By Claire, on November 7th, 2009
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By Jenni, on March 9th, 2010
 I have been searching for a small knife and fork set for Garden Girl for a long time. She has had a selection of the character based cutlery sets that you pick up in supermarkets, but at three and a half she finds the blunt knives very frustrating. She is old enough now to cut up her own food but (excuse the pun) the toddler knives she has just don’t cut it! There are some very expensive cutlery sets available for children that seem to include a serrated knife but they are usually promoted as christening or special occassion gifts and are priced accordingly. I wanted to find something reasonably priced and functional for a little girl learning to use grown up cutlery.
We had tried our own knives and forks but the handles were too long and so they were too clumsy for her, but we also didn’t want something that looked too child like. Garden Girl wanted cutlery that functioned like a grown up set and was small enough to handle but which also looked grown up. Not too much to ask for you might think. But virtually impossible to find. Then we made a trip to IKEA to buy more storage for toys and craft stuff and while we were there (for the whole day) we managed to acquire all sorts of things we really needed. Honestly, we really needed them! And amongst the things we found on our day trip to IKEA was this cutlery set.
At £3.99 the Fabler 3-piece cultlery set is the closest we have come to finding a reasonably priced and functional stainless steel cutlery set for children. It isn’t perfect but it is the best we have found. We love that it looks like adult cutlery. There are engravings of a heart, star and crown on the pieces but they are subtle so are not that different from our own. The only problem with the engravings is that they are a touch girly and I am not sure Garden Boy will be as impressed with the set when he is three and half as Garden Girl is. The three pieces however, are the perfect size for Garden Girl to handle and the serrated knife edge has made it much, much easier for her to cut her own food. She is left handed though and with the serrations slightly blunter than an adult knife and only on one side of the knife she still struggles a little bit with it. It is a massive improvement from the character based sets she had previously though and short of an alternative I would recommend these to anyone else looking for a ‘proper’ knife and fork set for their toddler.
By Jenni, on March 9th, 2010
 I am writing this review because a friend was asking me what savoury snacks I used to give our Little Garden Helpers when they were first being weaned and we were out and about. However, when I started to think about the ‘between meal snacks’ I gave my two at this early stage, savoury snacks weren’t the most prominent. Fruit was the main snack I gave them and Farley’s rusks (mostly because I love them and would happily munch through a whole box myself). However, there were a few savoury bits and pieces I would give them as finger food with meals that could be used as ‘between the meal’ snacks. Bread and bread sticks were a big hit with them both, as were pancakes rolled up and chopped into bite sized pieces, but in terms of convenience items to pick up and carry about I think rice cakes were the most popular. Garden Girl only liked the plain ones and I would buy either the Organix Rice Cakes or the Boots Baby Organic Plain Rice Cakes depending where I was shopping at the time. Garden Boy however loved the orange flavour rice cakes which as far as I know are only available in the Boots  range. Although they became a sticky gooey mess when dropped, these rice cakes would be gobbled down with meals and between meals and were enjoyed by our Little Garden Helpers and friends alike, so if you are also wondering what savoury snack to give your little ones you wouldn’t go wrong with bread, pancakes or rice cakes. Though I would pop a box of Farley’s rusks in your bag as well so you can happily nibble away too!
The Organix rice cakes and Farley’s Rusks are available at most supermarkets but I have been informed by Boots that until 17th March if you buy your rusks at Boots you can get 2 for £2. They are also offering a massive 10 advantage points per £1 when you spend over £20 on baby products, as well as promotions on other branded products such as Pampers, Huggies, and Cow and Gate Growing Up Milks, so if you are looking to stock up on baby snacks or any other baby/nursery products, now is a good time to call in at their stores.
By Vic, on March 9th, 2010
 When I had the boy our Brasilian friends told me I should wear something to hold my belly in. It would help it shrink they said. I laughed at the idea that compression would work and put it down to being one of those strange Brasilian notions that would never catch on back home.
This time around the idea of post-natal abdomen compression never even entered my mind. Until, that is, I was asked to review the Belly Bandit.
