Monday Review and Giveaway - The Kate Greenaway Baby Book

Product : The Kate Greenaway Baby Book , A Record of the First Five Years.

Price: rrp £9.99

Available from: Amazon, Sheldrake Press

Suitable from :  birth to 5 years

Initial Reaction: I flicked through the book and my first reaction was how well organised the book is , there is a section for most milestones and plenty of space for photographs. It is also very pretty to look at , each page has beautiful illustrations whilst not feeling crowded. This will be a great record for everyone to look back on and to keep for life.

Pro's: Clearly defined sections for most milestones such as birth, first christmas, first words, right through to school. 

Cons: The only one I can see , though as im pregnant ive yet to start using the book, is that there is a section for naming. This is great for me as that is what we do but if you had a baptism or christening this might be abit strange.

Value for money: rrp £9.99 seems like excellent value , as most of the other baby books on the market are around the same price or more and it does stand out as a particularly nice one.

Overall reaction: I love it ! Cant wait to start using it when my baby is born. 

by Ella

I have a copy of the Kate Greenaway Baby Book to giveaway to one lucky person.


To enter all you have to do is fill in the form below*





Closing date 5pm Sunday 13th February .


I will choose a winner at random.


Good Luck


NM X 


*Open to residents of the UK only
*One entry per household
*No Cash alternative offered

Parent Panel Review - ila Handbag Hook

Product: ila Handbag Hook 

Price: £12.33 - £14.99

Available from: Gadgets4Travel and the Handpicked Collection 

What does it do? “keeps your precious handbag off the floor and safely away from potential thieves. The hook folds niftily away when not in use, and you can use the mirror to discreetly keep an eye on unwanted visitors, or stray bits of make-up..”

Initial Reaction: Great idea. A little fiddly to get the hang of first time, but easy thereafter. Sturdily built - you don't worry it would break easily.

Pros: Sturdy yet compact. Great idea for keeping your bag safe. Easy to carry around in your handbag. Even more useful for keeping your bag close to hand for easy access to distraction toys for toddler during lunch!

Cons: Feels a little like your bag is more on display than if it was tucked under the table. But that means anyone trying to pinch from it would be in full view too!

Value for money? 2.5 out of 5

Overall Reaction I don't think that I would have bought this independently, but have found that I have happily used it on the few occasions when I've been out with a handbag rather than a nappy bag. Definitely appreciated it more from the perspective of keeping the bag accessible than its security function, but perhaps I'm too trusting! Expect some strange looks when you whip it out!

 By Bumbling Along 

Parent Panel Review- Grandpa In My Pocket Mr Marvelloso’s Magic Tricks DVD

Product : Grandpa In My Pocket Mr Marvelloso’s Magic Tricks DVD 


Price: RRP £7.99 


Available from: 7th February 

Suitable from : It is enjoyed by my 2 year old but really mostly appeals to my 4 year old. (4-7 yrs )

Initial Reaction : We are already fans of Grandpa In My Pocket in this house so we were pretty much onto a winner. These new episodes take the original premise and some new fun storylines and make for good viewing. What we like is how the episode takes a storyline ,such as the one about the boy next door who comes to play but is abit of a bully, and makes it funny but also has a lesson to learn. The boy next door learns that its not nice to frighten people thanks to Grandpa's antics.

Pro's : Another good educational but fun BBC children's program

Con's : there are none

Overall reaction: Definatly a winner , we will probably enjoy repeated viewings of the dvd before the episodes are shown on tv. 

by Ella

Parent Panel Review - Slippers from Clifford James

Product: Churchill Mule Slippers

Price: £29.99

Available from: Clifford James

Description:  Churchill Mule Suede Slippers are handmade from only the very finest of Nappa leathers. Beautifully soft with a hard wearing sole, your feet will thank you for choosing a pair of these slippers. 

Initial Reaction: When first taking them out of the box the slippers looked very good and came with a soft bag for each slipper! I'm not completely sure why you need a separate bag for each one but a nice touch.

Pros: 

• Soft leather 
• Well padded

Cons:

•  Hard sole

Value for money? 4 out of 5

Overall Reaction: Very comfortable and well padded slipper. Hard sole makes a 'clip-clop' noise when walking on wooden floor or outside which my daughter thinks is a horse!

by New Daddy

Parent Panel Review - Humf App for i Phone

Product : Humph app for iphone

Available from: itunes store

Price: £1.79

Suitable from :4+

Initial Reaction: Humph is an app for my iphone which contains 9 mini games. The games are varied such as a driving game, colouring game, matching game, building game so there really is alot to do within one app. My sons both enjoyed this game despite the recommended age my 2 year old seems to enjoy it also. They have asked to play on it alot and it holds their attention for ages which is brilliant when your in a situation (doctors, restauant) where your little ones might get bored. 

