Posts by Emma Kelly
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By Emma Kelly in Reviews on
9 September, 2010 at 5:00 pm
I’m going to do a Baby Banz review, these really cute little sunglasses for babies!
In one of my ante-natal classes, they had arranged for an optometrist to come in for a little talk about baby eyes. Some of the things he spoke about were quite frightening! He said that something like 80% of the damage done to your eyes over your whole lifetime, occurs before the age of 18. This thought really stuck with me for months, and made me worried about the health of baby’s eyes when she was born. The optometrist had recommend that you have baby sunglasses around when your baby is very young, so they get used to the sight of them and aren’t fussy when you eventually try them out.
When I take my little girl out for a walk, she really doesn’t like the bright light, and scrunches her face up, so I thought I’d look for a little pair of sunglasses for her. I was only looking for the regular type of sunnies, but when surfing Amazon I found the Baby Banz linked above. They’re a great idea, as the velcro strap keep the sunglasses on baby’s head.
There are no sharp edges, they’re smooth and well-designed, so perfectly safe for baby to use.
They’re UV protected, so they keep out all the harmful rays from baby’s eyes.
Even though the age range says 0 to 2 years, they are still a little bit on the large side for my 4 month old baby. She’s got quite a small build anyway, and the sunglasses are a little bit loose, even on their tightest setting.
There’s a good choice of colours to pick, I’ve opted for pink for my little girl, and you can see her modelling them in the image below.
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By Emma Kelly in Reviews on
29 August, 2010 at 4:00 pm
A few weeks ago, I reviewed the Huggies changing pads which I have been using for a while. I’m now going to review the Pampers change mats too.
The Pampers change mats are disposable waterproof mats, which have a soft top, and a coloured base. When I first took them out of the packet and used them, I unknowingly placed it upside down. Looking closer, they have writing all over the coloured side, saying “other side up.” If they hadn’t written that… there would have been a few messes in my house!
As I mentioned before, my baby changing station has a cold top, made of plastic coated foam. I used these changing mats on the top of the baby changing station, so baby didn’t get cold bits and decide to pee all over everything!
I quite liked the Pampers change pads, though I feel like they are very similar to those large bed pads you get in the hospital, so that had a negative image in my mind.
The Pampers change mats are also quite large – I am cutting them in half and getting double the usage out of them. My baby is only 3 months old, and half a change mat is more than big enough for her. I think each change mat lasts for about a week, before baby makes a mess on it, and it needs to be disposed of.
 I also find the Pampers change mats handy when she’s getting out of the bath.
Price wise, they’re quite costly in my opinion. They come in packs of 12, and these range from £3.74 at Asda to £4.37 at Tesco and Sainsburys (at time of writing).
Out of the Huggies and the Pampers change mats which I have reviewed, I prefer the Huggies, mainly because they don’t remind me of the hospital!
On that last thread though, PlayPennies parent Rebecca suggested just putting a hand towel down on the changing surface which can be washed when needed. This is also a good idea 
What do you use?
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By Emma Kelly in Deals on
29 August, 2010 at 3:00 pm
If you’d like to treat yourself to some nice new pieces of clothing, but don’t want to spend a fortune, New Look is a really good port of call. They’ve got a pretty decent promotional code here, which gives you a £10 discount on a £40 spend. It’s only active for today and tomorrow though, so spend it fast!
Click here to use the Newlook promotional code online
- Voucher code: AWPRV22
- Discount: £10 off £40
- Expires: 30th August 2010
There are a few bargains to be had – these knit dresses are all £5 off, they’ve got jeans from £9.99, parkas from £15.99 and ankle boots from £19.99.
I’ve got some brilliant little party dresses from New Look in the past. They look great, and are well-priced. However, in my opinion the clothing from New Look isn’t the most sturdy in the world. To me, it’s just handy for some new outfits, but I don’t expect them to last forever.
Many thanks to nefertiti6969 from HUKD.
