KidsAndMoney posts

Nearly 9.5 million sleep products for infants and toddlers -- cribs, bassinets and play yards -- have been recalled in the past two years following 16 deaths and more than 2,200 incidents. Yet, many of the products that have proven fatal are still in use, putting children sleeping in them in extreme danger.

The child safety advocacy group, Kids in Danger, tallied the enormity of the recalls in a just-released report. Shortly after the report was released, yet another sleeping product was recalled -- the Amby Baby Motion Bed/Hammock -- following the deaths of two infants.

Nicola Johns knows just how important it is to get the word out about these unsafe baby products. One April night, she put her son, Liam (pictured), to bed in a crib made by Simplicity, a company that is responsible for many of the recalls that have occurred in recent years. Johns looked in on Liam in the morning and couldn't see him; he had become trapped between the mattress and rail when the rail pushed away.

"When I walked closer I could see he was hanging," Nicola Johns wrote in an account for Kids In Danger. "I lifted up his arms. He wasn't breathing."

For the players of Mafia Wars, Vampires, FarmVille and a handful of other Facebook games, the temptation of earning "virtual currency" by clicking on the various offers that popped up on the page was too much to pass up. Unfortunately, what these gamers didn't realize at the time was that the advancement of their virtual characters came at the expense of their own personal bank accounts.

Now, some are fighting back by filing a lawsuit against Facebook and Zynga, the maker of the games. The suit, which is seeking class action status, claims that some offers in the games prompted a series of unauthorized charges or triggered enrollments in programs without the user's knowledge. More than 100,000 people fell victim to these offers, losing more than $5 million, the lawsuit claims.

According to Kermit, It's not easy being green, but the frog is going to have to change his tune. Being green is getting easier every day. What was once labeled 'hippie' has become hip and whether we've embraced the eco-centric lifestyle or are taking baby steps, most of us have realized it's not just cool, but important to care about our environment. As the demand for earth-friendly choices trickles into every aspect of the marketplace, "green" toys are getting increasingly easier to find and cheaper to buy -- just in time for the holidays.

The power of the purse has always been an effective way for consumers to communicate which business practices they support and which they do not. Money talks. The 2009 Cone Consumer Environmental Survey found that in spite of the economy, 34% of American consumers said they are more likely to buy environmentally responsible products than they did one year ago. Some 70% of Americans indicated that they are paying attention to what companies are doing with regard to the environment today, even if they aren't buying right now.

"The fact that consumers continue to be interested in the environment and mindful of corporate efforts, even in the midst of a grueling recession, is evidence that this is more than just a passing trend," said Jonathan Yohannan, senior vice president of corporate responsibility for Boston-based Cone. "Environmental responsibility is not just an expectation in times of prosperity."

The Evenflo ExerSaucer 1-2-3 Tea for Me is being recalled due to a part that can detach, putting toddlers at risk of choking.

About 66,000 of the activity centers are part of the recall, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The agency had no comment on the early release of the recall notice, which was sent to retailers.

The contraption involves placing a child who is not yet able to walk in a seat in the middle, which rotates, allowing the toddler to play with a variety of different toys around the ExerSaucer's rim.

The recall will only affect the 1-2-3 Tea for Me version, which include an eraser-like candle flame atop a toy cake that can be pulled off by a child and swallowed.

According to the recall notice sent to retailers, Evenflo received 11 complaints of the flame detaching from the Chinese-made product before proceeding with a recall in both the U.S. and Canada. The affected model numbers are 6161834 and 6161920.

The toys were sold at Toys R Us and other stores nationwide for about $70 between December 2007 and March 2009.

Those who have the ExerSaucer that is being recalled should immediately remove the cake toy and contact Evenflo at 1-800-233-5921 on Thursday or thereafter weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time to get a replacement toy.

Check the status of this and other Evenflo product safety campaigns by going to the company's product safety page here.

This post was updated on December 8, 2009 to reflect the recall.

The art of the deal isn't something students usually study in elementary school, and neither are the principles of real estate, the rough and tumble rules of the stock market or best practices for starting a business.

However, there are games for kids that do exactly that. The best part? The learning is completely stealth. Kids just think it's fun.

When I was a young, wheelin' dealin' Monopoly shark, I would mercilessly charge opponents exorbitant rents with glee. Modern players still covet Park Place, but these days they are playing the Milton Bradley Monopoly Here and Now Electronic Banking Edition which offers an electronic bank and debit card as well as prices raised to reflect inflation.

After a random survey of 1,000 online members, online cash-gift registry Lottay.com believe it has an idea of what shoppers will be searching for come holiday gift-giving time. And according to the survey, it ain't gift cards.

"A cow, a monkey, a hookah, and Satan," well, yeah, but definitely not gift cards.

Cribbing a quote from the Cheapskate column of the Wall Street Journal, Lottay espouses, "Somebody already invented that go-anywhere gift card. It's called cash."

Lottay says tens and twenties are the thing most people want to find stuffed in their stockings in 2009, but since it can be awkward to ask Santa for a crisp Ben Franklin or two, Lottay provides a clever solution.

While your kids are stressing about college, as in their essays and SAT scores, you're probably stressing about college planning, as in coming up with the money. Of course you want your kids to have the best education possible -- but have you seen what the best education costs these days? Don't worry -- with these top 10 tips for college planning, you may not have to spend the rest of your life paying for the next four years of your kid's life.

