10 December , 201319 April , 2017 - Sarah Leave a comment

Review – Hobbycraft Christmas Crafts

I was recently asked to review some Christmas craft bits and pieces by the UK’s largest arts and crafts retailer Hobbycraft. I do love a bit of crafting but it’s not something I seem to have a lot of time for lately!

I was sent a red felt stocking filled with various Christmas craft items – none of which retail for more than £2. I was pleased to see this as I sometimes think that making things yourself can end up being more expensive than buying things ready made if you aren’t careful. Most of the items are available on the Hobbycraft website although I do think that if you have a store near you (and there are loads) then shopping for these kind of things tends to be much more fun if you can browse in the shop.

So some of the items in the stocking were:

Foam Clay Santa Kit / Foam Stickers / Gingerbread man stickers / Gold cards / Merry Christmas stickers (which don’t seem to be on the website)

The stocking itself isn’t on the website either but there are some pre-decorated stockings and a great video with some ideas of how you can decorate your own stocking. There’s a great variety of products on the Hobbycraft website for any Christmas crafting you might like to do – whether it’s making a wreath, your own decorations or your own Christmas cards.

I have to confess I haven’t had chance to use all the things I was sent yet. I have decorated the stocking using some bits and pieces I had left over from previous projects. I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out – the felt stocking seems very well made so hopefully it will last Toby for many Christmases to come. I was going to buy him a stocking but I think it’s lovely that he’s now got one that I have personalised for him – it makes it extra special!

I’ve also used the Merry Christmas and foam stickers to make some gift tags – something I never seem to have enough of when it comes to present wrapping time. I had some small luggage tags left over from our wedding so I used those and just stuck the stickers on. Toby is a bit little for crafting at the moment but I know kids love stickers and if he was a bit older sticking on the foam stickers is definitely something he could help with. The Merry Christmas stickers are a bit fiddly though – even for a grown up!

The glittery gingerbread men stickers are lovely – I think I’m actually going to pop some string on them and just hang them on the tree. And as for the Foam Clay Santa kit (which makes a small model Santa), I think the hubby has got his eye on that one!

I had great fun with my Christmas crafts – I’m looking forward to doing much more arts and crafts as Toby gets a bit older and Hobbycraft certainly have everything we might need. I sense a trip to our nearest store coming up in the not to distant future – or we can always order online. Standard delivery is £2.95 which seems quite reasonable, or free for orders over £30. And having a quick browse around website I’m sure I could spend £30 quite easily – I’ve got craft-lust! I’ve not really had time to do anything crafty since Toby was born so I’m pleased I got this opportunity to be re-inspired. Thanks Hobbycraft!

**Disclaimer: We were sent these items to review. However, all opinions are my own.

6 December , 201316 March , 2014 - Sarah Leave a comment

Knitting Friday #2

Here’s progress so far on Toby’s Elf hat.

I’ve only got another few rows to knit – I need to check because for a big baby Toby has a surprisingly small head! When that’s done it’s just sewing up, a few ties and pompoms and it’s done. Although actually I think I’m also going to line it with fleece to make it warmer and stop it stretching out of shape.

The Baby Sensory Christmas Party for which this hat is needed is next Saturday so it’ll have to be finished by then. Come back next week and you’ll be able to see the finished article (fingers crossed!).

Becky over at The Laughing Owls always has a Knitting Friday post too – why don’t you pop over and see what she’s been up to this week.

4 December , 201326 November , 2018 - Sarah 3 Comments

Top tips for baby swimming

Toby and I have been going to baby swimming lessons for five weeks now. We go to a Turtle Tots class at a nearby pool. There are about eight babies in the class which is a nice amount – not too big and not too small. The classes are great; there’s lots of repetition from week to week to get the babies used to what is happening but we also build on the skills we are learning at each lesson.

Baby swimming is pretty amazing – did you know babies are born with a reflex that means they automatically hold their breath when they are submerged in the water. So from the second lesson we have been putting Toby under the water and letting go before bringing him back up again. Sometimes I get to go under the water too and watch him ‘swimming’ towards me and today he ‘swam’ through a hoop before I picked him up out of the water! The last couple of weeks we have also been teaching the babies to hold on to the side of the pool to keep their head above water – Toby is really getting the hang of that one too.

