Guest Blogger
Melissa Moog
A true pioneer in an emerging industry, Melissa Moog is one of America’s original baby planners as founder of Itsabelly, a national baby planning service guiding new and expectant parents through the process of parenthood. Soon after creating Itsabelly, Melissa continued to forge new frontiers by becoming founder and president of the International Baby Planner Association to support professional consultants by setting standards, offering professional development and providing a forum for networking to help other mom-preneurs get started with their own baby planning businesses. Melissa is also the leading authority and voice for baby planning with an eco-twist, as the co-author of Itsabelly’s Guide to Going Green with Baby and THE first baby planning business to secure Green America’s seal of approval. She also reviews baby products and shares parenting tips on her Itsabelly blog .
With enthusiasm and authority, Melissa offers her expertise on all-things baby from sifting through the maze of available products, designing an eco-friendly and personal nursery, offering parenting tips, helping with pregnancy planning to securing the perfect nanny for any family. Melissa has become a leading voice for baby planners and the maternity concierge industry as the baby planning expert for The Bump, a sister site to The Knot, providing the ultimate local guide to pregnant living, baby planning expert for ParentingWeekly.com, pregnancy planning expert for BizyMoms.com, featured mom blogger for DrGreene.com, maternity concierge expert for Graco’s Myfirstbaby.com and the “New Mom Editor” for Portland’s BetterTV and More Good Day Oregon. Melissa is also the featured Baby Planner Expert for the Juvenile Products Manufacturer Association (JPMA). In addition, Melissa has caught the attention of media all over the country, including the Associated Press (AP), The Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, WeTV’s Platinum Babies, MSNBC.com, San Jose Mercury News, View from the Bay, KGO, Pregnancy magazine, KIWI magazine, Baby Talk Magazine, AM Northwest, KathyIreland.com and CoolMomPicks.com, among others.
Prior to her Itsabelly success, Melissa was a human resources director for Kensington and holds a master’s degree in human resources/organizational development from the University of San Francisco. Melissa is a certified Child Passenger Seat Technician through Safe Kids Worldwide and has passed the Home Hazards Test via the International Association for Child Safety.
In her free time, Melissa lives out her mommyhood doing what she loves: cooking and traveling with her husband, daughter, twins and their two yellow labs. And when she’s lucky, she even enjoys quality time at the gym.
www.itsabelly.com/
How to Help Your Child Adjust to Life with a New Baby
If you have a young child at home and you are expecting your second you’re probably wondering how to help ease the transition into life with a new baby. Your toddler is used to having your undivided attention and now she has to share it with someone new. This transition phase can be challenging for [...]
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Introducing Your New Baby to the Family Pet
Many families often have pets before they have a new baby and introducing them to your newborn appropriately is a very important task. We have two yellow Labrador Retrievers that I was hoping would become Isabella’s favorite playmates. So, as a new parent I was interested in learning how I could make the transition into [...]
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New Parent Tips on How to Reduce Stress After Having a Baby
Becoming a new parent as you bring a baby into the world is incredibly overwhelming and hard work. It will challenge you in ways you’ve never been challenged before. Taking care of a new baby can be so all-encompassing that you have very little time to take care of yourself.
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What’s in Your Diaper Bag?
Do you find it funny that as a new mom the fashionable purse that you carried all of your goodies in has now become the sack of diapering doodads that keeps you sane for when baby erupts? From diapering tools to pacifiers, your purse really isn’t “your” purse anymore.
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How to Find a Great Babysitter or Nanny
Who said going out with your sweetie on a date night would never happen after having a baby? Well, I believe going out on a date night is a must to keep your relationship strong and friends are bound to invite you out to a special event. So, it’s definitely in your best interest to [...]
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Potty Training 101
My daughter was finally potty trained at 2.5 years old and it was a long, drawn out process. I tried everything and even swore I would NEVER do the M & M candy bribery but I gave into sugar! That didn’t even work.
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Things to Consider When Finding the Right Carrier To Wear Your Baby
I recently did a Baby Wearing TV segment offering tips to parents on how to choose a carrier. I was fortunate to be able to work with a baby carrier expert, Laurel of Bella Stella Baby http://www.bellastellababy.com/ who shared her valuable tips on baby wearing. In this post we’ve combined our information to give you [...]
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How to Choose an Infant Car Seat & Use it Properly to Protect Your Baby
I remember reviewing books like Baby Bargains, Consumer Reports and going to big box stores like BabiesRUs to test out car seats before Isabella was born. I had no idea that picking out a car seat and understanding how to use it was going to be like studying for a CPA exam!
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