Category: Reviews

1. Tommee Tippee Complete Starter Kit Review

   Posted on 4:23pm Wednesday 27th Apr 2016

   We are big breastfeeding advocates but let's be honest, we all just advocate making sure our babies are happy, healthy and well fed regardless of who is feeding them (bottles are always nice bonding time for Dad's too), so our baby blogger has been putting the Tommee Tippee Complete Starter Kit through its paces for the past 6 months. We did an unboxing video on Youtube a little while ago, so you can see everything that is in the kit. Have a little look below;

    

   After 6 months of intensive use,  our baby blogger wanted to share her honest thoughts and opinions on the kit, so I shall therefore hand you over to Lynette .....

   I had always intended to bottle feed my daughter. I did with my son, and always felt quite confident that I would with my daughter.  It was important for me to choose a good steriliser, as I knew that it would be used a great deal. Possibly up to 4/5 times a day. I had an Avent one with my son, but after a few months it wasn't performing as well as it was previously. This may have been through over use as my son fed a lot. 

   We decided upon the Tommee Tippee starter kit steriliser. Not only did it come with the steriliser, it also came with a variety amount of sized bottles and other items that really did give us everything we needed to get "started". The set includes:

   • Electric Steam Steriliser
   • Travel Steriliser
   • Electric Bottle and Food Warmer
   • 3 x 150ml Closer to Nature Easi-Vent Bottles with Slow Flow Teats
   • 5 x 260ml Closer to Nature Easi-Vent Bottles with Slow Flow Teats
   • 2 x Medium Flow Teats – 3-6m
   • 2 x Fast Flow Teats – 6m+
   • 4 x Milk Storage Lids
   • 6 x Milk Powder Dispensers – 0m+
   • 2 x Insulated Bottle Bags
   • 1 x Bottle and Teat Brush

   On first inspection the steriliser was nice and big, with room to fit 6 bottles. Plus extra space to fit the lids and dummies should need be. The design, although large on first appearance, is oval shaped and slim fitting on a work surface. I chose the white design, however the black design was lovely. 

   I found the steriliser is easy to use. It is clearly evident where the bottles, teats and kids need to go. There is ample room around the tears and lids for dummies. 

   As a result of  my daughter having to spend time in SCBU, I also had to use the steriliser to sterilise my breast pump.  There was lots of room here to fit all of the attachments from the pump, as well as any containers for storing milk. 

   The time for the steriliser to complete a cycle is about 15 minutes, a little longer my previous steriliser, however, the bottles come out feeling fresh and clean, although very hot, so do be careful.

   My only down point to the steriliser is that sometimes when it is put on, it will switch itself off after a couple of minutes. I have still not discovered why? I thought this may be a fault with just mine, however friends of mine who have the same one have also had the same problem.So, you need to check once you have put it on after about 5 minutes. That it is still running, otherwise you may come to making up a feed and the bottles have not been sterilised.  

   Without gushing too much over a practical piece of equipment, in my honest opinion it is the best one I have tried, it is stylish and doesn't look out of place in my kitchen. I loved all the accessories that came with it. We are off on holiday in a few weeks and I will be taking the travel steriliser with me. The bottles, even after 6 months are still in excellent condition and look as good as new. The only thing that have been changed are the teats, and that is due to the need for faster flowing ones and not as a result of wear and tear.

   If you are looking for a steriliser that is stylish and dependable then this is the one for you, it is available from all major retailers for around £99.99, although it is worth shopping around for the best deals. The health advice is that you can stop sterilising after 6 months but I intend to carry on using mine for the foreseeable future. If you are looking for more Tommee Tippee videos, take a little look at our Perfect Prep video that we did a few years ago.

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2. Their Nibs : For her nibs! Review

   Posted on 9:30pm Monday 4th Apr 2016

   The love of shopping in our house has continued to increase as both of my girls get older but their individual styles are coming out more and more, whereas I appear to have less and less influence. My eldest is now "too cool" for pretty dressses and fairy prints but my youngest adores pink and sparkly and those things considered traditionally girly. That is why we have fallen a little bit in love with the brand, Their Nibs. 

   Their Nibs design beautifully crafted children’s fashion with bespoke prints, luxury finishings and unique attention to design details. You can get lost in their delightfully English website while you browse around the nightwear, vintage-style girls dresses and bohemian homeware and it was difficult to choose just one piece.

    

   We are big fans of the "PJ Saturday", so the Fairy Print Pyjamas were the perfect choice for my very own little fairy and we have consequently had numerous debates over her actually wearing them out of the house.

   I wanted to give a fair review of the fabric and how they washed, but that became a challenge as the 4 year old loved them so much, that she didn't want me to actually wash them! Thankfully I managed to get her into some other clothing (as I really did need to leave the house) and got the pyjamas into the washing machine. They washed beautifully and barely needed ironing (although I still debate over whether I should iron PJ's) and they were soon being worn at every opportunity again.

