Tommee Tippee Review

I am a huge fan of Tommee Tippee. Since C was born, the only bottles I use are Tommee Tippee. I always found they were more durable and better value for money than other brands. So I jumped at the chance when I was offered a few items to review!

My regular readers will know I'm weaning Baby B and he's teething at the moment. I was sent a first beaker, a set of heat sensing spoons and a lovely trio teether.

Baby B loves the trio teether! As soon as I gave it to him, in his mouth it went!






I had to encourage him to use the different surfaces on it - there's three different ones;
cool, soft and hard.

He seems to prefer the soft one at the moment (number 2), I think as he gets a few more teeth he'll move onto number 3.


Next up were the spoons.

Now, we've all been there - out shopping with the baby when dinnertime arrives, you get a jar of food and the spoon and somehow end up with more food on your hands / arms than in babes mouth! Well these spoons are great for avoiding that!

With their long handle, the spoon is comfortable to hold and so easy to use. Slightly soft, it'll even get the last littles scraps in the jars or tins. The handle also means that your hand is out of the way of the spoon and you won't get messy while feeding, your hands anyway! It also means there is plenty of room for babe to grab on if they want to, Baby B is starting to do that, he *has* to hold the spoon too!

See his hand going in for the grab? Little monster!

Another great thing about these spoons are that they are heat sensitive! All parents worry if the food is too hot and these spoons will tell you, by form of changing colour, if it is! How cool is that?







And finally, the "first beaker".

A lovely little cup which I thought was simple to use. Note: when you've filled the cup up, make sure the nozzle is pointing upwards (so open) otherwise the air will get trapped and when you do open it, you'll get a squirt in the face - just like I did. You'd think after four kids I would know these things!

Baby B loves holding things in his hands now and loves to put them in his mouth even more! So I thought he'd love this.

Nope! His little arms aren't strong enough to lift a cup of juice yet so Mr Independent had to put up with mummy helping him to drink it! It is a better cup than some others because it has nothing slowing the flow of the juice but, of course, that also means it sometimes flows too fast and goes everywhere. But I think in a few weeks when his arms are a little stronger, he'll love it.





Many thanks to Tommee Tippee for these items and thank you for the help through your products in teething, weaning, feeding and play over the years for me!

Disclaimer: I received the items for free but all views are my own and 100% honest. I have not been paid for this article.

OXO Tot Sippy cup set review

A couple of weeks back, we were sent a lovely OXO Tot Sippy cup set to review. As you know, Baby B is currently loving his solids, and I've been looking for a cup he can use for his juice, instead of his bottle.

This cup is brilliant because it grows with baby. You can use it as a sippy cup with handles whilst they are learning to grip, a sippy cup without handles when they get to that "independent" stage, a cup with a plastic bit in to limit the flow of liquid for when they're learning to not tip it straight up and the contents going all over their face, and a normal cup.

Mummy is a big fan! I love things that last and grow with the kids. This cup is really ideal for anyone weaning their baby - until it becomes "uncool" to use the same cup they have for years! Because of the extra bits, that's exactly what this cup can do! Be used for years. Even C at 12 years old had a try of it but was too camera shy!!

 

Baby B seemed to be a fan too! The only problem we had was that it was too heavy for his little arms to lift at the moment, but that will change as his muscles get stronger - he will soon be able to lift it! He had a good go at lifting it though, and he didn't do too badly. He even managed to chuck it out of his pushchair a couple of times. So, with not a mark on it, the cup certainly passed our durability test! With J's history of broken bottles, cups, plates - this is an absolute must!!

We've been using it everyday since receiving it and are so pleased with it!

Want to try one for yourself? Head on over to http://www.oxouk.com/s-218-cups.aspx - the cup comes in aqua (as above), green or pink at a bargain price of £10.21. Think of how much you spend each year replacing cups as your baby grows - this cup will last forever! There is also a range of other cups and accessories all used for the important stage of weaning - and the funniest, I love seeing babies trying to feed themselves and getting it everywhere except their mouths!

Thanks OXO Tot for an absolutely awesome cup for Baby B :)

Disclaimer: I received the OXO Tot sippy cup set for free but all views are my own and 100% honest. I have not been paid for this article.

Bump to adult.... and all that in between....

The feelings. The expectations. The not-knowing. The old wives tales. The rumours. The constant change of "guidelines".

How, in this day and age, are parents supposed to be the best they can when things change constantly?

A few posts ago, I questioned the best time for weaning. Baby B is almost 22 weeks now, and really enjoying his solids! He has almost a full jar and a 9oz bottle at dinner! He really is a little greedy guts!

