Play Ideas For Your baby

Babies begin to learn from the moment they are born. The first few months of a child's life will be very important in terms of future development.

Babies respond extremely well to interaction from parents, and play can be a great way of providing stimulus and building a relationship of trust between parent and child. There are several play ideas which can keep a child entertained and stimulated.

Playing is a natural human instinct; it is important for emotional, physical and cognitive development. It also has the added benefit of keeping a child happy and content. A particularly beneficial type of play involves repetition. It may take some children a while to learn how to play with certain toys; however, they will quickly learn if they're given regular opportunities. Perseverance will often lead to a situation where a baby giggles with excitement at the mere sight of a favourite toy. Busy Peas is a great brand that has developed a great range of educational toys and books themed around healthy eating.

Baby Jewellery Buyer's Guide

Parents across the world have been adorning their children with beautiful baby jewellery for centuries. It is something widely accepted in many cultures and often seen as a symbol of wealth and social status. Today, most mothers or fathers buy their kids jewels to accessorize their child’s wardrobe. This article is about the safety issues that parents need to consider if they want their child to wear jewellery.

Design

Long necklaces can become a choking hazard as well as loosely attached pearls on bracelets. A baby may try to chew off bangles on a bracelet and end up hurting or chocking themselves. Long necklaces can wrap around a small infant’s neck and rings can cut off circulation if they are too tight.

When you shop for baby jewels, safety should be your priority. Make sure that small components are not loose and firmly fixed into the piece. A string of pearls can be dangerous if the necklace is too long or if the chain is not durable. If the string breaks, pearls can come loose and end up in your child’s mouth, throat or nose and present a choking hazard.

Useful Tips For Buying Baby Sleep Suits

Baby clothes can be a bit confusing to first time mothers - what to buy? How many? Will it even fit?

From day one, newborns will need four to six sleep suits, two cardigans, two hats and four pairs of socks as a basic minimum. You might well find you need more than that - babies are messy, and will need several changes of clothes in one day. Of course how much you buy will depend on how often you are prepared to do the washing!

Sleep suits are a practical choice for newborns as they spend a lot of the day sleeping, and when they get messy there is only one item to change. They also make nappy changes simple and easy. When it comes to choosing sleep suits for your baby, there are several things you might want to bear in mind.

The Funky Baby Look and How to Get it

Fashion is no longer limited to the realm of the adult. Gone are the days of drab and dull plain-looking baby clothes in lieu of new, chic and suave clothes that draw the eye. As the funky baby look has gained prominence, a number of new designers have stepped in to create designs that offer fashion conscious parents a variety of different looks to dress their baby or toddler up in. This article will take a look at the growing ‘funky baby’ fashion trend while providing information on the most successful designers creating funky baby clothes today and advice on how best to utilise the funky baby look.

5 Things to Consider When Buying Baby Clothes

Buying clothes for a baby is an exciting part of being pregnant and having a baby. Not only are clothes essential items to buy your baby, they are also an opportunity for you to make your baby look fantastic and show them off to your friends and family. Because of this, there has been an increase in the number of funky and unusual products for the discerning parent to choose from. However, there are a number of things to consider when choosing baby clothes. Here is an overview of five of these -

While it can be tempting to buy glamorous clothes for your baby, it is important to consider their comfort. At different stages in your baby’s development, they have different needs at different times of the day. Newborns sleep a lot and need to be comfortable to do so. As your baby gets a little older, they will become more mobile and need the freedom to move. Busy Peas offer a great range of clothing that takes into account these considerations including funky bodysuits and comfortable day wear. Similarly, Ella & Otto produce some fantastic pyjamas that are comfortable, practical and stylish, while Logoshirts are great T-shirts for comfortable day-to-day wear.

The Advantages of Organic Baby Products

It is pretty simple to go overboard on spending when you begin shopping for clothes and blankets for the new member of your family, but wouldn't you rather devote that money on the right products?

