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Today a stroller is so much more than just a stroller. It’s a “system” that works for getting around town, napping and traveling, and can accommodate not only your growing baby but your growing family. You can switch out the car seat for a bassinet, then a regular stroller seat and, eventually, maybe even snap on another bassinet/seat once a sib comes along. Here are some of the newest stroller systems coming to a sidewalk near you.

Bugaboo Bee The original trendsetter of upscale, modern European strollers is launching a new Bugaboo Bee. This compact stroller, which is an infant-to-toddler system, features a height-adjustable backrest that simultaneously adjusts the sun canopy and and five-point harness for four different height positions. Finally, features that coordinate.The Bee also has a reversible seat that’s been re-engineered with a circular joint system.

iCandy Cherry iCandy, a British family biz that dates back to the 1930s, turns out delicious, modern, sleek strollers named after fruits: cherry, pear, apple and peach (coming this fall). The cherry has a ginormous shopping basket, adjustable leg rest and soft-touch grip handle. The iCandy cherry comes with a bassinet and stroller seat, and the bassinet folds flat for easy storage. Who doesn’t like candy!

City Select by Baby Jogger - The company that’s been giving us fab jogging and all-terrain strollers for the past quarter of a century has just introduced the new City Select. The City Select is all about multi-functionality, and you can customize this stroller to meet your family’s growing needs. Mix and match seats, bassinets and car seats for up to 16 combinations, including various set-ups for a double. Other features: a hand-operated parking break, a foot well that tilts for added leg support and multi-position seat recline.

UPPAbaby VISTA 2010 Special Edition
Billed as “part sports car, part super-utility vehicle,” this new special edition VISTA comes in a fab mellow yellow color called Maya and has an aluminum alloy frame with a graphite-colored finish. This 2010 model got a number of upgrades: an organic latex, hypo-allergenic, anti-microbial bassinet mattress; a pop-up, SPF 50+, ventilated sun-shade for the bassinet; a plush seat cushion with twice as much padding and extended seat height to accommodate taller children. This baby converts to not only a double but a triple with the piggyBACK board.

UPPAbaby Bassinet Stand We’re loving this. It truly completes the VISTA system. It’s a stand that works with the VISTA bassinet. Perfect for getting your bambino situated in any room of your home. The bassinet snaps into the stand just like it snaps into the stroller.

Let’s face it, some of us have no talent in the kitchen and are all about the prepared foods section at the market. But when it comes to birthday cupcakes and cakes, we don’t want to disappoint Junior. Nor do we want to spend $4 per cupcake from a a chi chi bakery or patisserie.

Enter Ticings by Sweettoof Studios. They’re edible stickers created by brand identity and print packaging guru Mia Natsume. Natsume has worked her design magic for corporate heavy hitters, including Jaguar, Hilton and Hyatt Hotels, Lexus and Bank of America. Now she’s bringing her creativity to cake decorating. Ticings are edible art that peels and presses onto any soft-frosted cake. You just press the FDA- and kosher-approved, gluten-free, circular “sticker” onto any flat-frosted cupcake, give it 30 minutes to meld, and then serve.

Also great for baby showers and holidays. Our fave? “Bite Me.” So Alice in Wonderland.

$15.95 for a sheet of 12 2.5- or 2-inch cupcake circles. $15.95 - $19.95 for full-cake Ticings. Available at ticings.com.

With a new warning, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is finally addressing an issue many of us had long suspected: Slings can be dangerous. The CPSC issued a warning yesterday advising parents and caregivers to be cautious when using a sling for babies younger than four months.

The Commission looked at 14 deaths associated with sling-style infant carriers in the past 20 years, three of the cases in 2009, and found that these baby carriers pose two types of suffocation hazards.  The first is for the youngest babies who can’t control their heads because of weak neck muscles. The fabric of the sling can press against a baby’s mouth and nose and suffocate the baby within a minute or two. Slings that keep a baby in a curled position, bending his chin toward his chest, can also restrict the airways, limiting the oxygen supply and hindering a baby’s ability to cry for help.

Of the babies who died in slings, 12 were younger than four months and many were either a low-birth-weight twin, born prematurely or had breathing issues (such as a cold). The CPSC urges parents of twins, preemies, babies in fragile health and those of a low weight to consult a pediatrician about using a sling.

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Recently, the Commission added slings to the list of durable infant products that require a mandatory standard and is investigating whether to take further action. The CPSC recommends that people who are going to carry a baby in a sling:

- Make sure the infant’s face is not covered.

-Make sure the infant’s face is visible at all times.

-Moms who nurse a baby in a sling should reposition the baby after feeding so the baby’s head is facing up and is clear of both the sling and her body.