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By Emma Kelly in Deals on
26 August, 2010 at 9:00 am
I’ve got a juicy exclusive promotional code for PlayPennies parents – it’s for 20% discount at Kidsstuffandthings.com, a site which sells a range of personalised CDs and DVDs for kids.
Click here to use the Kidsstuffandthings promotional code online
- Promotional Code: PLAYPENNIES20
- Discount: 20% off
- Expires: 31st October 2010
The personalised CDs and DVDs look pretty cute!
I especially like the idea of a personalised lullaby rock CD (for £6.99 less the 20% discount, possibly £5.59), and so far there are Westlife, Michael Jackson, Elton John and Take That to choose from. I think it’s a good idea to get baby into a bedtime routine, so if you play the same music at bedtime every night, it encourages the regime.
The Party Album is a good idea too. If you’ve got young kids, you always need to dig out some age-appropriate music to bop along to, for musical chairs, or pass the parcel. It has tunes like Hey Baby, Do The Conga, I Like To Move It – good fun, party tunes. It’s only £6.99 too (or £5.59).
I also noticed that if you create a free account there, they also have a page of free stuff which you can download, like printable colouring books, and free kids mp3s.
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By Emma Kelly in Deals on
24 August, 2010 at 7:42 pm
Quick post! This deal on the Concord Lift Evo PT Car Seat from Mothercare might not last for long – so get it while you can! They are selling this car set for only £9, which is apparently a reduction of 92% on the original price of £119.99!
The Concord Lift Evo Car Seat also comes with free delivery from Mothercare!
There were comments in the HUKD thread that this might be a price-glitch, but I am not sure on that front.
A little bit of info about the car seat:
- Concord Lift Evo PT is renowned for its optimised side impact protection ‘wings’ as it provides maximum comfort and all round protection
- Air circulation systems allowing material to breathe
- Recline or upright position
Like I said, get in quick because I cannot see this deal lasting for very long.
Thanks to Clareo122 on HUKD and ascottishbloke for letting me know!
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By Emma Kelly in Deals on
24 August, 2010 at 9:00 am
Here’s an exclusive PlayPennies offer for those of you in the need of some nice maternity wear. Mamafeelsgood are offering all the PlayPennies parents a free belly band, with any order they make!
How to get your free belly band: Once you’ve placed an order on Mamafeelsgood, simply drop an email to help@mamafeelsgood.com, quoting your order number, and say “PlayPennies free belly band please!”
If you are scratching your head and wondering what a belly band might be, it’s simply a really handy piece of clothing that goes under your regular t-shirts, so your belly does not inelegantly protrude! I think they’re a very good idea, because I really don’t like my belly hanging out. I know some people don’t mind it at all, but it’s not for me.
I recently wrote a bit of a Mamafeelsgood review, where I got to test out some of their clothing. Have a read if you want to know more.
(Offer ends 31st August 2010)
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By Emma Kelly in Reviews on
23 August, 2010 at 5:00 pm
This is a pretty interesting product which I recently came across when trying to find out exactly what I needed and didn’t need, to make life easier with my first baby. The Gro Anywhere Blackout Blind from the Gro Company is a really good idea – it’s basically a universal blackout blind that you can put on any window.
If you’d like to buy a Gro Anywhere, they’re usually available on Amazon and I have seen the price fluctuate between £20 and £30.
The blackout blind is made from a dark, light-weight material, and there are suckers all round the edge to stick to your window. The blind is very big, so would probably fit on just about any window in a normal home. It’s also adjustable, with tabs you can pull to make sure that it fits your window well.
I first used it on my spare room when some family members with young kids were staying over. Usually the room is quite bright from street-light leakage, and gets bright quite early in the morning too. When we used the Gro Anywhere blackout blind, the room was very dark indeed, almost pitch black!
Vik1 over on hotukdeals had this to say about the Gro Anywhere Blackout Blind:
These are brilliant – we use it in the house – makes the room much darker and helped us get an extra hour sleep every morning!