The Belly Bandit is an abdominal compression binder designed to help you get your body back to its former fabulousness post childbirth. Not only does the Belly Bandit help reduce uncomfortable uterine swelling, it aids in decreasing bloating caused by water retention, and gives additional support for Mommy’s weary legs & back. For breastfeeding moms, there’s a bonus… the Belly Bandit will help you with your posture during feedings, and may help to reduce the all too common back & shoulder pain associated with breastfeeding. Ultimately, the Belly Bandit will aid in getting you back to your pre pregnancy hotness faster than ever!
Well that’s what they claim.
My first problem was ordering the right size. Belly Bandit suggest that you go up one to two sizes from your pre-pregnancy belly size. If only I’d thought to measure that when we were trying to conceive! They helpfully note that in the eighth month of pregnancy many women will be the same size as they will be post delivery. Right. But I was four days away from my due date when I was ordering so no luck there. Ah, but just prior to delivery you can subtract three to five inches from your belly measurement. I measured out at the bottom end of the large size so opted to go for the medium and hope for the best. My belly seemed to be all bump and no fat, and I’d lost a lot of weight having been ill when pregnant so it seemed the logical move to me.
I was sent the Originally Belly Bandit in black. What I didn’t like was the fact that it was plastered in the Belly Bandit logo. Although the logo was black too, it was a shiny non-iron print so it stood out a fair bit. It also seemed to be quite bulky around the edges and I wondered if it would show up quite a bit underneath my clothes.
I found the Belly Bandit quite uncomfortable to wear at first, but managed to avoid the problem by loosening it up a bit. Even after loosening it, I could still tell that the compression was working as when I took it off I could feel my belly fall out! From that point on, it was quite comfortable. For a time. I wore the Belly Bandit for five weeks but have had to give up. The Belly Bandit forms to the bend of your body which does make sense, however I found the area around the velcro fastening began to crease and dig in. Because the velcro is quite firm it tended to rub and wearing the Belly Bandit was unpleasant at best. Washing the Belly Bandit did improve the issue, but only for a few hours. I also found that although the Belly Bandit is surrounded by a soft edging, the velcro pushed through the edging making it scratch against my skin. Now I wasn’t exactly a size 8 before I got pregnant and it’s fair to say that I didn’t lose my spare tyres (yes, more than one) during pregnancy. I found that I had to be really careful positioning the Belly Bandit otherwise my tyres would take over and force it to roll down. However, the Belly Bandit wasn’t really tall enough to cover from the top of the problem area to the bottom. I found it best to wear the Belly Bandit quite high (and I’m pretty short in the body anyway) but because of this there was always a gap between the top of my trousers and the bottom of the Belly Bandit. Not a good look. For trousers it did manage to sit under, I found that it slid off really easily. It’s not easy to get into either. In fact, I gave up at first and had to get the husband to put me in it as I couldn’t manage it standing up or lying down. In the end I fastened it before putting it on and then slid it up over my hips. This worked for me because I’ve got a non-existent bum but if your bum’s bigger than your hips then it’s going to be a problem.
The Belly Bandit also has to be hand washed. Yes, hand washed. In cold water. Not exactly what a new mother wants to be doing in the spare hour she has between feeds, not even considering your time’s also consumed with nappy changes, rocking the baby to sleep and anything else you’re running around to get done. Luckily, thanks to the modern wonders of washing machines, I chucked mine in on a cold delicates cycle and hoped for the best. It certainly didn’t seem any the worse for wear because of it. Drying also takes around 12 hours and the product can’t be tumble dried or left on a radiator to dry. The first time I washed the Belly Bandit I made the mistake of leaving it to dry overnight in the conservatory where it’s quite cold. I woke in the morning to find a soggy puddle on the floor (we have nowhere big enough to lie it flat so I hung it from a clip hanger instead) and a Belly Bandit that was still wet. The next time around I dried it in the house (with the heating on) and 12 hours was a fairly accurate timing. Because the Belly Bandit takes so long to wash and dry, and because you are supposed to be wearing it continuously, it is suggested that you buy two.