Pro's : Entertaining and educational as the boys can learn colours, and shape recognition and probably many other things from the games

Cons: It means the boys are on my phone when I want to be on twitter lol !

Value for money: Excellent value for money , a small amount for an app with many games as you would pay this for a one game app.

Overall Reaction : A welcome addition to my iphone games for children , fun , educational, and nice to look at.

By Ella 

Freebie Friday - Baby Clues Game

I haven't actually got a game to giveaway but I have got a great game for parents to try.


Its called Baby Clues and is on thecoupleconnection.net.

The game is describe as-


A free online baby quiz that offers a fun and entertaining way to learn how your baby communicates with you through their own baby language and baby talk.

Meet Baby Evie - the cute and adorable host of this game, which has been developed to offer tips for parents who have a new born baby, as well as for parents-to-be who wish to ensure baby bonding right from birth. In this interactive Baby Quiz, Baby Evie teaches parents how they can identify different baby needs by understanding the baby language and talk that babies use to communicate.

Evie's no more than three months old but she can teach you a trick or two.

I think its a great little game.

NM X 

Restoring Confidence in New Mums Free on The NHS!

This isn’t one of the easiest subjects to talk about but as we know ladies childbirth can be tough on our bodies. It can leave us with embarrassing problems.

 One of these problems is that of female (or stress) incontinence, which can leave many women experiencing “embarrassing leaks”. A staggering third of new mums and half of all women reaching menopause will suffer from the embarrassment of stress incontinence. Worse still, the majority will fail to seek clinical help and will put up with the symptoms for an average of 4 years before consulting a health professional.

Luckily, there is a new NHS approved device to help women strengthen their pelvic floor muscles, quickly and easily, in the privacy of their own home. The PelvicToner helps women identify and isolate the pelvic floor muscles and then exercise them more effectively by squeezing against a mild resistance. It has been proven to be far more effective than electro-stimulation devices. From those who took part in an exercise programme using the PelvicToner vaginal exerciser, 87% of users said that they had become more aware of their pelvic floor within just 2 weeks and 80% reported an improvement in their sex lives after just 4 weeks

The Pelvic Toner has been approved by the NHS and from 1st January 2011 you are now able to get it on prescription from your GP (free if you have a validMATB1 form). For more information visit www.pelvictoner.co.uk

NM X 

Parent Panel Review - IKEA LÖMSK Swivel Chair and MALA Art Equipment

Product: LÖMSK Swivel Chair

Price:  £45.96

Available from: IKEA

Initial Reaction: It is very big! I didn’t expect it to be so large.  My Other Half put it together and it didn’t take very long it’s quite straight forward.

Pros:

• Really sturdy even though it swivels
• Durable
• Easy to clean
• Extra wide base so it doesn't tip over

Cons:

• It’s big and we have a small house
• It’s a bit hard on the bottom; you need to put a cushion in there.

Value for money? If you are looking for a long term chair for your toddler then it is good value

Overall Reaction:  BG really loves this chair. Its spins and she can hide in it what more does a toddler want. !

by New Mummy

Product: Mala art equipment

Price: Easel – 15.31, Paint/draw storage 7.14, Brushes (set of 6) 2.03, Felt tip pen/stamp 1.01, drawing paper roll – 3.05, Chalks 1.01, Whiteboard pens 2.03, Water colours 5.10 (prices taken from website 15 January 2011)

Available from: IKEA

Suitable from: 3 years   

Initial Reaction: My children immediately wanted to get involved with the brightly coloured art equipment when it was set up and donned their aprons eagerly.

Pros:

• Easy to set up, hardly any assembly required (just the paint/draw storage needed a few screws).
• Good quality products.
• Having the paper on a roll really useful and easy for ripping off, pulling more off and starting again
• My 20 month old loved the brightly coloured felt tip pens with a nib on one end and a printer stamp on the other, eg heart, dolphin etc. He loves “dotting”.
• Paints arrive in all the primary colours plus black and white. Good for preschoolers learning about mixing colours to make other colours.
• Chalk and blackboard excellent for no mess no fuss playing, clearing and starting again.

Cons:

• Easel takes up quite a bit of space although folds flat for storage
• I guess I have to mention the resulting mess that follows but what do you expect and it is contained.

Value for money? Definitely! I probably wouldn’t bother with the paint/draw storage as not essential with the easel as well. However, saying that the storage is good if using the paper on the kitchen table however, in which case you don’t need the easel.

Overall Reaction:  We had a fun hour painting and drawing with the Ikea art equipment, particularly my 4 year old who is gradually getting a longer attention span! As children get older can see how they would get the hang of ripping the paper off themselves and pulling it through to make lots of lovely creations. The lightweight yet sturdy easel could be used in the garden in the summer, keeping paint splodges out of the house.

