PRETTY YOUNG THING

We have recently been trying out the Eco by Naty range. We were lucky enough to get a few of their lovely products in the post so we've been giving them a go for a few weeks and I thought i'd let you know how Amelia has been getting on with them and what I think of the range. 

First of all Naty is a biodegradable and environmentally friendly brand. They started off by creating a Eco-friendly nappy and now they have a full range products including wipes, pull on pants and bath and body care.


I have been really impressed with the Naty products and would love to try some of their other products, especially more of their Bath and Body care range. I would really reccommend their nappies if you are looking for a Eco-Diaper. 

We recently went along to a blogger event at Kelmarsh Hall with Bambo Nature Uk, You can see my full post here all about the lovely event we attended and all about the brand. We were gifted lots of lovely products from their range including some of their skincare bits and pieces. I thought i'd review the skincare products as we've been using them alot recently. 

Bambo Nature have an amazing range of products including Eco-Disposable nappies and wipes. As well as their nappies and wipes they have released a new vegan, cruelty free skincare range. 

The Bambo Nature range is accredited by several certification organisations that guarantee the safe use and environmental friendliness of the products. The Nordic Eco-label on the Bambo Nature range is your guarantee that the products are certified to be environment-friendly. 

The brand are not just accredited by the Nordic-Eco Label but also Asthma and Allergy Denmark and Dermatology tested. This means these products are less likely to cause any irritation, eczema or allergy on babies skin. Unfortunately for us we have found that Amelia does seem to be allergic to the nappies and wipes but she has very sensitive skin and i'm actually allergic to a lot of more natural products so I wouldn't let that put you off. We have tried some of their skincare range which so far so good... no allergies. The brand have actually won loads of awards for their products which you can check out  here on their website.

First up is the Splish Splash Bath Oil, this is made with mild, natural oils that help maintain the skins moisture balance and leave it soft. I really like this bath oil as it's not greasy and leaves Amelia's skin feeling really soft and smooth. I love using the bath oil to do baby massage, I tend to do it just before bathtime, the oil heats up well by rubbing the hands together and it is really easy to rub into the skin. Amelia has very sensitive skin and has allergies and eczema so I have to be careful when using new skincare products on her. We haven't had any issues with the Bambo Nature skincare products which is great.

My favourite product is the Bath Buddy hair & body wash, again it's great for Amelia's sensitive skin. I love that I can use the one product all over so I don't have to mess about using different products. It's so gentle that it doesn't irritate her eyes so it doesn't matter if a little water goes in her eye. The wash leaves her hair looking really nice a clean and it smells good too even though it contains no perfumes, this minimizes the risk of allergy. 


I'm loving the Bambo Nature skincare range, and love that it's all Vegan and really sensitive and gentle for perfect for newborn baby skin. As I mentioned above Amelia has Eczema and we have tried other skincare brands and shes had bad reactions to products or they have really dried her skin out but we've found that the Bambo Nature skincare is great for her skin and it leaves it feeling super soft but also really clear. 







*this post contains pr samples

We recently received the Yoomi Self-Warming Bottle to review. We have used it a few times so I thought i'd share my thoughts.



I hadn't heard of the Yoomi bottle so when I heard about it I was so intrigued to find out how it worked. The bottle contains a heating element that heats milk up as it pours out of the bottle. The heating element is warm for up to an hour meaning your bottle will stay warm for an hour.



The idea is that you would have a bottle of milk that is cold/ room temperature and it heat up to body temperature. You can use breastmilk or formula with the Yoomi Self- Warming bottle.



The first thing that popped into my head when I heard about the Yoomi Self-warming bottle was the fact that I wouldn't need to get out of bed to do the night feed! I followed the instructions and sterilized and heated the heating element using the microwave. I took the bottle, heating element and a ready-made bottle of formula to bed with us. I used a ready-made as they can be stored at room temperature and I felt that making up a bottle would be a waste because it would only last 2 hours and Amelia doesn't usually wake till around 4am. She woke up and I poured the ready made into the Yoomi bottle and as instructed I pressed the button and left for 30 seconds and then I turned the bottle upside down and again left for 30 seconds and just like that the milk was ready and warm and Amelia drank it with no problems at all. I was a little worried as we've always used Mam bottles and the Yoomi is very different but she took to it right away and she drank all of her milk. I like that once you have got the heating element ready that you can use it anytime and as long as you dont press the button it will be ready. It was lovely not having to get out of bed to do the night-feed as Amelia is still sleeping next to us in our room. I liked that it was ready in 60 seconds. It's really easy to use, it's literally the push of a button.