The Belly Bandit did seem to work. Yes, that’s right, it worked. I noticed a difference in the size of my belly and it wasn’t an upwards one! That said, whether I would have achieved the same difference without the Belly Bandit, I don’t know. The next problem is the sizing again. If your belly’s shrinking rapidly, you’ll need to downgrade to a smaller size because the velcro doesn’t extend through the whole (or even much) of the band. But, at around £50 a pop (for the original – the bamboo and couture versions are even more expensive) it’s not a cheap exercise, especially as there’s no discount for a second purchase. When you consider that it’s suggested that you buy two Belly Bandits (one to wear and one to wash) and a further two when you need the next size down, you’re looking at an investment of a £200 minimum. As a new mum, I can think of a lot of other things I’d rather spend that £200 on.
Would I have spent the money had I not been sent a Belly Bandit to review? No. Something that pulls in your belly is all well and good, but pregnancy weight goes on everywhere and this product only deals with a small fraction of the problem. The price doesn’t make it attractive and it just doesn’t win on the comfort factor.
The Belly Bandit is available from Amazon priced from £49.95.
By Jenni, on March 4th, 2010
I am currently enjoying a quiet moment on the computer with a cup of coffee in a week that has otherwise been filled with washing bed sheets, cleaning carpets and changing nappy after nappy. Garden Boy has a sickness and diarrhea bug and after a sleepness night for us both he is finally getting some much needed shut eye. I would crawl beneath the covers too, but I am so tired I am worried I would not wake up in time to pick Garden Girl up from playgroup, so for now, coffee and a rest is the best I’ll get.
With this tummy bug following hot on the heels of both our Little Garden Helpers suffering from pretty bad chest infections it seemed quite befitting to find an e-mail in my inbox from Boots telling me about their new health website. Like many mums I do not want to make a trip to the surgery every time my children show signs of a snuffle or sickness so I often turn to NHS Direct or the internet for advice. Even after visiting a doctor, research conducted by BootWebMD and MumsNet suggests that 4 out of 5 mums will still carry out their own research online.
Making sure you are looking at a reputable site is very important so I was really interested to hear about the new Children’s and Parenting Health Centre on Boots WebMD. This is a new world-class online health portal providing parents with the most recent health news, helpful information on a child’s development and video content with information on dealing with childhood illnesses, all provided by healthcare experts. It can be found at www.boots.webmd.com and is worth adding to your favourites for those times when you want to know a little bit more about your child’s development, clarify something your doctor has said or just see if you need to take your child to a doctor.
Features on Boots WebMD include
- Detailed information on a range of illnesses and health conditions
- Daily health and wellness news
- Interactive health tools, quizzes and assessments
- Interactive Symptom Checker
- Health videos and interactive slide shows
- Content from the National Health Service (NHS Choices) and British Medical Journal (BMJ)
- In-store services booking capability
I have to admit I didn’t find the website simple to use. It wasn’t the quickest way of finding out information which is sometimes critical when you have a sick child hanging on your shoulder as you look up their symptoms. However, a massive plus for me is that I know I can trust the information I get there and this alone is enough for me to pass on the details to you and suggest you take a look.
By Claire, on February 27th, 2010
The Fle  xibath is one of those ingenious ideas that you wish you had thought of. It’s literally a baby bath that folds up, making it suitable for smaller bathrooms and travelling. Whats more the Flexibath has received 2 prestigious design awards in Denmark and has been declared one of television programme This Morning’s best baby gadgets. The ‘must have’ for 2010!
With this in mind we were given the chance to give it a test. Bath-time in our house has been full of up’s and down’s. Over the last three years, we have had babies clamoring for a bath and babies positively refusing to have a bath. we have holidayed with our large standard baby bath and we have holidayed without. The one thing that we have done though, is save a lot of water by not using the big bath! This is why I recommend all new mums to invest in a baby bath; you will save money! Having reviewed the Flexibath, I think that if you are going to buy a baby bath, this is probably the one to get. For these reasons;
- Its surprisingly compact, you won’t have to make a lot of space. It can fold away and be popped under the cot or by the bathroom cabinet.
- The rubber lines which mark out the folds and the non-slip base make it a lot safer than a standard baby bath, your baby won’t slip and slide about.
- The plastic is good quality and will last for some time.
- It comes in a range of funky colours!
I like the Flexibath primarily because it folds up and can be shoved out of the way. The way it folds is so simple it can be done in literally two seconds. Fifi enjoyed her bath in it as it is a fairly small safe place.
