Not only does the fan create white noise but it also blocks out the sounds of traffic or in our case, the neighbor's barking dogs. This also allows parents to do work around the house without worrying about the noise waking baby.

We have been using fans in our children's rooms since they were infants and we have all slept better. Our babies took longer naps and slept for longer periods of time during the night. We even take our small fans on vacation to block out the noise of people in the hallways. Hope it works for you, too!

Sweet dreams!

Site problems

Just wanted to let everyone know you may encounter an occasional error message when shopping over the next couple of days but if you allow a couple of minutes and then refresh, you should be able to continue shopping. Our email is also running extremely slow so if you do not receive a reply from us within 24 hours, please contact us again. Our web hosting company has had so many problems in the last week that we were forced to change companies so we could get some new products added to our site. We hope to have everything back to normal by Monday.

Thanks in advance for your patience!

Gina, owner
Belly Rubs 2 Baby Hugs
--A Division of Supermommy's Superstore, LLC

Our parent company's site Grand Opening

Our parent company, Supermommy's Superstore, is having their web store Grand Opening this week. Although our web store is fairly new, our parent company has been in business for over a year. Supermommy's Superstore features products for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. When your tots have outgrown Belly Rubs 2 Baby Hugs, you can visit us at Supermommy's Superstore for more great items.

Grand Opening special: Every customer making a purchase this week at www.SupermommysSuperstore.com will receive a coupon code for 10% off of their next purchase at Supermommy's Superstore. We still have lots to add to this site so shop with us today, add us to your favorites and check back often as our list of superb products grows!

Parent tip-of-the-week: No more lost baby socks

We were always 'losing' baby socks in the laundry because they would get stuck in shirt sleeves, pants legs, and even in other socks so we found an easy solution to keep baby socks together and make putting them away a cinch.

Use a safety pin to pin the toes of the socks together before throwing them in the hamper. This keeps socks together in the wash and make it simple to find the mate when putting them away. This tip also works well on mittens and gloves.

Please note: Keep all pins out of reach of children at all times. Never use a pin on a young child's clothing while clothing is on the child. This suggestion is only meant to be used on clothing off of baby's body.

Belli has arrived!!

We are proud to announce we are now a Belli Cosmetics retailer!

Belli is the only skin care brand in the world that utilizes a teratology screening process to screen for teratogens--any substance capable of interfering with the fetus causing birth defects. This ensures that no ingredients in Belli's formulations have ever been linked to birth defects. Many commonly used skin-care ingredients are teratogens, even some organic ingredients are teratogens. Belli's Baby and Motherhood lines are also tested for teratogens:

• Belli Motherhood is LactMed screened to avoid ingredients linked to harmful effects during breastfeeding.
• Belli Baby is screened for xenoestrogens—chemicals which can act like hormones that interfere with normal development of the reproductive system.

So no matter which Belli products you use, you can have peace of mind erring on the side of caution. Every Belli porduct is also allergy tested, free of synthetic dyes and paraben preservatives.

We have a full line of Belli products in stock including Belli Baby, Belli Motherhood and Belli Pregnancy. If you have never tried Belli, check out one of their gift sets. They make the perfect gift or an excellent sampler for yourself!

Parent tip-of-the-week: Always carry crayons!

~You're waiting for dinner and your toddler is getting very restless.
~You're standing in line at the grocery store but still have 3 more customers in front of you.
~You're at the doctor's office and finished flipping through every magazine/book in the room and still have to wait. These are all scenes that we have played out with a bored toddler.

Here is a cheap, easy-to-carry tip to keep your toddler occupied when everyone's patience is wearing thin. Always carry a small bag of crayons in your purse or diaper bag. We use the snack size Ziploc bags with 4-6 crayons inside. Tuck a couple of sheets of paper in your bag and you're ready!

Children as young as 12 months (possibly younger depending on fine motor skill development) can scribble and find coloring to be entertaining. Draw pictures for them and create a learning moment in the middle of Wal-mart. If it gets you through the checkout without a meltdown, who cares what people think about your artwork. Your child will love it!

When you are at the doctor's office, your toddler can color on the paper across the exam table while you're waiting to see the doctor. When the doctor or nurse arrives, your child can show off his/her artwork. (Our eight year old still loves to draw pictures on the paper.)

Forget your paper? Most restaurants and offices will gladly give you piece of paper so don't be afraid to ask.

Hope you find this tip helpful! See you next week!

No tip this week

We will not be posting this week because our daughter is ill and our time and energy are going to our family. We will be back next week to resume our tip-of-the-week. Thanks for your understanding!

At this time, all orders are still being shipped on time.

Do check out our site for some exciting new arrivals coming soon, as well as our recent newcomers: Earth Mama Angel Baby and Moby Wrap.

Have a great weekend!