Sunday Review: Bounce bounce LoBo bouncer
April 4, 2010 at 6:37 pm | Posted in New Born, Reviews | 1 CommentTags: Baba Bing, baby bouncer, LoBo Bouncer
A review from guest blogger Lisa.
Phew, the chores of motherhood are certainly taking their toll on my poor back. I am even seeing a chiropractor to see if I can fix it up but I know it can only get worse as the little sausage continues to grow and gain weight. My only saviour these days comes in a shape of a baby gym and a baba bing loBo baby bouncer…
As a new mum and continuing to breast feed I have to make time to squeeze in a proper lunch every day so I put 3 month old Romeo in his bouncer for 20 minutes as I whip myself up a bite.
At first I think the loBo was a tad too advanced for Romeo back when he had little control of his head but now he simply loves it! He will happily sit in it and try to exchange conversation with the two loBo toys hanging just above his head. I’m not sure what they chat about but the conversation goes something like “aahhhhh gooooo” fabulous! In fact I think the first set of goos and gaaass coming from Romeo were from him watching these two abstract but cute little creatures which I can only imagine are a dog and an octupus?
The only downside to the loBo is that the two toy bar connector slots seem unstable. I don’t know if this is because of safety reasons however it always seems to fall off which can be a worry when baby gets older and more handy will he be able to pull it down?
It took me a while to get used to the bababing loBo but I’ve grown to like it and the colours are great! if you get bored of the lime green you can even reverse the seat pad and head hugger to the brown side. Its a sophisticated and stylish bouncer very different from your run of the mill bouncer. Me and Romeo love it!
Lisa – first time mum
The LoBo Bouncer was kindly sent to Lisa to review byBaba Bing. We stick to the bloggers with integrity code to only promote products that we truly, truly love.
You’re pregnant?! Did you know / don’t buy this / have that / remember to….
February 26, 2010 at 10:25 pm | Posted in Daily Life, General Advice, New Born, Pregnancy | 8 CommentsTags: Newborn, parenting help, Pregnancy, pregnany advice
We had a fantastic dinner with some close and recently friends who we haven’t seen for absolutely ages this week. Husband even went as far as finding a Jamie Oliver recipe and did all the prep for what turned out to be a gorgeous beef and ale pie.
I knew before our guests arrived that the conversation would revolve around pregnancy, childbirth and raising a small and demanding baby, but what of it? It was to be expected really, and there is nothing wrong with being a baby bore.
Me 7 1/2 months pregnant at our wedding anniversary BBQ
But what is it about having children that gives us that burning desire to impart little nuggets of wisdom on our soon to be new parents? We act like we’re the only person on the planet that they know who has ever had a baby. And we act like without our expert advice, they might quite possibly fail completely at being responsible parents.
During the course of the evening I animatedly:
- Approved their choice of buggy
- Instructed them to have the baby in the hospital – not at home with any new fangled water birth ideas, or at a cottage hospital with gas and air as the only pain relief options.
- Explained the importance of a good bedtime routine…I think I repeated myself about 18 times in reiterating that we put the bear down in his moses basket with Classic fm from the age of three weeks.
- Detailed the best ways of getting a baby used to sleeping away from home and possibly wrote down the make and model of our travel cot.
- Described the pros and cons of NCT classes, and warned against attending whilst emotionally unstable with pregnancy hormones having just pranged the new £17,000 car.
- Debated the healthy amount of television for a child to watch and the effects on their speech and development, condoning Waybaloo and In the Night Garden as thoroughly therapeutic (for mum).
I think I thought I was Mary Poppins or something. But it happens every time I encounter someone pregnant with their first child. They must see me coming and try to hide. If I saw myself on video I would hope to hell that the ground swallowed me up and saved me from myself.
Is this normal behaviour or have I become baby mad?! For these are not the rules, just my personal experiences. I don’t for a second think I’m an amazing mum, there’s just something about having been through something this life changing, that a friend is yet to experience that makes you want to share it all.
Please tell me this has happened to you….right?!
Its bath time!
February 24, 2010 at 7:04 pm | Posted in Baby Care & Health, New Born | Leave a commentTags: baby bath, FlexiBath, Newborn bath
A review from guest blogger Lisa.
Bathing baby is another new task I have had to master recently and I think I get it now. You see it’s not as easy as it seems, in fact like most baby care chores including breastfeeding its more a skill. My mother in law warned me that once baby is scared of the water it becomes harder to convince them to get into the bath when they get a bit older – bathtime has to be an enjoyable experience for them right from birth.
Armed with a few high pitched “la la las” I run my fingers into the FlexiBath and try and sound fantastically enthusiastic – hmmm Romeo doesn’t look too convinced but gently I lower him in.