22 weeks. The time has flown by. Too fast in fact. It seems only yesterday I was sat sobbing at the very thought of having four mouths to feed, four running rings around me, four lots of birthdays, Christmases, need I go on?!

Baby B has been teething for what seems months! And all that's come of it, so far, is more dribbles, more cries and more washing of soaked tops and bibs! The others seemed to cut the first teeth a little quicker than Baby B, C almost had a full set of teeth just after 6 months!

And there's me rambling on again! Back to the subject matter.

Nothing really readies you for parenthood. While there are hundreds, probably thousands, of books you can read, sites you can browse, millions of other parents you can listen to their version - it will never QUITE make you ready to be a parent. You know what? I don't even think after four children that I know everything! (But if him indoors asks, I do know it all!)

Things are so different - between boys and girls, between 2000 (when C was born) and 2013. Even between now and 1984, my birth year. Conversations with my nan confirm that things were very different back in the 1950s and 1960s when she was bringing her children up! Go back even further.... you get the picture!

So, what I can't understand, is why parents are trying to live up to what other people "think" is right?! As long as your baby is happy, healthy and loved, what does it matter when they *should* be crawling, when they *should* be walking? I'm known to not give a monkeys about guidelines for walking, for instance. When my kids are ready, they'll walk. I've never forced them, same with potty training. I bought them a potty, but never made them sit on it for hours.

What do you think?

The fun of weaning!

The age old question.... When is the right time to wean my baby?

Over the years of my four children, the ages have changed. It's been four months, six months, nine months and now there's talk that you should wait until they are a year old to wean them.

Are they mad?

My mother weaned us when we were ready. If I remember right, she said I was on solids by three months, as were my brother and sisters. My other brother, however, was so greedy so she started him at a couple of weeks old. She breastfed us all, but it was never enough for my brother. He'd empty her, have a 9oz bottle and still be looking for more! And he wasn't a "fat" baby. He was always the average weight for his age.

I always wonder what people thought or said if my mother told them how much he ate, from a young age. For me, when I weaned J, he was about 10 weeks old. He needed more food to fill him up. So I started him on baby rice, a few spoonfuls was plenty for him. I was told not to by the health visitor, called "stupid" by other mums, yet J had no problems. He loved his food, and at four months, I moved him on to other foods, that were suitable for his age.

And now, Baby B. I started weaning him from about 12 weeks. Again, he needed it. He's now 19 weeks and loves his food! He's just tried some different flavours and seems to really like the Cow & Gate chocolate dessert!

Here he is after pinching the spoon from my hand and tried to feed himself! I think this was Grampa's Sunday Lunch!

Doing some research on what age is best for weaning has brought up so many different opinions!

According to an article on DailyMail - a study says that six months is too long, on BabyCentre an answer is given as 1 year, Bounty, Mumsnet, Hipp and NHS say pretty much the same thing.

What I wonder is, many years ago before all these "guidelines", when parents were weaning when they felt was right - how many of their children were affected by this? I mean, I'm 29 now, I've never had any problems with my digestive system as many "guidelines" suggest that will occur from early weaning, my brother (the greedy one) was to be fat, if the health visitor is to be believed - yet is 6'4", plays football, rugby, cricket, loves going to the gym, and has not one ounce of fat on his body!

Back to my kiddies. My eldest is 12, she's never had any problems either. Nor has T or J. So, it is really a problem if we wean them when we think is right?

It's funny, a few weeks back I was at the Doctors having Baby B's first injections. I got talking to a mum and dad of twins. Poor mum looked like she hadn't slept in a week and dad looked as though he hadn't shaved for as long! We got on to the subject of feeding and they were shocked when I told them that Baby B was feeding on 9oz of milk from 2 weeks old. I explained that all my children were the same, as I was unable to feed them myself, by 2 weeks old each one would drink 9oz of the hungrier baby milk.

Dad asked if that was every four hours, and looked disgusted when I told him I didn't force feed, I fed on demand. So instead of insisting they fed every 4 hours, they had it when they cried for it. Sometimes it would be about 6 hours gap, other times 3. To rub salt into the wound, I then told them how amazing the kids were at sleeping throughout the night. That's right! All four were sleeping through the night from a week old. And I believe it's because I fed them when they want!

My sister fed her son every four hours. He still wakes up through the night now and is 5 tomorrow!

So, the round it all up, I think as long as you, as a parent, feel it's the right time to wean, and your baby is ready for it - go for it! If they feed, but are still hungry, feed them some more! But never force them, and ensure that the food you are giving them is suitable - for example, no lumps.

What are your opinions? I'd love to hear what ages you weaned your children!