12 March , 20146 July , 2020 - Sarah 4 Comments

Review: Close Pop-in reusable nappy

I think we all know by now that I love cloth nappies so when I saw that Close had brought out a New Generation Pop-in I was really eager to give them a try. We’ve never used the Close Pop-in before, but I remember when I was first researching cloth nappies lots of people recommended them so I was super excited when the lovely people at Close agreed to send us one of their New Gen V2 Pop-ins to try out!

Close (formerly Close Parent) was founded by two mumpreneurs in 2004, not only do they make reusable nappies (and wipes) they also have a range of baby carriers as well as products such as bibs, playmats, car seat protectors and more, all in their trademark prints. Their website is also full of lots of useful advice and information.

The Details

The Close Pop-in New Gen V2 is available in four new prints (hippo, robot, russian dolls and lion) and retails at £16.99. [EDIT: Since I wrote this review there are now lots more prints available]. The Pop-in is a hybrid nappy, or an all-in-two – a cross between an all-in-one and a two part system with a waterproof outer and a snap-in bamboo soaker and booster which allow you to adjust the absorbency to suit your baby. It is a birth to potty nappy fitting from 7lb to 35lb+. Night time boosters are available separately.

The Pros

Top of the list has to be performance – Toby wore the Close Pop-in for five hours on one occasion without a hint of a leak. The soaker and booster were completely soaked but there wasn’t even any wicking around the legs which can often happen with other nappies.
This lack of wicking around the legs (and waist) is down to the great design of the waterproof outer. It has gusseted legs which help to make it ‘bombproof’, and also the pop-in inserts sit underneath a flap at each end so there is no chance of any leakage their either. Finally the New Gen V2 also has an absorbent panel in the middle of the outer which helps to keep moisture in the centre of the nappy.
The nappy has a great fit. I much prefer velcro fastenings to poppers as I find I can get a much better fit, especially on a skinny baby like Toby. The nappy has a nice slim fit too which I like.
I was also impressed to see four sets of poppers to adjust the rise. All our other nappies have three sets and Toby already has them as big as they will go. With the Pop-in we are only on the third set which makes me think it might last longer as there is still room for adjustment as he grows.
The nappy washes well and as the inserts can be removed for drying it speeds up the drying time. The bamboo inserts were dry in about five hours in the airing cupboard or a couple of hours on low in the tumble drier (which is the same as my other nappies). The outer dried very quickly.
I like the versatility of the Close Pop-in – you can add night time boosters to avoid needing a different night time nappy. You could also use the outer part as a wrap over a shaped nappy, or with prefolds or terry squares. You could also use it with disposable inserts – particularly useful on holiday if you don’t have access to a washing machine.
Lastly, I love the prints! As you can see we got the robot print but I love the hippo and lion too.

The Cons

There really are very few faults I could find with the Close Pop-in. The only slight niggle was that the laundry tabs are a bit fiddly – in this New Gen V2 Close have added a little pocket for the laundry tab to tuck into when the nappy is being worn, which is great for avoiding the velcro being in contact with your baby’s skin but I did find it a bit tricky to get them out when I needed them.
The only other thing is that it is slightly more time consuming to put the nappy back together after washing than it is with the bumGenius Freetime which we usually use, but even that really isn’t too much bother considering all the positives this nappy has to offer.
Finally – and this doesn’t affect me, or anyone else who might be using a Close Pop-in for the first time, but the New Gen V2 isn’t compatible with previous versions of the nappy. So if you had some older Pop-ins and the new one you would have to make sure you paired up the right inserts with the right nappy.

The Verdict

I think the Close Pop-in might be my new favourite nappy! The performance is outstanding, it has a really great fit and it looks fantastic. Despite a few little niggles I can see me adding some more of these nappies to our collection in the near future.

**Disclaimer: I was sent a Close Pop-in reusable nappy in return for this review. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

24 February , 201426 May , 2014 - Sarah 84 Comments

Review and Giveaway: Canvas Design photo canvas (Giveaway ended)

Despite having taken hundreds if not thousands of photos of Toby since he was born we are yet to have any printed and up on our walls. I’ve always liked the look of a photo canvas but we don’t have any of those either. So when Canvas Design were looking for bloggers to review their products how could I refuse?