I will say that it’s probably a 2 person job to get it up properly. Having 4 hands to make sure all the little suckers stay stuck, is very useful.
When staying at my sister’s house a few months ago, the toddler would wake up very early unless all the light was blocked out from the room. We were wrapping towels and duvets round the curtain rail, just to try and make the room a little bit darker. I wish I had known about the Gro Anywhere back then!
Do you have one? What do you think of it?
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By Emma Kelly in Misc on
23 August, 2010 at 9:00 am
This is my baby girl at 2 weeks old… being lovingly fed by daddy. I just had to take a picture so I can tease my partner about it for ever!
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By Emma Kelly in Reviews on
22 August, 2010 at 7:00 pm
UK based maternity wear site Mamafeelsgood.com, gave me the opportunity to try out some of their maternity wear, as I have just had a baby girl, and I am perfect for product testing!
I received a plain breastfeeding top, short-sleeved, in pretty pink (pictured bottom left).
The first time I tried on the new top, I went off to the kitchen to grab my lunch. My other half had pain-stakingly heated up a can of Heinz tomato soup (my favourite!) and presented it to me with pride. With my very first spoonful, I slopped some of the reddest red soup down my brand pink new t-shirt! I had to take it off immediately, rinse the spots as best I could, and stick it in the wash…. to be tried out another day.
So, second time lucky – I put the top on, freshly laundered and smelling nice. The t-shirt had a nice feel on the skin, as it was 100% cotton. The material is thick and good quality. As it is really 2 t-shirts in one, it is quite heavy, so it would be very warm if you were wearing it on a hot summer’s day.
For the breast-feeding aspect, you simply lift up the top layer, and the underneath layer is just like a vest top with huge arm holes, which you can move around to wherever you need them to be. It’s pretty good at protecting your dignity – I won’t show you any piccies of that though!
Now, I will comment on the sizes – I tried an XL, and I am about a size 16 for normal clothing. I did find the XL a bit tight around the belly (especially post-pregnancy), so maybe have a good look at the sizing if you happen to be buying from Mamafeelsgood.
I had a browse of the various designs on their site, some of which I have pictured below. They’re very trendy, and not just your plain, bog-standard maternity wear. I really like the more “rock” type tees, like the Music Sounds Better , the Lips or the Island Black.
Price-wise, the top I tested came in at £19.99, which is fairly reasonable for a new maternity top. The long sleeve graphic print tops seem to be a few quid extra, ranging up to £21.99 instead.
After pregnancy and being pretty limited in what you can wear, it’s quite nice to treat yourself to some new clothes – what I like about the Mamafeelsgood designs is that they could be work any time, and aren’t just seen as maternity wear.
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By Emma Kelly in Deals on
22 August, 2010 at 9:00 am
I’m going to share a new exclusive PlayPennies discount code! The discount code is from Treeblocks.co.uk, an online boutique which specialises in wooden toys.
We have 2 different voucher codes, depending on when you purchase. The first is for 5% off:
- Voucher Code: PLAYPENNIES5
- Discount: 5% off
- Expires: 31st December 2010
Or, for a limited time, you can get 10% off:
- Voucher Code: PLAYPENNIES10
- Discount: 10% off
- Expires: 30th September 2010
How to use: On the last page of checkout, just before you enter your payment details, you will see a bit at the top right which says “click here to redeem your discount coupon.” It’s in red writing, click that and paste in your discount code.
Personally, I am a huge fan of wooden toys. I love the natural feel, the minimalism, the colours. I do find that you pay extra for them though, as they are more unique than the mass-produced plastic stuff.
I really like the educational toys, like this Jungle Duo for £14.61. It’s a cute shape-sorting toy and I have pictured it above right. This Tractor Mini Puzzle is cute as well, and seems quite simple for a young baby. It is priced at only £4.31 (plus the discount).
While not cheap, the likes of this wood tree house toy is pretty unique. It’s £49.95, but you could at least save a fiver if you use the 10% voucher code above.
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