With a baby in the house we certainly receive our fair share of baby products to review and today’s offerings come from Sainsbury’s, or more specifically the Sainsbury’s Little Ones collection.

For review today we received Little Ones Baby Shampoo(£1.08), Baby Lotion (£1.08), Hand and Face Wipes (.59p), Pure & Soft Baby Wipes(£1) and 2x Latex Soothers(£1.89).

First off, toddler  hands are always in one or another stage of dirty, and while using cloth wipes has saved us a fortune over the years, we do use disposable wipes while out and about as you can’t always find somewhere to wet the wipes. These disposable Hand and Face Wipes are a perfect out and about size, as they fit neatly into your (my) hand. Each pack contains 15 wipes, so I probably wouldn’t use them full time as I’m pretty sure that would equate to over £150 a year, but as I said, for ‘out and about’ or emergencies they’re great.

As compared to many other cheap disposable wipes, they actually smell really fruity and pleasant, with a hint of aloe. They have antibacterial agents and a long list of chemical ingredients, and no note about being hypoallergenic – although they do have the “Tested and Recommended by mums and dads” logo.

The bigger bag of wipes, 64 Pure & Soft Baby Wipes, are labelled as being suitable for newborns and babies with sensitive skin. They are paraben free and are supposed to be fragrance free, but I think that just means they haven’t added a scent to it, rather than it having no scent, because these definitely do. They smell quite sweet.

The packaging says that it has easy ‘one at a time’ dispensing. When I pulled the first wipe out, it tore five times before actually getting the whole thing out. Thereafter they did come out one at a time though, which makes a nice change to the reams of wetwipe we ordinarily get!

The wipes have a pretty little sheep design on them, and they’re lovely and thick. I did find, however, using it on myself, that it did sting my skin a little – nothing overwhelming, but there.

Soothers are quite hard to review, because my baby couldn’t tell me what she thinks of them, and it would be her opinion that mattered. I chose not to use them (dummies/soothers interfere with the natural birth control method) so I can’t give you first-hand information on the soothers. I did, however, like that they were pink and blue, while still being girly with buttons, flowers and butterflies. They are very pretty and considering how many you see lying around the sidewalks, the fact that they are cheap is a bonus. They have ample spaces to put soother clips (those things you use to attach them to clothes?) through and have a 'handle' so baby can hold on to them, I suppose.  The latex bit - the teat - is BPA free.

The latex teat is ‘orthodontic’ and the plastic is BPA free.

Sainsbury’s Little Ones Baby Lotion is hypoallergenic, colour and fragrance free and has added vitamin E and shea butter, which it distinctly smells like. I haven’t used it on my children, because I don’t use petroleum based products on them. I used it on myself though, and will keep it for myself for a body moisturiser. It is so soft. It leaves the skin feeling silky smooth, absorbs quickly and doesn’t leave an oily residue.

Sainsbury’s Little Ones Baby Shampoo shares a lot of properties with the Baby Lotion, in that it is hypoallergenic, colour and fragrance free and again, a long list of chemicals, most prominent of which is Sodium Laureth Sulphate which I can’t use on my little ones.  The SLS, however, makes it very foamy and you don't need to use much to get a full lather going.

The Good

These products are exceptionally  cheap – you could get everything we got and more for under £10 – which is what I pay for shampoo and toothpaste for my littlies, so I am quite wow’ed by the price.

There are pros to each product, and if you don’t have allergies to contend with, you’ll probably love them

None of the products have overwhelmingly chemical smells – they may not smell like nature in a bottle, but they don’t smell like the cupboard under the sink either.

The Bad

There are just too many chemicals in it for me to use on children that really are allergic. I can’t get past the chemicals.

The Verdict

For normal people with normal children and normal budgets, I think these are great products. The wipes are convenient and way better than other ‘own brand’ types that I’ve used, and the toiletries offer a lot of value for money!                           

Amazon’s January Deals are offering up to 50%  off a huge selection of toys, feeding and safety kit, car seats, pushchairs and so on throughout January – and they’ve started already.

• Head over to Amazon for Baby Deals

There are a few items in the up to 50% off sale that actually have more than 50% off. For example the Sunshine Kids Buggy-Bag Stroller and Buggy Travel Tote has an RRP of £14.99 but is currently selling at £5.58, a 63% saving.

There’s a Chicco 60cm Spring Cot Mobile Wind-up Musical Cot Mobile which was £24.99 and is now £11.40 (a 54% saving) and a Tommee Tippee Heat Sensitive Bath Mat with a fab £12.01 off the price, now selling at £7.98.

Other items don’t have as high discounts, but are still really good prices – like the Okiedog Bliss Celeb Luxury Tote Baby Changing Bag (Purple) which has 20% off and is selling at £39.99 – not bad for a stylish and gorgeous tote that is both functional and good looking!

Mini Marmalade are half way through their 4-day extravaganza, actually, so you just have today and tomorrow left to bag a bargain at this lovely boutique shop. Standard delivery starts at £2.25.

• It’s an Extravagaza at Mini Marmalade

There’s a variety of stuff on offer and all at different prices and varied offers, so it’s well worth having a browse through.

You’ll find things like the Boo Boo Baby Lotion with £2 off, reducing it to £5.99.

There are Farmyard Organic Bodysuits in packs of 5 that were £28, but are reduced to £20.

I also think the wooden Food and Beverage Set which was £16.99 and is now £13.50 is really cute and would make a brilliant addition to a play kitchen. In addition to that, the gorgeous Wooden Toaster which was £21.99 is now £16.99.

There are some lovely goodies from all the baby categories available in this offer, but remember that it only runs until Monday, so don’t delay!

We have a 10% off discount code from Minene for you today.

Click here for gorgeous baby items

• Discount: 10% Off
• Exclusions: Not valid in conjunction with any other offer
• Valid Till: Unknown
• Discount Code: Minene1

We’ve written a couple of Minene reviews on PlayPennies – for a Layla Changing Bag and Minene Pyjamas Review and I must tell you that I love Minene products.

With this 10% discount you can buy a range of towels, bedding, changing bags, newborn gift sets, activity mats and blankets, pyjamas, painting bibs, muslins, pushchair accessories and more.

You’ll find £1 off the Mi Supersize Muslin, which is a swaddling blanket Muslin with a soft open weave that allows air to flow the material.

There’s £1.20 off Pyjamas – they are really gorgeous, we love ours – and around £2.40 off coats, and 90p off super cute baby sock slippers.

For the bigger things, like the changing bag, £6.50 off £65 brings the 4in1 changing bags down to £58.50, which is a nice little saving.

There really is a gorgeous range of gifts or special treats for your or someone else’s baby available at Minene, so check them out and let me know what you think!

I’m not big on crowds, so internet shopping is one of the best things about living in this century, in my view anyway.  But internet shopping can be really hit and miss too – some sites just don’t offer what they promise, and sometimes you have to think twice before submitting your bank details!

However, My 1^st Years is a lovely site, with beautiful and quality products, an easy to navigate layout and great service.

We were offered the opportunity to order and review some of the items on My 1^st Years, so we asked new mum Denise Bell to give it a go and tell us what she thought.

“Everything about My 1st Years is simply beautiful,” Denise gushed. “The website, packaging and items themselves all look like they are labours of love.”

Denise agrees with my findings of online shopping too. “So often I shop online and get my items through the post in cheap plastic wrapping. As a mum with a new born baby shopping is a rarity” she told us. And to Denise, having a quality shopping experience online is really important. “Being able to shop from home and still be able to take delight in the overall shopping process keeps me feeling a little less mum like and a lot more like the old me.”