Sunday 30 August 2015

Baby Friendly Finger Food Recipe - 3. Muffins. Apple, Carrot and Banana.

Baby-Friendly-Finger-Food-Recipe-Muffins-Apple-Carrot-and-Banana
Apple, Banana and Carrot Muffins
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When I started looking after Bear for whole days at a time I quickly found that my repertoire of finger foods was severely lacking. Toast for breakfast and chipped carrots and broccoli for lunch was neither very healthy or adventurous. We were still trying to fatten Bear up so I wanted something that had lots of goodness in it and he could feed to himself. 
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Thursday 27 August 2015

The Difference a Week Makes - 24th August

Its only 5 days really, not even a whole week since I looked after Bear last but I am amazed at the things he can do now. He's growing up too quickly. Soon he'll be a toddler not a baby and I'm feeling sad about that.

I'm also very proud and loving every little thing he masters. 



collage. Baby with book. baby hitting slit drum with sticks. Baby holding toy car.

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Wednesday 26 August 2015

Things I Don't Like Today But May Love Tomorrow

Today I found myself swearing at an inanimate object. It was a metal door stop. What was it doing? It was holding a door open.


I know what you're thinking, how annoying! 

It annoyed me because it was metal and the door that it was holding open was to the bathroom. Sunshine (I'll get onto that next) was pouring into the house and this meant Bear was playing with my face rather than going for his afternoon nap. I couldn't just kick it away as I was bare footed and I couldn't move it because I had my arms full. Grrr.

Sunshine. How dare it! It's been dark and raining in Cardiff for days, and days and days. This morning Bear went for his morning nap and the upstairs was dark, I mean really dark, I had to prop open the bathroom door with a doorstop to let in a little light. Then what happened, the sun came out. Slowly just like sunrise. Yep, you've guessed it, a wide awake Bear.

Which leads me onto car seats and cars. The sun was shining so we all went to the park. It was lovely. We laughed at the ducks and smiled at all the old people. 

Bear was very pointy too. Finger pointing at a pigeon "Duck!", pointing at the dogs "Dat!" 

So we are all feeling happy when we get into the car for the short journey home. Bear falls asleep! NO! Don't sleep, it's only a short drive and it's lunch time. He doesn't listen to me he just sleeps and sleeps and sleeps. Even when we stop and the engine is off.


baby sleeping in car seat

That's ruined my whole day. Now he's too tired to eat because 25 minutes is not enough and he's too wide awake to have his afternoon nap because he had 25 minutes in the car.

Which leads me on to poo. I hate poo. Not because it's smelly or messy or anything but because it always arrives during a morning or afternoon nap. I hate poo! I hate poo! 

It took 35 minutes to get Bear to have his afternoon nap because of the stupid car and car seat. Then 10 minutes into it he is awake. You've guessed it, a poo!

I could go on but it's Wednesday, that means I do not have Bear tomorrow. Wednesday is my Friday.

Ahh! A very nice Peroni. 

"You don't like sunshine?" you ask surprised
"It's true. I don't, I love it."

Cheers!



a half full bottle of Peroni Birra

What do you love today?
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Tuesday 25 August 2015

10 Games to Play with a 10 month old Baby

Like all babies Bear loves to play games. He loves repetition. Although he may amuse himself for short periods of time what he really enjoys most is to play with someone else. We play lots of games together but I wanted to play games that were educational and helped his development; his balance; his coordination; his language skills. I also wanted to play games that he liked too. When I searched the internet for ideas of games to play with a 10 month old, I found they were things we already did! 

