Mellow Mummy

Veg Watch

2012-06-01T09:00:00.001+01:00

It is now 3 weeks since Lara sowed her Birdseye Grow Your Own seeds so I thought, given the spell of nice weather, I would update you on their progress.

Well, first up, we had a 100% success rate - every one of the seeds that we got from the Birdseye Grow Your Own Initiative has germinated - much better than any of our other seeds we have sown this year together.

On the day I checked out the seedlings, Lara was at nursery so Holly helped me in the garden. You are never too young to start learning to grow veg!

All of the sweetcorn germinated - in a week or so they will be ready to plant out into their final position (or so that 'Grow With Us' app on the Birdseye facebook page says).

The carrots are on their way although I suspect that Lara's generous sprinkling of seeds my be a bit too crowded for this pot and she will need to prick some out in a week or two.

By far the most impressive of the veg (not just the Birdseye veg but all the veg in our garden) are the peas. As you know, peas and sweetcorn are both firsts for me and Lara so it is great to see the peas looking so healthy and putting on good growth. We watched the growing guide below to find out more about what we should be doing to our pea plants right now to get the most out of them and it told us to add canes which is exactly what I did after taking this photo. I have a good feeling about these peas!

If you're wondering what the blue things are - they are slug pellets to ward off hungry bugs!

You too can join in with the gardening fun by claiming your free seeds and there is even an incentive (should you need an incentive more than the prospect of yummy home-grown veggies and great fun in the garden). Birds Eye are offering several prizes of £100 worth of birds eye vouchers to people who take part and upload photos of their peas, carrots or sweetcorn to the facebook app by the 15th of July - winners will be judged on their crop!

Little Athletes - Getting Into the British Summer Spirit

2012-05-31T21:00:00.000+01:00

If you are looking for a cute way of getting your little ones into the Great British spirit for Jubilee weekend then have a look out for the limited edition Pampers Active Fit disposable nappies in Tesco and ASDA which are adorned with red, white and blue!

The limited edition team GB Active Fit nappies with the infamous Dry Max technology I learned about in 2010 are part of the Pampers Little Athletes Campaign in the run up to the olympics. Backed by Mum and Marathon runner, Paula Radcliffe, the campaign is designed to highlight how active a baby or toddler really can be along with offering tips and ideas for building the spirit of play in little ones.

Pampers Village Parenting Panel baby development expert, Dr Maggie Redshaw, has lots of tips to help you develop your baby's love of play from a very young age. Simple bouncing on your lap and the encouragement of rolling, kicking and grasping is about as active as my 4-week-old Holly is up to right now, but as she grows older this year and we approach the Olympics, I will take on some of Maggie's tips for encouraging activity:-

Introduce a ride-on toy, which involves more balance and co-ordination skills using his whole body, hands and feet, as well as teaching him to pay attention to where he is going
Use outdoor spaces, which provide different surfaces and areas that slope up and down helping your baby to learn different ways to move – he may go back to crawling, slow down or move backwards
Create lower, softer surfaces for him to climb onto - like a big cushion or your lap
For first ball games, start with rolling a small, soft ball backwards and forwards on the floor
Walking babies love to run after balls. Try throwing or rolling a ball in a park or a long corridor to provide lots of fun and walking practice

To find out more about the Pampers Little Athlete campaign go to the Pampers UK & Ireland Facebook page.

Note: I received a pack of limited edition Pampers active fit for review. We don't use a lot of disposable nappies in our house but Active Fit with Dry Max seemed to work well for us when out and about with Lara.

Bathtime Fun with BabyDan and Fisher Price

2012-05-31T11:00:00.000+01:00

Both Lara and Holly have been having great fun in the bath recently, due to a number of new additions and special treats for the girl's bathroom.

Lara was sent this Dive & Swim Mermaid Dora as a special treat from Fisher Price to celebrate the arrival of her little sister. It worked a treat as a way of easing Lara into big sister-hood. Dora and the Mermaid Kingdom is one of Lara's favourite bedtime stories so Lara was over the moon when she met her new bath toy. Mermaid Dora has an ingenious switch which causes her to jump spectaularly into the water and then she starts swimming backstroke through the bath water. You wind Dora's arms up to help her swim and Lara loves it because she has just started learning backstroke herself at swimming lessons so she and Dora can practice in the bath together. Dive & Swim Mermaid Dora also comes with a hairbrush but Lara show as little interest in brushing Dora's tangled hair as she does in brushing her own!

Holly's new gadget is the Fisher Price Happy Bath Hippo Tub. This is an ideal product for myself and Mr. B (and Holly of course). One of my first ever blog posts detailed why I found traditional baby baths a total waste of time... we've tried several other styles and just kept going back to our own normal bath tub. For Holly, we never even bought a baby bath. The Happy Bath Hippo is a mesh sling which sits inside a sink or bath and allows you to place your baby on it for support, leaving your hands free to actually bath your baby, rather than you having to hold them delicately in the tub to keep their head above water. It is great for a newborn.

Holly absolutely loves her baths (Lara used to hate them) - she sits quite contentedly on her bath stand and seems really relaxed on it. I don't know whether this is to do with her being born in water, a natural love of bathtime or because I have more confidence when using the Happy Bath Hippo Tub and so no stress passes on to her. This Fisher Price bath stand costs £19.99 and I think it is much better value than a baby bath. One of the fab things for us is that we can fill the bath with a small amount of water for Holly and then when she is finished, just top up the water for Lara... this saves water and saves us money because we are on a meter.

Our final addition to the bathroom may appear to be the most mundane but actually it is a lifesaver and something I really should have got my hands on a long time ago. We were sent the BabyDan Bath Storage Basket for review.

The BabyDan Bath Storage Basket is available from the online nursery shop Hello Baby. Hello Baby also sells a wide range of other baby and nursery stuff including Baby Toys, nursery furniture, baby travel and baby safety products.

The storage basket was easy to put together and makes it a lot easier to tidy up all the girl's toys after a bath. Since we got it, I've felt like I can reclaim the bath as my own because when I want a long relaxing soak, all I need to do is lift the BabyDan storage basket off the bath and I am no longer surrounded by toys!