I think the size is one of the main draw backs; despite what the marketing says about it being suitable up until the age of four, it was too small for Toddler boy who at three, is not enormous by any stretch. By the time he fitted in, a lot of the water had been displaced! I was also concerned about how sturdy it was for him. The only other criticism I have (and its a tiny one), is that the catch which helps you to clip it together hangs over the edge of the bath when it is opened to use it. This is a really tempting little bit of plastic for a child to hang onto, its also a little bit scratchy and can catch your baby if you are not careful.
In summary, the Flexibath is a really great product, at £34.95 its a bit more costly than your average bath, but the space saving implications outweigh the cost. If you are looking for suggestions for your ‘baby list’ you can’t go wrong with this one.
By Mummymad, on February 27th, 2010
I was lucky enough to review a piece of Jewellery from Tiny Treasures. Now this is not any ordinary jewellery, but very special finger print triple necklace in hallmarked pure silver.
Tiny Treasures produce hallmarked heirloom quality fingerprint jewellery, which is not only unique as it has the fingerprint of your children on (mine has mini, maxi and MadDad’s on), but it is stylish, simple and oh so covetable.
I have been wearing my necklace, which comes complete with a choice of chain lengths and styles for the last two weeks and have had more comments than I could count, every one loved it, not only the idea, but the uniqueness of it all.
I was amazed at how great and clear the fingerprints are. You are send a small box with two different types of clay in and mix them together before pressing the finger in and leaving to set for 24 hours before returning them, along with a form detailing all your requirements in the prepaid envelope.
The boys loved making their finger prints and when the jewellery arrive back, they were in complete awe that it was set in silver and hallmarked silver at that. The triple necklace is a nice weighty, solid piece. I have the boys names on the front with the fingerprints along with their dates of birth on the rear of each heart.
The necklace arrived by special delivery in a lovely box that you can add a photograph to making it a great keepsake.
However, they don’t have to be only for woman, Tiny Treasures do cuff links, tie holders, key chains, book marks and rings, which would make excellent presents for Fathers or Grandfathers too.
The choice for woman is excellent and you could cover a gift for even the pickiest woman out there, earrings, rings, necklaces, bracelets, single charms, bookmarks, key rings, charm bracelets. Stuck for a christening present then why not get a baby bangle with the child’s print on, a unique and timeless gift.
Tiny treasures also offers customers a number of ways to keep in touch, you can become a sign up to receive a regular special newsletters and you will receive £5.00 off your first order. Recommend a friend and they receive 10% off their first order and once complete you receive £5 off your next order.
I love my necklace and if my mum didn’t already have charms with the boys finger prints on then I would look at getting her a couple for her birthday. They make a great present for new mums, or you could look at getting the man in your life some cuff links for fathers day.
Helen from Tiny Treasures has been kind enough to offer all the Readers of Mummy Reviews and TheMadHouse a 10% off a £50 spend using the discount code MUMMYREVIEWS and also a wonderful prize of a gift pack with a value of £100. In order to enter the competition you need to go over to the Tiny Treasure Web site and then come back and leave us a comment to let me know what your favorite item is.
We will then add your comments to any on the TheMadHouse Website, where we will be asking people to do the same and do a random number drawer. You can comment on both websites, but only one comment on each will be counted.
The winner will be announced on Saturday 6th March on both TheMadHouse Website and here.
By Jenni, on February 26th, 2010
Looking out of the window each morning, not knowing if it will be frosty, snowy or just thoroughly wet and cold, you might feel that spring is a long way off. But, the first signs of spring are starting to appear on the landscape, with the first few snowdrops peeping through the frost and the weeds surreptitiously appearing in our vegetable patch. Spring is just around the corner and hopefully, with it, there will be some milder weather and more colour to brighten our days. Winter clothes will soon be packed away to be replaced with a fresher, more colourful style and just because you are pregnant doesn’t mean your wardrobe should not get an injection of spring design.