Surprisingly the little sausage takes to the water like a duckling – it’s a real learning experience for them and I can’t help but think that it may bring about a few memories of floating around in my tummy. He loves it and of course the only trouble is the part where you have to get him out, dry him and get his nappy and clothes on! So inevitably the crying begins and the dummy comes out to save the day!
The FlexiBath is just about right for 7 week old Romeo. Whilst it is small and compact, which means it can fold into a neat little rectangular shape taking up hardly any space in my already overcrowded bathroom – it is on the tiny side. With Romeo being born 54cm he is growing fast which means it may not be very long before Romeo outgrows the portable bathtub but in the meantime it serves as a clever foldaway bath which we can take to grandmas or even abroad.
RRP £34.95
The FlexiBath was kindly given to us to review by Flexibath. We stick to the bloggers with integrity code to only promote products that we truly, truly love.
Its a wrap
February 21, 2010 at 2:55 pm | Posted in General Advice, New Born | 1 CommentTags: baby carrier;, Baby Sling, Baby Soleil, Moby Wrap
A review from guest blogger Lisa…
I got my Moby Wrap whilst I was still pregnant with lil’ Romeo and I finally get to use it!
Baby is just 6 weeks old and someone had given me a baby bjorn for my baby shower so I was spoilt for choice. The last thing on your mind after giving birth and after those sleepless nights (ouch) is trying to work out how to wrap a 10 foot piece of cloth around you and make sure that your tiny bundle doesnt slip from beneath you.
Needless to say the first thing I reached for was the bjorn which anyone can easily figure out with a few clicks and straps. The moby is not for the faint hearted of sling lovers. Even armed with the instructions I still needed a video demo online to guide me through how to tie it up. Once on properly the Moby felt much more comfortable than the bjorn. My only concern was that Romeo’s feet were inside it properly but with a little readjusting I soon got the hang of it. The first time I tried the wrap I was at home and Romeo fell asleep straight away so I kept it on and did a few light house chores and made myself some lunch!
The best thing about the Moby Wrap is that it allows you to hold and carry your baby closer to your body which works wonders for breastfeeding mums like me. My only concern was mastering it and getting the baby in the correct position but once you have sussed it out its a wrap!
Lisa
p.s We did just notice that there is a video you can download to show you how to use the Moby Wrap!!
The Moby Wrap was kindly given to us to review by Baby Soleil. We stick to the bloggers with integrity code to only promote products that we truly, truly love.
Product Review – Sophie the Giraffe
January 30, 2010 at 8:44 pm | Posted in Baby Care & Health, Baby Development, New Born | 2 CommentsTags: 1 Two Kids, Sophie the Giraffe, teething toys
We’ve been lucky enough to be given the gorgeously iconic Sophie the Giraffe by 1 Two Kids Limited to test out as the ultimate teething toy.
Sophie is just adorable, I love her and was particularly excited about this. I’m a sucker for the cutesie style of the original Disney movies like Bambi and this is what she reminds me of.
I felt the urge to force Sophie onto the bear and make him attached to her. We’ve wondered in the past if his attachment to his muslin was down to us as we always put him to bed with one as a newborn, way before he was capable of forming attachments to toys (or grubby pieces of cloth).
However I needn’t of, as he was quite smitten from day one. She now resides in the ELC shopping trolley which is the home of most favouritest toys including the squeeking eggs and the cobra from the natural history museum.
The one thing I would say is don’t be tempted to let Sophie venture into the bath, she’s not a water creature. It took me quite some time to empty her long limbs of soapy water.
Sophie is designed as a teething toy and is French in origin. She may just look life a giraffe but her body is designed for all manner of different purposes – her ears and horns to sooth sore gums, her long legs to get to those hard to reach molars, she squeaks to stimulate small babies, and the spots provide visual stimulation too.
She’s been around for years apparently and is a hugely popular teething toy, and in my opinion a stayer. She’s lovely and I’m secretly chuffed that the bear likes her too.
Last bonus – easy to wipe clean, wish all toys were, the Christmas parrot puppet has rather a lot of muesli embedded in its fur.
Congratulations Lisa, our guest mummy blogger
January 6, 2010 at 10:41 am | Posted in New Born | Leave a commentTags: New arrival, new baby, Newborn
Congratulations to Lisa our guest mummy blogger who gave birth to 8lb Romeo on December 30th, managing on just gas and air, fair play!!
Gorgeous Romeo has made it a happy if not a little sleepless, new year!
Am I remembering that right?!