Cooking With Children :: Fruity Meringue Nests Recipe

2012-05-30T10:30:00.000+01:00

This is a dead simple recipe for cooking with children of all ages - it was inspired by the Dora Little Cooks Collection. Recently Dora has taught Lara how to make pizzas and cakes - and in the next issue we are looking forward to cooking our first tomato soup together.

In the past I HAVE made my own meringue nests but I think meringue is a bit of an art to get right so I might leave Lara's first attempt at them for another day. This time we used a packet of ready-made meringue nests. You can usually find these in the area of the supermarket where you would find ice cream cones and toppings as well as custards and pie toppings. In our local supermarket they are stored above the frozen desserts.

First, choose your fruits of choice. I quite fancied a tropical fruit medley but Lara tends to enjoy berries more. As I've mentioned before, Lara is unstoppable when it comes to soft fruit.. especially blueberries. We chose to add some strawberries too. I chopped them up (Lara was feeling a bit under the weather as she had chicken pox at the time) and then let Lara loose on them.

Lara arranged the fruit inside the meringue nests and was very restrained until the end... only one or two ended up inside her tummy. It's a dead easy recipe but with a very enjoyable result. Mummy and Daddy ate the nests with cream.

Can a newborn baby catch Chicken Pox? YES!

2012-05-29T11:47:00.000+01:00

When Holly was just one week old, her older sister developed Chicken Pox. It wasn't great timing but Lara coped well and suffered from very little other than a large number of not-particularly-itchy spots. At the time, our practice nurse, midwife and then health visitor all assured me that Holly, as a neonatal (newborn) baby, was highly unlikely to catch the Chicken Pox virus from her sister due to residual immunity she had obtained from me in the womb. Unlikely, but as it turns out, not impossible. 14 days later, Holly's spots appeared. Yes, a newborn can catch Chicken Pox.

Theoretically, a newborn baby should retain all, or some of their mother's immunity to viruses and diseases for around 4 weeks after birth. A breastfed child will also receive top-ups of this immunity. This is why it took my G.P. by surprise when I rang him to ask for advice. It is so unusual to catch Chicken Pox at Holly's age that the Doctor had to consult some books and ring the pediatricians at the local hospital for guidance. He rang me back and sounded a lot less mellow than he had done the first time.

Until a baby reaches about one month old, their immune system is not developed enough to combat the Chicken Pox virus alone and this can lead to complications beyond the normal Chicken Pox symptoms of fever and spots. He called me in to the surgery to verify the spots were indeed the pox. Holly and I were quarantined in the surgery so that she couldn't infect others in the waiting room. As the Doctor walked into the room, he nodded and could tell straight away that it was indeed what I had suspected. He seemed quite excited and even congratulated me on managing to achieve something so rare that he hadn't seen it before - hmm, what an achievement to be proud of!!!

Holly was prescribed a course of anti-viral drugs in an infant suspension. Unfortunately, because the herpes virus (which is what chicken pox is, after all) is so rare in infants, most pharmacies don't stock the suspension - I tried my two local pharmacies with no luck. This was 4pm and I really wanted to get Holly's drugs that afternoon rather than order them for the next day so we drove into town to try the bigger Boots pharmacy. It was hot so I hurried in from the car park and didn't even bother putting Holly's car seat onto its travel system wheels. Sadly, even Boots didn't have it so I hobbled up the road in the blazing sun with the heavy infant carrier - but still no luck. By the time I got back to the car I was sweaty, stressed and emotional. I decided I needed Mr B's help as it was now 4.30 and having to take Holly out of the car at each pharmacy was eating up time.

I dropped into the office and dragged Mr B out of a meeting (he was very grumpy about this) and while I waited I burst into tears in front of the receptionist. She came to my rescue and quickly googled lots of phone numbers of pharmacies throughout Berkshire and started to ring them for me. Mr B arrived so we got on the road and started calling the pharmacies as we headed out of town towards bigger, better pharmacies that might still be open after 5pm. Luckily we found one who had the drug and agreed to put it aside for us. Panic over.

Administering sticky medicine to a newborn is messy but we managed and now the course of drugs is complete. The drugs seemed to kick in within about 48 hours - Holly's spots never got as big or as blistered as Laras and no new ones appeared after the course of treatment started. Holly may have had some of my immunity so perhaps only had a mild case of Chicken Pox - I don't suppose that she even noticed.

Lots of people have said to me, "well at least she has got it over and done with early", but unfortunately things don't work like that. Because a newborn's immune system is still developing, they are unlikely to develop a full immunity to the virus. Also, because the case was mild and treated with drugs, it is likely that Holly could still catch Chicken Pox later in her life. Ho hum.

Ah well, that's one more motherhood myth dispelled. A newborn baby can catch Chicken Pox, even when breastfed.

Win an Andrex Eco goody bag worth over £50

2012-05-28T11:00:00.000+01:00

Many years ago while at university, I set myself a rule that I would only ever buy recycled toilet paper - does it really matter how pristine, white and pure your loo roll is? I feel that this is just one tiny thing I can do every day to protect our world's resources. This is why I am happy that Andrex have now launched their new Eco loo roll and the good thing about it is that it usually sells at the same price as their other styles of paper and not, as with many recycled toilet rolls, at a premium.

New Andrex Eco is made from 90% recycled fibres and 10% bamboo (chosen because it is fast to grow and its usage relieves pressure on the world's existing forests). It is FSC certified to be from managed and sustainable resources. It comes in 100% recycled and recyclable packaging and to be very honest, I think it is the best recycled toilet roll I've ever tried - for me, it feels like a luxury product compared to my current supermarket own brand.

I have a Goody bag worth over £50 to give away to one lucky Mellow Mummy reader that includes a 4 pack of new Andrex Eco toilet roll, a bottle of EXTREMELY mellow Neal's Yard bubble bath, A box of luxury truffles (Lara will certify their yumminess as she enjoyed her box very much) and a set of bamboo socks. To be in with a chance of winning, just leave me a comment below to tell me another little thing we can all do to protect the world's resources. The competition will close on the 5th June.

