Fisher-Price Woodsy Friends Comfy Time Bouncer Review

If you have been following my blog posts, twitter feed or facebook status then you can't have escaped the photos of my scrumptious bundle of deliciousness, Holly, frequently posing in her new bouncer from Fisher-Price.

The Fisher-Price Woodsy Friends Comfy Time Bouncer was a gift from Fisher-Price that quite conveniently arrived on the day that we were about to go out and buy a rocker or a bouncer ourselves and it is absolutely perfect colours for us - neutral yet not plain.

There are three things I look for in a baby bouncer. 1. It must have a manual, gentle rocking or bouncing motion... nothing too fancy for us in the Mellow household 2. It must have a calming vibrating function - we literally couldn't have survived Lara's first few months without a vibrating bouncer as it was the only way we could calm her sometimes. 3. It absolutely has to have a cover that is easy to remove in order to clean it. The reason why we never kept our first bouncer was because the cover was too stressful to remove when it needed cleaning! The Woodsy Friends Comfy Time bouncer meets all of these needs and more.

The other thing I remember from when Lara was tiny was that when the toy bar was above the bouncer, you had to remove it or else there was no way you would be able to get her out. This was particularly frustrating when she was screaming her head off! The toy bar on the Woodsy Friends bouncer doesn't go the whole way over the chair which means I don't have to move it in order to lift Holly out. The toy bar features a removable 'teether in the shape of a green apple and two rattling red apples that are also removable. My favourite part is the owl which, when Holly is older, she can pull on and it will either twit-twoo or play a little ditty. At present Lara's favourite pasttime is to pull the owl and then prance around the living room to the short burst of music! I'm not sure Holly is that impressed by her antics.

The fabric on the rocker is a nice thick, slightly padded and smooth fabric that can just about be wiped clean. There is an integral harness and also an extra padded area you can flip into place for tiny heads. We use our Woodsy Friends bouncer every evening to sit Holly in while she watches us eat our evening meal around the table - it is very mobile and easy for me to carry between rooms. For us, you couldn't get a much more perfect baby bouncer. Thank you Fisher-Price.

The Sunday Review – Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser

I don't consider myself to be brand-loyal, especially when it comes to skincare products but very occasionally a catalogue drops through my door for cosmetics where I feel the urge to buy every single product in the entire range – the Liz Earle Naturally Active catalogue is one such range. Their products have a gentle mix of science and nature and are all so beautifully presented that I can barely resist.

I have been trying out the Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser and have been wowed. I always use a face wash in the morning; its a skincare routine I've had for years and works for me. The Hot Cloth Cleanser is a kind of face wash – a thick sumptuous cream dispensed by a pump which you then wash off using the specially designed linen cloth. This cleansing wash is by far the most effective I have ever used.

Liz Earle pride themselves on the simplicity of their products; each of them features three or four headline natural ingredients that are chosen for their specific natural actions. The Cleanse & Polish cleanser features rosemary, chamomile, cocoa butter and eucalyptus oil and it is these ingredients that contribute to the distinctive earthy aroma. The scent is quite savoury for a skincare product but I love it – it reminds me of autumn mornings.

After you have rubbed a couple of pumps of the cleansing cream into your dry face you 'polish' it off with one of their pure muslin cloths that has been soaked in hot water and then wrung dry. It is such a simple thing (and to be very honest, you could use any soft mulsin cloth, there's nothing magic about the Liz Earle one) but it is so effective. The comforting steamy moistness of the hot cloth against your face is invigorating and you can feel your pores opening and saying “aaah”. The gentle scrubbing of the linen fabric feels great and afterwards... well...

...My skin, after using the Cleanse & Polish cleanser in this way, feels clean like it has never felt before. It really does feel like every molecule of dirt has been lifted from my face. I've even tried the cleanse and polish routine to remove tinted moisturiser and mascara and it was incredibly effective (mind you, I did have to put the cloth straight in the wash afterwards).

Liz Earle Naturally Active Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser comes in a 100ml (£13.25) or 200ml (£23.45) starter kit with two muslin cloths and a zip-up bag. I've just found out that they do a monthly subscription service... *drops big hints to Mr. B.*

I love it.

The Sunday Review - Burts Bees Baby Dusting Powder

Very shortly after Lara was born, I discovered a great talc-free dusting powder which I really rated but I never went back to buy more because I couldn't justify the cost. We've recently discovered Burt's Bees Baby Dusting powder which is sold at the online organic health store Lucy Rose . It is made largely of cornflour which offers high absorbency and because of this, I can't help but compare it to the Maclaren Beginnings dusting powder that I raved about before.

When Lara was in reusable nappies, we didn't often need to use powder because the nappies kept her skin quite dry but in disposables Lara's skin tends to stay very moist so these days I do still like to use a powder but I like to stay away from talcum powder due to the scare stories about it being carcinogenic. Cornflour (corn starch) is a far more natural ingredient and seems, from experience to be far more effective too.

The Burts Bees Baby Dusting Powder powder contains largely natural plant-based ingredients and it is pthalate and paraben free but it isn't 100% guilt free – there are one or two ingredients such as linalool and benzyl benzoate that can still cause skin irritation but thankfully Lara seems to be fine with these.

