baby style file reviews...felt play sets...

I do like a nice eco-friendly toy so when the lovely Lettie Belle sent the toddler a fuzzy-felt style playset made from eco-fi felt (felt made out of recycled plastic bottles, in case you were wondering) I was quite excited.

The handmade playset is available in a choice of three designs – ‘Ahoy There!’, ‘Woodland’ and ‘Garden’. Each set comes with a variety of felt shapes for you and your child to arrange as you wish on the board. The toddler very much enjoys discussing each piece as we use it to tell tales of rabbits in trees and owls with flowers in their hair.

The whole package is lovingly handmade and comes in a very sweet (organic) cotton button-up bag to keep all the shapes safe. Super-lightweight and no bigger than an A4 pad – this is a great toy to pop into your out-and-about bag. It's a great alternative to stickers, with much more longevity!

It makes for an ideal mess-free toy that’s perfect when you want to keep your child (reasonably) well-behaved in restaurants and on long journeys. *Sigh* if only all landfill could be this good.

 
'woodland', 'garden' and 'ahoy there!' felt play sets, £13.50 each, lettie belle


baby style file reviews...happy hopperz...

The toddler has just turned two (happy birthday toddler!)

Having been invited to several kids' parties, I was fretting about what to do to celebrate. I didn’t want to throw a massive party (I think he’s a bit too little to appreciate/need any sort of formal entertainment) but I did want him and his friends to have fun. With bags of energy and a love of bouncing (the toddler not me) I had a bit of a eureka moment when I stumbled across Happy Hopperz. If you’ve never seen them before – think 1970s space hopper re-designed for little kids and with a hint of the Jeff Koons about them. These four-legged friends are low to the ground making them easy for little kids to sit on, with ears/horns to hold onto (or in the case of very little kids – to chew on!)

The lovely folk at Happy Hopperz kindly said they’d lend me a herd for the party. Lined up on the grass they definitely made it feel a bit more special than just another afternoon in the garden. It was very sweet introducing the toddler to them – naturally he offered food to each and every one of them before trying them out for size – his preferred bounce being a green horse.

It was interesting seeing a party of kids use them too – the bigger kids (3-5 years old) were a bit more capable of bouncing without falling off, the younger kids (1-2 years old) gave them a jolly good go, and if they couldn’t quite manage to bounce they had fun taking them for walks, putting party hats on them... a few of the Hopperz even tried out the slide!

Most of the Hopperz at the party were cows or horses, and if I’m being shallow and going on looks alone the black and white cow is by far the most pleasing, but on a more practical note the horses seemed a little more stable on their feet. Head vs. heart, you choose…. (Although for toddlers I do recommend adult supervision at all times.)

Bouncy fun at a nice price – they’d make a super gift and the fun should last for a good few years.
 
happy hopperz, £21.99, happy hopperz


baby style file reviews...a whimsy snak pak...
The toddler (like a lot of kids) is a snacker, and I (like a lot of parents) tend to spend my days out and about. This means several things…1) I have to carry a hefty supply of food around with me, 2) I have what seems like an infinite amount of raisins rolling around at the bottom of my bag, and 3) the environment is not being helped by my use of zip-lock bags.

So, you can imagine my delight when My Friendly Lunchbox offered to send me a Waste Free Lunch Kit. The kit comprises a recycled cotton bag with a super sweet rope handle, two stainless steel snack containers, a 'Food Kozy' (which is a washable plastic wrap in which to store your sandwiches/rice cakes that folds up and seals with a Velcro tab) and a matching cloth napkin. Like a pig in mud I tell you – this little kit made me very happy.

Initially I looked at the 'Food Kozy' and was puzzled how a sandwich would ever fit in it, but it does! And the lids on the stainless steel food containers are a bit on the stiff side - but this makes them leak-proof so that you can decant dips and yoghurts and spreads into them without concern. The bag is big enough to store food for the hungriest of kids but also a perfect size for little ‘helpers’ to carry all by themselves.

The whole kit is BPA, lead and phthalate free. It’s also completely washable and will last well into the school years. Hurrah for well thought out eco-design.
 
kidz konserve whimsy snak pak, £19.50, My Friendly Lunchbox


baby style file reviews...an aden+anais cosy sleeping bag...
The toddler is a muslin fan – always has been. He often walks around looking like Linus (the blanket dragging character from Peanuts). So when the lovely folk at Aden + Anais sent me one of their cosy sleeping bags, the toddler was over the moon. This is a sleeping bag made up of four layers of gorgeously soft muslin (aka. toddler heaven!) – he immediately demanded to try the sleeping bag on for size and proceeded to walk around the room beaming as he went. A very good start indeed.

I was immediately struck by just how soft the sleeping bag was, and having washed it a few times I concur that it does indeed get softer with every wash. Cosy as toast too (but in a nice airy non sweaty way) – and when the weather hots up a ‘Classic’ single layer sleeping bag is also available.