TERMS and CONDITIONS:

The competition is open to UK residents only.

Only one comment entry per person. Multiple, automated or bulk entries will result in immediate disqualification

The winner will be contacted by email.

Entries will only be deemed valid if a valid email address is provided when commenting or a valid facebook account is used.

The winner will be selected at random from all valid comments and wall posts received by 11.59pm on 5th June.

The judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into

The winner's name will be published on this site

Finebedding Children's Bedding Review

2012-05-27T16:00:00.000+01:00

Lara decided, in the week's before Holly's birth that she wanted to be a big girl and dispense with her night time nappy - good for her! Night time toilet training has me worried - it took Lara a long time to master the art of day time toilet training (nearly a year from when she first expressed an interest in attempting it) so I don't expect this to be an easy ride. Thankfully, Lara is now the proud owner of a machine washable duvet and pillow set from finebedding.co.uk.

We had already invested in a number of waterproof sheets for Lara's bed but after our first attempt in March to dispense with the nighttime nappy (which ended up in an accident less than an hour after bedtime), I knew we were going to need more than just sheets. The spundown children's bed set from finebedding.co.uk is a two-part set of bedding that can be washed frequently and in a normal washing machine - no need to tumble dry this duvet. Yay!

The duvet and pillow set is really good quality - soft fabric on the outside but a nice firm filling in both the pillow and the duvet. The pillow is really plump and has a breathable cotton covering. The duvet is one of finebedding's "spundown" duvets (ours is a cotbed size but the set is also available in a single bed size). The duvet has a very soft covering and is made from a compressible material which means you can squidge it into your washing machine easily.

Both the duvet and the pillow can be washed at 60 degrees in a washing machine which is the temperature at which dust mites are killed - a higher temperature wash is also ideal for getting rid of unpleasant odours and stains.

The cotbed and single duvet bedding sets are available in 4.5 tog or 7 tog rating. I think Lara's must be the higher tog because it is quite phenomenally warm - she is always REALLY toasty underneath it. Possibly a bit too warm for this time of year!

Currently Lara has about a 60% success rate at getting through the night without any accidents (this dropped a little while she had chicken pox) which means that our bedding set has seen the inside of the washing machine on numerous occasions. It is doing well despite this and is still as good as new - I'm also surprised at how quickly it dries (we can wash it in the morning for it to be ready by bed time).

The children's cotbed set costs £35 from finebedding.co.uk .

The Essential One Newborn Sleepsuits and Sleeping Bags Review

2012-05-27T09:00:00.000+01:00

I'm a bit in love with the clothes that Holly has been sent from The Essential One. Holly is so little compared to Lara at the same age that I'm eager to keep her dressed in sleepsuits and bodysuits for as long as possible to preserve that newborn innocence. Although I love to keep a few very special items of clothing for my girls, I'm definitely someone who prefers to buy simple, comfy essentials as clothing both for me and my 'baby' girls and The Essential One seem to have just nailed that market for simple essentials for babies.

The Essential One sent Holly a starter set - a 3 pack of baby girl sleepsuits in baby pink. They aren't too girly - very understated and yet they are incredibly feminine and I'm proud to take Holly out in them.

The baby grows are all 100% soft cotton and come in a cute drawstring bag so they make a great gift. They all have integrated scratch mitts (I've noticed this is a lot more common now than it was 3 year's ago). And the best thing about the sleepsuits is that there are lots of other bits and bobs on sale at the Essential One that I can get to match them - hats, blankets, mittens, cardigans and bibs to finish off the outfit!

Holly has also tried out her baby sleeping bag although we haven't let her spend the night in it yet as she isn't big enough (10lbs is the recommendation to ensure their head doesn't pop down into the bag as they sleep). We couldn't resist trying it out though as it looks soooooo comfy.

Holly's is a velour sleeping bag with cute animals on - it is soft jersey inside and it zips up all the way around and popper over the shoulders. We found it dead easy to put on her and, having never used a sleeping bag with Lara, we are excited about using it on Holly when she gets a little larger.

Prizes for Parents - 25/05/2012

2012-05-25T17:00:00.000+01:00

Welcome back to Mellow Mummy's weekly roundup of some of the great competitions that you can find out there on the web. During the week, I will keep my eyes peeled for competitions relevant to mums, parents, families and of course, health & beauty fans. On a Friday afternoon/evening I'll post a small selection of them here for you to find all in once place.

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At present I have some competitions running on the site.

Win limited edition Little Dish toddler shoes. Closes 28th May.

To win a year's supply of eco cleaning products click here. Closes 30th May.

And to win a luxury bouquet of sunflowers, click here. Closes TONIGHT.

On my tech reviews site, Family Tech I have a 3-month membership to Mathsblaster.com to be won. It is an online maths learning game suitable for preschoolers upwards. Closes 30th May.

On Parentwheels I have a new competition to win a European Driving Survival kit. Visit a facebook page and then fill in a form to enter. closes 6th June.

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Newborn and Baby clothing company, The Essential One, are running a competition to win £60 of clothing from their online store. To enter, post a picture of your 'Best of British' baby on their facebook page by the 5th June.

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Baby Friendly Blotholes is running a competition to win some fab Sunuva swimwear like the items we reviewed at the weekend. Fill in a form to win. Closes 30th May.

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If you are local to me then you might be interested to know that Woodley Autos are running a competition to win tickets to the Woodley carnival on the 9th June. See their facebook page for details of how to win.

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The Treasured Memory gallery has been built by Hallmark cards to share the stories behind the UK’s most cherished keepsakes and, through a public voting process, uncover the Nation’s Ultimate Treasured Memory. To enter a keepsake in to the gallery, participants are asked to submit a photograph or description of their prized possession to http://www.facebook.com/HallmarkUK with all entries also being added into a prize draw to win a Nikon-1 camera.

Following the initial entry period, a panel of expert judges (including the Mummy Blogger behind Inside the Wendy House, Wendy McDonald and Exhibitions and Displays Manager at the National Media Museum, Amanda Chinneck) will create a shortlist of entries to compete in a public vote to be named the UK’s Most Treasured Memory.