The bottle of Burts Bees powder is easy to use and, unlike the Maclaren powder, the lid doesn't fall off every time I use it! You just need a tiny amount of powder sprinkled on your baby's bottom to keep them dry at a nappy change. I also use it after Lara has had a bath to make sure her skin is dry, soft and sweet-smelling before putting on her pyjamas.

I really love the smell of the Burts Bees powder. It doesn't smell like anything I can directly recognise... herby, fruity and honey-ey at the same time.

The powder is incredibly good value for money at £6.99. It costs 2/3rds of the price of the Maclaren dusting powder (for a bigger bottle). As with all cornflour dusting powders it will last a very long time.

Lucy Rose stock a large number of organic and natural beauty products – not just for babies (although they do stock Green People and Beaming Baby which are two favourites of mine)! They also stock some of my favourite organic brands for Mummies such as Lovea bio and Akin.

The Sunday Review – Humf IPod / IPhone App

It may perhaps be a bit early in Lara's life to be introducing her to children's Ipod apps? At 19 months old, Lara doesn't really understand the concepts behind even the simplest game and doesn't yet possess the dexterity required to accurately use the touch-screen of my Ipod touch or the self-control or attention span required to really follow a game. That said, she is more than happy to watch Mummy and Daddy play on her behalf and smiles a big beaming grin from one cheek to the other each time she sees me open the new Humf Ipod game.

Humf, if you don't already know, is a top pre-school children's television programme currently shown on Nick Jr. Lara discovered it just before Christmas. We like it because of the bright colours, the funny creatures and the uncanny use of family names such as Wallace (our cat) and Uncle Hairy (Mr B.'s nickname from his cheeky nieces and nephews).

The Ipod game was released last month. It costs just £1.79 and has so-far offered us an awful lot of those beaming grins! Lara smiles the minute she hears the music playing from the Ipod.

The Humf game includes a series of short activities that are suitable for pre-schoolers to play on their own. There is a colouring game which Lara is pretty good at – you select your colour, and then select which part of the picture to fill. The furry thing game is my favourite – you can create monsters with different faces, eyes and bodies! There are also matching games, dot-to-dot, car racing, bathtime shoot-em-up (with a water pistol) and counting. One of Lara's favourites is the balloon game where you have to test your wits by 'blowing up' balloons and letting them go before they pop. Lara likes to use her finger tips to pop the balloons anyway!

You can find our more about the Humf IPhone game at P2 Games and you can buy it from the ITunes Store

Images courtesy of P2 games.

The Sunday Review - mohdoh

mohdoh – It's like bedtime Play-doh! We have been using moh doh as a sleep aid in the Mellow household for the past couple of months. Has it helped to send us all off to sleep?

mohdoh is a soft, mouldable dough which combines colour therapy, aromatherapy and play therapy. They make several different kinds of doh to solve all sorts of different problems, but we have been using the Sleep mohdoh – partly to try and chill out mellow mummy and mellow daddy at bed time and partly to try and help Lara relax and settle when she goes to bed.

Lara hates the stuff! I can't even get her to touch it. I think she finds the smell a bit strong for her (it isn't an overpowering scent but for a tiny nose, it is probably pretty strong). She also gets funny about the texture. You can tell that she is fascinated by it, and wants to try squashing and squeezing it but every time she tries, you can see the 'eeewww' expression sweep over her face, she goes a bit wide-eyed and then drops the doh. I can safely say that experiment was not a success! And so, I have no idea whether Sleep mohdoh can help your little one relax and drift off into a great night's sleep.

For us, it has been a lot more successful. Mr. Mellow and I each kept a tub on our bedside table. The dough is bright purple and is a light doh, much lighter than Play-doh. Just before bed, perhaps while reading a book, or watching TV, I mould the dough in my hands. As you mould it, it releases a blend of essential oils designed to help relax you and ensure a sound night's sleep. Now, I'm not convinced that the parents of a teething toddler could ever have a sound night's sleep, but I can vouch for the fact that the scent is very mellow and that the act of squidging and squashing the dough is therapeutic and relaxing. Just the kind of thing you need to help you zone out in the evenings, especially if you are someone who has trouble winding down, or who suffers from restless sleep and needs help turning it into something deeper.

Over the past couple of weeks our use of the mohdoh has dwindled off. I guess that means that the effect wasn't as great as we had thought – I certainly don't depend on it to ensure a full night's sleep. It still sits on my bedside table but most evenings, I'm quite happy to fall asleep without squidging my mohdoh.

mohdoh is available from some Boots stores. They sell colours to help you quit smoking, calm down, slim, breathe more easily, unwind, think and travel.

The Sunday Review - Cheeky Wipes Reusable Baby Wipes

A few months back, I blogged about re-using baby wipes. Several of my readers recommended Cheeky Wipes to me as an alternative to re-using packet wipes and then Cheeky Wipes got in contact to ask whether I wanted to give them a try... so I did! I had to find out for myself whether they were up to the hype.

Cheeky Wipes are re-usable, washable, towelling baby wipes that can be washed and re-used again and again. They come in a handy all-in-one kit which provides wipes, storage boxes, carry bags for when you are out and about, and a set of aromatic essential oils.

