TheBabyWebsite Blog

Casabu Quackers Travel Set Competition

Editor | January 30, 2013 | 25 comments

It’s competition time! Want to Win this gorgeous £39.99 Quackers Travel Set from Casabu?

Casabu Quackers Travel Set

Little travellers will fall in love with this cute backpack which is available exclusively on Casabu. This chirpy little duck has a zip up bill for smaller items, plus two little side pockets for slipping things into. The slightly larger, matching pull along case has two smooth wheels making it nice and easy for little ones to pull.

Casabu.com is an online kids and baby retailer which runs daily sales of stylish clothing, toys, nursery equipment, maternity gear and treats for mums. All sales are discounted from 40-90% off retail price

All you have to do is tell us some of your Travel Tips for travelling with children, follow us on Twitter & Retweet! Competition closes on Feb 15th.

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More Competitions Here!

This competition has now closed. Wendy Stanger aka @kikicomp is the lucky winner!

Category: Children's Toys & Games, Competitions & Giveaways

Chicco Today Travel System – Part One

Editor | January 28, 2013 | Comments Off

We recently purchased the Chicco Today Travel System, in preparation for the birth of our baby. Here is a photo of me with my baby bump, plus the baby’s older sister Sapphire and her teddy ‘Mrs Easter’ taking the stroller for a test drive !

The Chicco Travel System comprises of a stroller with a carry cot, car seat, cosy toes and rain cover. We really liked the cheery, red colour (I think it also comes in grey too), and the soft padding (which looks as if it will be wipeable for all those baby spills) on the back and arm rests. The stroller is also very lightweight which is good if you have a bad back like me!

Also, I like the little tray by the handle, which has a cubby hole to keep little bits and bobs in, plus a drink holder for my latte (and later baby’s bottle). Now I’m not sure if this is down to user error or not, but the whole thing was a bit tricky to put together… The wheels went on fine, and the carry cot and car seat were fairly self explanatory, but it took ages to work out how to unfold and refold the stroller. Oddly the instruction booklet didn’t seem to match up to the various handles, buttons and catches we could see on the stroller. Ironically it was Sapphire who managed to work it out in the end!

Once we had got to grips with the folding and unfolding business, we realised that the handle actually folds down further, which was great as it meant the stroller could fit in the boot of my miniscule Vauxhall Agila car. This was great news, as I remember having to buy a bigger car when Sapphire was born, just to accommodate her pram!

Part 2 to follow soon and I’ll tell you how I’m getting on with the buggy and baby together!

Buy from Kiddisave

This blog has been written by one of TheBabyWebsite members ‘Jerushah‘.

LeapPad2 Explorer

Sianny M | January 24, 2013 | Comments Off

Keeping Up With The Times!

We wanted to invest in an educational present for our 5 year old daughter, so we got the LeapPad2 Explorer (in pearlised purple) for her.

Technology is moving forward so fast these days, and we had heard so much about this, that when we read the target age was 3-9 years it seemed like the perfect gadget / tablet to make learning fun.

This tablet has an impressive 4 GB memory to store many applications but you can also purchase additional cartridges and manually insert them into the back of your LeadPad2 Explorer. There are many cartridges to choose from and this makes an ideal present to build up. Look out online for 3 for 2 deals too, as they all add up.

When our daughter opened the present she really wanted to play the games straight away but we weren’t prepared that you needed a computer and an internet connection to set up the tablet and all the free downloads. There is a USB Cable included to make things a little easier but this does take a little time. However it didn’t take the shine off the present for too long…..

The LeapPad2 Explorer is a tablet with many functions. It has 2 built in cameras (front & back) & video recorders to capture your life through your children’s eyes. There is also an art application loaded for your child to experiment by changing the colour, adding patterns, stretching, magnifying or even creating a mirror image with their own photos. My Daughter seems to have an artistic flare with this function and I do sometimes wonder how she’s managed to created them!

As she is learning to recognise and write letters of the alphabet the pet writing app is fantastic and one function that she really enjoys. A letter is written by joining the dots but you must follow the correct direction and within the shape boundaries which is great for promoting good practice.