On the 5th July, the public poll will come to a close and the shortlisted entry with the most votes will then be named the UK’s Ultimate Treasured Memory. The lucky winner will also receive a fantastic Treasured Memories prize package, worth over £350, which includes the new Nikon-1 camera.

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If you would like to add your own competition to the linky below, please make sure you describe the prize on offer AND leave a closing date. I will tidy up the linky each Thursday. If your competition doesn't have a closing date on it, I will assume it is already closed and delete it from the linky.

If you represent a brand, and have a competition or giveaway that you would like me to mention in the 'Prizes for Parents' roundup next week, either add it to the Linky below or drop me an email at jumblyMummy[@]gmail[dot]com or find me on twitter @jumblyMummy.

Win Limited Edition Little Dish Shoes

2012-05-24T16:41:00.001+01:00

This giveaway is being promoted by Sainsbury’s Bank car insurance as part of the Sainsbury’s Bank Family Blogger Network.

Children's food company, Little Dish want to celebrate their partnership with this year's Barnardo’s Big Toddle - a sponsored walk for toddlers that is the UK's biggest fundraising event for under 5s.

To promote their partnership with Barnardo’s Little Dish will be selling special packs of Chicken and Butternut Squash Pie with a pair of toddling shoes for just £5. The limited edition packs are available in Sainsbury’s from Wednesday 23rd May for 10 days only. Proceeds from the sale will go to Barnardo’s.

Last year as many as half a million children joined in with the Banardo's Big Toddle. Anyone with children aged 0-5 can join in - parents, childminders, nurseries or playgroups. This year's theme is Superheroes and lots of people will be dressing up to talk part in the sponsored walk. You can register your own toddle here.

To be in with a chance of winning one of 4 pairs of these Limited Edition Little Dish shoes enter below:-

log in to Rafflecopter with your Facebook account or your email address
enter the draw up to 3 times by leaving a blog post comment, tweeting about the giveaway or ‘liking’ the blog post.
The more times you enter the better your chances of winning.
The winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter (which uses random.org) and announced on this page.
Entrants must state the required size - small (4/5), medium (6/7) or large (8/9)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Breastfeeding Baby Number Two

2012-05-24T09:00:00.000+01:00

I consider myself a very lucky mum to have had two daughters who have taken naturally to breastfeeding without a struggle. I'll admit that breastfeeding the second time around hasn't been as easy as it was the first time, but I think we're managing OK! I guess I'm just surprised that breastfeeding is not just a mum-skill but is also a skill your baby has to learn.

When Lara was born, she had a traumatic birth and didn't feed for many hours after the birth - this could well have been to do with the copious amounts of drugs and anaesthetic I had been given. When she did feed, she fed like an animal. Lara fed regularly for the first few days and right from the very first feed she gulped the milk down. Lara was always in a hurry. Even to this day, as she approaches her third birthday, Lara is a gulper. If you offer Lara a drink of water, juice or milk it is gone in seconds with loud, distinctive gulps.

Holly is very very different - a very mellow feeder. When Holly was born, as she laid against my chest in the moments after the birth she naturally shuffled to the breast (it is a natural instinct that, when left to its own devices can result in your baby "crawling" to the breast unaided). Holly feeds regularly and well but she doesn't have the same urgency as Lara. A feed can take well over an hour and will often take place in stops and starts. Holly doesn't suck like she is posessed (!) she calmly goes at her own pace and on her own rules. I can see this becoming quite frustrating in the future when I have people to see and places to go!

Holly also needs help with positioning. Left to her own devices, Holly will suck on the nipple rather than taking a great big mouthful of boob! It hurts, and it isn't efficient for feeding. I keep repositioning her in the hope that one day she will work it out for herself. During the first 48 hours I found it hardest. I didn't have the energy to reposition her and she was constantly sucking; back again for another feed within 2 hours every time. The sucking seemed to be for comfort more than anything and it gave her awful wind which then left her restless and sleepless and me bruised, sore and bleeding. If this had been my first baby I could well imagine having given up breastfeeding at this point, especially as when the milk comes in, you are at an emotional, hormonal peak (I remember the tears from when Lara was two days old).

Thankfully, experience told me that if I could just get through the pain and exhaustion and hold on until the milk came in, then the situation would improve. And it did. The stints between feeds got longer and Holly seemed more satisfied. Breastfeeding isn't easy but it's a skill worth learning - every day I continue to feed, I know I'm setting up Holly for life.

To help other mums, I've set up a babyhuddle list of some of my Breastfeeding Lifesavers to go alongside some of their baby essentials.

"Breastfeeding Lifesavers" on Babyhuddle

Sterimar Baby Facebook Page - A Chance to Win £500

2012-05-21T15:00:00.000+01:00

Do you consider me an expert in all things Mummy? maybe? maybe not. I like to think that now I am a mum of two, I at least have some wise words to share which is why you will see me on the new Stérimar® Baby Facebook page over the coming months offering tips, advice and experience to other mums, not only on how to deal with snuffly noses, but lots of other topics too.

As you may know, I am a Stérimar® ambassador, having discovered it last summer. Although Lara doesn't enjoy me using the nasal spray on her, it does work wonders so I'm planning on using it for baby from a much earlier stage so that they get used to it. I've used a couple of the adult Stérimar® products during my pregnancy and have become a big fan, in fact, when I feel a cold coming on, now my first instinct is to reach for my nasal spray rather than paracetemol or chemical decongestants, I feel that confident it can help me.

Stérimar® Baby is a 100% natural sea water nasal spray that is specifically designed to gently clear and unblock little noses from birth to 3 years. Since babies also breathe mainly through their nose and cannot blow it, a blocked nose can be disruptive and lead to problems breathing, eating or sleeping. To help relieve discomfort, Stérimar® Baby gently clears and unblocks little noses and rebalances nasal functions. It can be used as often and as long as needed.

To celebrate the launch of the new Facebook page for Stérimar® Baby, the natural seawater base nasal spray, they are offering you the chance to win a £500 cash prize if you enter their ‘Cutest Little Nose’ photo competition! You may have read about the competition in my weekly "Prizes for Parents" roundup - if you haven't entered, do so! There is no voting involved so everyone is in with a chance to win!

