baby Archives - ET Speaks From Home

The 100 Days Of Chinese Baby-Naming

Every culture does little things differently. From the way we eat, to the way we greet each other, our traditions largely dictate our actions. From the moment we’re born, we‘re taught how things are. Babies from different cultures, for instance, are named in a whole host of ways. Here in the UK, most people choose names before babies are born. A naming ceremony will then traditionally consist of a church christening. Yet, as can be seen from sites like https://www.babycentre.co.uk, few other countries follow that lead.

Given that we’re living in a world which embraces tradition on all sides, it may pay to take note of how other countries approach the. How better to create a naming ceremony which perfectly suits your tastes? And, as Chinese traditions always gets a look in here, we thought it would be worth looking at the 100-day cycle of Chinese baby naming.

A Piece of Me to You: Donating Eggs to Couples in Need

Infertility.

It’s something none of us want to imagine or experience.

Sadly, approximately 12% of U.S. women will experience fertility problems. When something thought to always be an innate and natural process becomes just out of reach, it can be devastating, frustrating, and unbearable.

Wouldn’t it be nice to play a part in bringing hope to these women’s infertility journeys?

How Bottle Warmers Can Help Make Happier Babies and Parents

As we are all perfectly aware of, babies have absolutely no respect for your time or gratitude for inconveniencing your life in general. They sleep up to 16 hours a day, they expect you to change and clean them, and then, they have the temerity to wake up in the middle of the night demanding warm, delicious milk with barely any notice to bleary-eyed parents. Of course, it has to be said, babies are just about the greatest thing in the world, and give parents validation of their entire existence. So you could say it’s a fair trade-off.

7 Step Guide to Preparing for Your First Baby’s Arrival

Being a parent is not as easy as ABC and it can seem like a very tough road ahead. Have you prepared for it? Have you got everything ready for your new arrival? When I first became a mum, I had lots of friends share their tips and provide guidance. I was almost overloaded with information. To ease your load, I hope these simple steps make it a lot less overwhelming for you to prepare for your first baby’s arrival.

Travel Accessories for Toddlers

It has been a while since I travelled with a baby or toddler. Now this coming February half term, I have not just one but two non-identical twin toddlers coming from Singapore to visit us! My sister and her family are taking some time off during the Chinese New Year festivities for their holiday. We are looking very much looking forward to seeing them soon as we last saw them all in 2014 when the toddlers were only 13 months old!

How having a baby can affect your mortgage application

It’s no secret that having children can be an expensive business. No matter what good intentions you start out with about how they won’t be spoiled or have everything they ask for, your household expenses are bound to increase considerably.

And hand-in-hand with having kids goes the need for a bigger or more suitable house to accommodate you all, which of course is likely to be more expensive as well due to the requirements for more bedrooms, a bigger garden and simply the need for more space.

Surely you just apply for a bigger mortgage to cover it and carry on as normal? Not necessarily – rules brought in earlier this year mean that it may not be that easy and those applying for mortgages should be prepared to have their finances scrutinised and queried closely.

Although banks and building societies have been implementing stricter practices over mortgage lending during the past few years, new rules were introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in April this year, aimed at ensuring borrowers only get a mortgage they can afford to repay.

JOHNSON’S Baby – First Touch

Determining what you can and cannot use baby’s skin and their hair is always worrying for first time parents. To help new parents looking for peace of mind the JOHNSON’S® Baby brand has created FIRST TOUCH™, a brand new fragrance-free range developed for newborns that includes everything new parents need to cleanse and protect their baby’s delicate skin from top to toe.

Newborn skin is very delicate and a study of 540 first-time mums shown that almost two thirds (62%) said their baby experienced dry or sensitive skin, over half (51%) experienced redness or a rash, and almost a quarter (24%) suffered from cradle cap or dandruff. Newborn skin is around a third thinner than adult skin and loses moisture quicker, making them more susceptible to dryness and irritation and in need of extra care to protect their skin’s natural defences.

Expecting a baby?