Retailers frequently take advantage of new parents through praying on their fears, advising them to purchase the most expensive items because they are the best. But this is simply inaccurate in most cases. Manufacturers increase the prices of their fabrics because they know that new parents are ready to pay. Nevertheless, when it comes to blankets or clothing for your baby, it is not the brand name that you want to buy, but rather more than just a label. You need to find out that the right or suitable fabrics you are putting on your child's skin are not going to bring any harm to them. Because of this, it is a good idea to look into organic baby clothing selections for your child.

What Makes A Good Baby Toy

The first 3 years is a key time in every child’s development. It is during these formative years that the brain is developed, and what happens during this period in their life will have a more profound effect than any other time, or any other developmental stage.

As a child explores and interacts with the world around them, the toys they play with become a fundamental in broadening their specific developmental stage. Baby Toys should stimulate their imagination and develop their concentration skills, as well as amusing them and keeping them occupied.

Toys provide interaction that will boost a huge variety of stimuli, such as visual stimulation, help them develop their hand-eye co-ordination, work on their fine motor skills and different textures develop tactile responses, among other things.

Why Baby Changing Bags Are an Essential Purchase for Mums & Dads

Baby Changing bags come in all shapes and sizes and vary in cost and design. Often times, ones choice will be based on budget considerations, or perhaps the style, feel, funkiness and design are further up your list of criteria. Either way, there are a few things one might need to consider.


From a practical point of view, look for a bag that is comfortable to handle, and has a strap that is strong, otherwise you may find that replacing your bag is a regular occurrence. A quality bag will give you many years of trouble free service. 


Look for a changing bag that possesses a section of its own for nappy related material, a bag with insulated pocket or section for maintaining bottle warmth/coolness, and a bag that contains a pouch that is for putting messy nappies and messy bibs in. 

How To Make Baby Bath Time Go With A Splash

Many babies love bath time, and many parents give their babies a warm bath all over once a day. If you prefer not to give your baby a complete bath every day, it is still important to clean his face and nappy area regularly. For babies that don’t enjoy bath time at first, you can try topping and tailing for a few weeks.

Most babies however find warm water quite soothing. Baby bath time can take practice and confidence, but it soon becomes easy to get into a routine which makes the experience pleasant for both baby and parent. Before bedtime is usually a popular time for bathing, especially as it can help to lull your baby and get him in the mood for sleeping.

Remember that tap water can dry out your baby’s skin, especially in a hard water area. Use soaps that are gentle, pH neutral, hypoallergenic and free of preservatives to protect fragile skin, while lotions can be used to soothe all over or particular areas of hardness and flaking. Baby lotions should not make your baby’s skin greasy. Instead they are emollient, leaving skin soft, protected and pleasant smelling. Baby lotions contain ingredients to hold and attract water, fatty acids to condition the skin and antimicrobial ingredients.

How to Help Baby & Mum Get a Good Night’s Sleep

One of the most important things for a new-born baby is getting a good night’s sleep. It’s said that as infants, we do most of our growing during sleep. Our minds also process and remember the things we’ve learnt during the day at night. So getting your child into the proper routine is crucial.

And it’s not just infants that need good sleep patterns. Sleep is also very important to new mothers also. The stress of being a new parent, coupled with the fact that many women suffer from varying degrees of depression after giving birth, means that a good night of rest is just as important for mum as it is for the baby.

So how do you make sure both baby and mum get a good night’s sleep? The most important thing is routine. You need to set up a bedtime routine almost from the start. Choose a time to put your baby to bed and stick to it. Also, make sure the routine just before bed stays the same. This will often include a bath and a story, but the exact details are really up to you. Just make sure you stick to whatever routine you put in place.

What the celebs love

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love following celebrities, and when they have babies it gets a whole lot more interesting! 

One product that is loved by celebs the world over is ‘Aden& Anais’ range of Swaddle blankets.  Hollywood stars such as Jessica Alba, Jennifer Garner and Sarah Jessica Parker (to name but a few) are often snapped out and about with their babies and an Aden & Anais blanket is often seen to be with them.  Having looked at these blankets I can totally see why celebs love them, there are loads of amazing prints and patterns to choose from and they are just so versatile, they can be used as burp cloths, car seat linings and also as pram covers – a very handy and stylish way to shade your little one from the sun.