Outside of the writing functions there are some catchy songs to learn which helps improve memory and prompt questions.

The stylus alone has been very important to us which has helped dexterity and fine motor skills by using the stylus like a pen between the fingers and moving it around the screen with each different application. I like the idea that this is also attached by a piece of string to the tablet which saves it from getting lost.

We have only purchased one cartridge so far and have equally been impressed by it. The theme was Disney Princesses, a favourite of my Daughters. By telling a story and asking you to do certain things throughout has helped improve a little more patience and initially got frustrated with this until we sat her down and went through it page by page copying the story teller and duplicating the questions. Now she seems to have the concept and listens instead of touching everything and say nothings happening….

Thankfully we have invested in a gel case for this LeapPad2 Explorer and I believe it’s been a worthwhile purchase protecting it from the many drops, although the zip up case will be next (holding all the spare cartridges safe and keeping everything protected and together).

This has been an ideal purchase and one that will be passed onto her younger sister in time. My Daughter feels important with her very own tablet / camera. It gets taken everywhere. It’s definitely something we can build on and has so many educational cartridges to follow.

See More Leap Pad products at Amazon Here

Category: Children's Toys & Games, Sian's Blogs | Tags: Educational, Electronic Learning, LeapPad2, Tablet

The Antenatal Group by Amy Bratley

Kathryn | January 20, 2013 | Comments Off

Just finished reading The Antenatal Group by Amy Bratley and I loved it! Whatever kind of books you’re normally into, you’ll like it too – I guarantee.

It’s about 5 very different pregnant women who meet in an antenatal class and become friends. If they hadn’t been pregnant, their paths might never have crossed but at this stage in their lives they all have something in common. They’re all going through pregnancy – some have a textbook pregnancy, some find it more difficult. They’re all about to give birth – some with more ease than seems fair, some find the birth traumatic. They all have young babies – and again some find those early days easier than others.

There’s a quote in the book that kind of sums it all up. Just after describing babies as ‘the ultimate equaliser among women‘, Erin reflects…”No matter how successful, or attractive, or well off you were – or indeed the opposite – babies cried and didn’t sleep and needed endless attention and whoever you were, whatever your circumstances, you had to try to learn to cope with that‘”

If I say more I’ll give away the story and I don’t want to spoil it for you. Read it. You’ll love it. I did!

Order The Antenatal Group by Amy Bratley from Amazon . It’s not out yet – it’s out in April. As Editor of TheBabyWebsite I was fortunate to be sent an advance copy. I’m probably not even supposed to write about it yet – if so, apologies Pan Macmillan!

Oh yes – and here are some reviews of The Antenatal Group by some reviewers on our Product Review Panel..

Category: Books | Tags: Amy Bratley, antenatal, Pan Macmillan, pregnancy, THe Antenatal Group

Monster High Competition

Editor | January 14, 2013 | 6 comments

Monster High Kit Heath Bracelet We have a lovely new competition to Win a double-disc Monster High DVD and a simply gorgeous limited edition bracelet designed by Kit Heath. We were thinking you could keep the bracelet for yourself and give the dvds to your daughter/s!

To celebrate the release of Monster High™: Why Do Ghouls Fall in Love and Monster High™: Friday Night Frights on double-disc DVD, TheBabyWebsite has teamed with top jewellery designers Kit Heath to show us and our daughters how to design our very own freaky friendship bracelets that we can give to our goulfriends! (their words not ours!)

The blurb here says ‘The monsters are back with their latest misadventures, and Draculaura’s bestie ghoulfriends help her make an important decision in time for her big sweet sixteen hundredth birthday!‘ Mmmmm…..

Make Your Own Monster High Button Bracelet!

1) All you need is a collection of buttons and some round elastic cord!
2) Cut the elastic cord so that it will go around your wrist twice, fold in half, tie a knot to form a loop and start to thread your buttons on.
3) Thread your buttons in any order you want, you’ll need more buttons than you think as they overlap a little – but that’s fine!
4) Tie a knot in the elastic when you’ve threaded enough buttons on to go round your wrist and use the loop of elastic to go over the last button and form your Monster High bracelet.

