Recently, I won a Monkey Swimmers limited edition armbands, swim bag, book and chart through a competition organised by Mini Social’s Facebook.  Mini Social is all about innovative, useful – time saving products to make family life easier. Take a look at their website.

As for Monkey Swimmers, I had never seen them before until now.  I did some research and this is the information about the armbands.

The news about a two year old toddler from Bristol died in a tragic accident when he fell from his grandmother’s moving car after undoing his own car seat and opening the door, it kept me thinking is there a product to keep my children safe in a moving car. Flax Bourton Coroner’s Court, near Bristol, heard the “determined” two-year-old had previously slipped his arms out of the harness on his child seat and that he knew how to use the handles to get out of the car.

I was very lucky to be sent two StarBright Designs’ Kids Cotton Drawstring Bags (In red with Spaceman Star and in pink with Allsorts Sweets Star) to review.  I gave the pink drawstring bag to another close friend of mine to get a second opinion review.

It was designed and made by a lovely lady called Charlie Creen.  Recently, she set up her business themed around her love of all things STARS!  She adds her lovely hand drawn and hand cut designs to cards, cotton bags, aprons, t-shirts, soft furnishings etc.

Last month, I won a £20 gift voucher for The Keepsake Co through Monster Mummies. I ordered two Hand/Foot Print Mug from them at £10 each. I chose to pay by Paypal but they accept other forms of payment.  The postage is very reasonable. Within 3 working days, I had received the mugs in a very well packaged box. The kits consist of: Mug, a pot of paint of your choice, small sponge and instructions. I didn’t purchase a pottery pen.

The Friendly Party Bag Co, specializes in creating up cycled personalised party bags for all ages and any occasion, whether its a kids party bag, wedding favours, hen do’s or a 60th birthday party! They also aim to bring awareness to children of the importance of waste and recycling, and of course to add fun to a party!

I had bought at least 5 different potty seats but none of them were big enough to cover the toilet seat (new build house). So I had high hopes for this bumbo toilet seat. Having owned a bumbo chair before, the soft spongy, easy-to-clean material felt very nice and familiar.

I love the fact that Schatzii Screen Cleaner is an anti-bacterial cloth. It is small and light to put it in my handbag. Even though it is so small, the cloth is quite thick. One side is the micro-fibre and the other side is to polish the surface.

I first got to know Swimava through my Singapore friend’s facebook pictures of their children in 2009! Ms C was 13 weeks old when we first used it with her. When I got the swim ring, I thought it was excellent on all aspects (size, shape and fit). I liked the addition of the handles and the two air compartments which allow us to change the fit of the ring by inflating/deflating them individually. It is very quick and easy to pump using hand pump. The fastening clips felt very secure and stretchable.  The inner part of the ring was nice and smooth to prevent any rubbing/rashes.

I first saw the Bumbo bay sitter seat at my friend’s house in 2008, and got the impression that it’s a very comfortable seat for younger babies who trying to sit up (approx age 6 months old).  I did get some negative feedback from my friends as their active children managed to tip over while trying to get out and that her children’s legs were too chubby to fit in the seat. It didn’t deter me though as I still bought one for my daughter in 2009.

I always want to have a Trunki since they launched 6 years ago but our children were too young to own one at the time (Suitable for aged 3 – 6 years old).  Finally, we bought our first Trunki Quinn Ride-on Suitcase in 2011.  It is Trunki’s 5th birthday limited edition case, with only 5000 being made. It is a big hit with both of my children.

Why we chose Maclaren Techno: My husband likes Formula 1 and that’s the reason he insisted we get Maclaren in 2007. LOL! Seriously, we found it ticked a number of boxes in terms of practicality, value for money and ease of use. We liked it so much that we bought the twin-seat version of it when my daughter came along in 2009!

The Mamas & Papa Murano changing unit is a set of 3 drawers with an attachable changing table which works really well and offers really good value for money. We bought a changing mat to put on top.  The instructions are easy to follow but it took my husband and I at least an hour to assemble. The unit is very sturdy and made of good quality materials.  The drawers are not very deep and cannot store lots of clothing. The drawers don’t come with the rubber stoppers to stop the drawers from banging when closing.

Cosatto changing unit is the most straightforward to assemble and took me 30 minutes by myself.  Not much of screwing or hammering. There are lots of useful storage compartments but they are a little too small for big items like eczema cream. I like the shape of the bathtub, which is beneath the changing mat, as it allows baby to sit at an angle.  As for the bathtub, we didn’t use it as we had the changing unit in our living room. It comes with a comfy, padded and easy to clean changing mat.