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Friday 21 August 2015

Baby Friendly Finger Food Recipe - 2. Easy Peasy Sausages and Burgers


Baby-Friendly-Finger-Food-Recipe-Easy-Peasy-Sausages-and-Burgers

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Easy Peasy Sausages and Burgers

As I've mentioned before, I am not very accomplished at cooking but love homemade food. So when cooking for Bear I need super easy recipes that will freeze. I can then cook a batch, freeze and then use as I need to. I buy lean pork chops and beef and mince my own in a food processor, I like to know exactly what goes into my minced meat. 
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Thursday 20 August 2015

How to open a Tommee Tippee sippy cup without breaking your nails

How-to-open-a-Tommee-tippee-sippy-cup-without-breaking-your-nails-image-of-orange-tommee-Tippee-cup-and-baby-in-highchair-drinking-from-orange-cup
A helping hand.

If you Google "How to open a Tommee Tippee sippy cup without breaking your nails" or "How to open a Tommee Tippee sippy cup without swearing" the results are disappointing. 
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Tuesday 18 August 2015

A Cardiff Garden in August

Grandad loves his garden, Bear and I do too. We love to walk around picking flowers, smelling them. We love seeing the real Insy Winsy Spiders (no pictures of spiders, so don't worry all you arachnophobes!) and the bees and butterflies.


Picture of dark pink flowers with darker centre
Echinacea purpurea - coneflower

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Monday 17 August 2015

I love Monday's

Lots of people moan about Mondays. I love them.
I get to see my little Bear and have him for the whole day. I love Tuesdays and Wednesdays too, but Mondays are my favourite.

Why Mondays? Well I may not have seen Bear for a day or two and I'm fresh, I've had a nice lazy Sunday and a good nights sleep.

This Monday was one of the best. Bear arrived all smiles and happy at 7.15. Mummy and Daddy were a little bit late so he was still in his pj's all warm and snuggly. 

He cleaned his teeth and drank his bottle. He ate some oatibix and banana on toast. I love it when he has an appetite. We dressed him and played until 9am when he put his head down on the floor and rubbed his eyes. Time for a nap. 

He was tired, only a very badly timed poo stopped him from going to sleep, so a quick, quiet change of nappy and then back up to bed..........

An hour and forty minutes later (honest, I timed it!) he was awake. The sun was shining, it was too nice to stay in so he had his 10.30 bottle, albeit very late, and off we went to the park.

We are lucky living in Cardiff, we have lots and lots of parks to choose from. Today we chose Pontcanna fields. It has free parking and the river Taff and the Taff Trail running through it. It is possible to walk or cycle all the way from here to Cardiff Bay or the other way to Brecon without using any major roads, in fact most of it's 55 miles is traffic free.

Bear only has little legs so we decided not to attempt that today.

We had a lovely walk, watched children playing in the weir. Bear had lunch in the park, we left in a hurry so didn't think to take food for us. Bear rode on his bike, crawled on the grass and just loved every minute. 

Bear fell asleep in the car on the way home, his afternoon nap is usually about 2pm and it was now gone that so we stayed in the car and drove around the lanes of north Cardiff, through little villages and got home about 3pm.

Bear slept for about 5 minutes once the car had stopped, he does like the motion of the car to keep him asleep.

We all had something to eat. Bear had Cod, mashed potatoes and some of our tuna sandwiches.

We played until Mummy got here.

What a lovely day. Now you know why I love Mondays.



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Saturday 15 August 2015

Baby Friendly Finger Food Recipe - 1. Quiche

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Delicious home made quiche
I love home made food. I find most ready made food too peppery. I think too much seasoning is added to hide the lack of taste of the ingredients. The problem is I don't really enjoy cooking. I rarely cook. So why write a post about cooking?

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Friday 14 August 2015

Week 5 Cold Bear

Another week gone. What happened this week? Well to start with Bear had another cold. Now I know babies have to build their immune system but why all at once? Isn't teething enough?

Quite topically the BBC had a report on their breakfast show on Monday about how many weeks per year a family is sick if they have one child. 

Basically if a household has no children then they have 3 to 4 weeks a year of someone ill with a virus
Add one child and it goes up to 18 weeks a year
Two children - 29 weeks and
Three children - 30 weeks!

That's over half the year in a household with 3 children!