November 14, 2009 at 5:47 pm | Posted in General Advice, New Born, Something for Mum | Leave a commentTags: life with a baby, maternity clothes, new mum, Newborn, slummy mummy, yummy mummy
I’ve just been writing my second blog post for my local newspaper, about life with a newborn, and it struck me how we remember some things differently, or we describe them differently for the benefit of others.
Life with a newborn, from the outside in.
I zoomed through writing it, determined to get it finished while the bear has his afternoon nap. He’s still asleep, so here I am on blog number two and I’m pondering my memories of life with a tiny baby…
I spent my first week telling people how lovely it was to have such a good reason not to leave in the house, and spend the day in my jimmies. In reality, the moment I knew we had a visitor coming round I was in the shower, baby in bouncer in the bathroom with me, I swished over surfaces with a duster, put a full face of makeup on and shoehorned myself into a two sizes too small pair of jeans.
So determined to give off the in control, on top of it, natural earth mother type vibes, I continued to approach everything like this.
I diligently made thank you cards, with little pictures of our newborn son on the front, and wrote out the notes from my carefully recorded list of presents we’d received. Meanwhile husband lay on the sofa with baby sleeping peacefully on his chest, watching 13 going on 30 or something similar that I’d chosen and had looked forward to watching.
Next time, I will be buying a bumper pack of cards and will just be writing thank you for the gift in each one. Hopefully you get less gifts for the second baby as people are now bored by the fact that you can have children, then I can watch trashy movies instead.
Finally, the cooking thing, what’s that all about?! I’m 100% positive that I recall telling people that I’d been living on pizza and Chinese takeaway because ‘you just don’t have the time to cook’. The truth was that my mother had kindly given us a number of home-made meals to freeze, and I had developed an unhealthy obsession for making everything from scratch. If it came from a packet it simply wasn’t good enough for a new family Queue homemade everything – soups, stocks, sauces, the lot. I also cringe when I recall throwing drop scones into the frying pan at an alarming rate ready to take for brunch at a friends while the bear sat patiently in his car seat ready to leave. Why do we do it?!
So I remember life with a newborn fondly, and can now laugh at some of the ridiculous lengths I went to in order to carve out what I thought life as a new mum looked like.
When we decide that the time for number two is right, I will be taking it in my stride a little more. I may even go to the shops in my pyjamas, and have pizza for breakfast – and lunch…and dinner.
The Baby Show – baby bewildering
October 30, 2009 at 2:48 pm | Posted in General Advice, New Born, Pregnancy | Leave a commentTags: baby products, baby show, baby shower, birth announcement, Boo Boo, breastfeeding, breastfeeding butterflies, Cabi 3 in 1 Combi, Cosatto, Jane Press, perineum oil, pregnant, raspberry leaf tea, Stokke, stroller, The Baby Show Earls Court, yummy mummy, Yummy Mummy Tummy
From Lisa our pregnant panel mum…
A few Sunday’s ago I decided that I would not let my cold get the better of me so I dragged myself and my growing bump over to Earl’s Court to have a ‘sniffle’ at what the Baby Show had in store for us.
I’m just four weeks off throwing my baby shower so perfect timing – shame I forgot to bring mum to drop in a few hints for Christmas pressies. Nethertheless I strolled on through the maze of colourful stands doning just about anything baby related.
From magic nappies, handcrafted bibs, stylish slings, organic baby grows and funky gadgets to the latest in cots and swish buggies even specialists in baby language I kid you not!
The Baby Show is what it says on the tin – the UK’s largest parenting event – with over 300 exhibitors under one roof how could I not expect to be – well – baby bewildered if Im honest with you. If this didn’t give me nappy brains as they call them, nothing else will. My intention was to have a browse at a few products that had caught my eye recently including those very first important yet challenging purchases as a mum to be like choosing a suitable stroller.
From push..chair to shove – As I meandered the aisles of the cot and pram stands, the Stokke Sleepi catches my eye. This designer cot turns into just about everything – ‘Impressive’ but these days that expression comes with a hefty price tag as do all Stokke products. The sales guy manages to lure me into a sales spiel on the Stokke Xplory. In case you havent heard of it – it’s the stroller which looks more like something from the set of Star Wars – but remarkable in what it can do. I must say that after 15 minutes of ‘rotating’ and ‘innovating’ I was almost sold. Not my cup of tea if Im honest I see myself pushing a Cosatto and I managed to fall in love with the cute brown Cabi 3 in 1 Combi ‘Walk in the Park’. Must make a note to hint that to the OH.
As I continued to wonder wide-eyed in between a sea of prams and bumps there seemed to be so much to touch, smell and buy that I could barely contain myself.
