Blog : Little Lilypad Co

 frog-facebook     frog-instagram   frog-pintrest  frog-twitter

 

The Little Lilypad is a lifestyle blog mostly written by a mum to two beautiful, cheeky and entertaining daughters. It is sometimes written by the Man on the Pad or by one of our baby bloggers. Occasionally we accept guest posts too. There is frequently talk of sustainable living, saving money, lifestyle and travel. It is hopefully helpful, sometimes funny and always honest.

search engine by freefind advanced

 RSS Feed

Category: Reviews

  1. How to help a child with Asthma sleep easier : Acosy Bed Wedge Review

    Posted on

    Asthma can be hard work at any time of the year for sufferers but come winter, it gets even more difficult.  The cold, dry air can be painful on the lungs and make doing the simplest task outside more arduous.  Aside from the cold, dry air the other big problem for asthma sufferers in winter is the high number of respiratory and sinus infections that hang around.  Nearly every child in school has a cold and half of the workplace, meaning avoiding those bugs can be hard work.  

    Night time is always worse and symptoms such as coughing can increase as the airways work less effectively at night and airflow may be more limited, so if like us, asthma symptoms are more affected at night time, here are some top tips for making life a little easier for you and your child.

    Banish the bed bugs

    Buying an anti allergy pillow can help an asthma sufferer as you may have heard them being "allergic to dust" when in fact, it's the droppings of house dust mites which cause the problems. These tiny creatures live in the dust that builds up around homes in carpets, soft toys, bedding, cushions and furnishings, for example. They're invisible to the naked eye and 90 per cent of people with asthma are sensitive to them.

    How an Acosy Bed Wedge can help a child with Asthma to sleep

    Make the bed "asthma friendly"

    The natural process your child’s body uses to control inflammation (including inflammation in their airways) tends to switch off while they’re asleep. Asthma UK recommend propping a child up in bed so whilst a DIY solution is okay to use in an "emergency", the Acosy Little Bed Mattress Elevation Wedge is a specially designed wedge of white 100% British “NURSERY GRADE” cot safe FOAM. The purpose of the wedge is to elevate the head end of your mattress allowing your baby or child to sleep comfortably in a gentle elevated position. By placing the Wedge either under or on top of the cot mattress may promote better airflow to the chest and upper respiratory tract, it slides comfortably underneath and is a quick fix solution. 

    035 SINGLE MATTRESS Wedge AW80 & AB100 sheet Demo

    The airways work less effectively at night and airflow may be more limited, so asthma symptoms may affect your child more if it’s not well managed but the elevation from the Little Bed Mattress Elevation Wedge can also help assist drainage from nasal and ear passages during periods of General Congestion.

    I have spent many evenings sat upright in bed with my daughter against me as so many previous hospital visits have told us that keeping her upright will help her airways but while she sleeps, I obviously don't. Wherease the Acosy Bed Wedge is, I am quite sure, considerably more comfortable than me and everyone gets a much better nights sleep. 

    If your child’s asthma is affecting their sleep, it’s likely they will feel tired and lacking in energy, unable to play or concentrate at school, so a solution that helps everyone to sleep has to be a good one. We have been using the Acosy Bed Wedge for a couple of months now and have noticed a significant difference in the quality of my daughters sleeping, when a cold spell hits it doesn't completely eradicate the coughing but it definitely helps. 

    A bed wedge doesn't just help a child with asthma sleep better, it gives us parents the peace of mind to get a restful nights sleep too!

     

    Note: We were sent an Acosy Bed Wedge for the purpose of this post but all thoughts and experiencese are our own. 

     

     

  2. Hatton Adventure World : Enchanted Christmas Kingdom Review

    Posted on

    Enchanted Christmas Kingdom

    There is no escaping the fact that Christmas is looming and with a Santa experience available everywhere from the supermarket, school fetes or local garden centre, how do you choose the best place to go? We were invited along to Hatton Adventure World to experience their Enchanted Christmas Kingdom this year, so we gathered all the family up for a crisp November morning and set off in search of Santa and his reindeer.

    IMG_3118

    Christmas Shopping Markets

    Before you even step inside Hattion Adventure World, you get to walk through some fabulous Christmas market stalls that are just there for the festive season. The stalls change week on week and you don't need to pay entrance to the park to enjoy the shopping experience either. There was so many fabulous Christmas themed gifts from handmade plaques and personalised pictures through to our particular favourites of gorgeous scented soy candles from Wicks of Water Orton. There wasn't a cash machine working on site during our visit, so it is definitely worth making sure you have some cash available if you want to shop in the market area. 