Now I think most of us knew that as soon as the little ones go back to school then everyone gets a cold or a sore throat or some other horrible illness but I didn't realise how much sickness just one child could bring, so I've decided to give Bear back........not really love him and his snotty nose xx

Worse than that, I've caught Bears cold. I like to think that I'm pretty resistant to coughs and colds and have been lucky to have avoided all the other ones doing the rounds. This did give me some empathy, I am blocked up, have a sore throat and a headache. Poor Bear.

So what have we done to help?

  1. Lots of fluids. Bear lost his appetite on Tuesday. He refused food but did drink his bottle. We offered water frequently too. Bear is good with a sippy cup and actually likes water so this was easy. Wednesday he was still blocked up so lots of water as he refused his bottles. His appetite came back and he ate really, really well. Why fluids? Although they can go a day without lots of food you do not want them to get dehydrated.
  2. Snufflebabe vapour rub. I am a great believer in Vick and this is the baby equivalent. I know some people scoff at the idea but put some on the soles of their feet as well as their chest. Yes it works, how? No idea.
  3. Rest and cwtches. Bear was very fussy and clingy, well I had no other plans so whatever he wanted he got. Oh and I don't believe you can spoil a baby or a child with too much love.
  4. Fresh air. I'm not sure if this helped Bear but it made me feel better. We were lucky to have sunshine (yeah!). A trip to the park, a go on the swings, a picnic in the garden.
  5. Paracetamol (Calpol) last resort. I didn't have to give Bear any as he seemed to be coping OK, he didn't have a temperature, he wasn't crying or grizzly (grizzly Bear lol!) but don't forget pain killers. Used in moderation they are a blessing, not the first thing to give but if Bear was poorly (like when he had ear ache) he would get it and at regular intervals too. 
  6. Baby wipes instead of tissues. Mummy suggested this. When we have a cold we use the tissues with balsam but a baby's nose is so delicate that we didn't wipe it constantly and when we did, we used wipes. It worked for us, Bear did not get a sore nose at all.
Baby holding orange sippy cup and drinking sat on a rug in the garden
Having a drink from his sippy cup
baby in sun tent in garden with orange bowl of food
In the tent eating homemade muffins
baby in buggy holding leaf with pram toy
Bear with leaf on the way to the park

Baby in swing looking right with adult stood behind
Bear watching the other children playing
If playing doesn't work then get them to help around the house.

Baby sitting in washing basket licking a red toy ball
Bear helping with the washing
baby sitting on floor holding tape measure next to baby gate
Bear helping Grandad fix a gate across the door
 After a lovely week we had the most amazing sunset in Cardiff. This picture really doesn't do it justice. It was taken with my ipad, no filters or other magic.


Pink, mauve, lilac, blue sky with houses silhouetted
Sunset

What are your tips for getting through coughs and colds?




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Wednesday 12 August 2015

10 Essentials for Grandparents


When we agreed to care for Bear when his mummy went back to work, our minds turned to making our home baby friendly. I think it's easy to spend lots of money on stuff that isn't really essential so here's my list of what I use everyday and couldn't live without;

1) A cot. We decided on a cot bed because we have the space and hopefully it will be slightly future proof. We bought the East Coast Angelina Cot Bed in pure white (see my review)It was on offer and part of Tesco clubcard boost so a bargain. It also got excellent reviews. By all means buy second-hand but you must buy a new mattress for each baby. The Lullaby Trust has lots of useful info on safe sleeping.