As an expectant parent there are literally thousands of questions you’ll want to know the answers to, ranging from the pregnancy itself, to child birth and the first weeks and months of the baby’s life. With everyone’s experience being different it can be hard to navigate through and pick which advice is most appropriate to…

Festive Food and Drink Round Up

Our fabulous Cotton On’s blogger Zoe Lester very kindly organised us huge goody bags! To carry all the goodies, we’re thankfully to JoJoMaman Bebe who sponsored us each a navy JoJo Buggy Bag valued at £9 RRP. This is definitely a great value practical bag. It can be worn over the shoulder or clipped onto the handles of a buggy. It is very big (H36 x W51 x D11cm) and can fill a lot of useful stuff so is perfect for shopping. I have not used it on a buggy as Ms C is able to walk everywhere now. But I imagine it would be very handy for a picnic too! The large strap is quite long and the design is unisex which can be also carried by men!

Surprise! A Balloon in a Box! Review

Do you have any upcoming events to celebrate? How do you normally choose and send your gift? There are so many ways of sending your love to your loved one. It can be a present, a phone call or even a balloon in a box. Not heard of a balloon in a box? Me too! This is quite an unusual way of sending a gift!

What is a balloon in a box?

Your balloon will be wrapped, boxed and posted with your special message. They come in three cluster helium balloons inside a large box. It costs £17.95 plus delivery of £3.95.

How is the delivery?

We ordered it to arrive on Thursday and received it via Royal Mail. It is surprisingly huge but when I held it, it was so light!

Surprise in a box!

When I opened up the box, it was covered with a long piece of paper to prevent it from flying out. Once I took out the paper, the balloons surprised me! As Mr K loves his superheroes, he loves it! These balloons came at just the right time for his 6th birthday!

Tom Pellereau Invented Stylfile Nipper Clipper

It is always so daunting to cut babies nails! I still remember cutting Mr K’s nails was like a military operation. One person would distract him while the other would cut his nails. I recall our health visitor suggested us to bite them off or just leave it for a bit longer before we peel them off because they’re thin and soft when they are babies. As a first time parent, we didn’t dare to even cut them nor bite them. It was always so hard. We even exchanged tips on how to cut baby nails when we met with our friends with babies. Some of them would just file them off and some would just wait until the baby’s nails were far too long before they used a nail clipper.

Baby Announcement with PaperShaker

Recently, my sister gave birth to two gorgeous baby boys and I would like to take this chance to make her a baby announcement card. PaperShaker has it all! They have Baby Announcement and Baby Thank You cards, Kids/Adult party invitations and Wedding stationery.

In Baby Announcement, there are so many to choose from and after spending 15 minutes looking at them all. I finally narrow them down to a few by filtering by gender, colour and photo etc. This is what the final product looks like:

Organyc Baby Wipes

I have never felt the need to use baby/wet wipes until I had my children. There are so many brands of baby wipes to choose to choose from. Sometimes we just have to try the different brands to find the right wipes for us.

Munchkin Disney Minnie Toddler Dining Set

Disney and Munchkin, Inc., the international baby and toddler brand, have teamed up to create a fun, clever and exciting new dining range for children. A beautifully designed premium collection of feeding products and Click Lock™ cups, the Disney Collection for babies integrates the rich Disney heritage, known and loved by generations, with Munchkin’s award-winning and innovative feeding products. The range starts from £4.50 and for more information visit www.munchkin.com.

We were given this beautiful Munchkin Disney Minnie toddler dining set for review. Ms C loves Disney and of course all her princesses. This dining set comes with a plate with three divided sections, a bowl, a fork and a spoon. They are very bright and colourful. Ms C is so proud of this dining set that she wants to bring it to her preschool to show her friends. Of course, I had to say no to her and explained that she doesn’t need it at school.

Pacific Baby 3-in-one thermal baby bottle Review

Both of my children aged 3 and 5 are both still using milk bottles, especially Ms C as she still drinks milk while we are out. I was lucky to get this Pacific Baby 3-in-one thermal baby bottle and accessories for review by the Pourty Potty.