babyurbeautiful

My daughter has been doing baby-led weaning since 6 months (she's now 14 months) but we're only just getting to grips with cutlery and crockery...and it often ends up being smashed onto the floor. She seems to prefer eating from her high chair tray or table so I'm facing quite a challenge. 

It's often hard to find somewhere baby-friendly, and then there's the hope that baby doesn't decide to have a melt down - which is obviously out of our hands at times.

In the heart of Whitechapel, along bustling Mile End Road - adorned with 50's style lights, and a welcoming uber trendy front is Foxcroft & Ginger. 
Hailed that, because the family name is Foxcroft, and Quintin's wife, Georgina is a proud redhead.

Aside from having Cbeebies on repeat all day for the babies, what can you entertain the older kids with? Have you stumbled across popfun.co.uk yet?

It's aimed for 4 to 9 year olds and available on Freeview.

POP is the first channel to be added to Freeview children's portfolio in eight years, and is available on channel 125, Sky Digital channel 125 and Sky 616.

The guilt-free channel helps make learning fun. It has programmes from History Hunters, Finding Stuff Out and Wild Kratts, and it's a chance to help create those budding Einstein's but help us, as parents, brush up on general knowledge - and believe me, we're rusty!

The fun and factual programmes are actually related to an area of the national curriculum, so you don't need to feel guilty about plonking the kids in front of the TV whilst you get your general housework done.

They've also recently created an app called POP Artpad which is also free on on both the App store and Google Play.
Kids can create drawings and edit photos with silly hairstyles, different colours, textures and pencils, as well as stickers from the programmes aired on POP like Littlest Pet Shop and My Little Pony.



It's all free - so we thought we'd tell you - keep the kids amused, and learn a little while they do.

Enjoy!

We're keeping everyone's pecker up by offering lots of lovely comps this month - if you're as miserable as we have been with the freezing cold climes -  then you will definitely approve!

Our friends at Nelson's are offering a fab goodie bag of essentials from their range, especially the divine muscle soak, various supplements and baby essentials NB: we can't live without their teething granules and calendula cream.

                             PLUS a gorgeous hooded winnie-the-pooh dressing gown in fetching yellow.
                             Your little one will LOVE!

To get involved please follow us on twitter, retweet and show some love! 

                             Enter here for a chance to win this fabulous prize:



a Rafflecopter giveaway



       

A few years ago I thought it would be a good idea to use hair removing cream to get rid of a slight tash  I had developed; I then sunbathed in 40 degree Moroccan sun, and since then I seem to have been left with a horrible tash shaped mark whenever I go in the sun! It's like an age spot I guess, that is entirely my own fault.

Now we're ashamed to say we haven't seen the new film yet - but there's so many little people, so little time...

We actually just wanted to introduce you to M & S Paddington Bear Bubble Bath -  that IS amazing, and we're rather jealous it's not for us!
Despite being designed for kids, PB fans everywhere will love this little treat.
Complete with a bright berry red waterproof hat o'er top of the cap, adorned with Paddington's body (navy blue duffle coat, natch) and cheeky little face. But our favourite part?

The fragrance and appearance of sticky, sweet marmalade - oh yes!

My well-trained nose would say it's actually more of an apricot jam aroma but the uber sweet scent wafting from the bathroom is just DE-light-ful.

As usual pour under running water, BEAR with it - and a bath full of will appear (soz, for the bad joke).

Described as: 'sticky sweet marmalade, zesty orange peel and a hint of fuzzy peach', your little ones will LOVE this for bath-time - just don't be tempted to eat it, ok?

£8.50 M & S nationwide 

We're trying to cheer you up this January by bringing you an array of positive posts. And to top that off - amazing giveaways!

We'd love to hear your feedback on our beauty and baby posts - and what you'd like more of? Is there anything that has inspired you recently and any products we've recommend you love - please let us know just what you want.

Cybex, whose car seat we wrote about last week, have given us an amazing baby carrier suitable from 3 months to 5 years (yes, not sure if I fancy carrying my fatty at 5 years either!)

A carrier is a must in the early years, mainly to be close to mummy and daddy - and to make life easy when shopping, or nipping out quickly -  and to avoid the whole pram dismantling, resurrecting rigmarole which we're all too familiar with.



The ergonomically designed carrier is called the Cybex 2.Go in Heavenly Blue colourway - and rather sexy to say the least!

