Fisher-Price Topzy Tumblers Twirlin' Whirlin' Fun Park Review

A little while back, the lovely people from Fisher Price ran a competition on Mellow Mummy to win a Fisher-Price Topzy Tumblers Twirlin' Whirlin' Fun Park. Lara also received a Fun Park to review and literally ripped apart the packaging in a frenzy to get her hands on it.

The Topzy Tumblers Twirlin' Whirlin' Fun Park is suitable from 6 months upwards. I thought that Lara, at 2 years old, might lose interest quickly, but many weeks on, she still rushes in to play with it each evening.

The Fun Park comprises a wheel which rotates, flashes and plays music. You get three little tumbling characters who can either sit and ride on the wheel or you can make them tumble. Place the weighted characters (I call them jumping beans... Lara calls them aliens) on the top of the slide and watch them roll down. When they get to the bottom, the little beans trigger a popping motion which propels them up some stairs and around in a little circle.

I thought that the music would drive me insane (partly because I recognise several of the tunes from other Fisher Price toys we own). Funnily enough, despite the fact that when the jumping beans are perfectly aligned they toy will rotate the tumblers and play music perpetually... my sanity still remains. I put this down to the fact that the noise of the mechanism that pops the aliens up the stairs makes quite a racket and dulls the music a little.

Lara seems to love her Fisher Price Topzy Tumblers Twirlin Whirlin Fun Park. I think it has already provided its own worth of entertainment in terms of number of hours of play. I also think it looks bright and fun; for a child between 6 and 18 months I think it would be an awesome toy as you can either choose to sit and watch it, or to interact with it. It costs around £39.99.

How I Convinced My Toddler to Brush Her Teeth!

Do you remember this? Over 15 months ago I blogged about how stressful it was trying to get Lara to brush her teeth and just a few weeks ago I was ready to blog all over again. Surely when you brush your teeth twice a day you get used to it???

Until last month Lara was a TOTAL NIGHTMARE when it came to toothbrushing time. One evening in July Lara screamed and kicked so violently that between us, we couldn't hold Lara still and she squirmed free. Lara turned to flee and ran head-first into the door-frame, knocking herself over on the cold, hard bathroom floor. She was livid and in pain and right then I knew we had to do something about the toothbrushing issue.

The following morning I received a beautifully timed email from the people who represent the new Arm & Hammer My Way Kids Spinbrush. Even though the Kids Spinbrush is designed for children from 3 years upwards, I was desperate for a toothbrushing solution, so we agreed to review it on the blog.

Now you'll notice that this blog post isn't worded or presented like my normal blog reviews. That is because Lara only used the toothbrush for 48 hours so I can't really claim to have reviewed it. However, it did solve our problem and Lara now brushes her teeth beautifully for me each morning and evening. Here's how it worked!

The Arm & Hammer My Way Kids Spinbrush is a battery-operated electric toothbrush. You use it for three months and then throw it away. The genius of the My Way Spinbrush is that the comes as a blank canvas. You can get it with either a pink or a blue base but the main body of the toothbrush is plain white. It comes with a set of around 140 different stickers so that your child can personalise it. There are stickers in all sorts of different styles to suit all tastes.



Lara and I decorated her toothbrush on the very first day it arrived. She went for a very simple puppy dog on one side and a rainbow on the other. I managed to convince her that she wanted to add a few more stickers so I added her name too. That evening she seemed eager to use her new toothbrush and once she worked out that the groovy purple gem on the front turned it on and off, she seemed to take to it well. I was surprised at how happy she seemed with such a big change from her traditional toothbrush.

The next day, Lara couldn't wait to brush her teeth before bed. She was doing so well - toothbrushing without the tears and screams. Unfortunately, she accidentally brushed the back of her gums too hard with the electric toothbrush and it freaked her out. From that day forward, Lara has refused her electric toothbrush.

That's not to say that I'm not grateful for the chance to try out the My Way Spinbrush though. No way. Lara has now been using her traditional children's toothbrush every day with no qualms whatsoever. She is happy to brush her teeth and actually brushes rather than chews. So I'm glad that I tried her on an electric brush and I'm extra glad that I didn't fork out for a rechargeable toothbrush.

The Arm & Hammer My Way Spinbrush costs £5.99 and is available from Boots, Superdrug, Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons and ASDA.

Organic Monkey Cheek Rub Oil For Teething Review

It's funny, people often talk about teething remedies for tiny babies but I've actually found the toddler teeth harder as a mum and so, even though Lara is well over 2, I'm still looking at teething remedies such as the Cheeky Money Cheek Rub from Organic Monkey.

Twice since her second birthday Lara has cut a new tooth. I believe that the past fortnight's current bout of teething is for her final baby tooth. Phew. Toddler teething has been nightmarish with a total change of mood and a grumpy toddler who is now able to express her pain and discomfort. We haven't been able to use the amber necklace for some time (Lara isn't allowed to wear it to nursery), and Lara just chomps my fingers if I attempt to apply any sort of chemical gel to her gums. And so, I was really grateful to get the opportunity to try Organic Monkey's blend of organic and fairtrade natural ingredients with essential oils as a natural form of teething relief.

The oil doesn't smell enormously strong so it isn't off-putting for tiny children. There is no one distinct ingredient that I can identify in the oil but I guess that the Chamomile is the strongest scent. Other ingredients include lavender and spearmint oils blended with arnica, sweet almond, olive and sunflower oils, all of which are 100% organic. The blend of ingredients is designed to help relieve pain.

Unlike a chemical gel, you apply the oil to the outside of the cheek so that it is not ingested. As such, your child doesn't get such an immediate sense of relief or numbing of pain. However, I do think that you get a good level of relief for an all-natural product. Over the past couple of weeks of us using the cheek rub, Lara has not yet had a restless night. This is a first. Every single other bout of teething since she was born has resulted in nights where she has woken either hourly or bi-hourly screaming.

Within about half an hour of applying the cheek rub, there is a noticeable reduction in the redness of Lara's cheeks. I'm much happier using the Organic Monkey cheek rub oil on Lara than some of the big name gels and I just wish I'd had a chance to compare its effect on very early baby teeth too.

‘Cheeky Monkey’ Organic Cheek Rub Oil for Teething comes in a really smart glass bottle and costs £7.50. It is available from Organic Monkey along with their other gorgeous organic and fairtrade products such as scalp oil, massage balm and nappy balm.