I think it’s really important to teach children to swim when they are young as it’s definitely one of those things that gets harder the older you are. My mum took me swimming when I was young. I had both school and private lessons when I was in primary school and I can’t really remember ever not being able to swim. It meant lots of fun on family camping holidays in France and I’m sure it made life easier for my mum and dad, knowing that my brother and I were safe and confident in the water.

I’m really enjoying the lessons. Toby doesn’t always seem convinced but I’m hoping as we keep going he’ll start to visibly enjoy it more. I think that one of the reasons Toby isn’t looking like he enjoys swimming too much (apart from that his mum keeps dunking him under the water!) is because he gets a bit cold in the pool. The water temperature is apparently 30 degrees but the air temperature makes it feel a bit cooler than that, especially once his hair is wet. I’m glad then, that I decided to buy a Splash About BabyWrap which is a sort of baby wetsuit. You can see Toby wearing his in the photo at the top of this post. Splash About are the makers of the Happy Nappy; a neoprene nappy which can be used on its own or over a disposable or reusable swim nappy. Many baby swim schools (including Turtle Tots) insist that all the babies use a Happy Nappy as any leaks of solid waste into the pool would mean it would have to be closed to be thoroughly cleaned. The Happy Nappy and BabyWrap are both great and really do the job they are designed for well. It can be a bit of a wriggle to get the nappy on but that is because it has to be tight around the legs and waist to avoid any leaks. The BabyWrap opens out completely flat and then velcros in place so it’s really easy to get on and off quickly. And it really does help to keep Toby warm. When I take it off after the lesson his body is always toasty underneath. The only thing I would say about the BabyWrap is to watch out with the sizing. Toby is long but not especially big but the 0-6 month wrap that we originally ordered would barely meet in the middle so we had to order the 6-18 month size, which is a bit big but hopefully will last a lot longer!

Our top tips for baby swimming

I really wasn’t worried about taking Toby swimming. I knew I was confident in the water and we would be with a fully qualified instructor. The only thing I was a bit worried about was getting us both changed before and then dry and dressed afterwards without too much drama. I did a bit of research before our first lesson and came up with a few top tips.

Put your swimming costume on at home then you only have to worry about getting the baby ready before you swim (don’t forget to take underwear with you for after though!)
Get a waterproof changing mat so you can dress your baby on the floor. There may be special baby changing cubicles but if your pool is anything like ours there aren’t many and when you are at a baby swimming class there certainly aren’t enough. Putting your baby on the floor rather than one of the changing tables also means you can leave them safely while you put stuff in the locker. The mat you can see on the photo below was a gift from the lovely people at Splash About as they liked the photos we tweeted of Toby in his swimming gear.
Take two towels for your baby. This is a really great tip for a happy baby. I take one towel poolside so I can wrap Toby up as soon as we get out but this one gets soaking wet really quickly. So when we get to the cubicle I take his wet swimming things off, wrap him in the dry towel (another great Splash About purchase that you can see in the photo) and then he’s happy to kick about on the floor while I get dressed. I think I might invest in one of these towelling All-in-Ones soon though as Toby does have a habit of kicking his towel off when I’m busy getting dressed!

If you haven’t taken your baby swimming yet I would really recommend it. It’s fantastic to see how much progress Toby is making every week. If you can I really think it’s worth going to organised lessons. Although I could have taken Toby to the pool on my own I don’t think I would have known where to start in actually starting to teach him the basics of swimming.

And finally, the added bonus of swimming lessons? After half an hour in the pool this morning, Toby came home, had his lunch time feed and has now been asleep for three hours and counting!

**Disclosure: I was not given any goods or services in return for this blog post. All opinions are my own.

2 December , 201321 September , 2016 - Sarah Leave a comment

The Clean Green Nappy Machine Competition Hints!