The Details

We ordered our photo canvas by sending an image by email direct to the company but usually you would order by uploading your photo to the Canvas Design website. There are tools on the site to edit your picture and to add various effects. Canvases come in any size from 6″ x 6″ up to 40″ x 40″. You can have a square, landscape or portrait canvas and custom sizes are also available if none of the standard sizes meet your needs. Our canvas is 20″ x 20″ which retails at £23.99.

The Pros

Ordering via the website is very easy. Canvas Design will also let you know if the image you have uploaded isn’t of good enough quality for the size of canvas you have ordered.
Delivery is free and very speedy. Canvas Design use a courier who will text to advise of your delivery day, give you options to change the delivery day, and then give you an hour time slot for delivery on the day. For free delivery I thought this was excellent service.
The canvas arrived very well packaged to there was no danger of it getting damaged.
The canvas itself is very good quality. Canvas Design use 100% pure cotton canvas stretched on a pine frame.
Everything you need to hang the canvas is included. There is a bracket to screw onto the canvas and a picture hook to hang it on your wall.
The print quality is fantastic too – there is no graininess like you can sometimes get with a photo canvas.
The prices for all sizes of canvas are excellent from £7.99 to £59.99.

The Cons

None.

The Verdict

I’m really pleased with our photo canvas from Canvas Design. It looks great on our living room wall… I’m very tempted to order some more and make a whole canvas wall!

Canvas Design are offering all my readers 15% discount on all orders. Simply use the code BLOG15 at the checkout. In addition to this great discount, Canvas Design have also given me the opportunity to give away a photo canvas for free! You can choose any photo and any size canvas from 6″ x 6″ to 40″ x 40″! Enter using the Rafflecopter below.

UK residents only. Competition closes at 00:00 on 7th March 2014.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**Disclaimer: I was sent a photo canvas in return for this review. All opinions are my own.

21 February , 201422 October , 2019 - Sarah 7 Comments

Review: Vital Baby Weaning Set and KidiSipper Tubby

Toby has only recently started weaning and we’re always keen to try anything that might make life easier. He already has four different sippy cups as I keep buying new ones in the hope he’ll work out how to use them! We were recently given the chance to try out a weaning set and sippy cup from family-run business Vital Baby. Vital Baby sell a whole host of baby feeding products along with various other things such as bath toys, teethers and skincare products.

The Details

The Vital Baby Weaning Set is a shaped bowl with a lip to make it easy to hold. It also has a lid with built in spoon storage and the spoon to go with it. The Weaning Set retails at £3.99 and is available in pink, blue or orange. We were also sent the KidiSipper Tubby to try out. This is a non-spill sippy cup with a soft, flexible spout. It also has a removable cover to keep the spout clean.The KidiSipper Tubby retails at £3.49 and comes in blue, orange or purple. Vital Baby products can be purchased direct from the company and are also stocked at Boots, John Lewis, Mothercare, Toys R Us, Ocado, Mamas & Papas and Amazon.

The Pros

The Weaning Set is a really useful product, whether for use at home or out and about. As Toby doesn’t stay up with us for dinner I usually save a bit for him to have for his lunch the next day. This lidded bowl has been great for keeping things fresh in the fridge.
The spoon that comes with the Weaning Set is a perfect size for Toby, either for me to feed him or if he is (attempting) to feed himself. It has a soft tip which I really like – Toby has a tendency to dive at the spoon if I’m holding it and with this one I don’t need to worry about hurting him with it.
We haven’t actually taken the Weaning Set out anywhere yet but when we do I’m sure having the built-in spoon cover will be really handy both to keep the spoon clean before and to keep the dirty spoon away from anything else afterwards.
I have used the Weaning Set in the microwave and dishwasher without any problems.
The KidiSipper Tubby is a good size for Toby at 7 months. He seems to find it easier to hold the handles than on some of the other sippy cups we have.
I like the soft spout of the KidiSipper – again Toby likes to take a dive at his cup to get it in his mouth so I don’t need to worry about him hurting himself. This is very similar to the Nuby sippy cup we already have.
The non-spill valve works well – even after being thrown on the floor we didn’t have any leaks. Although the valve is non-spill there doesn’t seem to be too much effort required to get the water out. Toby is managing to get plenty – in fact the only spills we’ve had are when he decides to fill his mouth with water and then just dribble it down his chin rather than swallow it!
The lid on the KidiSipper is interchangeable with most of the other cups and bottles in the Vital Baby range which is a good feature.
We haven’t used the top for the cup while at home but again, this will be a useful feature when we take it out with us.

