The Handy Hippo Bather from Fisher Price is a bit hit and miss in my view. With our first we never used a bath seat. We just put a little water in the bath and laid her back in it. By a few months old she was kicking her way up and down the bath and she always loved bath time. When we bath our youngest now, we do the same and bath time’s fuss free.

When we’re bathing both children together, however, it can be difficult to have a free hand when you need it.  In that case, something like the Handy Hippo Bather can be really useful.

It’s a plastic and mesh contraption in blue with a hippo head ‘stopper’ which acts as the seat bit for keeping baby positioned in the bath. The mesh sling bit is soft and flexible, so the water can come through the back and keep baby warm and exposed to water.

There’s also a hook on the back for hanging it up so it can dry. I found it to be a bit heavy to hang on a shower rail that’s not screwed into the wall, and it can bring the whole shower curtain and rail crashing down. There’s a small window behind our bath, however, and it can hang up on that and drip dry into the bath.

The problem is you either have to submerge the baby in the bath so they’re not cold, or you can sponge bath them in the bath or a sink, but either way, unless submerged, baby gets pretty cold, which makes mine cry something fierce.  Of course, you also can’t leave baby in the bather, so you’re there all the time anyway, so for me the bather is rather unnecessary.

I must say though, that when someone isn’t accustomed to bathing such a small baby – like dads, grandparents and so on – it is a useful bit of kit. Mums have the one handed wonder woman thing down pat, eventually, but until you’re confident enough, it’s a useful – but not essential – gadget for infants who can’t yet sit up unattended, and weigh under 25 lbs.

With a new baby and a toddler in the house, we have a huge array of toys and equipment that’s been given to us over the last few months. One such item is the Fisher-Price Soothe and Go Bouncy Seat, (£52.95 at Amazon) which we’ve been using with our newest little girl.

This bouncy chair is full of practical features without being over stimulating or over the top. It is easy to assemble, quick to flatten up for popping behind the sofa or under the bed for storage , or even behind the car seat for trips away.

There’s a battery operated box that is self-contained – i.e. there are no wires that go elsewhere on the bouncy chair – and has three settings: music only, vibrate only and music and vibrate. The music is interesting. It plays around 20 minutes of nursery rhymes, starting with “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”, but it sounds like a mix of piano music and marimba – unusual, but not at all offensive.  The vibrate function has really surprised me. My eldest daughter hated the vibrating bouncy chair, but my youngest daughter falls asleep to it and sleeps about as long as we leave it on!

The seat portion is a soothing and gentle blue and green with a wildlife and clouds and birds outdoor style scene, and is removable and machine washable. It also has a harness to keep movers in too.

Instead of the usual toy arch, the Soothe and Go bouncy seat has a canopy that continues the theme with a Twitter-style bird and a ladybird picture to look at, and two hanging toys which can be conveniently stored in the layers of the canopy. The canopy is wide enough to be suitable sun protection and during the sunny days late in March we had a lovely time in the garden, airing a nappy rash without exposure to the sun.

I don’t like big and bulky things, but I must say that this is way sturdier than the one we had very briefly with my eldest. That was slimline and by four months my daughter would topple herself out of it and end up like a tortoise upside down in it. The Sooth and Go Bouncy Seat is much more sturdy, and has much better balance, and no six month old is likely to manage to throw themselves out of it.

All in all, I think this is a really good, useful and practical bouncy chair.

Amazon is selling the Fisher-Price Rainforest Gym for £39.99 instead of £59.99 and from what I gather reading the comments on HUKD, the price fluctuates quite a bit, so if you click on the link and it’s higher, perhaps come back later and try again. For now, however, there’s a 33% saving on the RRP.

• Kick and play in the Rainforest Gym

I currently have four playgyms and playmats, and while there’s nothing specifically wrong with any of them, they’ve not hit the exact spot, either. One is too puffy for tummy time and is better for later when my baby can sit up. One doesn’t do very much, one is not padded enough and one is just a mat for sitting on. It’s a nightmare really, having so many!