Aden & Anais ‘Baby Cakes’ Swaddle

Pacapod baby changing bags are also catching the eye of the celebrities.  Adventurer Ben Fogle and his wife Marina have two children; Ludo, 1 and Iona who was born in May last year, and they both love the Pacapod design!  Ben was quoted as saying ‘We love our Pacapod, congratulations on creating such a brilliant product; we have been using it constantly.  We absolutely love it and have been using it in all elements – from the whole thing to taking out just the individual pods’

The above quote is exactly why the Pacapod are loved – you don’t just get one bag, you get one bag plus a ‘changing pod’ and a ‘feeding pod’ – which can be used individually and are also designed to keep everything separate from each other – so there are no dirty nappies next to baby food!

Plus there is a huge choice of different designs and prints to choose from – all with the same two handy  pods inside.   If you are after a sophisticated baby changing bag you might want to look at the the Pacapod Coromandel Tan changing bag, this certainly has an air of sophistication about it.  If an ‘out and about’ bag is more your style, then take a look at the Pacapod Almora Print changing bag which comes in quite a few different colours including ‘Midnight’ and ‘Sand’.  Comedian Jason Manford has also been known to Tweet about how much he and ‘Mrs M’ love their Pacapod he believes that it is ‘the perfect bag for expectant parents’.

With praise as high as this, we believe that the Pacapod really can do no wrong!

Pacapod Almora Sand design

Then there are ‘Busy Peas’ sleepsuits loved by Brit Actress Lucy Benjamin (best known for her role as Lisa in Eastenders).  In just July this year she was interviewed for ‘Hello’ magazine pictured with her newborn baby girl Rosie, who was happily snoozing on her mum’s lap wearing a Busy Peas sleepsuit.  These sleepsuits are fantastically colourful and are based around different fruit and veg characters such as ‘Carry Carrot’, Stewart Strawberry’ and ‘Gene Aubergine’.  Plus it’s not just the sleepsuits that may catch your eye – you can also get super cute character soft Busy Pea toys too (which by the way I absolutely love – ‘Gene Aubergine’ being my favourite!) these make fabulous newborn gifts!

Busy Peas ‘Gene Aubergine’ soft toy

As previously discussed I love following the celebs and I like to think that they wouldn’t be seen out and about using something that doesn’t work for them and their baby, therefore I believe that one of the best recommendations a product can get is to be bought, used and loved by a celebrity!

D for Diamond's New Look!

Just to let you all know that fantastic children's jewellery brand 'D for Diamond' has had a revamp of all it's packaging, and we love it!  With stars and flowers a plenty, all pieces of jewellery still come with their own boxes and certificates, but on top of that you now get a sweet little gift bag too!

Due to the popularity of D for Diamond jewellery we have also expanded our range to include lots of fantastic new pieces, that we think would be ideal for children who are slightly older.  These new pieces include items such as this beautiful apple locket, which opens up, so within it your little girl can keep a picture or a precious little keepsake.  This makes an ideal birthday present, especially with it's fantastically colourful new box and  gift bag!

Beautiful Apple Locket

So kick back, make a cup of tea and have a little browse of all our new stock and the D for Diamond revamp!

Have fun, and Happy shopping everyone!

The MollieBee Team

Sorry it's a bit late, but Happy New Year everyone!

Sorry it's a bit late, but Happy New Year everyone!

Time really does fly doesn't it. Only feels like I have blinked and all of a sudden we are out of xmas and at the end of January. Quite scary really! I hope everyone's festive breaks were enjoyable and wish you all the best for 2012.

MollieBee are working hard to source new products at the moment and today we attended the Bubble Show in London. It was great to meet existing suppliers and a few new faces which could see some new stock pretty soon. 

Embracing social media is very important to MollieBee. It seems everyone is now connected through Facebook or Twitter. If you aren't following us at the moment, please do drop by and have a look. Our Facebook fans are all entitled to 10% off, so it is definitely worth your while.

  

Enjoy shopping folks!

MollieBee.com