Baby asleep in cot lying on their back


2) A high chair. Essential for meal times especially if baby led weaning. A simple seat that attaches to a dining room chair is sufficient. We bought the Chicco Polly 2 in 1 Happy Land, it was on special offer and although the pattern is not really to my taste (see my review) when covered in chocolate dessert or yoghurt they all look pretty much the same.


empty highchair

3) Coveralls and floor cover. Again to minimise mess when Bear feeds himself. He loves to decorate the dining room and himself so these have saved me hours of work. I bought the Mothercare coveralls and from Aldi's a nylon table cloth designed for outdoors that I use to cover the floor.

baby in highchair covered in chocolate with hand stretched out

4) A buggy/pushchair. To save transporting Bears pushchair back and forth when there's so much more to worry about we bought a cheap buggy. We bought the Chicco London stroller from Mothercare when they had it on special offer (I should have shares in this company!).  OK it is basic but if you can get it when on offer it's a bargain (see my review).

a babies buggy with footmuff and parasol

5) A change mat. Any will do they are cheap and colourful. Ours is the Red Kite stars from Asda. Other than protecting surfaces and having somewhere cushioned to lay Bear, it is also a reminder for him to lay still (oh yes he does!) whilst being changed. Lay him down on any other surface and he will roll over, crawl away or cry.

change mat with different coloured stars pattern

6) A Smart Trike. I love it, Grandad loves it, Bear loves it! Number one essential luxury for us. Again we weren't concerned about colour/design so bought the Vanilla 4 in 1 blue and a rain cover which we haven't used yet.

Baby on blue and orange trike

7) A car seat. This is essential if you want to get out and about. We didn't want to have to fiddle about taking his car seat out of daddy's car every day. We bought the Joie stages group 0+,1 and 2 when it was on special offer (another bargain from Mothercare). There is lots of advice on the internet for buying a car seat.

baby asleep in carseat

8) A play tent. We bought ours from Tesco, needed some tweaking to get it to work but Bear loves it as a den, hopefully summer will come to South Wales and we can use it in the garden (see my review).

baby in tent with lots of different coloured balls

play tent covered with white sheet to make a den

9) A fire guard. Why not higher in the list? Well we have a gas fire and very rarely have it on. We use the radiators to warm the house but Bear kept banging the fire and playing with the decorative bits. Also it has a raised marble hearth that I was worried he'd fall and crack his head on. Pillows etc did not deter him but since the fireguard has been in place he has mostly ignored it.


black fireguard surrounding gas fire not on

10) Wine. After our 3 days of childminding, on a Wednesday evening, Grandad and I like to reward ourselves with a glass or 2. Cheers.


Please see my review pages for what I think of the items we bought. "No review for wine?" I hear you say, not yet we're still researching.....





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Is Bear the cleverest 10 month old baby ever?

Well it's been a month since we started looking after Bear whilst his parents work. I can't believe he was 10 months old on 6th August, time really does go quickly when you're having fun.

We are still waiting for a dry day in Cardiff so we can get out and have fun in the sunshine. Rain is OK if you have wellies and a raincoat but if your main mode of transport is crawling rain is a real pain.

Bear is learning quickly though, only a week or so ago we were all going silly over the fact he could stand and make steps along the sofa, this week he's walking with us holding his hands. Walking is still too slow for him though so he quickly goes to the ground to crawl and he can do that faster than the blink of an eye.

He has learnt lots of games and of course is the cleverest baby ever born.

"ooh" we say "he's so clever" "ooh, well done" "ooh that's so advanced for his age" 

Bear smiles and claps his hands. He knows he's clever.


So what can he do and what games can he play? 


  • He can clap his hands
  • He can wave whilst riding a trike
  • He can dance to music
  • He can throw a ball better than anyone in the Australian cricket team 
  • He can throw a tantrum
  • He can say dada, baba and Gandad
  • He can say oh! O! when he throws something to the floor
  • He knows who we all are by name
  • He knows the cats name
  • He knows his name
  • He can mimic noises his grandad makes
  • He can shout louder than me
  • He can ping the door stop and make a racket
  • He can ping the stick men from his Galt pop up toy
  • He laughs at the animals dancing on the Fisher Price laugh and learn animals app on my ipad 
  • He can play peek-a-boo, or as we used to call it beepo
  • He can clean his teeth, yep they took a long time to come through but he has 4 and a 5th on its way
  • He can climb the sofa
  • He can throw yoghurt onto the back of his head with one shot
  • He can just lay back and be fed
  • He can hold his own bottle
  • He holds his hands out for "round and round the garden" and giggles before he gets tickled
  • He can kneel
  • He can walk holding onto something
  • He can put a ball in a hole