The concept is simple. Everything colour-coded in blue is for clean, fresh wipes. Everything colour-coded in red is for mucky, used wipes. When it comes to changing a nappy, you take a wipe from the blue box (which is filled with water and a sprinkling of the blue oil that contains lavender and chamomile) , use the wipe and then discard it in the red box (which is filled with water and a sprinkling of red oil that contains tea tree and lemon). If you are on the move, you can take clean wipes out with you in the blue bag, and bring them home for washing in the red bag. Easy.

We like the wipes. They're soft and kind to Lara's skin and they clean incredibly effectively... more so than any packet wipe I have tried. I'd say that the wipes themselves were a little small and they curl at the edges after washing. We find they wash well in our normal washing (although I do tend to put particularly mucky loads of wipes in with nappies or soiled clothes along with some nappy sanitizer) and they dry very quickly.

We like the oils. They smell fantastic and once again, I've not come across a brand of baby wipes of which I prefer the smell, not even Jackson Reece!

I love the idea of the blue/green storage boxes that sit on the shelf of my changing unit but I do struggle to find enough hands with which to open the boxes when we are mid-nappy-change. I also struggle with the mesh bag that I stretch over the mucky box to prevent me from having to handle the wipes when I put them in the washing machine - the bag absorbs the water from the mucky box and so does the draw-string. The draw-string rests against my wooden changing unit making it wet. I am reliably informed that all of these issues are being resolved with the launch of their new boxes at the end of February - well done Cheeky Wipes HQ!

This aside, the Cheeky Wipes really have changed things in the mellow household. I do occasionally need to buy a new pack of baby wipes for use in the nursery (for days when the Cheeky wipes are in the wash or still drying) but the number of packs I have bought since using the Cheeky wipes has reduced A LOT. For every weekly shop I do without needing to buy baby wipes, I can FEEL the money that I'm saving. I will, occasionally need to replace the bottles of essential oils and I was worried that this would be expensive, but the prices on the Cheeky Wipes website are competitive with any other aromatherapy retailer and, given how little you need to use, the bottles will last a long time.

I've enjoyed using the Cheeky Wipes and have been converted to re-usable wipes for nappy changes. I will definitely continue to use these baby wipes.

The Sunday Review – Lovea Bio Body Care

A little while back I discovered Lovea Bio organic shampoo with argan oil so I was really excited to get the chance to try out some of their body care products.



The Lovea Bio Burkina Shea Nourishing Body Balm costs £6.49 from mypure.co.uk and is a sizable tub. The body cream is quite rich so you don't need to use very much. The balm is wobbly to touch but kind of melts into your skin upon use so it absorbs well and doesn't leave me feeling sticky. The smell of shea butter is very strong yet comforting.

For an organic, paraben-free body lotion, I'm quite impressed. It is the first paraben-free body lotion that I've tried for adults (I've tried plenty for Lara). In terms of its effectiveness as a moisturising body balm, I'm still undecided about whether I would buy this product again.



The Lovea Bio Argan Oil Cell Renewal Body Scrub is scrumptious. I love the effect of the Argan oil on both my hair and body – it leaves me feeling silky and soft! This body scrub is incredibly effective, and rates up there with my current favourite (non organic, non paraben-free) Clarins bamboo scrub. The scrub is made with small pieces of sugar and orange peel which makes for a great exfoliant for use a couple of times a week.

My only complain with this product is that I struggle to get it out of the tube! The chunky bits get stuck in the opening which means you have to squeeze REALLY hard to get any out. Next time you try, the opening is unblocked and it takes you by surprise, causing it to squirt all over the bathroom. Note to self... don't point the tube towards your face when trying to remove the blockage. The Lovea Bio Argan Oil Cell Renewal Body Scrub costs £7.49 from mypure.

The Sunday Review: Method Kid Body Wash & Shampoo

We have been using the Method Kids bathtime products for some months now – they are Mellow Daddy's favourite to use on Lara at bath time because they are brightly coloured and fun-smelling.

MethodKid make products from largely natural ingredients (99%) for children (I reviewed MethodBaby products some time ago on Mellow Mummy, they were a hit with us right from day one).

We have been using the Squeaky Green Body Wash and 3-in-1 Shampoo.

The Squeaky Green body wash is the next step up from the Method Baby body wash. It is a very light texture for a baby wash because it isn't made from the normal petro-chemicals used in bath products. We love it because it is gentle on Lara's skin. Lara likes it because of the bright green bottle that she likes to squeeze - it is in the sampe of a tiny little creature of some sort! Daddy likes it because of the smell of crisp apples (actually, I find the fragrance too strong and a bit artificial). Both Mummy and Daddy like the fact that the bottle doesn't have a lid – the body wash is dispensed from a squeezy valve in the bottom of the bottle which means you don't have to faff about with lids when you are in charge of bathime.

The 3-in-1 Shampoo and body wash comes in a similar bottle. We tried the fuzzy peach scent which, once again, is a fun, vibrant fragrance that kids and dads love, but which I find a bit in-your-face. The Shampoo is a very similar product to the body wash and in fact can be used as a body wash too. I take it with us when we are staying away from home, or when we go to the swimming pool because it means we don't have to take a separate shampoo for Lara.