With the launch of the Spring Collection at Blooming Marvellous, Claire Adams, the Head of Maternity agreed to answer a few questions about the range and provide a few tips to mums-to-be when choosing their maternity wardrobe. Having overall responsibility for Blooming Marvellous maternity wear, from the design stage right through to the production of the garment she knows the collection inside out and is the ideal person to seek inspiration from. She says, ‘For me, it is key to keep the customer in mind at all times and put yourself into their shoes’ and this shows in the spring collection with the focus on practicality and style.
According to Claire, her team have developed ‘stylish, high quality clothes that are value for money and offer our customer true choice whatever her shape or size.’ She says, ‘We don’t want our customer to have to change her style because she’s pregnant. We design maternity clothes that she would want to wear. We invest a lot of time and effort in design research and intelligence, so that we are very aware of what is happening to fashion trends. Our designers tailor this i nformation and adapt the trends to our collections.’
This was evident when I flicked through their new catalogue which has a distinct ‘outdoors’ fe el that fits the mood of a new season approaching. I love this Floral Button Front Dress which looks comfortable for wearing in the garden when I help our Little Garden Helpers with all the spring planting, soon to begin. And this Denim jacket, cut short to sit above the bump, is the perfect versatile cover up on cooler days.
Bold prints also feature in the new collection with this stunning dress for those of you with a wedding or party to attend in the coming months and this dress perhaps best represents the inspiration behind the collection, which was to create a range ‘that is refreshingly modern with bright colours and bold prints that compliment and reflect the happiness and joy of being pregnant.’ But as Claire points out, the collection also features ‘those essential maternity basics, making it easy to create the perfect affordable maternity wardrobe that works hard for the whole nine months and beyond.’ 
With comfort and practicality key to creating a workable maternity wardrobe I wanted to know what three essential maternity items the Head of Maternity would recommend to a first time mum and this is what she said;
‘I think it is near on impossible to survive without a good pair of maternity jeans – normal jeans very quickly become uncomfortable to wear and our range of jeans have been designed with comfort as well as style in mind. We have 4 different styles of jeans and our most popular, the boot cut jeans, come in 3 leg lengths.
A dress – dresses may not be what you normally wear, but when you are pregnant they are absolutely ideal and are perfect for wearing during the day or dressing up for evening. The cut of all our dresses are flattering with drapes and gathers in all of the right places, making the most of your changing shape. You can look chic and fashionable and be in the utmost comfort right through out your pregnancy wearing our gorgeous dresses.
 A cardigan – your temperature fluctuates so much during pregnancy, so it is great to have something that you can easily slip on and off. We have a great range of cardigans including a fantastic waterfall cardigan which comes in 4 colours and a dressy black shrug.’
One of the things which has always left me a little unsure when trying on maternity wear is just how to choose clothes that will fit for the whole nine months, so who better to ask than the person responsible for producing the clothes? Claire says, ‘Most women tend to start buying their maternity wardrobe, when their own clothes start to be tight and uncomfortable – and that usually is around 3-4 months. All of our clothes fit from then right through to the final months and beyond.’ This has certainly been true of some my maternity clothes, although not all and I still find it hard to gage the right fit. One mistake I made during my first pregnancy was to buy slightly too big, expecting to ‘grow into’ the clothes, but as Claire points out Blooming Marvellous maternity clothes have ‘cleverly designed details to ensure that our clothes stay looking great and fitting well right to the end of pregnancy’ so the trick really is to buy your own size and if you can get into a store, try things on.
Another thing I have noticed with each of my pregnancies is that where I have been able to reuse most of my maternity clothes, I have never been able to reuse my maternity bras. With each pregnancy my shape has changed differently and at different rates and I seem to spend a lot of money on bras. So how often should we be measured for maternity bras throughout pregnancy? Claire says;
‘It is very important that your maternity bras really fit and support you properly because all the way through your pregnancy the milk ducts in your boobs are growing and developing. As you start to grow, your usual bras will probably start to feel rather uncomfortable. This usually happens about eight to twelve weeks into your pregnancy. This is the time to get fitted for maternity bras, including a night-time bra.
Over the years there have been lots of exciting developments in the fabrics and design of maternity and breastfeeding bras and the bras are now wonderfully supportive and comfortable.
All of our shops offer a personal bra fitting with experienced and trained staff. If you are ordering mail order or on the web from home, our staff will happily give you advice over the phone to help you get the right fit and we also give helpful advice on our website and in our catalogue. Bra brands come in slightly different shapes so try on a few different styles to find the correct fit.’