It's also worth a whopping £95.

The 2.Go carrier was developed with midwives and orthopaedists, it's shaped for ultimate comfort whilst carrying and well-padded. The carry straps also give less strain on the back to provide maximum carrying support.

CYBEX  is available in all major nursery stockists, click here to find out more about their range.

To make things easier, use the Rafflecopter link below...


a Rafflecopter giveaway

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8. The competition winner must come forward to claim their prize. In the event of a prize going unclaimed for more than 28 days after notification, Babyburbeautiful may, at its discretion, declare the prize unclaimed and no longer valid, and draw a new winner. An unclaimed prize may not be awarded. 
9. The prize is not transferable to another person. 
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15. The Babyurbeautiful shall not be responsible for damages, losses or liabilities of any kind, including without limitation, direct, indirect or consequential loss or damages arising out of or in relation to the prize draw. Nothing in this condition shall limit or exclude liability for death or personal injury as a result of Babyurbeautiful negligence. 

Launched in 2012, the CYBEX Sirona baby car seat is very eye-catching to say the least.

Trawling through the shelves in Mothercare, it immediately stood out for its ergonomic design and trendy colourways.



German made, the CYBEX seat is like no either, and is a combination car seat for children from birth up to 18kg (approx four years old).
It can be used extended rearward-facing or changed to face-forwards when your child is 13kg and weighs around 15kg.

My little one has been forward facing from around nine months, and wasn't happy at first, as the Cybex large impact shield obstructed his view. But now, at one year, he loves his comfy padded chair with the safety cushion (shield) - rather than the bog standard harness (which is another option with this seat).

Albie loves his CYBEX

 With an Isofix installation, the seat swivels round 360 degrees for easy access and transporting of baby into the seat.
The clever rotation system makes life easier and less back-breaking for those heavier babies.
and makes it easy to switch between rear and forward facing.

There's a height-adjustable headrest (11 positions), one-hand reclining fuction (7 positions rear-facing) and one-hand reclining fuction (5 positions forward-facing) so in a nutshell - it does it all and makes for a very comfortable journey for baby.

I don't want to bore you with all the scientific research, gadgetry and all things that the men in our family want to hear - as a woman it's a very good seat for one handed swift placement of baby, once you've got the knack of anchoring the seat into place.
The catch underneath the chair proved difficult for me for a while, I was making it far more tricky than it actually is - but maybe that's just me being an idiot (standard).

Its only downside is just getting used to the movements, the buttons etc - as with anything new.
(Just FYI, it took me two weeks to finally adjust to my Bugaboo Chameleon and I still struggle with the wheels some days) So judge this on a car-seat novice.

The price point is also quite high at around £375, but the CYBEX chair is SUCH good quality and will last for the child for up to four years.
We have a cheaper seat too, for nanny - and the difference is VERY noticeable, the material, the movements, the quality - the CYBEX I can only describe as the Mercedes of seats (I like Mercedes - and they're German).

I'm not just saying it's a great chair because we received one to review, our close friends received a little demo from us and just bought one for each of their cars as they loved ours so much!

Autumn Gold Sirona, £375, cybex-online.com


 A rear-facing child seat reduces the risk of injury in a head-on collision by more than 80 per cent when compared to a coventional forward-facing with harness system, as the force of an impact is distributed evenly over a large area*

*Research condicted by VTI - Swedish Road and Transport Research Institute

Probably my most favourite activity with my little one year old is swimming. She absolutely loves her weekly lessons; seeing her splash about, launch herself into the water and kick her legs like a manic just makes me beam with pride. However, (and that's a big 'however'), the whole palava of getting ready and getting changed has taken a lot of fine tuning and I want to share my top tips with you all to make life easier. Some tips are quite obvious but I'm writing them anyway just in case you're as forgetful as me. Please do add any other tips and tricks in the comments section or tweet us!

Hey Mummas,

To get rid of those January Blues (Monday 26th is meant to be the most depressing day of the year) we've got a lovely little comp for you.

We've got one amazing Trunki Bluebell to giveaway for anyone who is jetting away this year.

All we need is you to follow us on Twitter #babyubeautiful (u, not ur) and Instagram (name babyubeautiful) to keep up to date with all our babyurbeautiful goings on.

And if you fancy signing up for our weekly emails using the link alongside this piece - please do! We will keep you posted with all our baby and beauty goings on here.