See I told you he was clever 



baby on trike waving
Bear waving like royalty whilst riding a trike
Baby in cardboard box looking up
Beepo! (yes it's a wine box, see my 10 essentials for grandparents)
Baby in highchair with toothbrush
Bear cleaning his teeth
Babies head with blob of yoghurt on it
Good shot Bear!

baby climbing the back of a black sofa
Bear climbing the sofa, Pen Y Fan next!

Baby in highchair leaning back with arms up being fed raspberries
Bear being fed like a Roman Emperor

baby feeding themselves with a bottle
I can do it myself
Is your baby cleverer* than Bear? I'd love to read your comments.


*cleverer, made up word, means more clever, cleverest etc.
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Monday 10 August 2015

Baby Led Weaning - A few tips

Baby-led-weaning-baby-in-highchair-with-spoon

I'm not an expert on baby led weaning but I think we did something like this with our little ones, it just didn't have a name. It's all about safe finger foods and letting them feed themselves.
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Sunday 9 August 2015

Chicco Polly 2 in 1 Happy Land Review


We knew we needed a highchair for when Bear stayed with us once his mummy went back to work but had no idea where to start. They are so expensive or flimsy. We visited some high street retailers to get an idea of what we liked and saw this (in a different pattern) and liked it but it was £99.99, way too much. I was lured by the fact that it was adjustable and had a reclining seat. One chair lots of uses so maybe good value after all? I found it online in the Happy Land pattern at £69.99 and so bought it.

baby sat in Chicco Polly Happy Land high chair eating


My first impression was the weight! It weighs a ton, well 10kg's and it's huge. It may be very adjustable but the buttons that need to be pressed are really stiff and I found that I needed 2 hands to press a button. The tray clips onto the back legs for storage, hahaha! I even watched a YouTube video to see how that worked. True it does clip on and with practice it isn't that hard but at least once a week I call it names when I can't get it just right to clip on.

Bear sits really low in it and even with the booster cushion in place his arms are slightly below the tray so we put a folded towel under the cushion to raise him slightly.

The white restraining straps turned orange after the first meal, they cannot be wiped clean. I have put them in the washing machine but Oh the faff in taking them off and threading them through again just isn't worth the bother. The cushions have a thousand places for food to be trapped, as does the highchair.

The tray is large and has a removable top that can be washed under the tap so can be used to place food directly on it.

It has wheels on the back legs which are designed for moving it around when folded but we only use them to pull the chair closer to the table, this takes 2 people, one on each front leg.

The height of the chair can be adjusted to fit under a table but that can't happen with our table as it has a very deep ridge which prevents Bears legs from going underneath. It may work when he's bigger but it is only suitable for children up to 3 years old.


baby in highchair licking plate
Bear enjoying his yoghurt

Pro's
Large tray, removable top
Wheels on the back legs so it can be pulled closer to the table

Con's
Weight
Price
Colour
Straps
Food traps
Buttons too stiff for me to press

Bear likes it, he enjoys eating his food from the tray and throwing food from it onto the floor. Grandad doesn't mind it but he's stronger than me. I do not like it, I wouldn't buy it again. I don't dislike it enough to buy something else but I do wish I had spent my money on a different highchair. 


Bears mummy bought a Fisher Price Thomas and Friends booster seat which costs about £20 and is suitable for children up to 23 kgs in weight. If you just want something simple and not too expensive it may be worth a look.


This is my personal opinion only. I have no connection to whoever makes or sells this item. I bought it with my own hard earned money. I am not an expert in childcare or child equipment. I take no responsibility if you purchase this and you do not like it, your child refuses to get into it, it doesn't fit in your room or any other reason whatsoever. 