Stérimar® Baby just love little noses and can’t wait to see your adorable photos of your little ones, so please enter today! The ‘cutest’ photo will be chosen as the winner and the ‘most creative’ photo will win a runner up prize of Stérimar® Baby products. The competition is running for two months, and will close on 20th June 2012.

The Facebook page is all about keeping little noses clean, clear and healthy. You can connect with Mums (err.. like me!) and experts to share advice, tips, stories and even photos. Our Mummy Ambassadors will be posting relevant parenting topics for discussion and there will be more competitions throughout the year. These mums and their little ones use and love Stérimar® Baby – we hope you do too!

Become a fan and ‘like’ the new official Stérimar® Baby Facebook page to get in on the action! Click here to enter the new competition now.

DISCLOSURE: As a Sterimar ambassador, I do receive payment for the tips and advice that I give and the blog posts that I write. I genuinely use and rate their product and am happy to represent them - I wouldn't do it otherwise.

Sunuva Children's Swimwear Review

2012-05-20T16:00:00.000+01:00

Choosing a swimsuit for Lara is always a struggle – we swim together every week and yet, for much of the year, the selection of children's swimsuits on the high street is almost non-existent. I almost exclusively shop online for sports swimsuits for Lara (this suits me well because I hate clothes shopping in REAL shops) but does result in Lara looking more like an olympic swimmer than a pre-schooler when she goes to her swimming lessons! Sunuva contacted me to introduce me to a different option – their range of children's swimwear for babies and children of all ages is not only functional but beautifully styled.

Choosing a design from the beautiful range of fabrics that Sunuva use was difficult. There are some really pretty designs, and some bolder and brighter designs but my favourite was this one, the Dandelion design. Each design for girls or boys has a range of different pieces of swimwear – for girls you can buy a pair of nappy pants, a bikini, a long-sleeved sun-protection top (rash vest) and the more traditional one-piece (which is what I tend to opt for with Lara).

The swimsuit is really good quality – I was particularly taken by the white piping around the outside which made the swimsuit look really comfy to wear. Lara looks smart wearing her swimsuit and she enjoys the novelty of having a pocket on the back of her swimsuit – an unusual touch.

Sunuva also sell a luxurious and very elegant range of beachwear to compliment their range of swimwear. I will definitely be heading back to sunuva.com for some summer pieces of Lara and Holly to take away with us this summer – the little girl's dresses look floaty and cool and perfect for chilled out evenings. My only worry is that I may not be able to resist the range of swimming accessories... or more importantly the clothing accessories such as a cowboy hat or headscarf for a very trendy Lara!

I also had a browse of the little boy's swimwear that Sunuva sell – the boys swimshorts come in some wonderfully bright colours and there are even some designs that will co-ordinate well with older siblings.

Mellow Mummy readers can get 10% off at www.sunuva.com using the code MELLOWMUMMY. You can follow Sunuva on facebook and on twitter.

Thomas & Friends Rescue on the Rails DVD Review

2012-05-20T09:00:00.000+01:00

I know Lara isn't unusual as a little girl who enjoys watching Thomas & Friends. We have had at least one occasion where we simple COULD NOT leave a shop without the purchase of a new Thomas DVD and, having lost the argument with her, I am pleased to say that the DVD became one of her very most watched programmes! Lara has had a sneak preview of the latest Thomas &; Friends DVD - Rescue on the Rails which is released tomorrow.

As always, the episodes on the DVD have a good mixture of engine action along with important life lessons to be learned. The key message I came away with from watching Rescue on the Rails is that teamwork pays. The episodes all feature Sodor search and Rescue and for us, it was the first time that we had seen Flynn the Fire Engine who has to come to Thomas's rescue when his firebox catches alight.

Lara's favourite episode was where Gordon got derailed in the marshes and his friends had to pull together to lift him out. She really got quite wrapped up in the story and was urging the team to succeed!

For the first time, Lara also seemed to enjoy the non-animated sections of the DVD in between episodes. In this DVD, Mr. Pickles is preparing for a magic show. Perhaps it is a sign of Lara's age (she is nearly 3) that she is not only enjoying animation, but also acting.

Thomas & Friends, Rescue on the Rails is released by HIT entertainment tomorrow, 21st May on DVD for around £12.99. It lasts just under 1 hour.

Postnatal Recovery

2012-05-19T09:00:00.002+01:00

I can't get over how different my postnatal recovery has been since giving birth to Holly 2.5 weeks ago compared to my recovery after Lara's birth. I know this has a lot to do with the differences in my labour and birth and the trauma my body suffered during childbirth but it also has a lot to do with experience - I was well-prepared this time and learned lots of lessons after Lara was born.

Given that our babymoon was rudely interrupted this time around by a family tummy bug followed by Lara getting chickenpox, I'm astounded at myself for remaining so mellow during the recovery period. This is how I coped!

Wounds
I was more mentally prepared for stitches this time around and I think I was lucky that the stitches were in an easier place to deal with. As with my first child, I took Arnica homeopathy tablets to speed up healing, took a daily bath in salted water with a few drops of lavender oil and ensured that everything stayed clean and dry. I kept a cup in the bathroom to pour warm water over the stitches and keep them clean and ensured I drank plenty of water to dilute the urine and prevent stinging. I started pelvic floor exercises as soon as I felt brave enough and was surprised at what good shape the muscles were in. My stitches healed within two weeks.

Piles & Constipation
After Lara was born I suffered from hemorrhoids and constipation so badly that it has left me with lasting problems and pains which this week have brought me to tears once again. This time, it all kicked off before Holly was born and so I was already taking laxatives and using ointments. Lessons I learned were not to hold back from going to the toilet, however much it hurts and also to use a soft toilet tissue like Andrex Washlets which, in my opinion, should be on every new-mum's essentials list - not only do they make it more comfortable but also help you to keep things clean, which helps your wounds to heal and stay uninfected. I also experimented with wiping cold cotton pads soaked in witch-hazel to help reduce the piles but it didn't seem to do much.