Tip – Try stacking buttons or adding tiny ribbons!

Kit Heath Bracelet The Monster High™: Why Do Ghouls Fall in Love and Monster High™: Friday Night Frights double-disc DVD is available on Blu-Ray & DVD to pre-order now and contains special features and bonus material making it a guaranteed screamfest!

To Enter the Monster High Competition to Win Monster High™: Why Do Ghouls Fall in Love and Monster High™: Friday Night Frights & a Fab Kit Heath Bracelet, all you have to do is to tweet…….

Tweet ’#Competition – Win the new double-disc Monster High DVD & Kit Heath bracelet! Retweet & Follow @TheBabyWebsite.’

You MUST Follow @TheBabyWebsite on Twitter to enter the competition. The winner will be chosen by random.org on Tuesday January 22nd and the winner’s name will be published on our Twitter Winners’ Page.

Terms and Conditions for our Twitter Competitions

The Monster High double-disc DVD is available to own from January 21st.

Category: Competitions & Giveaways | Tags: Competition, Kit Heath, Monster High

Easy Ways to Earn Extra Money for your Baby

Editor | January 14, 2013 | One comment

Teething Baby There is no question about it, being a stay-at-home mum is a full-time job. From cleaning and cooking to childcare and shopping, stay-at-home mums rarely have a moment to themselves. Many mums do find the time, however, to earn extra money in a variety of easy ways.

Working from home

For those who enjoy research and can write well, money can be made doing freelance and contract writing projects. A variety of online content providers and freelance writing sites offer assignments and opportunities for mums to make some extra money working at their computer just a few hours a day.

For those who are better at working with their hands, an online shop can be set up to sell handmade arts and crafts. Many existing online venues have a market for homemade goods and are a great place to sell crocheted, knitted, quilted, and woven creations.

Selling old items for extra cash online

mum and baby One of the best and easiest ways to earn extra money is by selling old items. In addition to the cash that is generated when you sell your stuff, getting rid of unused and unwanted items also helps to reduce the clutter in the house and makes maintaining a storage unit unnecessary.

Reaching the widest audience possible is usually the best way to get items sold quickly, and the internet is the best place to do this. Adverts for items can be placed on centralised sites, or an individual site can be set up. Most newspapers offer online classifieds and many local websites also offer classified advertising. Some local websites and newspapers will place adverts for free. Anybody can quickly start selling items online to earn extra money; taking a picture and providing an accurate description of the item and its condition are the only real requirements. Single items can be sold individually, and similar or connected items can be sold as a lot.

For the most part, selling online offers a high return on a minimal investment. Items can be offered for bidding at an auction site, or a set price can be asked. Buyers can either bid until the sale closes or can purchase an item or items outright. Advertisement is cheap and far-reaching, and the money from the sale can be accessed quickly via sites like PayPal.

Other options

It may be best to sell large amounts of old and used items through an organised sale, such as a car boot sale. Car boot sales are very popular and offer buyers an opportunity to see and touch items before purchasing. Often organised by local charities or churches, car boot sales allow a large number people to offer a varied selection of items at once.

Other handy options include church fetes and other events designed to bring people together to invest a little bit of time and money in their local area. Stalls can be set up to carry stock and display items as prominently as possible and a well-placed raffle or tombola table can really make a difference to the number of people that come and check out your items.

So as you can see there are lots of quite easy ways to earn extra money!

Category: Mum Stuff | Tags: car boot sales, earn extra money, SAHM, selling online, stay at home mums

Getting the Nursery Ready for Baby

Editor | January 14, 2013 | Comments Off

baby in bed Bringing a new baby home to his or her special room is one of the most precious moments that any new parents can experience. Designing and decorating the nursery in preparation for baby’s arrival is exciting and by keeping a few practical tips in mind it is easy to pull together a comfortable and safe environment for baby and family.