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Chicco London stroller - Hoop Review


We were looking for a budget buggy that had good reviews. this was on special offer at Mothercare at £49.99. Its not the best looking buggy but comes with foot muff, a rain cover and a small space on the bottom for odds and ends. It folds up easily even with the foot muff on. The muff is great, the top can be taken off to leave a nice lining for the buggy. I just wish it had 2 zips so it can be folded down. The rain cover looks very cheap and only just fits over the buggy and foot muff. We have only used it during a shower and it was OK but I do not think it would protect very well in heavy rain.

Picture of babies buggy with foot muff in black and white


It is quite narrow but Bear is tall and slim so it's OK for him. The restraining straps are a bit too long even at their shortest and seem a bit low so are below his shoulders. It has a 5 point harness so although not perfect they do restrain him. The seat reclines which is great for Bear to nap but when in the raised position it's still slightly leaning back which reduces the all round view for Bear. Something to think about is that it faces away from you, not a problem at all but a little strange as his buggy at home is rear facing. 

baby sat in stroller holding leaf in right hand

After a couple of months a wheel started squeaking but this was fixed with some oil. Mothercare did say that if that didn't work they would repair it for us and lend us a buggy whilst it was away.

baby asleep in buggy

Bear seems to think its comfy. The yellow strip is the edge of his Snooze shade, purchased separately.

Pro's
Price
Easy to fold
Space for odds and ends
Easy to push
Rain cover and foot muff included

Cons
It's a bit narrow
The seat doesn't go into a completely upright position
Restraining straps are too long and not in the correct position
Rain cover too small

Bear hasn't made any comment about this, he likes to go out in it. I think it's great for the price we paid.

This is my personal opinion only. I have no connection to whoever makes or sells this item. I bought it with my own hard earned money. I am not an expert in childcare or child equipment. I take no responsibility if you purchase this and you do not like it, your child refuses to get into it or sleep in it, it doesn't fit into your car boot or any other reason whatsoever. 


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Tesco UPF 50+ Pop-Up Sun Tent Review

This was an impulse buy during a shop at Tesco. It cost about £15. The plan was to use it in the garden during the summer. I cannot blame Tesco for not providing us with a summer so we use it in the house as a "den".


baby sat in tent in garden with blue padded base from playpen

When we took it out of the box and put it together there was nowhere for the top pole to go. There should have been a flap that covered an opening for the pole to slide into but it was sewn closed and no velcro closure. It was returned to Tesco for a replacement, the replacement was the same but Tesco isn't our usual supermarket so I just did a little sewing to fix it.




When out of the box it just pops up into a tent. There are 3 poles, one for each side and one for the top. It comes with ground pegs and a carry bag. It is really light and in a strong wind would need to be anchored, it also has sand pockets to help weigh it down. I do not know how successful this would be as we haven't tried it outside but reviews on Tesco's website are positive. 


We fill it with balls and throw a sheet over the top to make a door. The base is very flimsy and as Bear crawls into it it gets caught and goes in with him so we put the padded base of the playpen in there, it works a treat! It also gives us moments of amusement when grandad tries to fold it back up to put it away.

baby in tent with lot of different coloured balls

Pro's
UV protection
Very Light
Really easy to put up
Makes a great den

Con's
It wasn't made correctly so needed diy

Bear loves it, he was a bit nervous to go right in it at first but now is more than happy to play inside. I would definitely buy this, or something similar again. I was not put off by the fact that it wasn't perfect.

This is my personal opinion only. I have no connection to whoever makes or sells this item. I bought it with my own hard earned money. I am not an expert in childcare or child equipment. I take no responsibility if you purchase this and you do not like it, your child refuses to go into or play in it, if it blows away on a windy beach or any other reason whatsoever. 

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Babymore Deluxe Sprung Cot Bed Mattress Review

When we bought Bear a cot bed  (please see my review of the Angelina cot bed) we needed a mattress too. The only thing I knew about cots and cot beds was that each baby had to have a new mattress. I had looked around Mothercare at their range and was quite confused as there are so many to choose from.

