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March 18th, 2010
Just a quickie – we’ve updated our stockists page with all the Mothercare stores who stock Cheeky Wipes and I have to say it looks very impressive!
So if you’re interested in buying Cheeky Wipes, but would like to see them before you buy, you know where to look. If you’re a Cheeky Wipes stockist and your details aren’t on this page, just let me know!
Aside from this, we exhibit at most of the major Baby Shows (SECC, NEC, Excel & Earls Court) which are definitely worth a visit to get all your baby shopping done in one fell swoop – and save yourself some money!
Tags: Cheeky Wipes stockists; cheeky wipes mothercare
Posted in Buying For Baby, Washable Wipes FAQ | No Comments »
March 9th, 2010
The lovely people at Green Kiddie have just written an article about baby eczema and how to treat it naturally which has reminded me to actually do something about an idea that has been in the back of my head for a while.
One of the reasons that I started Cheeky Wipes was because I suffer from Eczema and have done since I was about 5 years old. My hands are often particularly badly irritated and I found that using disposable baby wipes, even sensitive formulae ones just made it worse.
I moved to washable wipes because the calming lavender and chamomile soaking solution seemed to lessen the irritation and I reckoned that was good for me and my bubba’s! Since then I’ve had really good anecdotal feedback from lots of people who reckon that Cheeky Wipes are better for their babies with sensitive, dry or eczema plagued skin? So I’d like to run a little test to prove or disprove this theory.
If your baby has eczema and you’re willing to try an alternative (which is suitable for washable or disposable nappies), then I’ll provide you with a Cheeky Wipes Kit for £15. I would offer to do this for free but I want to avoid timewasters!
At the end of the two week trial period, you just need to give me some feedback via a questionnaire. If the wipes didn’t work out for you, after trying them for two weeks, then just send them back to me and I’ll refund you with your £15.
To apply, please complete the questionnaire here and I’ll come back to you next week if you’ve been successful. I’ll be selecting a maximum of 20 for the test.
Tags: baby eczema, baby wipes eczema, eczema treatments
Posted in baby | 1 Comment »
March 4th, 2010
 (courtesy of www.rlv.zcache.com) Â
I sat down at my desk this morning and started working my way back through my emails, only to stop at this one:
 ’I'm another happy customer! I bought my Cheeky Wipes kit from Born in Bristol on the morning of the day my son arrived and I just wanted to write and tell you that I love, love, love our Cheeky Wipes! I am actually sad that they weren’t around for our first and second children. My third child is now 4 weeks old and we have used these wipes from the start. Even my husband who was a totally paid up disposable wipe fan has been converted and uses / raves about them. What a fantastic idea and well worth every penny.’, Natalie F
This has absolutely made my day! As you all know (whether you work for someone else, work for yourself, or are a stay at home parent) it’s hard keeping your head down to the daily grind. Feedback like this is just amazing, really motivating and reminding us again why we do what we do.
This particular piece of feedback is even more amazing because the lady in question has just had her third baby, so how she found the time to sit down at a PC and drop me a note is astonishing.
So, this is a plea to anyone reading this blog. If you’ve had good service anywhere, or found a fabulous new product, then spare 5 mins to let the people behind it know. It will be appreciated and you might even get a little something out of it yourself!
Tags: cheeky wipes feedback, cheeky wipes review, cheeky wipes testimonials
Posted in Washable Wipes FAQ, cloth nappy | 1 Comment »
March 2nd, 2010
One of my Mummy friends has recently had her 4th baby, a little boy. She had never gone into labour herself and always ended up being induced at 10 – 12 days overdue. Imagine my surprise this time, when I texted her to wish her well for her induction at 6pm a couple of Thursdays ago. I received a return message from her husband saying that she’d gone into labour naturally herself at lunchtime and their new baby boy had been born at 5.21p.m!
I’m delighted that she finally got to experience a natural labour and can’t wait for the gory details when I see her later this week. I really want to give her a special present for her gorgeous new son. Because she already has 3 older children (and a house full of toys) I didn’t want to go down the cuddly toy route…and she’s also got shedloads of clothes from her two older boys.Â
 My Little Patch Blanket - Bitter Chocolate and Duck Egg Blue So when I came across these lovely bespoke blankets from My Little Patch I decided that it just had to be one of their lovely snuggly, minky-lined blankets. Each blanket is custom made, allowing you to choose from a range of funky cotton fabrics for the outer cover. I went for this beautiful chocolate brown and duck egg blue combination which is just gorgeous. The outer cover is made from 100% cotton, and there’s a range of funky fabrics available to suit every taste. On the inside, there’s a layer of warm, soft, fluffy Minky fabric (again available in a range of colours) in an Ivory colour which will just feel lovelyagainst his soft newborn skin. The blankets are priced at £25, which is a great price for a really unique baby gift.
My Little Patch is the work of an East Sussex based designer called Claire Sheridan and I LOVE her range of bibs, blankets and (coming soon!) Mother to be bags. We’re hoping to be the first retailer to stock her range of bespoke goodies, so watch this space for more details!