    IMG_3043

    Zoobee's Christmas Cracker Show

    Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas at Hatton without Zoobee and his marvellous magic show. We have seen Zoobee a few times and every time is different and the Christmas Cracker Show doesn't disappoint. We won't tell you what happens as we don't want to ruin it but the jokes are as funny for the grown ups as much as the children!

    Farmyard Favourites

    No visit to Hatton Adventure World is complete without popping in to see (and feed) the farmyard animals and they have been given the festive treatment with tinsel and decorations around the farmyard too. The children love to feed the animals (but you need to double check as there are signs saying that not all the animals should be fed).

    IMG_3054

    Writing A Letter To Santa

    All children love to write their letters to Santa and if your little ones haven't done so already, they can sit on a toadstool and write their list in the Arts and Crafts tent area before taking a trip to see the big man!

    IMG_3088

    Christmas Decorations Making

    Hatton are all about children making memories and the Arts and Crafts area gives them a chance to make their own decoration to hang on your Christmas tree or personalise your own Christmas card or wreath. My girls loved this area and we actually went back again after we saw Santa as they wanted to make more things, after walking around for a few hours it was nice for us to sit down in the warm for half an hour or so too!

    IMG_3125

    Reindeer Quest 

    Ooh we forgot to mention that upon arrival you are told that elves have (carelessly) lost the reindeers and you are tasked with trying to find them. They are hiding around Hatton find all [12] of them and you get to win a Christmas thank you prize! (which is chocolate so that works for us). While we were hunting the reindeer locations we actually came across a real one ....

     IMG_3119

    One of the things I really liked about our day out at Hatton was that it wasn't overly crowded and as you are able to book a slot to see Santa, there are not huge queues (and bored children). The approach and entrance to the grotto is very twinkly and you could see the excitement building in the children's eyes. 

    IMG_3120

    Children don't sit on Santa's knee anymore but Hatton had provided a wooden chair to sit on next to Santa. My youngest was a little shy so I got the chance to sit next to him too!! Santa must see A LOT of children but he was so welcoming and engaging with the children, making them laugh and even raising a smile from the 11 year old!

    The look on the children's faces when they were told their key meant they could pick any present they wanted was only surpassed by their expression when they saw the toy workshop and all of its offerings.

    So overall, what did we think?

    Hatton Adventure World has enough to do to fill a whole day out, so if you are used to paying a couple of pounds for a quick visit to see Santa in a local grotto it may seem a little expensive. However the earlier you go, the cheaper it is with prices increasing up to £19.95 in Christmas week. The prices here are on the gate prices, and the website says there are discounts if you book online in advance.

    So what are you waiting for? Go ho ho ho .....

  3. How to afford Christmas without breaking the bank

    Posted on

    A month today is Christmas Eve ... how is that possible? 

    We are 11 months into the year and the children are keen to believe that the elves have been working hard all year, although I am still unsure as to how this actually works when the children only seem to write their lists in the last few weeks but I suppose that is all part of the magic isn't it?

    For many parents Christmas can be a mix of emotions from the excitement of sharing Christmas with the children to the stress of actually affording to pay for the gifts and festivities. 

    How to afford Christmas without breaking the bank

    So how do you afford a magical and (financially) stress free Christmas? Here are our top tips.

    Make a list and check it twice.

    Having a plan is my top tip! This includes creating a list of everyone you need to buy for and setting a budget. You then know what you need and then don't deviate from it! If you can agree present budgets with friends and family that is even better because no one likes feeling awkward when your gift is significantly more expensive (or cheaper) than theirs.

    Budget, budget, budget

    I am not talking about finding a way to make your pay packet last all the way through December and I know it is easy to say now we are in November but putting away a little bit of money every month can make life a lot easier when it comes to present buying at Christmas time. I am acutely aware that a lot of families don't always have disposable income to put £50 in the savings account every month, especially when you get requests for school trips or the children need new shoes but there is always an option of playing a couple of pounds with games online. I was asked by Lottoland to take a look at their site and as I am usually a bit cynical about the lottery, I wanted to take a look. The interesting part is that you are not actually purchasing a lottery ticket, instead, you are betting on the outcome of the lottery. This was a totally new concept for me as it is a form of betting that gives you the opportunity to play along and bet on lotteries that are not normally accessible to us. There is the EuroMillions, Irish Lottery and Powerball which is the American lottery which had the £1 billion jackpot ealier this year! So even if you played this for £1 a week, the chances of adding more pennies to your Christmas savings pot definitely has better odds than sitting in your piggy bank.