Sore Breasts
Now this one came as a surprise with my first baby - people warn you but you just don't 'get' it until it happens. On day two when my boobs felt raw and the nipples were bleeding, I reached for my lanolin cream, had a nice warm bath with a flannel on each breast and told myself repeatedly that everything would be alright once the milk came in... I grimaced through the pain and sure enough, the next day the milk arrived and after relieving the weight of the milk using my breast pump, everything slowly returned to normal. Well, as normal as leaky, enormous breasts can ever be.

Dizziness
Breastfeeding is hard work and puts a lot of demands on your body. My secret is to snack regularly and I have museli bars and cake bars secreted throughout the house for me to grab when I need them; I also have emergency glucose tablets for if I feel light-headed. Mr. B is always pestering me to drink - I feel like I'm drinking about 20 pints of water a day. even with all this in place, I did suffer when the milk first came in - I had 4 migraine headaches in two days (I usually get about 1 a year) and the midwife put this down to dehydration. Ug.

Sleep Deprivation & Routine
As a second-time mum, I think I was well prepared for the sleep deprivation. The chicken pox and tummy bug didn't help matters with myself, Mr. B and Lara up several times each night, as well as Holly. Having a preschooler in the house rather enforces a routine, whether you like it or not. I;m not the kind of mummy who would try and implement a feeding/sleeping routine for my newborn but I'd say that a normal daily routine seems to have happened without us even trying this time. Holly still has a very annoying wide-awake period between about 3 and 6 in the morning but it'll come with time and I'm sure I won't even notice it happening. When you have your first child, people tell you to make the most of your baby's nap times and sleep when they sleep but it's another one of those things you don't truely grasp until it happens - this time both myself and Mr. B have been a lot more disciplined on ourselves to sleep when Holly sleeps... even if it means some very early bedtimes for us.

Prizes for Parents - 18/05/2012

2012-05-18T17:00:00.000+01:00

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At present I have two competitions running on the site.

To win a year's supply of eco cleaning products click here. Closes 30th May.

And to win a luxury bouquet of sunflowers, click here. Closes 25th May.

On my tech reviews site, Family Tech I have a 3-month membership to Mathsblaster.com to be won. It is an online maths learning game suitable for preschoolers upwards. Closes 30th May.

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In yesterdays blog post I brought you news of how to get your hand on FREE tomato seeds, Dolmio prizes and a family holiday to Italy

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Teaching The Origins of Food - Free Tomato Seeds!

2012-05-17T10:30:00.000+01:00

As you will probably know, if only from our blog post earlier this week on growing your own veg, I'm pretty big on homegrown food. Spending time with my daughter in the garden together is not only great fun in the fresh air, but really importantly, it helps to teach Lara about the origins of the food she eats.

Lara loves to eat tomatoes. In fact, I would say that cherry tomatoes are just about Lara's favourite food on the entire planet. For a child like Lara, who has had the opportunity to grow her own veg since a very early age, the direct association between the tomato she eats and the plants that she grows is not a big jump to make but even for Lara, being able to identify that the contents of a jar of pasta sauce also originate from the same plant, is a much bigger step to make. Lara cooks with me in the kitchen, she sees the ingredients we add to certain dishes but she doesn't get to see or read the ingredients of the products we buy in the supermarkets and learning to grow her own veg is a small step in helping her to understand.

Dolmio sent me a report that they have compiled about the knowledge of UK kids have about the origins of their food and what constitutes healthy food - I'll be honest, it depressed me a lot. It doesn't suprise me to find out that a third of UK kids have never talked to their parents about the importance of eating healthy foods but it does really terrify me that over half of the children interviewed have never had a conversation with their family about where the food on their plate comes from - when I sit at the dining table with Lara, it is a daily topic of conversation; she seems quite genuinely fascinated by the foods she eats.

The good news is that most UK schools and nurseries now offer children the chance to grow fruit and vegetables, if only to a superficial level. But, Dolmio's research shows that children WANT to learn at home, they want to take what they've touched at school and apply it elsewhere. Children trust their parents to teach them about foods and about the world around them.

To try and help UK mums and dads to get their children growing at home, Dolmio have launched Papa's Big Tomato Challenge. You can register on their site and receive a free pack of tomato seeds along with growing tips for how to grow your own fresh tomatoes on a window ledge or in a tub - tomatoes really are dead easy to grow with as little or as much investment of time as you wish.

There are 100,000 free packs of seeds up for grabs at www.papasbigtomatochallenge.com. There are also lots of prizes to be won in their Growmato game and an overall winner of the Grow Your Own Tomato challenge will win a family holiday to Italy.

Dolmio sent Lara some plant pots, compost and a trowel to help her plant her tomato seeds. We planted our tomatos (and gave them a good watering, as you can see!) on the first weekend in May and will be keeping you updated on their progress throughout the summer.

The Older Sibling - A Declaration of Independence

2012-05-16T09:30:00.000+01:00

Lara has taken surprisingly well to becoming an older sister. Until the week before Holly's birth, I was a little unsure that Lara really understood that there was a baby on the way - the concept was a bit too abstract for her. In the last week that changed; maybe my hormones gave something away? or maybe she managed to chat about babies with her friends at nursery? Who knows. But, that morning when we tiptoed into Lara's bedroom with her new baby sister, Lara seemed happy and completely unfazed.

Since then Lara has coped well with the diversion of our attentions and with the slight changes to her normal routine. She has cuddled and kissed her baby sister without being too in-your-face. I think Lara still has some lessons to learn about what behaviour is, or isn't acceptable around a baby.. but we're getting there.

The only change I have noticed in Lara's behaviour is an increased independence. About 10 days before Holly arrived, Lara made the decision to give up her bedtime nappy. This hasn't been wholly successful (we get about a 60% success rate at present) but it's nice to know she feels she is ready. Since Holly was born, Lara has had a tummy upset which would have been a whole lot easier to deal with if she had been wearing pull-ups but Lara simply outright refused and there was no way she was going to be swayed.