Looking at the comments on the Fisher-Price Rainforest Gym, this is a wonderful play gym and people seem to really like it. It has music, lights, nature sounds and lots of activities and textures.  There are a variety of links for attaching toys and a bunch of rainforest friends, including a monkey, toucan, elephant and parrot. There’s also a spinner with rattling beads, butterflies a shiny mirror and a crinkly leaf/ The music box plays four fun tunes or rainforest sounds for up to 20 minutes.

If the Rainforest Jumperoo is anything to go by, this will be excellent.  Perhaps it’s time for a trade in!

Amazon has up to 40% off selected Little People toy sets – which sounds great, but there’s actually only one at 40%, the rest are nearer the 25 – 30% mark.

• Broaden the world for Little People

Although we aren’t big plastic toy people, I’m regularly tempted by some of the goodies from Little People. They really could create a whole world, if you had the space for laying it all out nicely!

The offer from Amazon features Wheelies Zig the Big Rig Playset for £22.20 instead of £36.99. Zig is a built in Little People character with an animated face and over 50 spoken words and phrases, and his bumper, roof, side gate and wheels come to life.

At 29% is the Racin' Ramps Garage for £24.97 which has a 3-storey ramp, an elevator with a mechanical bell, a petrol pump and moving stop sign, two figures, a passenger car and a tow truck.  The elevator lights flash, there’s a zooming noise when cars race up and down, a gas pump that glugs, and an air pump that hisses – and fortunately, a volume control and on and off switch!

The Little People Animal Sounds Zoo which we reviewed last year is £28.79 instead of £39.99 and the Rev and Sounds Race Track is reduced from £27.99 to £21.00.

And finally, with 10% off, there’s the Animal Sounds Farm for £24.29 instead of £26.99.

Argos is selling a Fisher-Price Luv U Zoo Musical Mirror Activity Arch Baby Gym for less than half price at £14.99 instead of £32.99.

• Have fun in the baby gym from Fisher-Price

There seems to be so many baby gyms on the market these days and the variety is ever increasing.

The Luv U Zoo Musical Mirror Activity Arch Baby Gym is a softly quilted for optimum comfort and has four reposition-able zoo animals to keep them entertained during rest or play. This is great for both lying on their backs and the soft padding is great for tummy time, which is helpful in reducing colic and wind.

It includes an elephant with a rattle roller ball, a rhino with 2 clacking beads and a link with two teethable clackers.  There’s also a music box that plays pleasant music to comfort baby when they have had enough stimulation and reviewers say it has great colours and sounds. Considering this is a ‘musical mirror’ activity arch, there’s not much info on the musical mirror but overall, reviews are very positive.

Thanks to tobis at HUKD

The Fisher-Price Little People Spin ‘n’ Crash Raceway is on almost half price sale at Argos as you save £12 off the £24.99 RRP.

• Spin and crash around the raceway

Despite the rather annoyingly sexist description of this item - Boys are in the driver's seat as they control all the thrills and spills fun around the Spin 'n' Crash Raceway from Fisher-Price  - I can totally see my daughter and myself having loads of fun with thisotoy.

This raceway includes two race cars, two driver figures, four flags and a trophy and weighs in at 2.2kg. It requires 4xC batteries which are not included.

The reviews on this are pretty good – a couple weren’t impressed, or it did crash loud enough or was quite noisy with the plastic on plastic crashing, but overall, the reviewers were positive and the kids loved it.

They are out of stock for home delivery, but you can click and collect and pick it up to make a saving on the rather hefty delivery charges anyway.

Thanks to wishihadadonkey at HUKD

We’ve written about the Rainforest Jumperoo often enough here on PlayPennies that I honestly can’t believe I’ve never written a review on it before. Well, here it is.