In a press release, the CPSC said it is “interested in receiving incident or injury reports related to infant slings.” To do this, visit https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx or call the CPSC hotline at (800) 638-2772.

Diagram source: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

It’s hard to believe the quintessential graduation/new baby book - Dr. Seuss’s Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, is celebrating the big 2-0. It’s also hard to believe how relevant the story is, given that our nation’s unemployment rate is hovering around 10% and so many people are stuck in a professional purgatory.

“You can get so confused
that you’ll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place … ”

Now the ultimate carpe diem book is going pop-up. Oh, the Places You’ll Go Pop-up! goes on sale today. (There’s also a pricier limited edition pop-up available.) The man behind the book’s pop ups, veteran paper engineer David Carter, is the author of 80 pop-up books, including the Bugs in a Box series. Carter’s and Robert Sabuda’s intricate paper sculptures that leap out at us from the pages are part of the recent pop-up explosion. But these books, which seem to spring to life, have actually been around for centuries. Carter clues us in:

-A group of collectors called The Movable Book Society claims that a Benedictine Monk named Matthew Paris created the first pop-up in the 1200s.

-Lothar Meggendorfer, a German illustrator and writer, is considered the father of modern pop-ups. Back when Meggendorfer was creating his visual feasts in the 1800s, pop-ups were called movable books.

-The books weren’t called pop-ups until the 1930s.

-It can take up to a year to complete one pop-up book.

So remember:

Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So … get on your way!

Available at amazon.com.

It takes a lot to impress us. As parents of urban babies, with access to the latest and greatest props and paraphernalia of parenthood, we’re often left with that been-there-done-that feeling when we see what is billed as the new, must-have baby gear. And then a product comes along that literally stops traffic and our blase attitude.

Taga is part bike, part stroller and part genius. It’s a “multifunctional urban vehicle” - an MUV! - that’s coming stateside from the Netherlands this April. You secure your little guy in the stroller seat (with your helmets), hop on the bike and ride. Taga is the equivalent of a jogging stroller for the cycling set … only lighter and easier to use. Within seconds, you can convert the Taga from bike mode to (premium) stroller mode. And if you decide to stop for a latte after a few laps, just park then pop out the portable seat unit with Junior. With three wheels, Taga is like a giant tricycle, so you don’t need to be Lance Armstrong to feel confident about riding it. And note: It converts to a double and comes ready for a child aged six months to six-years-old.

Ride, baby, ride.

Pre-order now at tagabikes.com.

Imagine trying to go an entire day (in the course of your everyday life, not on vacay on some secluded island) without eyeballing any ads. You’d have to temporarily ditch your PDA, computer and TV and avoid looking at buses, taxis, streaming electronic headlines on billboards, etc. Ads lurk everywhere. And apparently Madison Avenue is quite good at getting through to even young kids.

A new study from researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin says preschoolers not only recognize brands but also understand them. Bettina Cornwell, a co-author of the study, said, “Before this study, research suggested that brand symbolism does not develop until age seven or eight.” In the first part of the two-part study published in Psychology & Marketing, academics found that the most commonly recognized brand by kids ages three to five was McDonald’s, followed by the brands of other fast food companies, sodas and toys. The second half of the study, which also tested kids between the ages of three and five, found that children are more likely to have “developed brand knowledge for brands primarily targeted to them.” The latest findings also indicate that kids use brand cues in making decisions about food products, and they realize that having a certain brand sends messages about the type of person they are.

Researcher Cornwell notes that the findings “highlight the need for lawmakers to continue to monitor and regulate advertising to children” and says “we need public policies that address the development of eating habits very early in a child’s life.”

Timely results given the recent launch of First Lady Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity campaign.

Ever since tea was first “invented” by the Chinese emperor Shen Nung in 2737 B.C., the beverage that would go on to become the world’s most popular has been at the center of a hell of a lot of political controversy. Think of the 1773 “incident,” aka the Boston Tea Party, and last month’s situation at the National Tea Party Convention with Sarah Palin and a certain set of crib notes on her left hand. But with the bad comes the good …

Mama Tea, an herbal, caffeine-free tea designed for pregnant and nursing women, has hit the UK. MT has many different varieties: Morning Mama for morning sickness, Cool Mama for heartburn, Ready Mama for birth preparation (not recommended for pregnant women before 38 weeks) and New Mama for breastfeeding moms. Mama Tea founder Anna Louise Simpson, a mum of two young children and former corporate lawyer, is based in Scotland and calls her product “an evolution in herbal tea.” She worked with a master tea blender (to get the stuff to taste good and not bitter) plus a medical herbalist who wrote a book on using herbs during pregnancy. Simpson is hoping to bring her Mama Tea stateside by next fall.

