BIODEGRADABLE BABY WIPES

 

I’m really conscious that the products I use on Ripley have as little impact as possible on the planet. So I just wanted to do a quick shout out to Aqua Wipes which are 100% biodegradable, natural and plastic free.  I’ve used these since Rips was born and can’t recommend them enough. I totally appreciate that taking the eco route is sometimes more expensive but Ocado and Amazon regularly run promotions which means they work out cheaper than ocean polluting Water Wipes.

I Spin You Round Round Baby

Don’t you hate it when you’re heading out to run a simple errand and get all flustered and frizzy haired trying to fit an irritable toddler in the car, straining across to secure them in the seat whilst they fiddle with the twisted straps? 

Luckily, this is not something I’ve personally experienced because Joie have literally put the joy into their Spin 360 Signature car seat.

The Pact-Lite Travel Friendly Buggy

We recently got back from our first holiday as a family, visiting good friends in Chicago, and out of everything we took with us

(basically, EVERYTHING but the cat) there’s one particular item that made traveling with a baby an absolute breeze.

The Joie Pact Lite is a stroller that folds up so compact that you can take it directly onto the plane and store it in the overhead locker.  

For us, this was a vast selling point since it meant we avoided the risk of waiting to get it back once we got through customs at the airport – a process that can apparently take up to 2 hours (and not something we fancied doing after an 8-hour flight).

Now, you might read this and think “yeah but wasn’t the Babyzen YoYo the first to offer that exact feature” and well yes, they were…but Joie’s is more than half the price and actually LIGHTER than the YoYo! So for me, it’s a no brainer.

The Parisians really do know how to make everything look desirable. Even nappies.

Over the past couple of months, Ripley’s ‘nappy wardrobe’ has consisted of watermelons, penguins and whale prints courtesy of Joone Paris.  I never thought I’d use the words chic and stylish to describe a nappy but that’s exactly what Joone are offering.

 

WIN A BABY MONITOR WITH SUMMER INFANT

Valentines is just around the corner so I thought I'd share a little baby love by running a competition <3 <3 <3 
I've teamed up with Summer Infant who are giving away a WIDE VIEW 2.0 DIGITAL VIDEO MONITOR worth £134.99 to one lucky Nicole in a Nutshell reader.

Breastfeeding - my one negative (that isn't sooo bad)

I planned on writing this post AGES ago, when I assumed Ripley would happily alternate between boob and bottle without fuss. Fast forward 4 months and this so hasn’t happened.  We are basically Siamese.

Not that I am complaining. I am so grateful that I took to breastfeeding really easily (after the initial tough bit). I love it so much and have no plans to stop anytime soon.  And Ripley has no complaints; it's champagne on tap for him.

I guess I just thought it would be nice to have the flexibility of expressing every now and again so that I could accept a party/dinner/birthday invitation (sans baba) once in a while. I mean hello, I’d already had a 9-month detox. He is totally worth it of course.

My Hummy - Portable White Noise Wonder

I’d previously written a post about Whisbear and the benefits of white noise but wanted to get a more portable device that would keep Ripley settled during car and train outings.

Car journeys usually send babies to sleep (great) but Ripley would usually wake the second we turned the ignition off (not so great).  Since we’ve been using MyHummy, he tends to snooze for ages and I can actually get sh*t done!

Can we talk about my leopard print baby wrap?

I am now the proud owner of a leopard print baby wrap. I repeat, a LEOPARD PRINT baby wrap.

This gorgeous baby wearing item was created by Artipoppe, a Netherlands based company that create luxury baby wraps and ring slings in the most stunning designs.  All products are made from premium, natural, breathable fabrics carefully sourced around the globe from Mongolia to Scotland. 

I'm so happy to have discovered a brand that enables me to keep my own personal sense of style whilst wearing baby in a close, practical and comfortably ergonomic way.

Do women fall pregnant just so they can own one of these? The answer is probably yes.

The Recyclable Moses Basket

My sister says it looks like a giant Croc.
My mum thought it was a stylish laundry carrier.

I'm talking about Ripley's moses basket.

First Class Travel for Babies

Whilst shopping around for the perfect car seat, I was advised that newborn babies should only stay in them for a maximum of 30-45 minutes at a time.  This is due to research funded by The Lullaby Trust who discovered that babies traveling in a 40° upright position for long periods of time are at risk of developing breathing difficulties.

Now considering I have absolutely no sense of direction and am useless with sat-nav, most of my car journeys end up taking at least 20 minutes longer than necessary.

Sleepyhead zzzzzz

So, let me get straight to the point.  If I didn't own a Sleepyhead, I would not have the ability to write a sentence.

This blog post (and probably all future posts) are only possible because Sleepyhead actually gets baby to sleep. Which I guess is the purpose of the product.

As soon as I announced my pregnancy to friends, the "congratulations" were swiftly (and quite seriously) followed by "and definitely get a Sleepyhead".