After having my daughter I was pretty certain we’d only ever have one child. The Rainforest Jumperoo is the one item I packed up and stored “just in case” we have another – and worst case scenario, I could pass it on to my sister if we didn’t. That’s how much I love this thing.

The Rainforest Jumperoo is an activity centre with a bouncy seat. It isn’t like those that hang on the door frame, and doesn’t put the same kind of pressure on the child’s spine.  It’s bounce comes from four ‘corners’ that are decorated with forest decorations.

The activity centre includes a spinning lizard with beads that for us was the first thing my daughter ‘discovered’ and she’d spin that for ages. As she grew older the spinning sun and pop-up tiger captured her imagination, and alter on the music and animals in the musical toy provided lots of entertainment.

Unfortunately the butterfly that stands up bent down with all the pulling and now hangs kind of limp, but it’s still a good teether, and much later on she suddenly discovered that there were a toucan and frog hanging above her head. We finally put the jumperoo away when she was 12 months old, but that was only because we went abroad for a few months.

The seat is nicely padded and is removable, which makes it great for washing and keeping clean.

The only down side to the Jumperoo is that it is quite large and takes up a fair bit of space. It can be ‘folded’ for storage, but it’s in no way compact.  Fisher Price have recently brought out a new version too, but it’s even bigger than this one.

This is the only thing that would keep my daughter entertained for up to 20 minutes at a time. The bouncy chair, Bumbo, and door bouncer never worked and she’d cry almost as soon as she was put into it, so apart from wearing her in a sling all day, the Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo was the only way I could cook dinner or hang washing without a babe in arms.

The Fisher Price Bounce And Spin Zebra has been around for a while now, and every now and again it comes up at a really good price.

To start with, it’s a pretty ‘fun’ little contraption, and my toddler bounces it like crazy. It has some safety features, like the fact that it doesn’t swing till your tot is balanced on the seat. It also has a pretty wide base to keep it steady. Despite the base, it doesn’t take up masses of room. It’s about a door-width in diameter, but seems smaller as it’s quite a low toy. This makes it easy for little ones to get on and off unassisted too.

Entertainment wise, it’s a bit hit and miss, depending on who you ask. For pure bounce factor, it’s a star. My daughter’s face lights up every time she rocks that pony into oblivion – or at least it sounds like that’s what she’s doing.

It has five ‘energetic’ songs which it plays. It’s nice that it has five songs, but it’s still only five songs and they can get pretty tiresome – which is where the volume control comes in handy. As an added bonus it’s a ‘child-proof’ switch, so she can’t adjust the volume herself.

The Bounce and Spin Zebra has orange lights that flash, and the whole bounce apparatus is pretty noisy, which makes her love it more.

The only negative for me is the age range that it’s claimed for. They say that it’s suitable from 12 to 36 months, and while my daughter is quite tall, she’s been what I would class ‘too tall’ for the toy since about 20 months already. While she still enjoys it and has a bounce on it for a minute before heading off to something else – in it’s favour, this happens a number of times a day – I do think she’s actually too big for it now at just over 24 months, so I don’t think the Bounce and Spin Zebra has the longevity they suggest. It sure seems fun while it lasts though.

Argos Ebay are selling a  Fisher –Price Gentle Waves Musical Baby Cot Mobile for £13.98, including postage. Our HUKD members seem to think this is a pretty good deal, so here are the details for you.

• Gently soothe your baby to sleep with the Gentle Waves Musical Baby Cot Mobile

The seaside ‘Gentle Waves’ musical baby cot mobile is suitable from birth as it hands overhead inside the baby’s cot. It sways gently from side to side, soothing and lulling baby to sleep. Baby can enjoy the music of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart, or there are peaceful ocean sounds to choose from too.

All in all, the Gentle Waves cot mobile plays around 12 minutes of music, and with any luck this should be enough to ease  your little one off into a peaceful sleep.

Later on you can also  remove the mobile portion with the dangling fishy friends and just keep the music box attached to the crib

It is rather battery intensive, requiring 3xC batteries, which are not included.

Thanks to Andywedge at HUKD

There’s a Wind Up Mobile at Tesco Direct on sale for £6.50 at the moment. It was £24.95, then was reduced to £12.47 and is now down even more, now just a quarter of it’s original price.

• Head over to Tesco Direct for a 2 in 1 wind Up Mobile

The Fisher-Price Precious planet 2 in 1 wind up mobile is actually quite mobile – without the fuss of breaking it down completely  and having to rebuild it – it can be moved from the crib and attached to a pushchair.

The sunshine wind-up activation is easy to use and plays up to 3 minutes of music and the lion, hippo and penguin provide motion.

The base attaches to the crib with vinyl straps and has a colourful front side with a bird, lion and gorilla on the side.

So, what’s the two in one feature? It’s the fact that it can be moved between cot and pram, so you don’t need two different toys. A serious bonus at just £6.50.

Thanks to loueylemon at HUKD

The Fisher Price Preschool Little People Wheelies Stand And Play Rampway Playset at Amazon is currently for sale at £32.34, giving you a 25% saving.

• Have fun with the Wheelies Stand and Play Rampway Playset

According to the blurb on Amazon, “The new Stand ‘n Play Rampway introduces toddlers and preschoolers to new Little People vehicles-perfectly sized for them-in a ramp-filled town with tons of action-packed vehicle fun!”

The set is 2 foot tall, anchored by 2 rolling ramps with places to play on both sides and plenty of twists, turns and tunnels all the way down. There’s a repair shop for a tune-up, and you can load a vehicle onto the lift and raise up and down for mechanical cranking sound effects.

Players can send a car through the flipper sign, which spins around when it’s hit.  There are even parking meters if you’re going imaginary shopping, or a drive-through restaurant. The bottom level has a parking garage with vehicle-activated lift and a lower stop sign and gas pump with rotating hose which activates sound effects.

The adjoining gate activates lights and more sound effects, and you can push the gate down for red stop light and lift the gate for flashing lights and car action sound effects activated as cars zoom by.

Then, you load the car onto the clicking elevator to bring it to the top and start the journey down all over again.

Use this Toys R Us promotional code to get 20% off top brands and selected product lines. This is part of their Christmas in August promotion, which started today and runs this weekend only. The code works on sale items.

Click here to use your Toys R Us promotional code

• Discount: 20%
• Applies to: selected top brands and product lines
• Promotional code: 9908080139997
• Expires: 14th August 2011

To use this code  you’ll need to go through to checkout. You’ll have to either log in or register on the site. Then when you get to the Check Out page, enter it in the Coupon Details box and hit apply. You don’t need to enter any other details to see if the code works.

The brands you can use this code on are Toy Story, Star Wars, Barbie, Peppa Pig, Fisher Price, Leapfrog, Sylvanian Families and Playmobil. It can also be used on two products lines: bikes and scooters.

I tested it on a Magna 10" Pearl Balance Bike, which was in the sale for £24.99. Half the original price of £49.99. The code took another £4.99 off this. As delivery is £4.95 (or free if you spend more than £50) the total came to £29.94.

Thanks to crazyblondechick at HUKD!

Amazon are selling this Fisher Price Toy Story 3 Chatter Phone for just £9.99, instead of £22.99.

• Click HERE to go over to Amazon

Wow seeing this Fisher Price Chatter Phone took me back a fair few years!

I remember there being one in the playhouse that we had in my infant school classroom (and that really IS going back a bit); everyone loved being the member of the 'household' in charge of answering the phone.

This Chatter Phone can "ring" & say "psst" to attract the caller to answer the phone, and your child can use the spinning rotary dial to call their favorite Toy Story 3 character - there are 4 to choose from. Or they can call Woody or Buzz for a chat.

If they dial Chatter Telephone they'll hear about how to "get by the monkey" & out of the day care - this all means nothing to me as I've not seen Toy Story 3, but I'm assuming it all makes perfect sense if you have.

When your child pushes Talking Chatter Telephone along, he makes squeaking sounds and his eyes move up and down - now that's more like it, I remember that bit from the Chatter Phone of my youth.

This isn't an Amazon Deal of the Week, so this Fisher Price Toy Story 3 Chatter Phone's price may go up at any given moment (just like the cost of most phones these days then!), depending on Amazon's whim.

Thanks to mucklebones at HUKD

Ohhh I'm glad to see this Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Cookie Shape Sorter back on sale with Tesco Direct; he's £11.97 now, rather than £17.97.

• Click HERE to get sorted with this deal

I love sorting things.

I love tidy cupboards with things neatly sorted, drawers with everything neat and tidy; I love sorting out jigsaw puzzle pieces into their various corners, straight edges and middle bits just as much as I enjoy putting them all together.

I find it almost impossible to resist shape sorters, like this Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Cookie Shape Sorter, too.

I love the super friendly, happy face of this cute little dude and he comes with all sorts of features to keep your little one entertained, and teaches them a few things into the bargain.

There are five soft brightly-coloured shapes that triggerfun sounds, phrases, sing along songs and lights when your child matches the right shape to its corresponding opening.

There is also a most welcome and marvellous volume control setting for 'quiet play', and the 3 AA batteries he needs are also included; hurrah!

Click and Collect in-store for free 'delivery' (you know what I mean) or you can pay £5.00 and they'll deliver to your house.

Happy Sorting!

The Argos eBay Outlet are selling this Fisher Price Little People Pop n Surprise Train for £16.99.

• Click HERE to pop on over to Argos on eBay

This is rather a good price as it's up for grabs on the Amazon Marketplace for £38 and £34ish with AyoBaby.

This Pop n Surprise Train is Fisher Price at it best, in my opinion; it has everything that little people adore - movement, sounds, music and surprises.

It's suitable for little ones aged between one and five years old, although I think they will have outgrown it before they get to be five; I can't see my youngest having played with anything like this for quite a while and he turns five in a couple of weeks.

But for those who are young enough to appreciate it, here's what the Fisher Price Pop n Surprise Train has in store for them...

When they push the train along sounds and music will play.

At each stop they can press, push or twist various things which produce different effects; opening doors will reveal passengers looking to go for a ride around the oval track.

In the box you'll get an engine, two attached cars and an oval track, the only thing you won't get are the required 3 AA batteries.

Delivery costs are just £1.99 and a word to the wise, most things for sale on the Argos eBay outlet sell out FAST! So if you want one, you'd better order it pronto.

Thanks to sazzlebob at HUKD

Argos are selling this Fisher Price Musical and Digital baby monitor for half price; it's £35.48 now instead of £71.48.

• Click HERE to go over to Argos

I used a baby monitor when all my children were babies.

One, it offered me peace of mind when I was asleep that I'd hear them if they were crying and needed me - if I'm r e a l l y tired I can sleep like the dead - and two, it allowed me to move around the house and garden whilst they were snoozing during the day and, again, hear them when they woke up.

This Fisher Price Musical and Digital baby monitor plays three lullabies and nature sounds, it also has a night light.

All of these things can be activated by remote control via the parent unit so you don't have to go into your child's room to switch them on; it can be fatal if they see you..."OOOH look! Mum/Dad have come to see me, it must be time to get up and a) play or b) have cuddles for hours and hours and hours!"

The Fisher Price Musical and Digital baby monitor is an Argos online exclusive so you can't order it in-store.  You CAN arrange for it to be dropped off at a store for you to collect though, or you can arrange for delivery to your front door for £5.95.

Thanks to Haylhoo at HUKD

Toys R Us are currently selling this Fisher Price Ride-On Musical Pony for half price; £24.99 instead of £49.99.

• Click HERE to gallop over to Toys R Us

I've always loved horses; I started riding real ones when I was four years old and once they get under your skin you'll love them for life - just a little word of warning to any parents who decide to buy their little girly a Fisher Price Ride-On musical pony.

It's very pink so unless you don't mind mixing boys with pink and dolls, it's unlikely to be suitable for young lads.

So for little girls aged 12 months and older this Fisher Price ride-on musical pony is going to be great - it has a soft mane and tail and plays fun sounds and music.

Underneath all the pink 'fluff' and girliness this is excellent for your baby's development as the Fisher Price ride-on musical pony encourages role play, teaches cause and effect and also helps to develop fine motor skills.

It also comes with a doll that is soft, huggable and machine washable and she fits easily into the bucket on the front of the pony so she can come along for pony rides too.

There are lots of features for your little one to explore and you can choose to collect it in-store for free or pay £4.95 for standard delivery if your total spend is going to be less than £50.

Thanks to hillsbills at HUKD

The Argos eBay Outlet are selling this Fisher Price Sprinkler n Splash playmat for £3.59.

• Click HERE for this splashing deal

Water and little tiny toddlers can be a scary combination.

There are too many tragic stories every summer about little tots drowning in the smallest amounts of water; it's enough to put you off water play with little ones for a very long time, but kids of all ages LOVE splashing around in water outside in the garden.

This Fisher Price Sprinkler n Splash playmat is one possible solution - the kids can enjoy splashing around and playing with water without there being any depth to it at all; fun for them and peace of mind for you.

It's brand new, covered by a 12 month guarantee and is suitable for little water babies aged 18 months and over.

There is a real shortage of other information about this Fisher Price Sprinkler n Splash playmat, but I don't think it requires a degree in rocket science - just plug in a hosepipe, turn the water on and SPLASH!

Oh, I almost forgot, you'll have to pay postage on this but it's only 99p - much more reasonable than the £5.95 you'd pay through Argos directly.

Thanks to missgem at HUKD

Argos are selling this rather cute Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Piggy Bank for half price; he was originally £16.99 but is now £7.99.

• Click HERE to oink on over to Argos

There are certain brands of toys that you really can't go wrong with; Fisher Price is one of them and their toys have been delighting and entertaining children since the 1930s.

It's never too early to teach your kids about money and numbers but this Laugh and Learn Piggy Bank will encourage learning about more than just that though.

With the Laugh and Learn Piggy Bank your child will learn about numbers, counting, colours, animals and sizes.

There are 10 colourful coins to drop into slots for musical rewards and if you press the nose you will hear friendly sounds and songs.

Music  plays  when the door is opened and his tail wiggles too which is bound to have little ones giggling away like loons and he has rather excellent reviews too.

The Laugh and Learn Piggy Bank is currently unavailable for home delivery, but then at an over the top £5.95 I can't say I'd even consider having him delivered.

Reserve him online and go and collect him.

If you're not going into town anytime soon ask someone else, who is, to pick him up for you.

Thanks to babyblue at HUKD

The Little People Musical Zoo Train from Fisher Price is on sale at Argos for £7.49, so a 50% saving on £14.99.

• Buy the Little People Musical Zoo Train from Argos

My little girl was given a musical train for her first birthday, and although it doesn't have the carriages or the zoo theme, she loves it, and this looks like a perfect next step up for us.

The Little People Musical Zoo train includes a Little People figure, a tiger and a giraffe. It makes music – a short tune - and has three animal sounds and requires 3 x AA batteries, which are included. The toy isn't very big, but it is colourful and sturdy, and needs to be pushed rather than going on its own.

Reviewers say it's a good gift for boys and girls, and while some thought it cost too much for what it was, others thought it was good value for money – which of course now it would be even more.

The Little People Musical Zoo Train is available for click and collect, or home delivery within two days.

Thaks to Lucerysmum at HUKD