Looking forward to a cuppa.

To learn more about Mama Tea, visit mamatea.com.

Uber-chic baby gear and the umpteen parenting websites and apps have done little to lessen the schlep factor that’s par for the course when traveling with a bambino. As we head into spring break and then summer travel season, you still need to be smart about what you pack.

One item you’ll want to have at the top of your diaper bag is the Pipila. It’s a portable pacifier sterilizer. This gadget uses a UV/ozone lamp that penetrates and kills 99.9% of germs. Developed in Australia, the Pipila is powered by two AAA batteries and doesn’t distort the shape, taste or smell of the pacifier nipple. It takes six minutes to sanitize a paci so it’s best to have a spare for interim sucking. And if you subscribe to the “three-second rule,” consider what a pacifier can collect in the three seconds it’s on a train platform, city sidewalk or supermarket floor.

Would you eat your ____ (fill in the blank with your fave food) if it came into contact with any of the abovementioned surfaces?

Now available at target.com and pipilausa.com.

We’re a society that prizes performance, (IQ) points and percentiles (as in the top one on G&T and other school admissions tests). As parents, we spend an incredible amount of time, money and energy helping our kids maximize these p’s. And, yet, there is something even more basic we can teach our children that will bring success throughout life: how to be happy.

Christine Carter, Ph.D., is the author of Raising Happiness: 10 Simple Steps for More Joyful Kids and Happier Parents and the executive director of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. Carter writes that happiness is “much more than a mood or a cheerful disposition.” It’s about lots of positive emotions: gratitude, forgiveness, appreciation, optimism and confidence. Her goal is to make the “psychology, sociology and neuroscience of raising happy children approachable to real people.” To that end, Carter gives us simple do’s and don’ts in Raising Happiness. Below are some examples of the fab advice she dispenses in her book:

1) “Put on Your Own Oxygen Mask First” - Time and again, research suggests that a depressed parent can negatively affect her child and lead to behavioral problems, increased anxiety, etc. Parents need to model happiness and do things to make themselves happy (i.e. hang out with friends, carve out personal time, exercise, work on your relationship with DH).

2) “Expect Effort and Enjoyment, Not Perfection” - Carter emphasizes the importance of “embracing failure” and hard work and not overpraising Junior for his achievements. She also points out the value of knowing when to quit and realizing when “the cost of reaching a goal is outstripping the benefit.”

3) “Choose Gratitude, Foregiveness and Optimism” - Entitlement is a word that often comes to mind when describing kids today. But they can learn gratitude and ways to express what they’re thankful for. Scientists have discovered that people who “practice gratitude” are 25% happier, more determined and sleep better!

4) “Raise Their Emotional Intelligence” - Carter calls emotional intelligence “emotional literacy” and notes that it is a learned skill, which can help kids read not only their own feelings but also those of others. Emotional literacy stems from the parent-child bond, referred to in academic circles as parent-child attachment. Raising securely-attached DCs entails being sensitive, consistently responsive to their needs and emotionally available and accessible to them.

5) “Teach Self-Discipline” - A series of experiments done in the 1940s (asking kids to stand still!) and replicated in 2001 show that kids these days are less disciplined. Helping kids develop self-control involves:
*Not being a pushover.
*Setting and effectively reinforcing boundaries.
*Being consistent with limit setting.
*Allowing kids the freedom to make mistakes “so they can learn that they are capable of picking themselves up after falling.”

Raising Happiness is available at amazon.com.

In another month or so, you won’t need to spend the requisite 45 minutes wrestling Junior into multiple layers of clothing before “gracefully” (not) maneuvering him into the stroller sleeping bag. Spring/Spring Break shopping season is just around the corner. Get ready to lighten up, integrate color back into your family’s life and bring on the fun clothes.

Masala Baby can help you with all of the above. The collection blends a “modern, spirited, urban vibe” with the traditions of India. Palette-wise, think spice colors: saffron, clove brown, raani pink and curry yellow. In fact, Masala, transliterated, is a mixture of unique ingredients that creates a surprising result. Masala Baby’s collection includes bodysuits with traditional Indian motifs, festive-hued dresses and hoodies, and understated tunics with peacock feathers and camels. Company founder and president Dipali Patwa is a native of India and currently calls New York City home. Patwa, the mother of a three-year-old, also knows her way around the world of textiles and fashion; she’s designed home furnishings for Badgley Mischka, Martha Stewart, Laura Ashley and Bill Blass. Her Masala Baby pieces are made in India. Fabrics are woven on handlooms by artisans, and prints are hand-screened or block-printed.

A delicious way to dress. Hey, it is Fashion Week. Spice things up.

Available at masalababynyc.com.