I'm a big fan of the Method environmentally-friendly approach to cleaning and washing products. I've tried plenty of their products – some I love, some I don't rate at all but the Method Kids products are high on my list of must-haves. I think Method have found a good balance between the green, healthy cosmetics market and the bright, bathtime fun that kids expect.

We buy our Method products from Waitrose but some of their range are available in several different supermarkets and in Boots as well.

The Sunday Review - Cindy Crawford Meaningful Beauty

Jane, from The Competition Grapevine has been trying out the Glowing Serum - Skin Revitalising Serum, part of the Meaningful Beauty anti-ageing skincare system from Cindy Crawford - she was really pleasantly surprised!


As soon as I saw the celebrity name, I decided I was going to dislike this product. To me, a celebrity name on a product means the manufacturer thinks it won’t sell on its own merits, and makes me suspect they are trying to put a premium price tag on second-rate goods.

When I opened it and saw the pink colour and smelled the fruity-bubblegum smell, I reckoned my fears were confirmed, and also worried that the colour would irritate my sensitive skin, but I smoothed some on, popped on my normal moisturiser and went to bed.

The next morning my skin felt totally revitalised, smoother and softer than it has done for years. And it wasn’t just a coincidence- I have carried on using the serum and the improvement has continued. My skin looks and feels softer, clearer and brighter even in the middle of winter when it is usually at its most sluggish.

The quality of the serum was the first surprise: when I decided I would like to continue using it, and looked for it on the web, I had my second surprise. I had expected it to be an expensive product - yet it turned out to be around half the price of my usual, far less effective serum.

I’ll be trying more of the products in this range – and in future I will try not to be so snobbish about celebrity endorsed products!

Meaningful Beauty products can be bought online at http://www.meaningfulbeauty.co.uk/

The Sunday Review - Renolux Next Confort Group 1 Car Seat

This post was first published in November 2010 on ParentWheels

The Renolux Next Confort car seat is a Group 1 car seat but if you read the instructions carefully you will find that it 'can' be fitted as a group 0 rear-facing seat too although they don't sell it as such.

The seat is enormous. So much so, that I really struggled to get my daughter in through the car door and onto the seat. On the times when I didn't bang her head against the door, I banged my own! The seat sits very high up on it's massive steel base, unlike anything else I have tried.

The Renolux Next Confort seat does have a technical design that I want to love - it is made from a high-resistance steel base with a high-density polyurethane filling making it far more like a normal adult car seat and able of greater impact absorption than traditional plastic bucket seats. It all sounds great, and the kind of safety that you want in your car but the price you have to pay is bulk and weight. It took two people to carry the Renolux Next Confort seat out to our car!

We didn't find the seat easy to fit (although the instructions were surprisingly clear given that they were clearly translated into English). There were large numbers of expletives uttered.

Once fitted, I found the straps disappointing. Although the buckle was easy to fasten and undo, I felt that the straps were floppy, made of poor quality material and were prone to twisting (resulting in yet more expletives).

My first impression of the seat cover is that it was soft and inviting (it had fluffy velvety patches and a very comfy looking head insert for younger children). On closer inspection, I was disappointed with the fabric quality and found many loose threads dangling off it.

It is worth noting that the other mums and dad's who tested with me didn't struggle as much as I did with the Renolux Next Confort.

Image courtesy of amazon

The Sunday Review - Britax Evolva Group 1-2-3 Car Seat Review

This post was first published on www.parentwheels.co.uk in November 2010.

I get a lot of opportunities to review child car seats which is why it is so significant that the Britax Evolva Group 1,2,3 Car Seat is the one that I chose to spend my own money on recently when I bought a car seat for my parent's car (the grandparents).

I chose the Britax Evolva for the following reasons.

1. I am continually impressed by the quality of materials of Britax products


2. It is a brand I know well and trust


3. A Group 1,2,3 car seat lasts from 9 months right up until 12 years. This means it is good value for money as I shan't need to buy a new one for my parent's car, ever.

The Britax Evolva is ever so slightly tricky to install. It requires you to pass your car's 3-point seat belt, folded, through two holes on the back of the base. Our first few attempts at this were quite stressful, partly because the cars we tried it in had short belts that offered little flexibility during installation, but partly because of unfamiliarity. Since then we have taken the seat with us abroad and have had to fit it and remove it from taxis and hire cars so have become quite accomplished at it – it gets easier and, as ever, Britax do offer red guides on the seat base to help you through the installation process.

Once installed, the Britax Evolva car seat is very easy to use. The belts are well padded and release easily. The belts loosen from around the chest and I found the belt fitting and tightening to be intuitive. The headrest is very easy to move up and down and offers great padding around the head.

The fabric of the seat is very high quality and looks really smart. As your child grows older the seat adapts to them. After Group 1, the integral harness is removed and the seat is used with your car's normal seat belt.

The only thing I don't rate on the Britax Evolva is the cup holders on each side of the base. Maybe it is useful for children to have somewhere to stash their drink, but to me it reminds me of people-carriers in the USA with integral cup holders to hold the super-size sugar-laden soda drinks, not really what I am planning for my toddler.