At the dinner table, Lara has taken to refusing her booster seat and instead requesting to kneel up on a grown-up's seat next to me. She has also refused to wear her bib - stating that she is a big girl now so doesn't make a mess (with her mother's genes, I find this unlikely).

When Lara goes to the toilet she now insists that she do it all by herself and rushes off at speed shouting "I don't neeeeeeed any heeeeeelp".

At one point this week Lara told her Daddy that if she grows and grows and grows she will become a grown-up. I'm so proud that Lara has felt she can become more independent but I've told her not to wish to be a grown-up quite yet, there's plenty of time for that in the future.

Win Eco-Friendly Cleaning Kit from EcoForce and Dishmatic

2012-05-15T10:00:00.000+01:00

I am once again in the world of eco-nappies and will be spending a large part of my life over the coming months hanging up cloth nappies on my washing line! It makes me feel all warm and glowy knowing that even my pegs and peg bag are eco-friendly - I have a set of EcoForce pegs which aren't just made from recycled British waste plastic, but are also seemingly stronger than any other clothes peg I've tried (they describe themselves as hurricane-level!!!).

When the Mellow family were sent a box of the latest and greatest eco-friendly household cleaning supplies to review from EcoForce, even Mr. B. was surprised at the quality of the recycled products. Sometimes recycled products work well, sometimes they don't and on the whole, the EcoForce range really do work well - the kitchen scourers certainly are as good quality, if not better than my normal brand; after all, who really needs a sponge or scourer made from brand new plastic??? The Ecoforce range also includes a recycled plastic washing line, sponges, dusters and multi-purpose cloths (we like these because they can go through the washing machine and be re-used).

We have also been impressed by the Dishmatic washing up gadget - Mr. B. perhaps more so than me. It is a resusable handle that you fill with washing up liquid. It has a scourer head that can be replaced when it is worn out - the washing up liquid is dispensed slowly through the sponge and scourer meaning you hardly use any washing up liquid at all. We found it to take a while to get the liquid going but after that, it was very effective. Because I only ever wash a small amount at a time, it means I don't need to fill a whole washing up bowl full of soap and bubbles and can just clean directly what I need.

You can follow EcoForce on twitter and facebook. Dishmatic can be found on twitter and facebook too. both ranges can be found in large supermarkets throughout the UK as well as B&Q, Homebase and Oxfam.

You could be in with the chance of winning a year's supply of eco-friendly household cleaning products from EcoForce and Dishmatic worth £50. All you have to do to be in with a chance is to leave me a comment below with your best eco-cleaning tip before the 30th of May. For one extra entry, head over to the Ecoforce facebook page, like them and leave them a message to say that Mellow mummy sent you.

TERMS and CONDITIONS:

The competition is open to UK residents only.

Only one comment entry per person and one facebook like entry per person. Multiple, automated or bulk entries will result in immediate disqualification

The winner will be contacted by email.

Entries will only be deemed valid if a valid email address is provided when commenting or a valid facebook account is used.

The winner will be selected at random from all valid comments and wall posts received by 11.59pm on 30th May.

The judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into

The winner's name will be published on this site

Birds Eye Grow Your Own Veg (and Win £100!)

2012-05-14T11:00:00.000+01:00

There are few things in life more pleasurable than pottering about in the garden with Lara, planting, tending and cropping our own vegetables and herbs together (then cooking them afterwards!). In the past, we have attempted carrots together (with little success) but have never been adventurous enough to attempt peas or sweetcorn. Lara and I leave these to the experts namely Grandpa and Birds Eye!

This year Lara and I have got involved with the Birds Eye "Grow Your Own" initiative where you can learn to grow your own veg with tips from the experts - their real life commercial vegetable producers and farmers. On special packs of Birds Eye products at present you can find a code that you can redeem online at the Birds Eye facebook page to be sent some free packets of seeds (peas, carrots or sweetcorn) to grow at home.

As part of the Grow Your Own initiative, there is an app on the facebook page where you can track the progress of your plants online, upload pictures and get relevant tips for the stage that your own vegetable plants are at, all tailored to the day you planted them.

Lara Growing Her Own Peas

Using some of the handy tips on how to pot peas and corn, and using the germination kit that Birds Eye sent her, Lara had great fun planting out her peas and sweetcorn seeds. They should take about 3 weeks to germinate and once they are a bit bigger, we may consider planting them out into big pots or (if we can find space and time, into the ground) and they should take about 12-13 weeks in total before there is something to show for her hard work. Lara planted her carrot seeds straight into big pots because the seedlings will be a bit too delicate to pot on.

Medela Swing Breast Pump Review

2012-05-13T16:00:00.000+01:00

It hasn't escaped my notice that all of the electric breast pumps in use in the hospital where Lara and Holly were born were made by Medela so I was really pleased to be asked to try out the Medela Swing 2-Phase Electric Breast Pump - a retail breast pump that uses the science and technology of Medela's many year's of experience in medical pumps.

The Medela Swing breast pump is a very simple design, which in my experience is the best type of breast pump to go for. When I was testing breast pumps for the Mother & Baby awards in 2009, the simple cone-shaped breast pumps were more effective than any with fancy designs to 'massage' the breast and in all cases, a simple design is a lot easier to clean and to assemble.

My first observation about the Swing electric breast pump is that it is really quiet - it isn't unnoticeable but it certainly doesn't require me to raise my voice when I'm talking to Mr. B and there is no danger of the noise disturbing Holly.

I also like the level of control I have over the pumping level and style. The 2-phase expression technology means that when you first start pumping there is a slightly quicker but less strong level of suction to mimic the early sucks of your baby that initiate the let-down reflex and causes the milk to start flowing. Once the milk starts (or by default after about 2 minutes) then the second style of pumping kicks in and you can choose to make it stronger or weaker depending on comfort. The level of control and these two different types of pumping mean that I can express quite a lot of milk even in these early stages of breastfeeding.

The Medela Swing breastpump was a lifesaver for me on day two when my breasts were swollen and uncomfortable as the milk came in. When you're tired and in pain it is really useful to have a product that is intuitive and simple to assemble and use. The only even slightly fiddly part of the pump is a tiny flexible valve membrane which I can imagine would easily damage or get lost (down a plughole when you clean it!) but thankfully you can buy replacements readily.