Tags: baby blanket gift, bespoke baby blanket, bespoke baby gift, buying for baby, unique baby gift
Posted in Buying For Baby | 1 Comment »
February 18th, 2010
I recently came across a blog post from Really Rachel about her ongoing nappy debate and conversion to washable nappies.  I’ve been using cloth nappies for 5 years now (well not myself obviously, but on the littl’uns) and one of my bugbears is how disposable nappy users always point out that disposables are so much more ‘convenient’. As Rachel found out for herself, they’re only convenient if you always have access to somewhere selling them and never run out. If you’ve run out of nappies and have no way of getting to the shop to get some more, then they’re highly inconvenient!
Sure, it’s convenient to be able to wrap up a stinky poo and chuck it in the bin, never to be seen again (just don’t think about it rotting SLOWLY away in your local landfill site. Nice.) But it’s not that much harder to flick poo off a cloth nappy, into the toilet and flush it away!
When you’re out and about the only minor inconvenience about using washable nappies is that you’ve to bring them home. Most modern cloth nappies (like my lovely Itti Bitti’s) have a popper or velcro closure which keeps the soiled nappy closed and makes it easy to transport home for washing. Even on occasions when I’ve forgotten my wet nappy bag, I’ve been able to throw the dirty nappy straight into my bag until I got home, with no problems.
 Itti Bitti Bum It does take a little more planning to use washable nappies successfully in that you have to get a bit more organised in terms of washing (and drying) your nappies, but once you get into a routine of doing so, it becomes much easier.
In fact the only time that I can see that the ‘convenience’ of disposable nappies wins is when you’re on holiday and don’t have access to washing / drying facilities. Even then though you’ve still got to either lug your disposable nappies away with you (and if you’re going for 2 weeks, that’s quite a lot of nappies). Or you need to find somewhere locally that sells them.
Tags: cloth nappy, cloth nappy drying, washable nappy
Posted in cloth nappy | 2 Comments »
February 11th, 2010
Since we moved no2 son into his big boy bed, our nights have been rather more unsettled than previously. That’s because (unsurprisingly) he’s worked out that he can get out of bed and come and visit Mummy and Daddy next door. And given that his normal waking time is 6.10am, I’d really prefer it if he stayed tucked up safe and sound for another half hour at least.
It was with great hope, therefore, that I came across the ‘Groclock’ (£30 – £35) on one of the web parenting forums that I use. Some people swore by it, some were intrigued and I thought it sounded interesting and worth another look. So I did some desk research (read the reviews on Amazon) which gave pretty positive feedback.
 Groclock - time to wake up! I’ve been using it now for almost 3 weeks, so thought it was worthwhile posting a review.
On the plus side, it’s a nicely designed and packaged product. The little board book that comes with it is great quality cute and my son loves reading it (and in fact has memorised it and can read it to me). You can lock the keys so that your children can’t reset it, which is a bonus. And it gives enough of a glow that the room isn’t in darkness, but it won’t keep them awake either.
On the negative side, it didn’t work for us. It might have done if we’d introduced it as soon as we moved him from his cot to his big boy bed, BEFORE he’d worked out that he could get up when he pleased.  He still wakes during the night, disregards the clock and comes wandering into our bedroom. To be fair, he usually goes back and lies down again nicely when I show him that the sun hasn’t come up, but I still end up getting out of bed!
I’d also have liked the ability to have a different wake-up setting for weekends that could be stored automatically, rather than having to reset the wake-up time every Friday night. Â
In summary, if you’re thinking of moving your little one into their ‘big boy/girl bed’ and are concerned about them getting out of bed early, then get the clock now and start using it before the move. If you’ve already got an early starter, then I’d probably not bother.
Tags: groclock, groclock review
Posted in Buying For Baby | 2 Comments »
February 9th, 2010
I’m celebrating the fact that the comments on my blog have been fixed (which given the amount of spam comments I’m now receiving, I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or not).
Anyway, I thought I’d check that it’s working and also whether anyone actually reads my blog by offering 4 pairs of free tickets to the Baby Show at London Excel which is next weekend, 19th – 21st February. We’re launching the Cheeky Monkey Wipes Kit and we’ll be on stand C14 if you want to pop along.
To be in with a chance of winning, just leave a comment below explaining which of my recent blogs you like best and why. I’ll pick 4 winners at random by 5pm, Thursday 11th February and will highlight the winners comments.Â
Tags: baby show, baby show excel
Posted in Buying For Baby | 4 Comments »
January 21st, 2010
My two and a half year old, (F) has been severly potty training resistant. Even though I know you shouldn’t compare your kids, I can’t help but compare him to his older brother who was out of nappies at 18 months. Smug mummy that I am, I put this down to his wearing cloth nappies and the fact that I’d been popping him on to the potty before bath time since he was a year old. When he did manage to pee, we made a big fuss and this definitely helped.