   

   I love the "skinny" leg styling of the pyjamas as this is a style that is a favourite in our house and it suits her slim waist as many pyjamas swamp her and she ends up only wearing the top. 

   The pyjamas are £20.00 and for the quality and beautiful design that you get, I think that it is reasonably priced. When ordering online you can choose 'Send as Gift' for gorgeous gift wrapping and it is little touches like this that make you want to buy from this established brand. Spring 2016 see Their Nibs expand their collection with new Homeware and Ladies Nightwear lines and with existing celebrity fans of their clothing ranges, we are quite sure that we need to be buying a new bedset before the celebrities start buying them all!!

   Their Nibs provide you with beautifully crafted alternatives to children’s high street fashion with bespoke prints, luxury finishings and unique attention to design details. What is not to love?

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3. Vionic Shoes with innovative FMT technology

   Posted on 10:05am Tuesday 15th Mar 2016

   Shoes, shoes, shoes. It is no secret that I have a love of shoes so when I was recently invited to an event by organised by Vionic UK, I couldn't resist going to find out more. We were told that Vionic Group LLC is one of the leading global makers of consumer and medical footwear, so I was intrigued to find out how stylish shoes could be good for your feet too. 

   

   I was therefore thrilled to find a collective of likeminded bloggers, including some of my favourite bloggers Emmaand3, Pink Oddy and Parent Blogger News  at the event held at Marco Pierre Whites in Birmingham. We were treated to a delicious lunch and then a talk from Tony Linford who eloquently conveyed the benefits of the Vionic range of products, from the innovative FMT technology which helps reduce over-pronation to the ability to relieve common associated pains such as plantar fasciitis (heel pain), knee pain and back pain. 

   Tony said that women get to around 40 and realise that their shoe choices were having an affect on their join pain (I obviously cannot comment on this as I am not "quite" at that milestone yet!) but with age being something that I can't control, having the ability to control my shoe choices is something that I need to reconsider.

   From the Antonia Wedge shoes (shown above) that are perfect for work, to the Islander Toe Posts which are ideal for the summer, there is a range of shoes for every woman and every ocassion.

   

   The shoes are designed for good health and wellbeing, they are not sports or running shoes but they do actively encourage walking and being active. They have a great article on the Vionic blog called Find30 about how studies have shown how 30 minutes of exercise a day is enough to boost metabolism and improve one’s mood, providing cardiovascular, metabolic and cognitive health. Sounds good to me .... I just need to find those extra 30 minutes.

   I was gifted some Vionic shoes and I have to say that they ARE very comfortable and Vionic have been even more generous and given all my readers a 30% off code that is valid until 30th April. All you need to do is shop on the website here and use the discount code VIONIC30 at the checkout stage.

   The event really made me think about me footwear choices and if you want to read what the other bloggers throught about the event, there is a link to a round up of the event from Myriad PR here. 

   Did you realise that your shoe choices can have such an affect on the rest of your body?

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4. Win a personalised bedtime book from Create Me Books

   Posted on 8:56pm Wednesday 10th Feb 2016

   As a mum, I love to see other mums striving to create something for their family, so when I was approached by Lisa from Create Me Books, I was happy to help share their story.

   Lisa is a Mum of three and foster mum to many over the years and lives in Devon. After a big operation that required a long recovery, she decided to write her little girl a bedtime story, and after lovingly creating this book she made the decision to turn her vision into a business. Lisa has now set up an ecommerce website (https://www.createmebooks.com/) with the idea being that people can come to them, create personalised children's books for their little ones (ages 2-7) online and have them delivered to their house. Sounds lovely doesn't it? 

   

   The website is really easy to use and you can personalise your character with their name, hair colour, hairstyle, outfit colour, skin tone and even whether the character wears glasses, which is very cute. From point of order, the book took around 10 days to arrive so it is worth noting this if you are buying one for a gift. 

   The illustrations in the book are both colourful and beautifully drawn, they capture the innocence of the imagination without distracting the reader from the story. The quality of the book doesn't go unnoticed either, the pages and cover are exceptionally high quality and would withstand the odd toddler drink spill or debate about which page you read last!

    

   There are paragraphs of the book that rhyme and others that don't but upon speaking with Lisa, it was never intended to be a rhyming tale but this is something she is looking to develop as the business progress. This doesn't detract from the story but it is worth keeping in mind if you start to get into a rhyming "flow". The story is adorable, visually interesting with a varied layout designed to retain the interest of the child.

   The book retails at £17.99 which when there is a section where you can write a personal message to the recipiant, it makes the book an adorable gift and keepsake for any occasion.

   So we are absolutely thrilled to be able to give you the chance to win a personalised book for your child ...... just enter below!

   

    

   a Rafflecopter giveaway

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   Terms & Conditions

   The Prize: Personalised Bedtime Book from Create Me Books
   The winner will be chosen at random by the random winner generator on Rafflecopter and notified within 7 working days by email
   Create Me Books will make every effort to provide the book detailed here but this cannot be guaranteed
   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 29/02/2016 at 12am