The Clean Green Nappy Machine

Regular readers of this blog will already know that Toby and I are big cloth nappy fans. We’ve got enough nappies now that we don’t really need to buy any more and hubby rolls his eyes at me every time I spot a new design that we just have to have! So, I’m always on the look out for a great competition where I can win some more nappies or accessories instead of having to buy them…

And here’s where The Clean Green Nappy Machine comes in. The Clean Green Nappy Machine has a great website stocking everything a cloth nappy user could need. There’s also lots of fantastic and helpful information if you are just getting started. Throughout December The Clean Green Nappy Machine are running a daily competition – all you have to do is find the numbered bauble on the website, fill in the entry form you find there and you could be in with a chance of winning the product on that page. The baubles will always be on a product page but they can be a bit tricky to find. So the lovely people at Clean Green have offered my readers a chance to get a special clue emailed to them every day. This clue will not be available on the website or on social media.

So click on the link below, sign up for your special clues…and Good Luck!

http://www.cleangreennappy.co.uk/advent-calender.html

**Disclaimer: I did not receive any compensation to share this competition and link

29 November , 201316 January , 2015 - Sarah Leave a comment

Knitting Friday

Becky over at The Laughing Owls always has a Knitting Friday post, and seeing as I’ve just started knitting something new I thought I’d join her.

So I just started this last night. It’s going to be a Christmas Elf hat for Toby! We’ve got the Baby Sensory Christmas party in a couple of weeks and I’m taking the opportunity to dress him up. Although I would love to make him a whole costume myself, at the moment I don’t have the time or the inspiration. So I’ve ordered him this cute elf all in one from Tesco but I thought it would be nice if I made him a hat myself. And although it’s Christmassy colours he’ll still be able to wear it after Christmas too.

I bought the pattern off Etsy as a PDF download which was quite handy. I had the green wool lying around and as I wasn’t sure if there was enough of any one to make the whole hat I decided to go with the stripes. The hat is knitted in one piece and seeing as it’s only for little Toby’s head I would think I’ll have it finished for next Friday! Come back then to find out how it turns out…

23 November , 201323 April , 2017 - Sarah 8 Comments

Review: bumGenius Freetime

We have been using bumGenius Freetime nappies full time since Toby was about 7 weeks old. He used them right up to potty training at three and a bit. They are still our most used nappy with Gabe too and they make up the majority of our stash.

The Details

bumGenius is a family run American company – I believe that most of their products for sale outside the US are produced in their own facility in Egypt. bumGenius nappies are available from a variety of UK stockists. I got mine from a few different places depending where I could get the best offers at the time. The bumGenius Freetime usually retails at £19.99 (unless you can get one in a sale or get discount for bulk buying) which is towards the top end of what you would expect to pay for a cloth nappy. However, the nappies are an all-in-one (AIO) nappy which essentially means you don’t need to buy any extras like inserts or wraps. It is also a birth-to-potty (BTP) or one-size-fits-most (OSFM) nappy so they should last as long as your baby needs to wear them. And they should last for more than one baby so the cost works out quite reasonable in the end. These nappies used to be available with popper or velcro fastenings but now only come with poppers. They also come in a variety of colours and prints. We started off with all velcro fastening as I foung it easier to get a snug fit when Toby was small but the velcro got quite tired (and Toby figured out how to open it) so I had all our original nappies converted to poppers.

The Pros

The nappies are really easy to use as you can see in the pictures above. The length, or rise, of the nappy is adjusted using three sets of poppers on the front of the nappy. As the nappy is an all-in-one the inserts (the part that actually absorbs the wee) are attached, which means there’s nothing to get lost in the wash and no need to match things up with the right nappy afterwards. As the inserts are only attached at one end they open up for drying (1) which dramatically reduces how long it takes. On a fine, breezy day they will dry in an hour or two on the line. Seeing as we don’t have many of those at the moment though, mine usually dry overnight in the airing cupboard or in about an hour and a half on low heat in the tumble drier. Once you have your clean dry nappy then you simply fold the flaps back in. They can be folded several different ways. Because we have a little boy we fold the front flap in half before folding it back into the nappy (2). This makes it more absorbent at the front where the majority of a boy’s pee ends up.
The back flap is then folded over the top (3) and a fleece liner (if you are using them) is placed on top (4). I then store my nappies in a drawer like this so they are just ready to take one off the pile and put on when needed.