Image courtesy of Britax.

The Sunday Review - Slendertone FACE

You probably all recognise the Slendertone muscle-toning belts for perfect abdominal muscles but did you know that Slendertone make a facial muscle toner too? I have been trialling the shiny new Slendertone FACE for very nearly two months now and it has become part of my weekly routine.

About 3 or 4 times a week I use my Slendertone FACE just before I get ready for bed to exercise those pesky facial muscles responsible for making us look that little bit older. The FACE product is designed to target the muscles just under the skin of the face that stretch from the lips to the cheek (the ones whose positions govern where our wrinkles appear) and attempts to stimulate them in such a way as to prevent the impression of a saggy face.

I can't say that wearing the Slendertone FACE makes me feel elegant in any way. It makes Mr. B. laugh every time he sees me!

I am, however, impressed with the results. After just two months I really can notice a difference. I don't think it is a dramatic difference that others would notice but when I look in the mirror, I can see a little bit more shape around my cheekbones – it makes me feel good.

I have a philosophy about the Slendertone FACE that it is like a good cleanser, toner and moisturiser. Ever since I was a young teen I have had a cleanse/tone/moisturise routine that is just part of my life and I like to think that it has done me good. There is no way for me to tell whether my skin would be as lovely (!) had I not had the routine for the last 15-20 years but I'm confident it was and still is the right thing to do. The same goes for the Slendertone... I really think you could build this into your daily routine so that it is simply part of your life and several years down the line you would be incredibly grateful and REALLY see the benefits it has brought.

The Slendertone FACE is astonishingly compact and easy to use. There is a tiny hand-held electronic device which you charge up from the mains (my charge lasted me about a month!). To start the treatment you place a headseat around the back of your head and rest the electronic pads on the top of your cheeks. Each pad has a small gel pad to cover it and safely transmit the electronic pulse to your muscle. The unit has 3 different settings – a 10 minute treatment, a 15 minute and a 20 minute workout, one for relaxing, one for zuzzing yourself up a bit before a night out, and one for really working those muscles!

You are totally in control of the level of the electronic pulse and can change the power quickly using the buttons on the unit. I managed to get to level 37 out of 100 after a few weeks of getting used to it. I had been planning on doing a Jackass style video of me trying to get Mr. B. to use the FACE at level 100 but I thought that might be a bit irresponsible!

The Slendertone FACE has an RRP of £300 with sets of replacement pads costing £20 for 12 week's worth. It is, no doubt, the most expensive facial gadget I've ever laid eyes on but compared to the cost of a facelift in the future, or other cosmetic treatment, I think its a far better investment in my future if I really can integrate it into my daily routine. You can buy the Slendertone FACE at Harrods or SlendertoneFace.com.

I know it's shallow but it comes in a gorgeous presentation box that really makes it feel like a luxury product and it is incredibly exciting to open it up and see the wonders inside! The product comes in either black or white and is suitable for women or men.

Promotional Images courtesy of MSL Worldwide

The Sunday Review - L'Oreal Revitalift

This week I have a guest review from Jane Willis from The Competition Grapevine (aka my Mum) of L'Oreal's Revitalift Moisturiser for 40+ skin.



I have been using this for several weeks now and have not found any significant change in my skin. My usual cream is L'Oreal Age-Reperfect so I presume the active ingredients are very similar. The Revitalift cream seemed to be slightly heavier on my skin and not quite so easily absorbed - an advantage at night, but the very slight residue it left made it less suitable for day time use,especially as I am a spectacle wearer and find cream residue around the outer eye area can smear my glasses.

One thing I did particularly like about the cream was the fragrance. When I was in my teens, I already had dry skin so while friends were trying the latest anti-grease ands pot treatments, I was already buying moisturiser. As soon as I opened the Revitalift jar I was taken back to the smell of my first ever moisturiser. I can't remember the brand name but there was a very 1960s style dolly-bird face on the jar!

Overall I prefer Age-Reperfect but wouldn't rule out buying Revitalift in the future

Image courtesy of L'oreal

The Sunday Review – Mummy Mitts

Over the last few days, I've had plenty of use for my new Mummy Mitts and they've done their job well. Mummy Mitts (as featured on Dragons Den!) are mittens which attach to the handle bars of your pushchair or pram.

As Mr. B. pointed out to me, motorcyclists have had something similar for years. A pair of mittens which you simply slip your hands into and which, being attached to the handle-bars, you know won't fall out of a pocket, or off the roof of the buggy. I found the Mummy Mitts most useful when shopping... it drives me mad that I NEED a pair of gloves on when pushing the pushchair as otherwise my fingers turn blue and drop off (ok, nearly drop off), but that when I go into a shop, I need to faff about taking the gloves off to open my purse or look at things on the shelf. With the Mummy Mitts I simply slip my hands out, do my thing, then slip them back in again, exactly where I left off.