The Cons

There are honestly no downsides to these products that I can come up with!

The Verdict

I really like both products that we tried from Vital Baby, and looking on their website there are plenty of other products that I would like to try. Some of the other cups and bottles look great for when Toby is a bit older and I also think the Unbelievabowl looks fantastic. I’ve tried to give Toby the bowl to feed himself occasionally but he just wants to throw it on the floor so one that suctions on to the highchair would be ideal! All the Vital Baby products are very reasonably priced too – I would be happy to recommend them to anyone looking for baby or toddler feeding products.

**Disclosure: I was sent the Vital Baby Weaning Set and KidiSipper Tubby in return for this review. All opinions are my own.

19 February , 20142 August , 2017 - Sarah 3 Comments

Review: Sugar and Crumbs flavoured icing sugar

I love to bake, although I don’t do it that often otherwise me and the hubby would just spend all our time eating cake! I always used to stick to a few favourites but since I started going to my local baking club I like to try out new recipes. And with a meeting of baking club coming up I was on the look out for something new to bake. So when I saw a tweet from Sugar and Crumbs looking for people to try out their new flavours of icing sugar I jumped at the chance!

The Details

Sugar and Crumbs is a UK company selling flavoured icing sugar and cocoa powder. I had never heard of flavoured icing sugar before I heard of Sugar and Crumbs so I was eager to give it a go. There are 22 different flavours of icing sugar – everything from strawberry milkshake to chilli lime! I was sent two new flavours, coffee and salted caramel, to try along with some black cherry icing sugar. Sugar and Crumbs also sell five different flavoured cocoa powders too and I was sent the chocolate cherry flavour. I haven’t had chance to try the cherry flavours yet to I will write another post about those when I have given them a go. In addition to the icing sugars and cocoa powders, Sugar and Crumbs also sell a range of coloured sugar paste and cake decorations.

So what did I make?

First of all I made a coffee sponge with coffee flavour buttercream. I was going into work for two days last week so I thought I would take in a cake for my hard-working colleagues. I used a very simple method to make the sponge – just weigh two eggs and then use the same weight of butter, castor sugar and self-raising flour. To add a coffee flavour I mixed two tablespoons of instant coffee with the same amount of boiling water, allowed it to cool then added it to the cake batter after it was all mixed. For the buttercream I used 125g butter with the 125g sample pack of coffee icing sugar I was sent and 125g of plain icing sugar. I added a little milk to get the right consistency and I also added a little dribble of coffee left from the cake, more to give the buttercream a bit of a coffee colour than for flavour.

The second cake I made was the one for baking club. This was a Devil’s Food Cake with Salted Caramel flavour buttercream. The recipe for the cake came from the first Great British Bake Off cookery book. It is basically a very chocolatey cake which also has soured cream added. It was a much more complicated recipe than I would usually use but I was pleased with how it came out. And luckily, Toby was happy to sit and play in his highchair and eat some lunch while I made a mess in the kitchen! The cake is baked as two cakes then each is sliced in half to make four layers. In between each layer there is a chocolate ganache made with melted chocolate and more soured cream. The recipe in the book also has this ganache on top the cake too but I decided to use the salted caramel buttercream instead. For this cake I used 100g butter with the 125g of salted caramel icing sugar, 75g of plain icing sugar and a little bit of milk.

The Pros

The flavoured icing sugars were very easy to use. Just like using plain icing sugar in fact!
Both the coffee and salted caramel flavours were nice and strong. This means you can mix part flavoured icing sugar with part plain to get the flavour you need. This also reduces the cost as the flavoured icing sugar is more expensive than plain.
Everyone who tried my cakes really liked the flavoured buttercream, especially the salted caramel flavour (which someone commented tasted a bit like Butterscotch Angel Delight!)
Some of the flavours available are really unusual (Banana Split, Galia Melon, Pear Drops and Peach Melba to name a few) – I’m not sure how you would easily add these flavours to icing yourself so being able to buy them ready made is great!
The products are well packaged in easy open, resealable packets.