By Louise

IKEA recently produced a Playreport which was the world’s largest study of play and children’s development. They spoke to 8,000 parents and 3,000 children aged 7-12 from over 25 countries.

They wanted to research the state of play around the world and they believe that everyone should play a little more. As part of this they have produced a Facebook page called ‘make the world play more’ to help parents exchange thoughts around play and development.

 If you go on the Facebook page there is a free app called Toy Stories which allows children with their parents to  to create their own book with illustrations! 

 IKEA are also running a competition called Your Fridge Door – where you can upload a photo of your child’s artwork and each week a winner will be chosen and they will win the MALA set we were given for a review

NM X 

Parent Panel Review - The Switch

In the film, The Switch, Jennifer Anniston (Kassie) plays a no nonsense want-to-be Mum, but because her fast paced career in the TV industry has left her with no Mr Right, she decides (with a flick of her wonderful hair) to go it alone with the help of a sperm donor.  Her male best friend, the slightly neurotic ‘Wally’ - played by the adorable Jason Bateman – objects, but headstrong Kassie does it anyway.

The partnership between the two lead actors, I felt worked really well and very quickly you could see the strong bond and magic that Kassie and Wally had together as a couple.

But when their lives began to move in opposite directions and with different relationships it was frustratingly watchable!

It was funny and sweet at the same time and although somewhat predictable in places, it left you with a warm and uplifting feeling inside.

Seeing Jeff Goldblum and Juliette Lewis on screen was also a bonus; they played supporting roles as Wally and Kassie’s respective best friends.

I would give this film a definite thumbs up.  It’s a feel good film to watch with a glass of wine and a good box of chocolates…although you may not want to indulge after seeing Anniston’s (as always) toned-to-perfection body!

by Jenny Holden

 The Switch is available on DVD and Blue-ray now 

Guest Post - Chinese New Year Crafts from Becky Goddard-Hill

Becky Goddard-Hill is a parenting author and has recently released the e-book 50 ideas for winter on a budget (fun with under fives, £1.50.) She blogs at www.babybudgeting.co.uk) Here is an extract from her book:

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is a very important holiday in China. It is celebrated in late January to early February (depending on the year). Chinese New Year starts on a New Moon and ends with the lantern festival on the full moon 15 days later. This year it begins on February 3^rd and it will mark the year of the rabbit.

How to make Chinese Lanterns

These were huge fun to make and much, much easier than they sound.  Here we go step by step;

Take a piece of coloured paper and fold in half length ways.

Measure in 1 inch and draw a line down the short end of the paper.

Cut along this line and put paper to one side. This will be your handle.

Now measure one inch down from the open length and draw a line across the length of the paper. Marking it ever inch.

Draw lines down from each of those marks to the middle of the paper.

Now from the middle cut along each of those lines but stop at the line before the top.

When you have done you will have a fab lantern shape that you just need to sellotape together.

Tape the handle to the top too.

Don’t these look great! They are brilliant fun to colour on and glitter too. We made lots, threaded the handles through ribbon and hung them together.

Have fun!

Win a £100 in Shopping Vouchers

Mums Panel are looking for Mum’s with Children between 0-4 to fill in a survey on nappy cream.

One mum will win a £100 in High Street Shopping Vouchers.

It only takes a few minutes!

The Nappy Cream Survey ends 2^nd February 

Ask Emma Forbes!

In the past year I have missed two opportunities to meet Emma Forbes. For those of you who are not sure who she is, Emma Forbes is radio and TV presenter. I will always think of her as a children’s TV presenter cooking (badly) with Phil Schofield (sorry Emma)

Emma recently launched her site Forbes Style  where she writes about fashion, food, family, beauty and a whole lot more.  Emma is also a working mother of two.

This week I was offered a chance of a Q&A session with Emma, so I thought I’d turn the questions over to you.

Have you got a question for Emma? Would you like to know how she juggles work and family or what her favourite recipes are? Well here’s your chance.

Pop your question in the box below and I will choose the best ones to ask her. You have until Monday 1^st February to leave your questions. 

Parent Panel Review - Meccano Girls Tool Box

Product: Meccano Girls Tool Box

Price: £20-£25

Available from: Amazon, Argos

Description: A pink construction tool box to build girly vehicles.  Glittery storage case.  Fun stickers included.60+ flexible coloured plastic Parts.  10 detailed models plus all the ones you can imagine!  Contains detailed building instructions for 10 models.

Suitable from: Aged 5-8

Initial Reaction: Bright and girly, loads of parts and looked complicated to do .