No2 son didn’t get the bathtime potty treatment. Plus although he was wearing cloth nappies, he was in his lovely Itti Bitti nappies and I think the fact that they were more comfortable and slimmer than the Motherease nappies meant that he couldn’t be bothered to try to use the potty.
Back in October, I told no2 son that I’d had a letter from Father Christmas and that he wouldn’t get any presents unless he was out of nappies and into big boy pants. Although F understood what I was saying, he still point blank refused to sit on the potty and if he had his nappy off would run into another room (always the carpeted one of course!) and wee in there.
Come end-November, I was beginning to panic that I’d have to follow through on my ‘no presents’ threat – which was obvoiously impossible. So out of slight desperation I ordered Elmo’s Potty Time from Amazon – after all for £6 it’s worth a try.
We received it on a Wednesday and F watched it for 15 mins before getting bored. On Thursday he watched 20 mins. On Friday and Saturday he watched all 45 mins. On Sunday he got down from the breakfast tabel and when we asked him where he was going he said ‘I need to go to the toilet’. So off we went and lo and behold, he wee’d in the toilet for the 1st time. So we tried another ‘big boy pants’ day and AMAZINGLY he was dry all day. We definitely helped, by asking him every 30 mins whether he needed to go, but by the end of the day he was telling us that he needed a wee.
It took about 10 days for him to start poo’ing in the toilet and of course he still has accidents but we’re really chuffed. We’re not there yet with nighttime nappies yet, but I may start putting him back into cloth nappies at night to see how we get on…and of course I’ll update you.
Tags: potty training
Posted in baby | No Comments »
December 8th, 2009
You’ve guessed by now that I’m not a massive fan of Christmas (or Xmyth as someone called it today. Google it. I like it.) Mainly because it makes me sad to see people going mad, buying loads of presents that are unwanted and unnecessary. It’s worse with children, who are so fickle and what they might play with for hours on end at a friends house is only given a quick once over at home and then relegated to the back of the toy cupboard from Boxing day.
So I thought I’d share the top 3 presents that my children have loved to date. If you’re a grandparents or aunt / uncle in need of pressie idea, these are guaranteed winners:
Stacking Cups: All kids love playing with stacking cups.  When they’re little, they’ll just be chuffed that they can hold them. As they get older they’ll actually start to stack them. And by the time they get to 2, they’ll be using them to serve you imaginary cups of tea. Fabulous.
Walker with bricks: Need I say more? This does exactly what it says on the tin. When they’re learning to walk your littl’uns can haul themselves around with this sturdy walker. The bricks make fabulous ammunition for throwing at your head – and also for stacking and knocking over of course. Immature parents can also amuse themselves by making rude  words from the letters on the blocks. Our walker was a christmas pressie for no1 son and 5 years later no 3 child is still having fun with it.Â
Little People Farm: This farm is just brilliant. It’s robust and sturdy, it makes funny animal noises when you press random bits and teaches your littl’uns animal names. There’s bits to poke and pull, places to drop things through and lots of animals to play with. Again, this was bought for my 5 year olds 1st christmas and is still being enjoyed by his siblings 5 years on. There’s a more up to date version available here.
Hopefully that’s a few ideas although I appreciate that they’re focused on the under twos – by next year I might have a few more recommendations!
Tags: buying for baby, christmas gifts for babies
Posted in Buying For Baby | No Comments »
December 1st, 2009
When I was first pregnant, I remember my Mum asking whether I would use cloth or dispoable nappies. My immediate reaction was ‘Disposable!’ remembering in horror the mahoosive terry nappies my little sister used to wear – and the big scary safety pins (and the fact that she crackled when she moved because of the plastic pants!
But…I did a bit of reasearch online anyway and realised that cloth nappies had moved on a bit from the bad old days. 5 years later, with no3 in her Itti Bitti’s, I thought I’d share a few of my reasons for going cloth (and staying with cloth…)Â
- Saves money. If not for the fact that I had a little girl and was vain enough to want a trimmer nappy on her, then my Motherease nappies would have lasted 3 children
- The cute factor. Snuggly baby bums in fluffy nappies as they’re learning to crawl are just the cutest thing ever
- No nasty chemicals from disposable nappies against your baby’s bum
- The environmental thing….better for the environment as long as you don’t boil wash and tumble dry every time (as if??)
- Comfort – after all would you rather wear cotton or paper pants?
- Much less household waste (and less smell too!)
- Emergency help for unprepared mothers. I have been known to flick poo off a fleece liner , turn the liner over and put the nappy back on again. You couldn’t do that with a disposable!
- Smug Mummy feeling…for when your lovely clean white nappies are blowing on the clothes line
- Extra bottom padding. For those upsy-daisy learning to walk by falling over days
- Great conversation starters – particularly the Itti Bittis!
If you’ve got any reasons you’d like to share, please feel free!
Tags: cloth nappy, washable nappy
Posted in Green Living, cloth nappy | No Comments »
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