Through first hand experience I have to agree that getting advice and properly measured is absolutely the best route to follow, not just to get the best fit but also to save you money and make sure you are buying bras that will grow with you and last as long as possible before you need to return for another. It will also save you a lot of back ache!
It is true to say that the years of wearing men’s shirts under dungarees during pregnancy are long gone and this is thanks to designers who work exclusively to create maternity wear. There have been many design innovations over the years that have allowed shops like Blooming Marvellous to create comfortable yet stylish clothes for pregnant women, so I wanted to know Claire’s favourite innovation in maternity clothing. She told me
‘Jersey has completely re-invented maternity design, it has revolutionised the way we are able to create the cut of the clothes. The trend has helped us design maternity clothes that hug the bump and stretch as your bump grows. We have also ventured into the recent revolution of seam-free jersey. This offers complete comfort whilst giving support for bump and boobs.’
Blooming Marvellous have, for many years, been at the forefront of maternity shopping due to the exclusively maternity ranges and perhaps also their visible presence on the high street, but with more and more high fashion retailers offering maternity ranges I wanted know what Claire felt Blooming Marvellous has to offer that these other stores don’t. She says;
‘More fashionable, chic maternity wear is something that we have always and will always continue to champion. The yummy mummy trend has brought fun and glamour into the market and helped blow away the staid old thinking about maternity clothes.
Around 700,000 women are pregnant every year in this country and they deserve the best. We know what clothes our customer wants to wear – namely, what she normally wears – but with our clever adaptations for her growing bump and boobs.
We are a one stop shop for mums to be and baby – we are an independently owned company and are passionate about offering our customers the most stylish, highest quality, best value and widest range of maternity clothes on the market. With our years of expertise we advise mums and dads on the right baby and nursery products that they really need to buy. We are very proud that our customers continue to shop with us and, importantly, recommend us to their friends and family.’
And finally, I asked Claire to sum up the spring collection in just three words. ‘Stylish, fun and comfortable!’, was her response and I think it is definitely worth looking online or picking up one of their spring catalogues to pick out some key pieces for the coming months and inject a bit of spring freshness into your maternity wardrobe.
By Jenni, on February 22nd, 2010
 When Garden Girl first moved from a high chair to sitting in a normal chair we bought the Baby Polar Gear Go Anywhere Booster Seat. We spent a lot of time choosing the right seat and we ended up with this one because unlike many others on the market it didn’t have a hard seat, it didn’t have sides which we feel make a lot of the booster seats much like high chairs without legs, and it folded small when we wanted to take it out with us. We were initially very pleased with it and quite early on recommended it to our friends who subsequently bought one. However, as time went on the soft cushion started to flatten and the seat got lower at one corner. In the end Garden Girl was sitting on a sloping seat that no longer gave her the height she needed. Our friends also reported that within weeks of buying theirs the cover had ripped where the seat was sewn to the straps. The wipe clean cover on ours also became more and more stained over time so that it no longer looked inviting to sit on.
All in all, we were disappointed with the quality and durabilty of the product so when Garden Boy became old enough to move from his high chair we were looking for something different for both of them.
 Once again however, we disliked many of the products on the market for the same reasons we had discounted them last time. And then we came across the Kaboost. This innovative product boosts the seat from underneath the chair so the child is actually sitting on the same chair as you, but higher up. The four legs of a normal dining chair fit into the four extendible ‘arms’ of the Kaboost which will adjust to fit a wide range of chairs. There are two heights depending which way up you position the Kaboost and it is easy to remove and fit if you want to take it out and about with you. The concept is undeniably brilliant, however there are a few niggles.