Pros:

• Can make cute models, 
• Comes with everything you need,
• Great for motor skills, 
• Different than other stuff for girls on the market.

Cons: 

• Too fiddly, 
• Models don’t stay together
• Instructions can be hard to follow

Value for money? I think so

Overall Reaction: We were excited about receiving this , my husband had fond memories of Meccano and looked forward to spending time with the children playing with it .The children very quickly got bored of it and the instructions seemed to be hard to follow , my 5 year old struggled with it and gave up quickly . My 8 year old niece played a little longer but quickly decided it was easier just to build them the way she wanted to. I still think this is a good product and it’s great to see something different than dolls and pets for girls but I think the child would have to be good with their hands and interested in building to make it worth the money. 

By Laura 

Parent Panel Review - Milk&More

Milk first started being delivered to our doors over 150 years ago with milkmen delivering 3 times a day everyday, now we may only get a delivery 3 times a week but the range of products has certainly increased.

Milk&More is an online service delivered by your local milkman 3-6 times a week, which you can manage online and change or add to your order up to 9pm the night before your delivery. They can now deliver everything from milk, bread, eggs and vegetables to pet food, household cleaners, coffee and compost to name just a few!

The sign up process is simple and you can set up one off or regular deliveries with a few clicks and you can choose any of the products to be delivered on anyone of your delivery days.

We have had a range of products delivered in the past few weeks and have been generally impressed by the level of accuracy and service. Aside from the milk, which still comes in glass bottles as well as the more common plastic containers, soup, bread, vegetables and even the odd gift have graced our doorstep.

The prices overall as you would expect for a doorstep delivery are generally more expensive than the average supermarket, a pint of milk being around 75p delivered rather than 45p in the supermarket. I did find though, that if you shopped on the deals that the costs were around the same or slightly cheaper than the supermarkets.

Our main complaint was items being out of stock, as you wouldn’t know if items wouldn’t be delivered until they didn’t arrive, and even then if you would be getting them.  The only other complaint we had was when we tried the vegetable box, we found that some of the produce didn’t keep that well

I, as yet have failed to meet Ian, my milkman, who I think passes by before 5am every other morning but I’m sure he is a nice man and hope to continue using his services in the future! 

by Howard 

Valentines Gifts - Exclusive 50% Discount for Designer Verse

DesignerVerse.com, the personalised poetry company, specialises in creating unique verses for all types of occasion. This Valentine's Day, they are giving you the opportunity to commission a poem for the one you love at a specially discounted rate.

The friendly team of skilled writers at Designer Verse will transform your' thoughts, feelings and memories into a unique, unforgettable piece of poetry - a perfect gift this Valentine's Day!

Bespoke poems can now be created for £79 (usual price £99), whilst framed versions are available for £100 (usual price £129). Take a look at the DesignerVerse.com site, and commission a poem by emailing Katherine@DesignerVerse.com.

And for last minute shoppers - 50% off online poetry

For those 'last-minute' Valentine's gifts, DesignerVerse.com contains a number of online love poems (including romantic sonnets), all of which can be personalised in just minutes to include a range of details about the recipient. These usually cost £4.99, but New Mummy Tips site visitors will receive 50% off by using the code VAL at the payment stage. Perfect for anyone who's left Valentine's shopping until February 14th! 

All orders for bespoke poetry will need to be received by Friday 28th January. Online poetry is available until 14th February and beyond.

We All Need a Bit of Pampering

Just before Christmas I spent the day at Champney’s Spa in Leicester. It was the most amazing pampering I had ever had, it wasn’t cheap but my god is was heaven. OH bought me a gift voucher pre BG and finally 3 years later I used it!!

Spa and beauty treatments are often quite expensive but it’s nice to have a treat once in a while. Whether you’re a mum, dad or just work hard being pampered can really recharge the batteries.

I have recently been introduced to a great site called Wahanda. 

This is how they describe themselves:

 Wahanda is a health, beauty and wellness ecosystem. In our ecosystem, you’ll find comprehensive listings of spas, salons and health centres all around the globe. You’ll also find a big pond of knowledge - everything you need to know about treatments, classes and therapies. So, if you’re wondering where your nearest spa is, whether to wax or shave, what to eat before yoga or maybe you’re just curious about colonics, at Wahanda you can gather together a scrapbook of everything you need to know and all the exciting spas and clinics around the world you want to try out.

It really is a wealth of knowledge and offers,  from 2 for 1 spa deals to discounts for hairdressers.

It’s a great site for treating yourself or others.  With Valentines and Mother’s day coming up soon, you could win lots of brownie point for arranging a bit of pampering. And if you’re not sure what they will like you can always buy them some Spa Gift Vouchers, though hopefully they won’t leave it as long as me to use them!!

 NM X

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