    Shop online 

    Christmas shopping may be fun but it’s a lot more interesting and a lot less stressful when you don’t have to battle the crowds. Most people now shop online in order to obtain bargain prices on gifts but that’s not the only thing that can be purchased online. Stocking up on your entire Christmas food order online and having it delivered will definitely help eliminate the stress of Christmas supermarket shopping.

    Give an IOU to your other half or best friend

    Instead of paying December prices, offer to take your partner or best friend shopping in the January sales. It means that you get a day out together at a fraction of the pre-Christmas cost. This is an especially good idea if you wanted to buy a joint present for the house (this does not mean a vacuum, in case my husband is reading this!!)

    Get cashback

    Whatever you are buying, make sure that you are getting cashback whether this is through an online site (there are so many to choose from) or with your own bank account. It makes total sense toget cashback on the gifts you are buying and you can start to put this into your 2017 Christmas fund!

     

    What are your top tips on affording Christmas?

     

  4. Baby Annabell Bedroom Giveaway

    Posted on

     Win a Baby Annabel Bedroom

    Baby Annabell® is a pretty big deal in our house (according to the 5 year old anyway), so when Talk To Mums asked us to work with them and review the Baby Annabell® Bedroom, we knew that we couldn't resist. Talk To Mums mission is to make all mums a hero to someone they love and this is definitely going to improve our hero points with a certain little lady! If you haven't signed up with Talk To Mums, it is worth taking a look as they want to share with as many mums as possible by offering free products to trial to mums which is a big incentive for signing up plus their are lots of other opportunities distributing samples too

    So, based on this years Christmas list, we already knew that Baby Annabell® from Zapf Creations has a very fancy new bedroom but you can see from the pictures that from the outside it is designed like a real house. When you unfold the house and open both side parts, you get a gorgeous bedroom which includes a wardrobe that makes me envious with all its compartments, hooks and storage bags.  

    Baby Annabel Bedroom

    In addition to all the wardrobe space, the Baby Annabell® Bedroom includes a foldable bed with cover and cushion, mobile, mirror .... what more does a girl need? 

     Baby Annabel Bedroom - Open

    You can unfold the bed, making sure that Baby Annabell® can sleep tightly underneath the cover and when it is closed up, it can be easily transported and stored. I have to admit that the bedroom is larger than I imagined but it is easier to store than I initially thought as everything folds back inside and it closes with a cute velcro heart to the side. Despite being quite sturdy, it is lightweight too, which is ideal for the little ones. 

    Baby Annabel Bedroom - Closing

    The Baby Annabell® lamb design is echoed throughout the bedroom, making it adorably cute and no question of whose room it is. There is no disputing the quality in the product, which is reflected in the £64.99 price tag but seeing how much she has played with it already (and the fact that it doubles up as storage for all the doll clothes and accessories), it is more than just a "toy", it is a great way to keep the 5 year olds bedroom a bit tidier too! 

    Baby Annabel Bedroom - Closed

    The Baby Annabell® bedroom is a modern twist on a traditional dolls house, I love that it comes with everything you would need (aside from its own baby doll) and being suitable for children aged 3 and upwards, I have no doubt that it will be one of the top toys on a lot of childrens Christmas lists this year. However we are VERY excited to be able to share the chance for you to win one for your Baby Annabell® fan this Christmas, all you need to do is enter below.

     a Rafflecopter giveaway

     

    Terms & Conditions

     

    The Prize: Baby Annabell® Bedroom RRP £64.99

    Talk to Mums will be responsible for the despatch of the prize.

    By entering this competition, you understand that your details may be retained for future mailings. You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time.
    There is no monetary equivalent.
    Little Lilypad Co take no /responsibility for loss or damage in the despatch of prizes
    If the prize is unclaimed within 7 days we reserve the right to redraw the winner.
    End Date 26/11/2016 at 12am