The Cons

I would say the only real downside to the Sugar and Crumbs products is the price. The icing sugar is £4.99 for 500g, compared to £1 for the same amount of plain icing sugar.
I would perhaps like the icing sugar to be coloured to reflect the flavour. When I made the coffee buttercream I ended up adding a little bit of coffee just to get the coffee colour – but then this rather defeated the purpose of the flavour already being in the icing sugar!

The Verdict

Due to the price of Sugar and Crumbs icing sugar I probably wouldn’t use it for my everyday baking. Also, I probably wouldn’t buy any of the flavours which are fairly easy to create yourself using plain icing sugar (for example; lemon drizzle, coffee or vanilla). However, for a special bake I would be very tempted by some of the more unusual flavours on offer especially as the cost can be lessened by using a mix of flavoured and plain icing sugars.

**Disclaimer: I was sent samples of flavoured icing sugar and cocoa powder from Sugar and Crumbs in return for this review. All opinions are my own.

17 February , 20142 August , 2017 - Sarah 15 Comments

Review: Freeva cloth nappy

As you’ll know if you’ve read this blog before, we love our cloth nappies in the Toby Goes Bananas house so when new cloth nappy company Freeva gave us the opportunity to review one of their nappies we jumped at the chance.

The Details

Freeva nappies are ‘one size fits most’ and come in a variety of plain colours and funky prints. We chose the Jungle Animals print for our review. The nappies have three rows of poppers on the front to adjust the rise of the nappy, and have hook and loop (velcro to you and me!) fastenings at the waist. They are pocket nappies, meaning they have a removable insert which fits in a pocket between the waterproof outer layer and the suede cloth inner layer of the nappy. All Freeva nappies come with one microfibre insert included. If you need more absorbency from your nappy then extra inserts are available to buy from Freeva, either in microfibre, a microfibre and bamboo comination, or just bamboo. The nappies retail at £10.95. Freeva also sell a selection of accessories such as nappy buckets and wetbags.

The Pros

I prefer velcro fastenings on a cloth nappy as they make it much easier to get a good fit. Toby is very long and skinny so getting a good fit with some cloth nappies is tricky but the Freeva was a got fit, even after a few hours of wriggling!
It’s good to see the Freeva nappy has laundry tabs to fold the velcro back onto while they are in the wash so they don’t all get stuck together.
I like the selection of prints and colours available (which we all know is one of the main reasons for using cloth nappies!)
The nappy arrived with information about how to use and look after the nappy (including advice on pre-washing before use). All this information, along with other cloth nappy advice is also available on the Freeva website.
I was impressed with the performance of the nappy. On the first use it lasted three hours with just the one insert before it started to leak slightly around the legs. On the second use I used the microfibre insert along with a bamboo booster and the nappy lasted almost five hours! (I wouldn’t normally leave a nappy that long during the day without changing it anyway, but I just wanted to see how long it would last!)
The microfibre inner and pocket outer washed well and are very quick to dry. I usually dry my nappies in the airing cupboard in winter and both parts were dry in a few hours.

The Cons

The nappy only comes with one microfibre insert included. In my experience this might be OK for a younger baby but older babies might need more boosting so you will have to purchase extra inserts if you don’t already have them.
The microfibre insert is a bit bulky, especially on a smaller baby. There are other fabrics which could give the same absorbency but with less bulk.

The Verdict

The Freeva nappy we tried performed very well. With its adjustable rise and velcro at the waist it really should fit most babies. Freeva nappies are also at the more affordable end of the cloth nappy scale. Whether you are new to cloth nappies or a seasoned user and you are after a pocket nappy I would recommend Freeva nappies as a great addition to your collection.

Freeva have kindly offered all my readers a discount code to use on their website. Simply enter TOBYGOESBANANAS at the checkout for 5% off. And even better, you can use this code as many times as you like!