I found the Mummy Mitts a little less useful at the park where I wanted to keep them on all the time and had to take one hand out in order to undo the velcro around the buggy handle-bars. I think I'd revert to normal gloves in this scenario. I also found that the mittens didn't work so well on the Maclaren compared to the Mothercare Mychoice because of the location of the handles. When the handle-bar is directly in front of you then it is dead easy to slip your hands in and out but on the Maclaren, the handles are actually at an angle and it doesn't feel instinctive to slip your hands into the Mummy Mitts at this angle.

I like the Mitts themselves. They look smart and not too girly. They are made from a wind-proof fabric that keeps my hands really toasty warm and I am pleasantly surprised (as a lady with very long fingers) at how spacious the mittens are. I would say they could do with being a tad tighter around the wrist to help prevent nasty draughts, but that may just be BECAUSE my hands are longer than most.

At £17.99 from www.mummymitts.com they would make a great Christmas gift for a chilly mummy (and there is free P&P until December 10th)! You can also buy matching Bubby Mitts so your little one can look just like you!

Images courtesy of Mummy Mitts

The Sunday Review - Britax King Plus Group 1 Car Seat Review

This post was first published on www.parentwheels.co.uk in October 2010.

We recently tried out the Britax King Plus Group 1 car seat with our 1 year old daughter. As a group 1 car seat it is forward-facing and is suitable from about 9 months to 4 years old.

The Britax King Plus is not the funkiest of car seats – the grey base gives is an every-so-slightly 80's feel about it. It isn't all bells and whistles and is not even the most advanced of Britax's group 1 car seats but it is easy to use and represents the good quality and value for money that we have learned to expect from Britax car seats. All of the materials are of high quality, particularly the hard-wearing seat covers.

The most impressive thing about the King Plus seat is its ease of fitting. The whole seat flips forwards from the base leaving you plenty of room to easily stretch your normal 3-point seat belt over the base and into the very clearly marked red slots which guide you. We managed to fit the seat on our first attempt (this is very unusual!) using just the label on the side of the seat which shows pictorial instructions. We then validated this against the instruction manual.

We found the headrest on the Britax King Plus to be extremely easy to adjust to our daughter. It was a simple mechanism that required little explanation. The headrest offers great padding and impact protection.

The straps on the King Plus threw us to start with as they extend from the middle rather than responding to a tug at the top like our existing car seat. We have found that Britax car seats do seem to have the most comfy-looking, thickly-padded shoulder belts around.

One of the selling points of the Britax King Plus is the 'click' mechanism on the belt which 'clicks' to indicate when the belt is tight enough. I expected this to be a great thing to resolve arguments between myself and my husband on whether the belts were tight enough. Actually, I found it miselading – it seemed to click frequently, and often when I felt that the belt was far too lose. I think I am happier using my own judgement when tightening the harness.

The Britax King Plus has quite a deep recline so that when you are travelling on long journeys, your child can be more relaxed. The recline function doesn't require you to take the seat out of the car so it is possible to recline the seat without even waking your child!

The Britax King Plus car seat retails for around £179.99 but can be found at the major retailers such as Amazon, Halfords, Boots.com and Kiddicare for a little less.

The Sunday Review - Senzimi Skincare

I am really enjoying my journey of discovery of sensitive skin care products - I had no idea that there was so much choice available when I first developed sensitive skin this time last year. I've recently been trying out Senzimi products.

Senzimi have lots of great information on their website about the causes of sensitive skin and the things you should look out for on ingredients labels if you are a sufferer. Their products are paraben free, sulfate free and mineral-oil free (which is one of the things that causes my skin irritation).

The Daily Cleanser is a wash-off cleanser which means it leaves you skin feeling really squeaky clean. Because it is free from synthetic fragrances, I found that it lacked that bit of zing that I look for in a wash -off cleanser to help me wake up in the morning. I didn't feel any greasiness after using it but then again, my skin didn't feel amazing and I know that there are wash-off cleansers out there that can really make your face feel taught, bright and ready for the day.

The Daily Moisturiser is very easily absorbed (despite looking a little oily on my fingertips). It is designed to help soothe irritated skin and reduce the effects of UV damage so it is a great long-term moisturiser. I didn't notice any dramatic differences to the way my skin felt after using it but I certainly didn't feel any ill effects, any irritation or redness. I actually have grown to really like this as a daily moisturiser for wearing from the start of my day all through my working day as its light and doesn't sit heavily on my skin. The fragrance is a little over-powering though.

The Daily Moisturiser boasts some wonderful ingredients such as the miracle-working argan oil, rose hip oil, oat extract, cucumber extract, aloe vera and olive-oil derivatives. All lovely ingredients that I shall leave to do their work on me!

Senzimi products are available to buy on their website www.senzimi-skincare.com.

Images courtesy of New Chapter

The Sunday Review - CBeebies Song Time Album

This week we aaaaaaave been mostly listening to the CBeebies Song Time album which is released tomorrow. Great fun.

I really love being able to have music that I can play to Lara rather than feeling I have to switch on the TV when she gets restless with her toys. At this age, Lara has such a short attention span that anything I come up with to entertain her lasts no more than 5 minutes so I like to have a good collection of music for her different moods.



The CBeebies Song time album is a couble-CD set with a whopping 50 tracks on it from all of your favourite shows. Pretty much every single CBeebies show I have ever seen has its theme tune, or most famous music on it.