The Medela Swing breastpump comes with a carry bag because you can use it either powered by mains or using batteries so it is suitable for use when travelling or out and about. It also comes with a calma feeding device which attaches to the bottle and has a very elongated teat designed to mimic the nipple when stretched in your baby's mouth - I have yet to use this but will review it again in the future if I get a chance.

My Own Leaptop Review

2012-05-13T09:00:00.000+01:00

As Lara approaches 3 years old, she is an an age where her ability to learn is quite phenomenal to observe - I'm letting her push her own boundaries with letters, numbers and real-world concepts every day; the arrival of the 'My Own Leaptop' from Leapfrog in her life has really helped to push her forwards. We were sent the Leaptop to review as part of an exploration of the Leapfrog 'Learning Path' which allows you to track your child's learning and development progress online or through a downloadable application.

The Leapfrog My Own Leaptop is a learning toy designed for children from 2 years upwards. It comes in either white and green (featuring Scout the puppy) or purple and pink (featuring Violet the puppy). The Leaptop is designed to encourage pretend play, something that Lara is just getting really into. She likes to switch on her 'laptop' when she gets home from nursery and pretends to 'work' like Daddy (quite what she thinks Mummy work's at that is different to Daddy, I'm not quite sure... given we do more or less the same job!).

When you plug the Leaptop into your own computer, you can personalise it for your child by letting it know your child's name and by downloading songs and emails onto it. When Lara switches on her Leaptop, it greets her and when she presses the letter L, it reminds her that this is the first letter of her own name... for some reason this last bit REALLY freaks her out and she gets quite upset about it... perhaps Lara is already worrying about online security! There are about 20 popular children's tunes to download onto the machine and a good range of basic email templates. The Leaptop even has a 'blog' button which allows your child to keep up-to-date with Violet or Scout's activities - ah, now perhaps this is where Lara will get her ideas for Mummy's pretend play!

Lara absolutely loves listening and dancing to the plinkerty plonkerty music on her Leaptop - her particular favourite is a counting song although Incy Wincey spider gets a good response too! In music mode, the letter keys make different animal and sound noises so as well as being able to 'play' basic music notes, your child can also create different sound combinations.

By far the most impressive part of the My Own Leaptop is the phonics mode - when you press a key on the keyboard, it quotes "W says 'wuh'... Whale" or the equivalent. It encourages learning of letter names and noise and association with a word. There is also a quiz mode which is Lara's favourite and this tests the knowledge they have taken in from the phonics mode by asking a question about the letter pressed e.g. "Who has a blow-hole?" and the answer is later revealed as the Whale. In the few weeks that she has owned the Leaptop, Lara's letters have come on really well (although this has been accompanied by some structured learning at nursery too). I had never expected my not-yet-three-year-old to exclaim to her grandparents "A vulture has a long neck!".

The my Own Leaptop by Leapfrog is not an expensive toy, in fact, I think it is great value. I have found the battery life to be good (we are still running using the batteries it came with) and I was really astonished to find that it had cleaning instructions (we had a muddy shoe incident!). It is compact and the noise isn't annoying (yet). My only tiny complaint (and it is tiny) is that there are one or two small chunks of Violet the puppy's dialogue that haven't been recorded in a UK accent and this always take me by surprise when we hear it - I don't suppose Lara even notices though!

New Baby Cuteness Alert!

2012-05-12T09:00:00.000+01:00

Holly is 10 days old already - bonkers huh! I thought I would share some of my favourite photos of her so far as a little bit of an indulgence. You will notice that in pretty much all of these photos Holly is dressed in baby sleepsuits and baby grows from The Essential One who sent us some newborn essentials to review - I can't stress enough how much I rate their clothes, they're not expensive but they are incredible quality and over the past week or so they are all I've really wanted to dress her in. Holly's snuggly blanket from The Essential One has also become my single favourite item of baby paraphenalia.

My first day on the planet

Wide awake and ready for action

sooooo peaceful

I WILL fit into my new outfit. I WILL.

How am I already too long for this changing mat?

It's been a busy day

slumped!

Two peas in a pod

THE snuggly blanket!!!

so grown up!

Prizes for Parents - 11/05/2012

2012-05-11T12:00:00.000+01:00

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This week I have a bunch of flowers to give away in celebration of Holly's birth. If I don't get time to add it here, then scroll down on my homepage to find thursday's blog post.

I am also running another comp to win a £25 voucher to spend with Zulily. Closes 17th May.

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You can win a pair of very smart leather children's shoes by SKEANIE on their facebook page.

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Bissell have a carpet cleaner to be won on their facebook page. All you have to do is to upload a photo of the room you are most proud of. Closes at the end of May.

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Vertbaudet have a competition on their facebook page to win a family theme park ticket when they reach 10,000 fans by the end of the month. You need to enter (using the competitions tab at the top) as well as like.

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Mellow Mummy

Veg Watch

Little Athletes - Getting Into the British Summer Spirit

Bathtime Fun with BabyDan and Fisher Price

Cooking With Children :: Fruity Meringue Nests Recipe

Can a newborn baby catch Chicken Pox? YES!

Win an Andrex Eco goody bag worth over £50

Finebedding Children's Bedding Review

The Essential One Newborn Sleepsuits and Sleeping Bags Review

Prizes for Parents - 25/05/2012

Win Limited Edition Little Dish Shoes

Breastfeeding Baby Number Two

Sponsored Video:: Win with Organix

Sterimar Baby Facebook Page - A Chance to Win £500

Sunuva Children's Swimwear Review

Thomas & Friends Rescue on the Rails DVD Review

Postnatal Recovery

Prizes for Parents - 18/05/2012

Teaching The Origins of Food - Free Tomato Seeds!

The Older Sibling - A Declaration of Independence

Win Eco-Friendly Cleaning Kit from EcoForce and Dishmatic

Birds Eye Grow Your Own Veg (and Win £100!)

Medela Swing Breast Pump Review

My Own Leaptop Review

New Baby Cuteness Alert!

Prizes for Parents - 11/05/2012