I haven't taken it of the house yet but again the concept is great for being out and about, there's no need to worry about how your going to heat the milk up. We are planning on going for a few picnics over the next few weeks and this will be perfect to bring along so I don't have to worry about how i'm going to heat up Amelia's milk.



The Yoomi Self-warming bottle retails from £23.95* Right now they are on offer for £17.99 and include a free warmer worth £15. 



I think the bottle is fab and I really wish we had it when Amelia was younger and was feeding every few hours during the night. I think it will be fab for people who are breastfeeding and want to express some milk as it will heat the breastmilk up really easily to body temperature. I loved that I didn't have to get out of bed to feed Amelia, it heats the milk to the perfect temperature and it's so straight-forward and easy to use.





* this post contains a pr sample

We have been using the Ergopouch Cocoon Swaddle and Sleep bag with Amelia since she was two weeks old. Up to this point we were swaddling her with blankets. I was abit worried about using a sleeping bag with Amelia because she was so small I felt like they would just swamp her but the Ergopouch was perfect. It's a size 0-3 month so it's smaller than the other sleeping bags on the market that seem to be size 0-6.

The Ergopouch sleep bag fitted Amelia really well. It has poppers on the arms so I could tighten the arms so it fits her better and stops it from moving around. I like this feature because I could tighten the fit but also I have the poppers open now that Amelia is bigger.
It zips down the front and you can upzip it easily for nighttime changes. We found it really easy to change Amelia throughout the night. We were having to wake her up for feeds for a while so we were waking every 3-4 hours so we changed her alot throughout the night.

We have only just started using some of our other sleeping bags as Amelia is now 9lb 4oz and I think they fit her now. So she has only been wearing the Ergopouch pretty much every night since she was born. We have washed it nearly every single day and it still looks like new. It has bobble slightly but you would expect this with something thats been washed so much. The colour still looks great and all the zips and poppers look intact.


We have the 2.5 tog bag as we knew Amelia was due in November so would need a winter sleeping bag. This has been perfect, it keeps her nice and toasty but not too hot or cold. The also do a 0.2 tog so thats perfect for a summer baby.

We love the Ergopouch Cocoon, we've started getting Amelia into more of a routine so we pop her in at around 8pm for her feed and we pop her into her bed. She goes down so well, I think she sleeps loads better in her sleeping bag in the night, we tend to use blankets in the day and she just kicks them off and they bug her.

I'm going to look into buying the next size up in a summer tog for Amelia as she doesn't have a summer tog yet and we've found the Ergopouch so easy to use, it's washed up really well and Amelia settles so well in it. There's lots of other products on the Ergopouch website and they seem to have lots of promotions over on their site too so check them out.

 

I went along to the Smiggle event at the Bullring yesterday. Smiggle is an Australian based stationary brand. I've never heard of Smiggle before but the store opened last week in Solihull so I have had a little look as I walk past to work. It's a really bright store and it's full with amazing colours! The product range is amazing, they stock everything from pens, pencil cases, gadgets, notebooks, diarys, literally everything. They do different things in different designs and colours. The store are always developing products and they have such a fast turnaround so they always have new products and designs coming out. My favourite products were the milkshake pencil cases ( picture below), the keyrings and the Advent Calender . The Advent Calender is such a good buy! Its £20 or 2 for £30 which is great if you have more than one child, inside is 25 stationary gifts! It's so much fun and so different. I think it would be great for teachers to have in their classrooms, you could let one child open a window and get a present throughout the month or buy if for your child /friends children.

The event was great, we got introduced to Smiggle and the chance to have a look around the new store. The staff were all really friendly and knew loads about the products and the brand.
The products are amazing, I love how much effort has gone into each product and how unique everything is. They have lots of unisex colour / styles which is great so there really is something for everyone! They have so many pens and gorgeous notebooks, ( i'm a stationary freak btw) which I think would be great for all ages! THEY HAVE SMELLY GEL PENS honestly I felt 12 again! I used to love using smelly gel pens in my school books because they smelled so good when you would open it! They have snake puzzles, basketball games and more gifts and gadgets that would be great for all age groups!

I had a great time at the event and love the brand, I know my teacher friends will love it! And my little cousins will love the goodies we were given at the event. I am putting together a Christmas Gift Guide and think there's so many amazing things at Smiggle that you could buy kids as gifts for christmas or birthdays! so I'll be sure to include those.