Basic nursery elements

Naturally, the most important item in a nursery will be the cot. Some new parents choose to use a Moses basket or bassinet for the first few weeks, but many opt to move straight to the cot. Many different types of cot are available, from standard cots to mini cots to convertible cots that transform into toddler beds or daybeds when the time comes. With a variety of styles and finishes available, the only requirement for a cot is that it meets current safety standards.

Another necessary piece of furniture (if there’s room) is a comfortable chair of some kind, whether a rocking chair or recliner. New parents will spend a lot of time in the nursery with baby, feeding and soothing their little one, so being comfortable and able to relax is paramount. A daybed is another good choice, offering a place for a quick nap, a comfortable spot for a guest, or a convenient place to fold baby clothes.

baby under blanket A safe changing table, preferably with a low rail or strap-restraint system, is the final element that every nursery should have. Storage in and around the changing table is also key, so adding some low shelves and a storage rack will keep items close and accessible.

Advice and tips for decorating a nursery

When choosing paint or wallpaper for the nursery, bear in mind that a newborn can only see in black, white and grey. Their sight eventually develops, with red becoming recognisable first and then cooler tones such as blue and green. Painting techniques, such as painting the walls with oversized stripes, are a great way to add colour that can easily be changed, with the individual stripes being swapped for a different colour as desired.

Though a nursery is the domain of the baby, this does not mean that it cannot reflect the sophistication and creativity of the parents. Adding classic touches, such as large monogrammed initials on the wall, framed engravings and pictures from old children’s books, custom window shutters or fabric window treatments, or colourful patterned wallpaper, are great ways to add elegant touches while maintaining a mum and baby simple and comfortable air.

Things are bound to get dirty in a nursery, so finding a way to keep up with the cleaning while minimising stress is ideal. A hardwood or tiled floor is one of the easiest floor surfaces to keep clean and dust-free. A few washable throw rugs or a soft area rug can be added to help muffle sound, prolong the durability and life of the floor or carpet, and add colour and texture to the room’s design.

Plentiful lighting that can be controlled as needed is important in the nursery. A dimmer switch can be added to central overhead lighting, helping to save on the electric bill while making the lighting completely adjustable.

Category: Baby Things | Tags: baby, decorating, nursery

Christmas Pudding – Stir Up Sunday 25th November 2012

Sianny M | December 18, 2012 | Comments Off

Stir-up Sunday is traditionally the day for families to make their Christmas pudding, giving it plenty of time for the flavours to develop before Christmas & the last Sunday before Advent.

All the family take a turn to stir the pudding and make a secret wish whilst they stirred. The pudding was always stirred from East to West to represent the journey that the three wise men who visited baby Jesus made. There would also be a sixpence added to the mixture and this custom was believed to bring health and wealth to the lucky finder.

This was all new news to me and my children as I’d never baked a Christmas Pudding until this year. It was all made easier when I bought ‘Emma’s Make a Wish Christmas Pudding’ by Riverside Lifestyle.

I followed the simple instructions and only needed to add the wet ingredients to the supplied dried mixture. My children and I had officially started a little pre-festive fun. We each took in turns to stir and make a wish and it was so funny to watch my children. One was whispering with the other two warning them that the wish wouldn’t come true if the wish was heard, another closing their eyes and the third just looked at me and smiled. After stirring mine I dropped the sixpence into the mixture. This was also supplied and a lovely touch.

The pudding was steamed on the hob for 3 hours so make sure you give yourself plenty of time. This pudding is ready to eat or be eaten within two weeks (if covered and refrigerated). As this will be eaten on Christmas Day when my parents join us for lunch I have frozen mine and look forward to tasting and sharing it with my Special Family.

I think this maybe a start of a new tradition in my house now.

Category: Christmas Blogs, Food & Drink, Sian's Blogs | Tags: Christmas, christmas pudding, stir it up

Our New Netgear Gigabit Network

Nigel | December 18, 2012 | Comments Off

I’d been reading about the various improvements in networking equipment for some time and often wondered what the point was when our current broadband speeds don’t even come close to the speeds that modern networking gear can provide.