A very helpful assistant told me that with cots foam mattresses were OK but for cot beds they needed to be sprung to ensure they would last. Armed with this information I decided to buy the Babymore Deluxe Sprung Cot Bed Mattress 140 x 70 from Tesco direct. It was described as having a zipped quilted cover which is washable at 60 degrees, water resistant, fully breathable and free from PVC. The reviews were excellent with an average of 4.7 out of 5 stars. No adverse comments and cost £42 before any discount with my clubcard vouchers.

It arrived separately from the cot bed and was in a very dirty plastic bag. When opened the contents were perfect and it fitted our cot bed perfectly. It looked well made and quite firm. There is an adjustable waterproof membrane that can be moved from one end of the mattress to the other.

Bear cannot speak so I do not know if it is comfortable or not but he is happy to take his naps in it.


baby asleep on back in white cot

Since this photo was taken the cot has been moved to another room and the base moved to the lowest position.

Pro's

Fits a standard sized cot bed
Looks well made
Complies with BS1877 part 10 and BS 7177

Cons

None so far

I would recommend this mattress and would buy again.

Which? has a handy guide on choosing a mattress for your cot or cot bed here


This is my personal opinion only. I have no connection to whoever makes or sells this item. I bought it with my own hard earned money. I am not an expert in childcare or child equipment. I take no responsibility if you purchase this and you do not like it, your child refuses to lie on it or sleep on it, it doesn't fit in your cot/cot bed or any other reason whatsoever. 

Bear likes it and so do I.
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East Coast Angelina Cot Bed Review

We had looked around at different cots and cotbeds and were very unhappy with the quality. Most were quite flimsy and very expensive, I mean some were £400+ and still didn't look that well made. So we decided to go for the budget option but to buy one with good reviews.

We decided on the East Coast Angelina cot bed and the pure white was on special offer from Tesco direct so we bought it and a mattress (Babymore Deluxe Sprung Cot Bed Mattress 140x70, see my review) using clubcard vouchers and cash. The cot bed cost £96, before any discount, which I think was a bargain as similar ones were very, very expensive.
We had free delivery, always a bonus, and it did arrive quickly and just as described.

It comes flat packed, doesn't everything now? It takes 2 people to assemble, its quite heavy and getting the bolts in to fix the base can be a bit of a nightmare. Otherwise it's straightforward enough and when assembled is very strong. It looks nice too.

The base can be set at 3 heights and although its tricky getting the bolts to line up with the holes it's only something that has to be done infrequently.

The sides do not go down, they are fixed into position. This can be quite tricky if you are lowering a sleeping baby into it as Bear nearly always wakes before he gets to the mattress, usually he just turns over and goes back to sleep.

We've been using it since January and at first it was rarely used but since we have had Bear for 3 days a week it get lots of use for his naps. He didn't like it at first, maybe too big? He sleeps in a cot at home all snug at one end and he does look lost in this but he has slowly become used to it and takes most of his naps in it.


baby asleep in corner of large white cot

Since this photo was taken the cot has been moved to another room and the base moved to the lowest position.

Pro's
Inexpensive
Robust
Looks good
It will adapt from a baby to toddler and up to 36 kilograms which is approx 11 years old.
It conforms to BSEN 716 safety standards

Con's
It is very big, measure your space first.
A bit of a nightmare to line up the bolts and the holes when fitting the base
Fixed sides

I would definitely recommend this and would buy it again.

Which? has a handy guide on the features and choosing a cot bed here.

This is my personal opinion only. I have no connection to whoever makes or sells this item. I bought it with my own hard earned money. I am not an expert in childcare or child equipment. I take no responsibility if you purchase this and you do not like it, your child refuses to get into it or sleep in it, it doesn't fit in your room or any other reason whatsoever. 

Bear likes it and so do I.




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