When we play the album, Lara's face lights up. She only knows about a third of the tunes because we don't actually spend an awful lot of time in front of the TV but she knows 'Something Special', 'Waybuloo', 'Timmy Time', 'In the Night Garden' and most of the 'Zingzillas' tracks. I think she actually finds it a bit confusing to hear these songs without seeing the pictures too. She actually relaxes and joins in with the other songs that she doesn't recognise a little more and then she has a good old bop.

In true toddler style, she REFUSES to dance in front of the camera for me, but will bop away like a mad thing when the camera is turned off. AArgh, I really wanted to share her 'moooves' with you.



I am about to put one of the two CDs into the car so that I can switch them on when Lara gets restless and screechy when we're out and about. I suspect it may stay there for some time and I can just picture me singing along to 'It doesn't matter if you're Big or Small' or '3rd and Bird' at full volume and getting odd looks from other motorists!

Our absolute favourite track is the 'Yoko! Jakamoto! Toto!' theme which always results in us rolling around on the floor for some reason (I think its the way I sing it)!

This weekend I am going to have a house full of toddlers and I reckon that the CBeebies Song Time album will be just the ticket to keep them entertained.

Images courtesy of Quite Great Publicity.

The Sunday Review - Munch Cup Snacks by Benjoy

I normally like to have a real photo that I took myself of Lara trying out the products that we review together but in this particular case, when I gave Lara a Munch Cup full of tasty snacks, they disappeared so quickly that I never got a chance to take a photo! Doh.

The Munch cup is an innovative solution to a problem that I regularly experience. I often give Lara a snack during the late afternoon. Biscuits, raisins, pieces of fruit etc. and I put them in a bowl. For about 2 seconds she sits nicely and eats them, perhaps watching the TV or sat at her little table. Then she stands up, tries to walk around with the bowl and the contents get distributed evenly around my living room carpet. The snacks that Benjoy sell in the Munch Cup stay where they're put. The cup has a thin lid with a cross cut into it that little hands can reach through but which prevents the contents from falling out when the cup is waved about. Less mess = happy mummy.

Lara tried two different snacks, the Root Vegetable Mini Crisps (actually, I nommed most of these as they were scrumptious) and the Carrot & Tomato Multigrain bites. Lara loved them both.



As a Mum who scrutinises ingredients labels thoroughly, I made sure I was happy with the 'made from 100% natural ingredients' statement on the Munch Cup. Both snacks were relatively high in sugar BUT they are all naturally occuring sugars as the products are made from real fruits and vegetables which are naturally sweet.

The multigrain bites are made from Quinoa, Whole Wheat, Malted Wheat, Maize and Oat flours and just flavoured with carrot and tomato juice. They were really quite tasty but they did leave a carroty, tomatoey powdery residue everywhere that Lara went.

In the future, I would like to see the Munch Cup with a removable lid so that I really could re-use the Munch cup after use - it would be nice to be able to wash it and then refill it from a larger tub of snacks and then put a more permanent lid on it so that I could put it in Lara's lunchbox. This would be a great way to reduce my waste. The Benjoy Munch Cup has been given my toddler lunchbox seal of approval.

You can buy Benjoy snacks from Morrisons and Ocado.

What Highchair? 7 Highchairs Reviewed

Earlier this autumn, Lara and I were asked to help out with the testing for the annual Mother & Baby awards which will be announced at a glamourous awards ceremony tonight. Along with the other ladies from my NCT group, we tested out 4 highchairs. Since then we have also tried out 3 others; and so, having had experience with lots of different styles and brands of highchair, I thought I would share with you what I have learned.

The first thing I learned is that the choice of highchair is a very personal thing so the rankings I give below are my opinions only, not those of the other mums who tested with me .

Chicco Happy Snack
The Good Bits: It has a wonderful large tray and is easy to expand and collapse with a baby in your hand. It is very good value for money.
The Bad Bits: There are lots of food traps and the big storage area under the seat collects lumps of food and crumbs. Your child ends up sitting a long way from the table. The large tray is hard to store.
Price: £44.99 approx.
Buy From: The cheapest I found them this week were at Bambino Direct and Amazon
Rating: 7/10

Graco Contempo
The Good Bits: A good sized tray. Your child can sit very upright in it (we found this aids eating even from a young age) but there are extra levels of recline. When folded, it hardly takes up any room. The covers were very easy to wipe clean.
The Bad Bits: We didn't like the fixed-position bar between the legs as it made strapping in difficult. The straps had a slip-in part and a clip-together part which seems like a good idea but was actually difficult to use.
Price: £85.99 approx.
Buy From: The cheapest I found them this week were at Kiddies Kingdom and Amazon
Rating: 8/10

Cosatto 3 Sixti Spin
The Good Bits: It takes up little floor space so can remain fully assembled at all times. It looks stunning and Lara loved being in it. I liked being able to spin Lara all the way around to point towards me as I finished cooking dinner.
The Bad Bits: The gas lift didn't go quite high enough for a breakfast bar and the base prevented us getting the chair close to the table. The tray was unacceptably small – we couldn't even fit Lara's plastic plates on it.
Price: around £150
Buy From: The cheapest I found them this week were at Bambino Direct but you can also buy on Amazon
Rating: 6/10