Firstly, Garden Boy did initially keep leaving the table half way through a meal as there was nothing to stop him, so we had to attach a harness to the chair to keep him at the table. Garden Girl at age three however is absolutely fine with no restraint so depending on the age and personality of your little one you might want to consider buying a harness as well. Our table has quite a large lip under it which meant that there was not enough room for Our Little Garden Helpers legs under the table, even at the lowest of the two settings. We liked the product enough to raise our table slightly but there really needs to be more flexibility in adjusting the height of the Kaboost. The Kaboost also makes the chairs heavier and a little clunky to move about. This is presumably a result of the product making the chairs very sturdy and well balanced, however it makes the chairs awkward to move, especially for little ones trying to get themselves to the dinner table. Garden Girl and Garden Boy however, love that they are sitting on the same chairs as us and although we are not entirely satisfied, this remains the best product we have come across to get your little ones sitting comfortably at the table with you.
By Claire, on February 19th, 2010
Warning! I love the Didicar (which Toddler boy was gifted), if you want to find out why read on….
When the Didicar arrived, I have to admit to being a bit skeptical as it didn’t seem to balance brilliantly at the front. This is the result of the absolutely genius design that allows the person riding the car to move it purely using the power of their steering. In fact, there are a couple of rubberized foot rests for the driver to rest their feet on where you might expect pedals to go.
One of the main issues for us is that it doesn’t work on carpet, it will only work on flat surfaces. Unless you live in a mansion with wooden flooring, these are quite hard to come by. Our garden paths are uneven, so this presents an obstacle. In fact, the only place that it works well (and safely) is the local park, since the kitchen isn’t really long enough.
In fact, a quick go in the kitchen highlights the only slight flaw in the design of the Didicar. At the front it sort of tapers to a point. It’s a rounded point though, which is fortunate as the toddler’s favourite thing to do at the moment is to drive it at speed into my ankles. This is the sign of a good toy in my book, the joy the toddler gets out of riding the Didicar into my ankles is second to none and he needs a bit of joy at the moment.
You are advised to make sure that you don’t let you child use the Didicar near a road. This is sensible advise. So, picture the scene at the park, me dragging the Didicar along with a pushchair which has Fifi in it and Toddler boy hanging off my arm. I’m persuading/warning him not to go down the hill at the entrance of the park at high speed in the Didicar. Excitement building. I’m feeling a bit out of my depth…
The best place to try it out is the netball court by the childrens play area. The Didicar is bright red, so there is no chance of going incognito. Toddler boy briefly manages to stop bouncing up and down in excitement long enough to get onto it. Soon he’s whizzing up and down like a madman, a mixture of mad arm wiggling on the steering wheel and when his arms are too tired, his feet go down and scoot him along. It really is a total success for Toddler boy.
The Didicar came ready assembled for ease of testing but to ensure a fair review, we did get a copy of the instructions. A quick look through them and they do look fairly daunting, not as daunting as the trike hubby cursed over on toddlers 2nd birthday, but certainly not the sort of thing you’d find easy to put together with two small children “helping”. It is mostly plastic with a metal steering shaft and some fittings but it feels like the right sort of plastic, not cheap or brittle, good quality and solid. However, I’d suggest construction prior to the child seeing it.
In conclusion then, the Didicar offers something a bit different in terms of design and way of propulsion.
It’s a great product for toddlers and their slightly older siblings. It’s also easy to pick up and should have some decent staying power with your children. I’ve also had a go and its brilliant fun (just don’t tell anyone). At just £39.95 it’s really reasonably priced for what it is. If you want a ‘ride on’ you won’t find anything better. I’m totally sold, now where can I buy an adult one…
By Jenni, on February 16th, 2010
 This beautiful bead set was a christmas present for Garden Girl (age 3) and has been a massive hit not just with her but with her little brother as well. I should say at this point that at 20 months, Garden Boy does need to be supervised when he is playing with these as he does have a tendency to put them in his mouth when he has lost interest in threading them. However, he is a little boy who concentrates hard on fiddly things and he will perservere with the small beads until he has them threaded on the string, taking great delight in finally acheiving his goal, clapping his hands and shouting ‘look’ to anyone within earshot. Garden Girl meanwhile will make a number of beautiful necklaces for herself and I to wear for the rest of the day. They have played with these beads almost every day since Christmas and it never seems to lose appeal for either of them.
The wooden beads are created with lovely colours and designs and are refreshingly wearable, unlike some of the plastic beads that are available for young girls to make their own jewellery. Packaged in a nice wooden box they also look great as a gift, so if you are looking for something a bit different to buy for a toddler this would make a lovely present.
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