But then I reflected that it’s not only internet connectivity that is affected.

The Netgear Gigabit Network

I decided to upgrade our network to a new Netgear Gigabit Network router and 8-port gigabit switch to see exactly how the improvements would be noticed.

First impressions were very positive concerning everything about the Netgear package. It is incredibly simple to set-up, with pre-configured security parameters and simple admin logins for the router. It really is as simple as plug-and-play! Not only that, but it all looks so good too. Both the router and the switch are beautifully finished and don’t look at all out of place in any office or contemporary setting. The presence of two additional USB ports on the router allow for easy access to additional storage, which can also be set up to access remotely if required.

Wireless connectivity uses both 2.5 and 5 GHz bands, allowing much improved reliability on wireless connections and the preconfigured security settings mentioned above made extremely light work of reconfiguring the devices that were previously using the old router wirelessly.

So how is it better than what we had before? Well, we keep a huge number of shared files on a network storage drive which includes everything from images to songs to pdfs, to spreadsheets and much more in between. Using each PC to access and use these files used to incur a time delay while thumbnails, previews or listings were loaded. This is where the new gigabit setup really shines. If we now need to scan through a few hundred image thumbnails from a particular folder it’s immediate – almost instantaneous and when saving files to networked locations, again there is no delay. It is as though you were saving to your own PC’s hard drive.

As internet connection speeds improve further this new network will surely further enhance the experience, allowing ultra-fast streaming of video and music files to the various devices connected to the network.

It has been an eye-opener and I am genuinely surprised by the improvement in performance that the Netgear Gigabit network equipment has provided.

Category: Gadgets, Television, Cinema and Entertainment

Christmas Books for Children

Sianny M | December 13, 2012 | Comments Off

Christmas in my house is all about the children and their toys. But just as important are the books. In the lead up to Christmas, I’m always looking about for new Christmas themed books on the market. This time of year can be so magical and really capture their imaginations.

Here are some books I’d like to share with you:

Santa‘s flying in his sleigh, bringing gifts for Christmas day. Squeak santa’s red nose and meet all of his bright, colourful friends who have squeaky noses too. Watch the cheeky elf making toys, for all the good girls and boys – maybe this can be a lesson for good behavior. (Suitable for 1+ years age)

The Dinosaur That Pooped Christmas is a modern Christmas classic with a strong moral about the dangers of being greedy and truly appreciating the value of Christmas. My son’s going to love this one! Danny wants everything for Christmas. But what he gets is a dinosaur, a very hungry dinosaur. Danny’s new dino eats up all of Christmas, but as we all know, what goes in must come out…Danny is about to have the most EXPLOSIVE Christmas of his life! There’s poop, presents and prehistoric creatures in this festive feast! Check out what our reviewers think of The Dinosaur That Pooped Christmas.

Diary of a Christmas Wombat is a colourful diary of an unexpected journey (read what other reviewers think).

Christmas comes but once a year, and it′s just as well for Santa′s reindeer, who have to fight with Mothball the Wombat for the carrots left out for them by the local children. Follow Mothball when he takes an unexpected sleigh ride (Age 3-5 years).

When I Dream of Christmas will take children on a magical journey of discovery, whilst helping them and their families appreciate the joys that a traditional Christmas has to offer (Age 3-5 years). See what our reviewers think of When I Dream Of Christmas.

The Snow Bear -As the snow begins to fall just days before Christmas, Grandad helps Sara build an igloo in the garden, and Sara sculpts a small polar bear to watch over it. And what could be more exciting than sleeping outside under the stars? But when Sara awakes in the middle of the night, she finds the igloo is no longer in the garden but lost in a world of ice …and her snow bear has transformed into a real live polar bear cub. Sara and the cub set out on an enchanted journey through the wilderness – will they ever find their way home? (Age 5-7 years)

So that’s just a few of the new Christmas Books for Children that I’ve discovered this year. If I find any more good ones then I’ll be sure to let you all know!