Mamas and Papas Loop
The Good Bits: The only highchair I've tried in which Lara can sit up at the breakfast bar to enjoy her meals with us. The gas lift and tilt are brilliant and I can imaging placing a very small child in it right up until they can sit unaided in a chair. The whole chair is easy to clean.
The Bad Bits: Takes up a lot of floor space and the tray, once again is simply too small – this one even struggles with bowls which is ridiculous for a product this expensive.
Price: £250 - £270
Buy From: The cheapest I found it this week was at Boots.com
Rating: 7/10

Stokke Tripp Trapp
The Good Bits: It looks great, is very sturdy and has a long lifetime to it (suitable right up to teenagers). If you use a Tripp Trapp right from the first weaning attempts, I'm sure your child would get the hang of sitting unaided soon.
The Bad Bits: At 13 months Lara was too big in the legs to get into the baby attachment and the straps offered little support. I had to sit her unaided but she was too wiggly as she wasn't used to it. The cushion and seat pad stained after just one spaghetti hoop incident and weren't easy to wash. I also struggle to understand why you would want to use a highchair beyond toddler-dom? With Stokke I think it's a case of 'love it' or 'hate it', a bit like Marmite.
Price: £120 - 140
Buy From: The cheapest I found them this week were at Bambino Direct and Kiddicare
Rating: 4/10

No Tray Highchair by Scandinavian Selection
The Good Bits: Simple. Easy to clean. Smart and no-nonsense. The seat is spacious. We reviewed it in more detail on Mellow Mummy.
The Bad Bits: The fixed height and lack of tray is a problem in our kitchen breakfast bar but will be better when we own a dining table. Some of the other children who tried it were very wiggly in in and wouldn't stay still.
Price: £75
Buy From: Buy online at John Lewis, Amazon or more
Rating: 8/10

Baby Bjorn Appetite
The Good Bits: There are no annoying straps to fiddle with. The chair is extremely easy to use and is very compact when stored. The tray is nice and flat so easy to clean and put plates of different sizes on.
The Bad Bits: It is a fixed height and is very low (particularly when mummy and daddy are sitting at a breakfast bar). Lara is simply too big for it at 16 months. Her belly prevents the tray from clicking into place and when I force her into it her legs dangle bellow the footrests and she attempts to lift herself up and out which could topple it. More suited to a smaller child.
Price: £140 approx.
Buy From: The cheapest I found them this week were Amazon, Bambino Direct and Kiddicare
Rating: 5/10

The Sunday Review - Quaker Paw Ridge Blueberry Porridge

Lara is a blueberry fiend.

Lara's grandparents encourage her addiction.

Lara also love porridge. Porridge is something about which I am quite passionate. In fact, one of my very early blog posts was about Plum Baby's weaning porridge. Porridge is a healthy, natural, filling way to start the day and, if you mix it with milk then it can be a good way of getting your child to meet their daily recommended calcium intake.

Over the past few months I have been feeding Lara Quaker Paw Ridge children's porridge. Their natural, non-flavoured porridge is a hit in our household as it is a little more adventurous in texture than Ready Brek but not quite as lumpy as plain old porridge oats. Even Mellow Mummy and Daddy eat it as it is quicker to prepare in the mornings before work than most porridges we have tried.

For all of these reasons, I jumped at the chance to review the new Paw Ridge blueberry porridge. Unfortunately this didn't go well. When I opened the packet, the smell of 'blueberry flavour' nearly knocked me out (actually it doesn't taste as strong as it smells). Lara wouldn't even let a single spoonful pass her lips. I tried on several different occasions and each time I ended up trying to eat it instead. In fact, most of it went in the bin as I didn't really enjoy it.

To try and understand why Lara wouldn't eat the porridge, I took a look at the packet. As with the plain Paw Ridge porridge, the box boasts that it contains "100% Natural Ingredients". So, expecting to find that the contents of a blueberry flavoured porridge were er... porridge and blueberries, I was a little taken aback to find that (a) there was no mention of blueberries and (b) there was added sugar. Argh. Why?

The Paw Ridge blueberry flavoured porridge is only 87% oats. The flavour comes from 'natural flavouring' which really could mean anything and certainly doesn't guarantee that it has ever been within touching distance of an actual blueberry. Looking closer at the nutritional information showed me that the porridge was 12.2% sugar!!! For a children's porridge, I find this unacceptable. The non-flavoured equivalent contains 100% oats and has 1.1% naturally occurring sugars. I just do not understand why it is necessary to add sugar to a children's food and it annoys me. Children are perfectly capable of enjoying food without added sugar and if I feel that my child would prefer something a little sweeter - I want to be the person who makes that decision and sweeten it myself - after all, thats what I do with my own porridge.

My final gripe with the blueberry Paw Ridge is that I have only managed to find it in my local supermarkets in the sachet form. I think that they only sell their flavoured versions of the porridge in sachets which works out at about 60p more expensive per 100 grammes than the box of loose plain Paw Ridge that we love.

All in all, we're not that impressed.