**Disclosure: I was sent the cloth nappy in return for this review. All opinions are my own.

4 February , 201431 July , 2017 - Sarah Leave a comment

Review: Mr Nutcase phone case

Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you I am pretty much permanently attached to my phone. If I’m not checking Twitter or Facebook then I’m reading emails or playing the dreaded Candy Crush Saga! So my phone cases tend to get a bit of a battering. I’ve always just bought cheap rubber ones from eBay and replaced them when they wore out. My latest case had started to tear at the bottom a few weeks ago and I’d been eyeing up a personalised case so when I got the chance to get one from Mr Nutcase I couldn’t say no.

The Details

Mr Nutcase has a large selection of phone and tablet cases available on their website. You can either choose a case from the pre-designed collections, which can then be personalised with text or clipart, or you can upload your own images. For my iPhone 4 there were two options; the ‘Executive Flip Leather Style’ or the ‘Ultra Light Weight Slimline’, which is what I went for. I decided to design my own case using my own images as you can see in the picture. This case retails at £14.95.

The Pros

The website was very easy to use. You simply choose the make and model of the device you want a case for, choose the type of case and away you go.
There are hundreds of designs to choose from if you want a pre-designed case and it is easy to search by style.
If you want to upload your own images there are lots of different layout options allowing you to choose how many photos you want to use.
Uploading the images from my computer was easy and once uploaded you just drag them into place on the case where you can then move and resize them.
The designer will let you know if your image quality isn’t good enough for the size you have chosen.
Once you are happy with your design you can submit it and then complete payment – free delivery is included in the price and orders are shipped the next day. I ordered my case on Monday, it was shipped in Tuesday and arrived on Wednesday. That’s pretty impressive for any online shopping but for a personalised product I thought it was incredibly speedy!
The case is well made and fits my phone perfectly. As you can see on the picture above the edges of the case are clear plastic with cut out sections for the buttons. It clips on easily but is barely visible from the front of the phone.
The images have been reproduced well – they have a matt finish which I wasn’t expecting but I actually like it.

The Cons

Although this is a great product and I am really pleased with my case, I thought that £14.95 was a little bit expensive for a phone case. Having had a quick Google though, it seems this is pretty much the going rate for this type of case.
The only other con, which isn’t really a fault of this case specifically, is that I find the hard plastic more uncomfortable to hold than my old rubber case.

The Verdict

The Mr Nutcase website was very easy to use, the case came out exactly as I designed it and the delivery time was amazing. If you are after a personalised case for your phone or tablet then I would definitely recommend Mr Nutcase.

**Disclaimer: I was given a code to order a phone case from the Mr Nutcase website in return for this review. All opinions are my own.

18 November , 201316 March , 2014 - Sarah 1 Comment

Review: Little Bird Told Me Softly Snail Baby on Board

When we were asked to review this baby on board sign from Little Bird Told Me I was delighted, as the one we have currently has a serious design fault (more on that later) and I was hoping this one would be a better replacement. Little Bird Told Me is a fairly new company selling simple traditionally based toys both online and through selected retailers. They don’t stock a huge range, but looking at the website I’d be happy to buy (or be given!) any of the products that they sell. They’ve got some really lovely rocking horses – if anyone is feeling generous and wondering what Toby would like for Christmas (Nana?)

The Details

There’s not really much you can say about a baby on board sign – it does pretty much what it is supposed to do! It retails at a very reasonable £6 which seems to be the going rate for this style of sign. This one is very well made and lovely colours. It also matches the other ‘Softly Snail’ toys available from Little Bird Told Me.

The Pros

The sign is big enough to be seen from outside the car. It has stayed firmly stuck to the window since I put it in there last week. And most importantly it doesn’t suffer from the design flaw that our other sign has – that is when this sign is stuck in the window, the text which informs you there is a baby on board faces the outside world. Unlike our other one which, due to the way the sucker is attached, merely lets Toby know he is in the car – just in case he wasn’t sure.

The Cons

None.

The Verdict

I would definitely recommend this sign. Although I haven’t seen any of the other products sold by Little Bird Told Me in the flesh the website is very user-friendly, the products are reasonably priced and there is a good selection available. I like the ethos of the company too – I much prefer more ‘traditional’ toys to battery powered plastic!

**Disclaimer: I was sent the Baby on Board sign in order to write this review and was able to keep it. However, all opinions are my own.