Along my little adventure I managed to find a few useful things like Raspberry Leaf Tea. You can only drink it in large quantities i.e. 6 cups a day once you are 37 weeks in. Apparently its supposed to help ease you into labour if you are a tad late. I will let you know.
Yummy tummy – The first thing on my shopping list was a Yummy Mummy Tummy - a lycra band which fits neatly around your bump and which you can sport from early pregnancy to post-pregnancy. It not only covers your tum up allowing you to wear your pre-pregnancy clothes for longer but it also keeps loose maternity pants up (something I had issues with) and discreet tummy cover whilst breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding Butterflies – On the subject of breastfeeding, I found Fayeandlou.co.uk who introduced me to the breastfeeding butterfly. Unlike other scarves I’ve seen out there this one generously ties to the one shoulder so that you have less pressure around your neck and it also covers the back and tummy area nicely. It’s available in various patterns and colours.
And…Stretch – Another thing I discovered recently is perineum oil, apparently if you massage this stuff into your perineum area (that’s down below) you have less chance of tearing during the birth. Obviously I couldnt test this on the stand but I was nevertheless impressed at the gorgeous packaging and smells coming from the selection of beauty products on display on the Boo Boo stand including their perineum oil. A nice idea for baby shower gifts.
Say hello to the world – With baby arriving in no less than 10 weeks now (if he lands us on my due date that is) I have been thinking about birth announcements. Jane Press creates some gorgeous little prints for you to send out after the birth, all you need to do is provide details and picture. Although I am very creative myself Im sure I will be far too busy to be gluing and writing birthing announcement cards to send out to my loved ones after I give birth.
If I’ve learnt something from my little baby show adventure it’s that shopping for a buggy these days is like buying a car. There is talk of wheels, manoeuvrability and I wouldnt be surprised if there was finance available for buggies out there. Exploring all the baby products not only allowed me to make my first few steps into ‘nappy land’ but it made me realise that despite all the consumer pressure modern-day mums have to face whether its choosing the make and model of your stroller to picking out a brand of nappies it has eased me into motherhood something I feel is going to be a truly wonderful experience.
Lisa Ronchetti - pregnant mum
Baby Water Wipes from DermaH2O
September 3, 2009 at 9:28 am | Posted in Baby Care & Health, General Advice, New Born | Leave a commentTags: baby wipes, DermaH2O, ezcema, nappy rash, natural wipes, waterwipes
We had the pleasure of test driving these wonderful baby wipes that are made from 99% water and 0.1% fruit extract. These are designed to be a non irritant to the skin and therefore avoid nappy rash. We have been lucky enough with Molly only to have the occasional nappy rash but I am always on the look out for something which helps her very sensitive skin.
I am very impressed with these wipes. Firstly, the wipes are thick yet very moist leaving it easy to clean the muckiest of faces (or other bits) in one swoop. They stayed moist until the very last wipe which has always been a down side of other conventional wipes.
I couldn’t see any downside to these, perhaps only the price, at £4.49 they are a bit pricey.,,However, on the up side to this they seemed to last me forever and ever. Between you and me they are on offer at Boots at the moment with a £2 saving. I know I will be heading there later on today to stock up. If you are looking for a natural baby wipe,this is definitely the one to go for.
Water Wipes were kindly sent to us by DermaH20. We stick to the bloggers with integrity code to only promote products that we truly, truly love.
All is not lost for the hoodie
August 11, 2009 at 8:53 am | Posted in Baby Care & Health, New Born | Leave a commentTags: baby hoodie, car seat blanket, Morrck, pushchair blanket
I’m yet to buy one of these (saving it for an ‘approaching winter online shopping splurge’), but having heard people rave about them from the baby shows, decided they were worth a mention.
The Morrck Baby Hoodie is a reversible hooded travel wrap, uniquely shaped to fit neatly into standard car seats or pushchairs, bouncy chairs and supermarket trolley baby seats. Straight from the horses mouth that. I know, cut and paste from website not good, but want to bring you the facts.
Onwards – The 3 or 5 point safety harness feeds through the openings in the Baby Hoodie and fastens over baby’s indoor clothing. The deer-stalker style hood provides extra protection across your baby’s forehead and ears in cold, windy weather and lies completely flat behind your baby’s head when it’s not being worn.
I have my eye on the Morrganic version! I remember when the bear was a new born, you worry about them being cold (especially when you arrive at the inlaws to ‘ooh aren’t his cheeks pink, is he warm enough?’ on a regular basis, followed by ‘ooh hadn’t you better wake him and strip him off now you’re indoors, save him from overheating?’ No.).
For more on why you’ll love the Morrck baby hoodie visit the website.
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