The zip on the sleeping bag closes from top to bottom in order to make night time nappy changes less disruptive. Great for smaller babies, but I have to say if like me you have a child who on waking stands up in their cot it does make it a little bit tricky to take it off without lifting them out of the cot first (not the end of the world I know.)

Another massive plus point is that this little sleeping bag comes with specific instructions telling you not to iron it. How perfect is that! 

cozy sleeping bag, £29.95, aden + anais 




 
When VUPbaby asked me if I'd like a Beaba Pixie light to test out I jumped at the chance - left slightly traumatised by the new year's eve fireworks my toddler had been regularly waking up shouting and pointing at the window (poor little thing). This combined with his utter obsession with torches led me to believe that this night light could be just the ticket!

As soon as I unwrapped this strange looking creature my child took it away and tried to feed it some of his toast - approval indeed.

After several attempts at charging it up (and discharging it) I finally got the light to last throughout the night (I discovered that the base likes to be tilted slightly whilst charging.) It now happily keeps going for over 12 hours before it needs recharging. The Beaba Pixie emits a soft glowy light - just enough to stop the scary pitch black that a blackout blind brings, but (thankfully) not bright enough to wake a sleeping baby.

This light is cleverly designed to act as a lantern too - easy to hold with its ergonomic handle (the funny looking green bit) and cool to the touch (it's LED) and I'm told it's 'ideal for toilet training at night time' although we haven't hit that stage yet! But the toddler does enjoy turning the light on and off and it does keep him happily occupied during the dreaded nappy change!

The only downside to this light and for reasons I can't quite fathom - you can't turn it on whilst charging. This basically means that you have to remember to charge it daily.

But the vital bit....the nightmares have stopped! so thank you little light and thank you VUPbaby.
 

If like me you don’t like having your out and about adventures limited by the baby’s mealtime demands, then boy-oh-boy is this the product for you! 

No longer will you have to seek refuge in a café and ask for a bowl of boiling water to heat your packed lunch. The Thermos Foogo food jar will keep your meal hot for 5 hours (or cold if you prefer – for 7 hours). It’s a similar size to a mug, so plenty big enough for even the hungriest of growing kids, and should last well into the primary school packed lunch years (an investment buy indeed!) Stainless steel and free from over designed twiddly bits it’s a doddle to wash up – it can even be popped into the dishwasher. (Although I do suggest storing it with the lid off to keep it smelling fresh.)

It’s not just limited to out and about either - make a bit of extra food at lunchtime -  pop it in here and hey presto the baby’s dinner is sorted! And quite frankly anything that lightens the constant cooking demands gets a big thumbs up from me - just don’t forget to pack a spoon!

Oh and just in case you’re a blue for boys pink for girls kinda person it’s available in both colourways too….
 
thermos foogo stainlesss steel food jar, £18.99, VUPbaby **for 10% off your first order from VUPbaby enter STYLE at the checkout**




For me, choosing a buggy was like picking a style tribe. What sort of mother did I imagine myself being? Out-and-about urban mama? Off-road fresh-air-is-good-for-you mother? In the end, my decision was made by a process of elimination. I knew I wanted the option of my baby facing both inwards (for chatting) and outwards (for exploring the wider world); I wanted a buggy that would transform and grow with my baby (from fully reclining to sitting up); I wanted to be able to clip on a car seat and go; being able to fit into shops and onto buses was key (oh and a nice big shopping basket underneath). Another biggy was that the buggy had to fit into my car’s very small boot.

The only pram that was left at the end of all this box ticking was the Bugaboo Bee.

As soon as I started using it I fell in love. The Bee is lightweight, slim and easy to push along with one hand (leaving the other free for eating/drinking/catching up with phone calls en-route to very important play dates). It also packs up small (and in one piece), so fits easily into the boot of my car. I rave about my Bee to anyone who will listen – and I have been told by several friends that they now suffer from buggy envy (a sad condition that can develop after childbirth).

So when Bugaboo contacted me and asked if I’d like to test and review the latest model Bee I jumped at the chance. And it doesn’t disappoint. All the tiny niggles that the original Bee suffered from have been addressed. The newly designed straps sit totally flat against the baby, which I suspect is more comfortable for the baby and a bit safer if you’ve got a wriggler on your hands. The transformation from forward to rear-facing has been simplified (so you can flit between the two according to your/your baby’s mood), the height-adjustable handle clicks into place making for a smoother adjustment. The seat back has the option of being even more upright (although my tip to you would be to fasten your child in at a less extreme angle and then adjust to this sitting position to avoid him/her slipping out).

The best bit of all – all buggy manufacturers please take note – is that the back is height adjustable (and with it go the straps) so with an effortless slide action the buggy will literally grow with your child. Giving the new Bee a fighting chance of lasting until your child hits the ground walking.

The only change for the worse is that the new Bee has developed a bigger price tag, with an RRP of £459 (not including the cocoon £67 or footmuff £89.99) and although there are cheaper buggies on the market - I still think it’s well worth it!

the new bugaboo bee, RRP £459, bugaboo