We will pick one winner at random who will win on MONDAY 26th - so we'll bring you some cheer!

To make it easier to enter, check it out here too on Rafflecopter



Trunki Bluebell

It's a New Year so that means new pyjamas, new bed sheets, new outfits and of course, new makeup. After all my christmas splurging, I'm not in the market for anything too pricey and to be honest, I'm trying to avoid all the crazy sales shoppers too, so I when I came across the revamped BD Trade Secrets collection at Tesco whilst doing my weekly shop, I decided to pop a few items in the trolley.

Christmas is costly, not to mention boring for the kids after the 50th viewing of Elf (something I'll never tire of). There's soft play, soft play and MORE soft play, and because you are inspired to go....so is everyone else!

Having visited a few farms over the festive season, we decided to add another to our bow; The Infamous Marsh farm. We've heard mixed reviews from friends, some say excellent, some say 'chav', but we were interested in finding out for ourselves.

With just over a month to go until the most anticipated movie release of the century, it's the perfect time for OPI to release their new collection, Fifty Shades of Grey.

With the Christmas party season in full swing and with NYE just around the corner, everyone is trying to look their best; spray tans, fresh highlights, new lippy, and new outfits. But what about the most important feature – your smile?

If you're stumped with what to get a chum for Christmas, who is pregnant - here's a good idea.

We we're sent a sample of Velvet Living London's baby bear box, and it really is beautiful, however, I'm not sure the recipient would appreciate actually how much the box is worth.

Velvet Living was originally a quintessentially British homeware blog by Heather Slade, who found an overwhelming amount of friends and family getting married, pregnant, engaged - she was forever rushing into John Lewis to stock up. Which then led her to the idea of creating a well presented gift in one place, at the right price, without compromising on quality.
 Here Velvet Living was started and the blog blossomed into a veritable treasure trove of boxes - perfect for every occasion.

We kindly received the baby bear box - inside there's an exclusive and absolutely adorable Coco &Wolf (exclusive to Velvet Living) bear print body suit, Cowshed Baby Cow Milky Body Lotion (200ml) and Histoire D'Ours Soft Grey Bear.

Now, the box retails for £50.00. I think for a gift for family and first time you'd be looking to spend £30-50, fair?

The Cowshed body lotion is around £10.50 - everyone loves Cowshed. If you don't know it, the paraben-free baby items are just divine.

The teddy is absolutely delightful, as delicate as a real bunny rabbit, butter-soft with a scruffy finish, beautiful quality and on inspection on google, a real collectors item and quite hard to find.




A small one will set you back around £25-32 (not as nice as this one) as it is only 25cm, I don't think the recipient will appreciate the worth. If you're in the know - you will.
It's of fantastic quality, and my little man LOVES it,  I feel sad, that if I gifted this box, the recipient would not be aware of the actual RRP of the cherry-picked items. I'm not saying friends are not grateful, but you get me?

Then there's a Coco & Wolf body suit. The exclusive body suit is stunning, and is exclusive to Velvet Living, you can find other examples of their exquisite designs here :

Coco and Wolf

For £50, you get fastidiously chosen items in a beautifully packaged box, the thought that has gone into it (I have to point this out as some people may say why aren't I making a saving?) It's not about that. You don't walk into John Lewis, and say if I pick these three items - can you do me a deal?

Think of it like this; it's the ultimate personal shopping box. Someone has done for you exactly what you set out to do, without the stress, and given you the inspiration you were after.
It may be the first time you are introduced to the adorable brands, and savings aren't the aim of the box at all - it's all about the full package (excuse the pun).

www.velvetlivinglondon.co.uk

I got a text message from my friend asking me if I like Chanel Mademoiselle perfume; to which I replied, I don't like it, I LOVE it! If I could afford it I would wear it every day and every night, even if I was just at home. I wondered why my friend was asking, maybe she had a voucher or discount code for a bottle? Unlikely, as Chanel rarely do money off.

Employers certainly don't make it easy to return to a role, do they?

I love writing about winter beauty. Especially for a mum to be, or a new mum... Because it's all about pampering and rich, nourishing products to keep dry, itchy skin at bay.

Your skin hates the Hokey Cokey. "In, out - in, out, and shake it all about..." I'm not talking about the never-ending song that my daughter loves, I'm talking about how going in and out all day long badly affects your skin. "And that's what it's all about...!"