College Planning Tip #1: Negotiate your financial aid. You should start to receive financial aid packets from colleges about two weeks after receiving an acceptance letter, and these packets are crucial for college planning. In fact, it can help in your final college planning decision, as schools vary widely in what they'll offer, as they present what they can do to try to make up the difference between their fees and your expected contribution. They calculate this amount via several factors: your financial need, your kid's academic achievements and the aid they have available. This calculation often poses the biggest problem for middle-income families who are college planning -- they have too much to qualify but too little to pay.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are being announced or leaked at such a rapid rate its getting difficult to keep track. Of all the retailers, Toys R Us may well be the most aggressive with the deals and now it is expanding online discounts for the big day, with free shipping, bonuses with purchase, and some special payment plans.

There's even an online layaway program called Bill Me Later. Through Saturday, November 28, new Bill Me Later customers will receive $10 off purchases of $30 or more, with no payments for up to 90 days. In addition, all customers who opt to use Google Checkout will receive $10 off purchases of $60 or more.

Around my house, we don't make the decision to pile into the car and head over to our local Cineplex as easily as we once did. It costs a lot of money these days to see talking animals, wild things and giant meatballs falling from the sky -- and don't get me started on the popcorn.

Going to see the latest kid's film use to be a no-brainer and if the adults slept through it, well, it didn't really matter, but no more. When a family of four has to pay a total of $40.50 to see a "regular" movie, or $56.50 to see that movie in digital 3D, or splurges to see that same movie in digital 3D playing on the "giant" IMAX screen for a whopping $60.50, it suddenly becomes very important that everyone is at least mildly amused or entertained.

To buy tickets to all of the new movies coming out would cost literally hundreds of dollars, and if you throw in drinks and snacks -- there goes college. How to find one that's family-friendly and worth the expense?

Movie reviews for kids are not new, but they are getting increasingly relevant as families demand more of a sure-bet for their entertainment budget. It's impossible to promise that everyone will like a movie, but if you know who to listen to there will be more hits than misses.

Most of the websites are free, such as Kids-in-Mind., Commonsensemedia, Parentpreviews, and Moviemom.

If you happen to be bringing baby over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house for Thanksgiving, you're not alone. Despite the fact The Air Transport Authority is reporting a 4% decline in air travelers, Gail Weinholzer, director of public affairs for AAA said the auto club still expects 40 million people to travel this holiday. Thirty-five million of them will be driving their own cars.

If you're traveling with kids, you not only have to pack your patience, but also a whole lot of gear. It can be tempting to stay home, lock the doors and order-in Chinese.

But tradition calls. In an attempt to actually see out the windows of our SUV, my family recently invested in one of those soft-sided, roof-top storage thingies that strap to the roof rails on top of the car. It definitely helps, but it also transforms our ride into a cross between Vacation, the not-so-funny sequel and Grapes of Wrath.

If you'd rather not go the Sherpa route or are looking to avoid outrageous fees for checking items under the plane, baby equipment rentals seek to offer the solution. Stocked with the kind of sanity saving amenities to which baby has become accustomed (high-chair, Exersaucer, baby gates, infant swing, jogger, double jogger, Boppy ring, etc.) instead of schlepping a frazzled parent might consider renting --and it's not too late to make reservations for those must-have items.

Parents are no strangers to squabbles with kids. For some, it's cleaning their room. While others fight over their kid's homework.

While those can be logical battlegrounds to enter, experts say arguing over food -- specifically if it's over your child being a vegetarian -- aren't worth the fight.

According to Jennifer Nelson, director of clinical dietetics at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, food battles can be stressful for kids. Especially if they involve peers.

With endowments in the toilet, state aid on the decline, and families scrounging for cash to cover tuition increases, it's nice to know that one group of college constituents aren't suffering: top flight, 7-figure football coaches.

An extensive study conducted by USA Today found that at least 25 college football coaches are making more than $2 million this season -- up 100% from two years ago. The average pay for a head coach in the 120-school Football Bowl Subdivision is up 28% in two years and 46% in three years. The average coach in that elite conference earns $1.36 million.

A survey of bowl-division college presidents conducted by Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics found that 85% of respondents considered the pay packages football and basketball coaches are taking to be "excessive."

Get $1.50 off any package of Huggies diapers through Shortscuts.com. Don't delay as the site only allows a certain number of these coupons to be printed. The coupon expires Dec. 4, 2009.

There is also a coupon for $2 off a pack of Pulls Ups training pants. If you don't see these coupons on the above link they has probably been maxed out.

Buy enough diapers and you can make a diaper cake. Hmmm...tasty.

So you're having to pack up that fancy Maclaren stroller and send it back to its maker because of the massive recall. Now what? It's not like you can get far without your stroller, especially if you live in the city.

But choosing a stroller these days is about as time-consuming as researching your next car. Do you want a jogger? An umbrella? A pram? A two-in-one? Are the Italian ones better than the Japanese ones? Is Graco better than Evenflo? What about double strollers? A side-by-side or a sit n' stand? Is a $500 Peg Perego lightweight better than an $80 lightweight from Evenflo?

The quick answer: Strollersource, a website that lets you compare stroller brands by price and form and function, with all of the facts and none of the hard-sell of a stroller salesman. While there is no shortage of stroller review and comparison shopping sites, this one has a simple, easy-to-use search function that is blissfully free of blinking, screaming shills. Very important for the frazzled, concentration-challenged mom, in my opinion. The site does not sell strollers at all, so you're getting just the facts, ma'am.

A good buy doesn't always end up on your receipt at the register. Sometimes it winds up on your résumé.

According to the College Board, the average college tuition in the United States is $26,273, up more than 4% from last year. But not all universities cost that much, and not all cheap colleges give you junk degrees. Sprinkled across America you'll find some discount degrees that are actually worth just as much as the highest-priced ones.

Tuition at all of these colleges can be had for under $5,000 a year -- and a few are completely free. If your kid's in high school, now is the time to start thinking about how to afford their next big step. Start planning your applications now, because the competition is tight: