There’s a brand new snack for Toddlers just recently launched in the UK called Toddler Mum-Mum.

Currently they’re only available online from Amazon, but as we’re always on the lookout for healthy snacks, we thought they were worth a try. I’ve learned in my two years as a parent that just because something is ‘for babies’ or ‘for children’ doesn’t mean it’s necessarily good for babies or children – like those supposedly ‘healthy’ yoghurt covered fruit snacks? Jam packed full of sugar! Or some ‘snacks’ for children – full to the brim with salt and preservatives. So we’ve learned the hard way to check the ingredients on snacks.

While I have a handbag full of raisins that have escaped from their various boxes and packets, it’s nice to be able to bring a bit of variation into snack time, so I’m always happy to find a snack that’s both healthy and affordable.  The two don’t often go hand in hand. Enter Toddler Mum-Mum.

These baked Japonica rice cookies are a sweet and tasty snack made from organic rice, organic sugar, sea salt, natural strawberry flavouring, citric acid (which is vitamin C used as a preservative in foods), Gelatin and Thiamin (which is vitamin B1).  These biscuits are Gluten, Egg and Peanut free, and they are low in fat. They also have no artificial colours or flavours.

They are currently only available in Strawberry flavour, which isn’t a problem as they are actually very tasty.  My mum and I had to try a few packets out of the first box, just to make extra sure, you know?

For £7.12 on Amazon, you buy a box of 4 boxes, each with 8 individually wrapped packets of biscuits and each packet contains two biscuits, so you’re getting 64 biscuits in a box.  This makes each snack pack just over 22p which is massively cheaper than some other snacks we’ve tried.

Another massive bonus to these is that they make no crumbs – that means you can eat them in the car seat or pushchair or at grandmas house on her carpeted floor and not end up with crumbs everywhere.

The Toddler Mum-Mums are aimed at children over 18 months, but they are also available for babies over 6 months as Baby Mum-Mum biscuits (but we’ve not tried these yet!)

There’s a whole array of Organic and Ethical beauty product gift sets available at Green People at the moment.

• Head over to Green People for a feel good Christmas

There’s something for men and women in this offer, but unfortunately none of the kids products are included:

• A Merry Moisture Kit organic shower and lotion, packed with Aloe Vera goodness for £22, a £4.90 saving
• A Festive Fine Grooming Shaving Kit including Shave Now Gel and Cool Down Moisturiser with a free luxury brush and razor for £25
• The Twinkle Twinkle Organic Luxury Facial Set with a spa exfoliator, spa oil and reviving day/night cream for £40, saving £12.95
• The Winter Wonders Organic Skin Treats, consisting of Help at Hand and Vita Min Fix for £20, saving £4.90.
• There are also different Skin Essentials Stocking Fillers available for £5.

Delivery is free on your first order, and thereafter delivery is £3 for orders under £50, but orders over £50 are free too.

There’s little nicer when getting out of a nice hot bath than getting into a nice snuggly warm towel or bathrobe. I’m pretty sure babies and tots find great pleasure in being warm and cuddly too, so these towels and bathrobes should be a big hit!

Get your little ones warm and cuddly with organic baby towels and bath robes

• Discount: 15%
• Discount Code: ppennies
• Valid on: Everything
• Valid till: 31 August 2011

There’s not a massive selection here, and for someone like me who has to arrive at a restaurant early to narrow down my menu options before others arrive, that’s a pretty great thing.

My Munchkin is a specialist organic baby towel and robe company, offering towels in three colours and robes in two styles.

What makes the towels special is that they are designed to keep your hands free whilst bathing your child, with simple Velcro fasteners around your neck and keeping you dry from fun splashes.  The My Munchkin towel is luxuriously soft, wide and absorbent.

The robes are 100% cotton and have a large hood to keep little ones warm and snug. The belt is sewn to the back of the bathrobe so they won’t trip over, play with or lose it.

These sounds so awesome, I wish they did adult sizes!

My daughter suffers from eczema and is very sensitive to most 'normal' baby products. With a family history of severe dermatitis and eczema, I am very cautious about what I use on her.

I discovered Green People at the allergy show in London last year and have been using their nappy balm and sunscreen for Kyra ever since. It was only natural then that I tried their shampoo and conditioner.

The Green People children's shampoo and conditioner are quite expensive, but are worth every penny and are actually great value. When they arrived, I used some on myself first, to test.

The shampoo is very watery and runs out quite quickly. I have very long hair, down to my waist, and while I normally require a good handful of product to lather my hair nicely, I only used about a tablespoon full of the Green People shampoo and ended up with way more foam than necessary. The shampoo is lavender scented, but it wasn't very strong at all, and I actually thought it smelled a little watered down, which is good if you aren't really a fan, I guess.

The conditioner is slightly thicker, but still a lot more watery than most, and doesn't require any squeezing on the tube - again a good thing as you're not going to be throwing out a lot of product you couldn't reach.

The conditioner stays in for 1 minute, and can then be rinsed out. I wasn't sure at first whether it was really an effective conditioner or not, because my hair didn't feel particularly smooth, but once it had dried I was really surprised at how soft it felt. I tried it again on my daughter's hair with the same result – beautiful, soft, bouncy, curls, and I'm sure it's given her hair a lot of body too.

The blurb on the back of the tube says a little goes a long way. In fact, according to Green People, the 200ml tube is equivalent to 600 – 800 ml of other product. I must say, I agree. It really lasts a long time.

Also, since it contains no SLS, parabens or other nasties, I have no worries that it could cause my daughter eczema or be harmful to her at all. The conditioner has more of a lavender scent, but with her hair dried it just smells pleasant, rather than overwhelming.

For children with sensitive skin or eczema, I think this is a brilliant shampoo and conditioner.

Also available in Citrus & Aloe Vera

Price: £7.75 each

I am a huge fan of GreenPeople and reviewed their Nappy Balm last year. We use that and their suncream for sensitive skins regularly, and its one of the only products my little girl has never had a skin reaction to.

For the month of March, GreenPeople have a special offer on their Lavender Children's Shampoo and Conditioner. Buy two shampoos at £7.75 each, and you receive a free conditioner.

• Come clean with Organic Children from GreenPeople

The organic hair products contain aloe vera, lavender and tea tree. One of my favourite things about Green People is how they explain their ingredients, like these (an extract from the shampoo):

Olea europaea (olive) oil, *Citrus nobilis (mandarin) oil, ^*Lavandula angustifolia (lavender) oil, *Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) oil, *Linalool, *Limonene (from essential oils).

The shampoo is suitable for children with head lice. It is non-irritating for sensitive scalps as it contains no SLS – and yet it still foams, using more natural ingredients. It has a soothing and calming delicate floral scent, and contains no parabens, phthalates and artificial fragrances.

Delivery is free if it's your first order to them or £2.50 thereafter.

My daughter has quite a severe skin reaction to any products that contain Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS) which, for us, cuts out most standard bath and baby products. As a result we spent much of the first months of her life testing new and different product ranges and the best we have found for our needs is without doubt the Organic Babies/Children range from Green People.

Over the summer we used the SPF25 sun lotion which we loved, but for the past year our favourite product has been their Nappy Cream Baby Balm. It has a list of fairly traded organic natural products, and none of the hard to pronounce nasties. Although for sore bottoms, it can also be used on minor cuts and scrapes as it contains the healing herb Calendula.

The nappy cream is quite thick, but spreads easily. A little goes a long way, and the smell is fantastically fresh and floral with a touch of Camomile – and comes from the natural ingredients, rather than added chemicals. I was never unhappy with the commonly available nappy rash products, but since having tried this one, would not go back.

As to its effectiveness, it exceeded my expectations – it works super fast, soothing and removing the redness and rash, and cuts and scrapes heal quickly too.

The 40ml container has an airtight seal so there are no leaks or popped-off lids in the nappy bag.

Green People have great customer service too. Not only are their sales team efficient, but you can have an easy chat with them on Twitter (@greenpeopleUK) – my kind of customer service!

At £9.25 the Green People Nappy Cream Baby Balm is quite a bit more expensive than conventional, mainstream alternatives, but as I’ve said, I feel it is entirely worth it and is certainly what we are and will be using in the future.

If you are planning on making an order for some lovely "green" beauty products from The Green People online, don't forget to use this special voucher code to get some free sun lotion too!

Click here to use the Green People voucher code online

• Voucher Code: AF77733222
• Discount: Free sun lotion with purchase
• Expires: 31st May 2010

If you have never before placed an order with The Green People, you will get free delivery on your first order (sadly this applies to mainland UK orders only, so those of us in Norn Iron cannot take advantage)! But even if you have purchase from them before, perhaps your partner or someone in the family could make an order, so you can get free delivery again? Normally you must spend £100 for free delivery, so this is quite handy.

There are a few deals in their special offers section which you may want to see. For example:

• Buy Self Tan Lotion, Get 2 Exfoliating Washes Free
• Save £4.95 on Triple Action Cellulite Lotion
• Save £3 on No Scent Hand & Body Lotion

In case you haven't heard of The Green People, here is a little blurb from their website which sums it up quite well:

Green People is a forward-thinking company which specialises in organic body care products. With an extensive range of natural products – shampoos, face creams, sun lotions and body washes to name just a few – it is one of the biggest names in organic beauty in the UK.

Dr Bronner’s Magic Soap is the USA’s No. 1 selling natural soap brand and a leader in organic and fair trade skincare. Famous fans reportedly include Drew Barrymore, Sandra Bullock and Eminem, and make-up artist Bobbi Brown championed the brand on The Oprah Show, saying: “It’s probably the finest soap in the universe. I’m obsessed with it. I cannot get enough of it!”

Now Dr Bronner's is lathering its way into British homes and hearts. So what's so special about it? The magic of Dr. Bronner’s is its affordability and versatility, with 18 uses from 1 bottle of liquid soap at £4.99 per 236ml bottle. Best used with a cloth, towel, loofah or sponge you can use it to clean your body, your mouth & teeth, your fruit & vegetables, your bathroom and kitchen, your clothes and even your pets!

It's available in 8 main varieties, the original being the famous tingly peppermint - “nature's own unsurpassed fragrant Deodorant!” - followed by Lavender, Eucalyptus, Citrus, Almond, Rose, unscented Baby Mild and Tea Tree which can even be used to treat minor cuts.

The soaps are most popular for at-home washing, but are also the soap of choice for many campers and hikers. They contain no synthetic foaming agents, thickeners, preservatives, fragrances, dyes or whiteners and use 100% post consumer recycled (PCR) cylinder bottles and paper labels. Completely biodegradable, the soaps are made with certified Fair Trade and organic ingredients sourced from India, Ghana, Palestine, Israel, and Sri Lanka.

Dr Bronner’s tell us that they take their organic credentials very seriously unlike many “natural” body care companies who masquerade their synthetically derived ingredients by using floral water as the main natural ingredient, while the functional ingredients are petrochemical derived and thus non-sustainable.

The 100% Pure Castile Soap recipe used in Dr. Bronner’s soap is a simple, ecological, vegetable based formulation, named after the Castile region of Spain where olive oil soaps where invented long ago. The high foaming lather of the soap is from its high coconut oil content, which makes a more luxurious and rich lather compared to any detergent formulation commonly found even in “natural stores.”

Dr. Bronner’s superfat their soaps with organic hemp and jojoba oils for a milder, smoother lather and use natural plant-derived vitamin E and citric acid to protect freshness. Apart from flavouring organic essential oils such peppermint, the base soap ingredients are Water, Saponified Organic Coconut, Organic Palm and Organic Olive Oils, Organic Hemp Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Essential Oils, Citric Acid, Vitamin E.

So what did our reviewer think? The first item we passed their way was Dr Bronner's Organic Baby Balm. Here's what they had to say:

"Loved the packaging.  The sliding lid is fantastic for taking around in the nappy bag.  The product dosen't feel greasy and absorbs very quickly.  Perfect for our baby's dry skin.  Even I have used this as a moisturiser on my elbows and they feel great now!"

Our reviewer loved this item and although they thought it was a little on the expensive side at £3.95, they  felt the price was justified because of the organic nature of the item.

The second item we reviewed was liquid soap from Dr Bronner's. Our reviewer felt the travel size of the packaging made it perfect for an overnight bag. But how did it work?

"I couldn't bear to use it as a toothpaste replacer - too soapy.  I used it as a shower gel using a sponge.  Bottle was not flexible enough to squirt it out like a shower gel, so I would have liked to see a product that was more suited to a shower gel application. At £5 for 236ml I felt this was expensive for an item that I do not really use except for in the shower.  I did try some in the bath for bathing my daughter and it seemed OK."

Finally, the pure castile soap. Our reviewer, a Dad, reckoned this feels really good for cleaning the face. He even tried it out for shaving:

"Had a shave with the pure castile soap and a shave brush and found my face was very clean although I had to moisturise afterwards as my skin had dried out.  The foam was softer than a traditional shave foam but thought it was a good alternative.  My face felt a lot cleaner aswell."

At £3.50 for a 140g bar our reviewer felt this was reasonably priced, albeit more expensive than their usual brand.

"I would normally buy a brand which is about a third of the price but the Dr Bronner bar does not break down like my usual brand. I would be happy to pay for a better product like Dr Bronner's that is natural and organic, and I feel safe that this is a safer product to be bathing my child in."

With each of the soaps, our Daddy reviewer would have preferred a scent but did acknowledge that they seemed like very good quality soaps, despite the lack of scent.

Dr. Bronner’s is available UK nationwide including Liberty, select Waitrose stores and leading health shops including Fresh & Wild, Planet Organic and Whole Foods. To find your nearest stockist call 0845 072 5825 or visit www.kinetic4health.co.uk

Sweet mercy, have you ever seen anything so cute as bath-fresh toddlers wrapped in cosy towels, disguised as cows?!

• Click here to get Cuddledry organic toddler towels for £27.81 from Amazon

Usually retailing at around £30 these toddler towels aren't cheap so with free delivery thrown in this is a nice price.