These nappies, like a lot of others, also have laundry tabs which are used to protect the velcro during washing and to stop all your nappies ending up stuck together in one big ball when they come out of the machine.

The Cons

There really aren’t many; I think the bumGenius Freetime is a great all round nappy. We have only had a couple of very minor leaks from these nappies. Even then it was only a little bit where the moisture had wicked through at the leg seams and really my fault for leaving the nappy on too long! Usually Toby can wear one of these nappies for two or three hours before it needs changing. Because of this I don’t think I would recommend the bumGenius Freetime as a night time nappy unless you want to change nappies as frequently at night as you do during the day.

The Verdict

I would recommend the bumGenius Freetime to anyone whether they are starting out with cloth nappies or are seasoned users. They are especially good for anyone new to cloth nappies (or maybe any reluctant Dads out there!) as they are really just like changing a disposable. The only thing I think that might put you off this nappy in favour of an alternative would be the price.

So, in conclusion, the bumGenius Freetime is a great all-in-one birth-to-potty nappy. It certainly gets my vote.

11 November , 20132 July , 2016 - Sarah 4 Comments

Toby is four months old!

Four months! I can’t believe Toby is four months old. One the one hand it seems to have flown by but on the other he seems to have been with us forever!

Toby is developing so fast these days so I’m planning a monthly update to keep a track of where he’s up to.

He is holding his head really well now. He can sit in his Bumbo seat although does still seem to list to one side a bit. He also takes his weight on his legs really well and likes to stand with support.

Tummy time continues to go well – Toby has been able to lift his head since he was born pretty much but he now pushes up on his arms and has just figured out he can move them to reach for stuff. He does get frustrated on his tummy though – I think because he really wants to move but can’t yet! He’s rolled over from his front to his back on his own twice now but I think it was more luck than really on purpose. Toby is suffering a bit from plagiocephaly, or flat head, so we have to try and get him on his tummy or sitting up as much as possible when he’s awake to give it the best chance we can of growing into a more normal shape.

Toby has recently found his voice a lot more and likes to make lots of babbling noises but no distinct syllables yet. Although a few weeks ago he did very clearly just say ‘A’ but he hasn’t done it since! His chatting makes me laugh so much – he always seems quite serious about it. So cute.

No teeth yet – one of the babies from our NCT class has two already. And no real signs that they are imminent either. Toby is quite dribbley but he doesn’t really chew on anything and has only just started putting things in his mouth. I’ve started doing a bit of research about weaning but we’re planning on leaving that to as near six months as we can.

He can grasp toys and things fairly accurately and his now learning to let them go as well. We’re pretty sure he’s going to be left handed though as he really seems to favour hitting or grabbing toys on his bouncy chair or baby gym with his left hand.

And lastly, sleep. Toby is still sleeping through the night; about 14 hours usually, and hopefully that won’t change any time soon! The nap situation is improving too and I’ve managed to get him to have a nap of between one and two hours every afternoon this week.

So that’s it really. At four months old Toby seems to learn something new every day so I wonder where he’ll be when we get to five months?

10 November , 201317 December , 2014 - Sarah Leave a comment

Review: Nappykind Boutique

As you know if you’ve been reading this blog, Toby is a cloth bum baby. I’d seen other reviews of baby legwarmers suggesting they are a useful purchase for cloth nappy wearing babies and although I wasn’t convinced they would be that useful, particularly for a baby boy, I was interested to give them a try.

So when the lovely people at Nappykind Boutique offered me the chance to try some out I decided to give them a go. I was given a discount code to order whatever I wanted from the website so I chose the Huggalugs By The Ocean legwarmers and then I couldn’t resist the Cow Jumped Over The Moon leggings. (Both items seemed to have disappeared from the website so I am guessing they are out of stock at the moment.)