Review: Grobag 3.5 tog

We’ve always used sleeping bags with Toby since he was about six weeks old and big enough to fit in one. He’s such a wriggly sleeper that there is no way he would keep a blanket on! We used a few different kinds of sleeping bags to start with but kept coming back to the Grobag. I think we’ve had them in pretty much every size and every tog rating there is! You can find some great sleeping bags for bigger kids in this post too – https://www.globosurfer.com/best-kids-sleeping-bags/

With the cold weather we’ve had over the last few months it’s been rather chilly in our house, especially overnight. We already had a couple of 2.5 tog Grobags and some 1 tog ones which we used for day time naps but at night even the 2.5 tog wasn’t quite warm enough for Toby. Luckily the Grobag also comes in a 3.5 tog version which is intended for room temperatures below 16°, and we were sent one to try out just in time as temperatures dropped.

Grobag 3.5 tog

As Toby is so tall he’s been using a 18-36 month Grobag for a while now but we also had the 0-6 month and 6-18 month versions before that. The Grobags have a couple of different closures but we have always used the ones with poppers at the shoulders and a zip on the side, and so far Toby hasn’t figured out how to get out of them!

Fly-a-kite grobag

There are loads of different designs and I love the Fly-a-Kite design that we received. Those owls are so cute! And Toby looks pretty content in it too (apologies for the lack of pictures of him actually in bed but bedtime is not always the most relaxing of times in our house, and so not the easiest time to take photos!).

Grobag

I also really like that every Grobag includes a free room thermometer and has information on the packaging about which tog to choose and also what your baby should be wearing under their sleeping bag depending on the room temperature. All this information is also available on the website in the Grobag Guide.

We love our Grobags here at Toby Goes Bananas and the 3.5 tog is no exception. It’s fantastic for when the weather is cold as it means I don’t have to leave the heating on overnight and I’m sure it will also come in really useful if we ever actually manage to go camping again! If you are looking for a baby sleeping bag I would definitely recommend the whole Grobag range.

 

**Disclosure: I was sent a Grobag 3.5 tog in return for this review. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

We're going on an adventure

Top 5 toddler travel essentials

We’ve done quite a bit of travelling with Toby since he was born. With both sets of Grandparents living 250 miles away we’ve been to stay with them a a fair few times plus a couple of self-catering holidays in the UK and the two weeks we spent in France at the beginning of the summer. Each time we’ve made another trip we’ve refined our list of ‘must-haves’ to take with us so I thought I’d share my top 5 toddler travel essentials with you.

Top 5 Toddler travel essentials

So, in no particular order…

Gro Anywhere Blind

(RRP £29.99)

I originally bought this so we could use it at home and when we travel. It’s been fantastic, especially for naps while we’re away or when travelling in the summer when it’s still very light at bedtime. The blind fits windows up to 130cm x198cm (we’ve never been anywhere with a window bigger than that yet) but also has clever velcro along the edges so you can adjust it to make it smaller. It attaches to the window with suckers and we’ve never had any problems with them coming unstuck. The other great benefit of the Gro Anywhere Blind is that it folds up nice and small and even comes with its own travel bag.

Munchkin Travel Booster Seat

(RRP £20.99)

Depending on where you are going on holiday you maybe able to hire a high chair, or if you know you’re going to be eating out the whole time the high chairs are usually readily available. In our experience though the highchairs which you get in rented holiday accommodation are not always great, either they’re a bit old and tired or just not a great design. When we go and visit our parents we need to take something with us, we don’t really go often enough for it to be worth them keeping a high chair at their houses. At home we love our IKEA Antilop high chair but it takes up quite a bit of room in the car so a booster seat is the perfect option for us. The Muchkin Travel Booster Seat has loads of great features. It is height adjustable with the four feet that fold out of the bottom. The three straps mean it can be fitted safely and securely to most chairs. There is a three-point harness to keep your little one safe in the chair too. When folded there are velcro flaps to keep everything tucked neatly out of the way and there is also a handy pocket inside the seat so you can keep cups, cutlery or bibs handy, or you could even fit a few nappies and wipes in there and do away with the need for your changing bag if you weren’t going to far. We used this booster seat on our recent trip to Butlins and it worked really well for us. We’ll definitely taking it when we go away again, and I can even see us using it at home in the future once Toby is too big for his highchair but not quite big enough to sit at the table with us.

Waterproof floor mat

At home we use a big piece of wipe clean PVC material, that I originally bought to use as a table cloth when we went camping, to put on the floor underneath Toby’s high chair so it’s easy to clean up any spills or dropped food. I’d definitely recommend taking something similar if you are staying in self-catering accommodation, that way you don’t have to worry about anything making a mess or staining the floor – especially if it’s carpet! We also reviewed the Messy Me mat which is perfect for the job.

Cheerios (and Munchkin Deluxe Snack Catcher)

(RRP £4.99)

Cheerios (or actually Tesco Multi-grain hoops!) have been our saviour on many trips! Toby loves them, I think he would live on dry Cheerios if we let him! We usually give him Cheerios in his Munchkin Snack Catcher whether we’re at home or away. They’re easy for him to get at but it takes enough of his concentration to keep him occupied, whether it’s while we’re unpacking or in the car. Using the snack catcher also means mess is limited, and luckily even dropped Cheerios aren’t too hard to clear up. If you do a lot of travelling with your kids it’s definitely worth finding a snack they love that also doesn’t make too much mess!

Grobags

(prices vary)

Toby has used a sleeping bag since he was about six weeks old. We have had several different brands in the past but always come back to the Grobag as they seem to have a bigger selection of togs and also bigger sizes (Toby has been using the 18-36 month size for a while now as he is so tall). When travelling I would always recommend taking whatever bedding and toys/comforters that your child uses at home. They’re already going to be sleeping in a strange place and a different bed or cot so anything you can do to make it as familiar as possible will help them feel settled – and hopefully sleep better, although this doesn’t always seem to work with Toby! I would also recommend taking a couple of sleeping bags of different thicknesses, or togs, as you never know what the temperature is going to be like where you are staying. There’s been a few times when we’ve been using a 2.5 tog bag at home but then gone to stay somewhere which has lots of heating and we’ve only needed the 1 tog. It’s always handy to have a spare anyway in case of any accidents!

WD40

OK, I know this is the sixth thing on the list but Barry wanted me to add this one! WD40 isn’t actually something we have taken away with us before but after our last trip I’ve bought a small can to keep in the car so we always have some when we’re away. I think every single place we have stayed has had creaky, squeaky bedroom doors, guaranteed to wake Toby when we’re trying to go to bed quietly. One of the wheels on our stroller is prone to squeaking too and we always forget to do anything about it when we’re at home as we don’t tend to use the stroller that much so it’s only when we get away that we remember how annoying it is!

There you go, my top 5 toddler travel essentials. Do you have anything you wouldn’t leave home without when travelling with your toddler?

**Disclosure: We were sent the Munchkin Travel Booster Seat and Deluxe Snack Catcher as a part of my role as a Munchkin Lindam blogger. This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own.