Tag Archives: child safety

Practical solutions (Kiddicare review)

I was invited to take a look at the Kiddicare website and choose some items to review. Established in 1974, it is the UK’s leading online nursery retailer. I always have a mental list of things the children need and was really pleased when I sat down to browse the Kiddicare website to find everything I needed!

We needed a small step so the toddler could easily access the kitchen sink. We found the BabyBjorn Safe Step which has rubber feet and a rubber mat so it’s non-slip. It allows the toddler to reach the sink to wash his hands, but he’s also used it as a tunnel for his trains, and moves it into the lounge so he can look out the window and wait for daddy to come home!

We had also been looking around for a night light for the 8 month old. She’s currently in our room and we wanted something to help us see without putting the main light when we go in to see her. I saw the adorable Brother Max Bear Carry & Hang Nightlight in a magazine and knew this was the one for her. It has a lovely soft glow and can be set to a choice of single colours or a gradual colour change and stays cold to touch. I love it and I think Little Sis does too, she also uses it as a handy teether!

brother max night light

Kiddicare sell cots and nursery furniture, prams, car seats, high chairs, feeding equipment, and most importantly, toys. Little Sis has been surviving on hand-me-down toys from her brother but now has the Leapfrog Little Learning Home and Big Brother was spoilt with the retro-tastic Mr Potato Head.

Kiddicare pride themselves on next day delivery and 1 hour delivery slots, they price match, and there’s a handy iPhone app too. I enjoy buying online but for those who like to see the items before they buy apparently Kiddicare will be moving offline by opening 10 new stores soon! What’s not to like?

Disclosure – I was allowed to choose some items to review free of charge for the purpose of this review.

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Baby Safe Homes UK review

We hear a lot about mumpreneurs but what about the dad-preneurs (I may have made that word up) – the fathers who have a great business idea, often as a result of the new challenges faced as a parent? Well last week I met one such man, Chris Jones, who runs a brilliant business offering practical solutions for baby-proofing your home.

Now, you may wonder why we would need this service as we are old hands with a 24 month old. Well I was interested to see what Chris thought of our own attempt at baby and toddler-proofing, had a couple of specific questions and wanted some advice on improvements for our on the move 5 month old.

We got through the crawling and inquisitive months with the minimum baby proofing – an essential stair gate, one lock on a kitchen cupboard and sticky corners on our coffee table which promptly fell off. With two children my attention is often split so I was grateful for some advice and a second pair of eyes to look at our home. Chris walked through our house, room by room, asking about any issues we have.

Chris drew up a list of his suggestions with prices which I was then able to decide whether I thought we needed or not. One of the major strong points of the Baby Safe Homes UK service is that the work is carried out on the same day so you don’t need to wait for any items to be in stock, or your husband to find time to fit them! The list of suggestions was perfect, ranging from simple burgla bar locks on windows which the toddler might lift and climb out of, to a cooker shield, an L bracket fitted to my favourite wobbily vintage cupboard, a strap on the back of the tv securing it to the wall and a clever door monkey to prevent the toddler opening his bedroom door. I also received some invaluable advice such as turning off the heated towel rail in our bathroom to prevent a burn hazard.

I was really pleased with the service. All the advice was helpful and trusted as Chris is father to an active toddler himself. After Chris’s visit our house doesn’t look much different but now we have extra locks on cupboards and doors, the tv is secure and I have some invaluable advice about staying one step ahead of the children and ensuring their safety at home.

About Baby Safe Homes UK

Learning what equipment is on the market and finding the right safety products for your home can easily turn into a frustrating and confusing research project, and it could then take several days or weeks of DIY to fix the safety equipment.  Baby Safe Homes UK, a RoSPA member, provides a clean, fast and affordable service to baby safe the home.

 

The company will carry out an initial survey of a home and provide a consultation on safety issues to be remedied, for a nominal fee, from £25.  A list of tasks and recommended products is provided and the company can then install all the required equipment, the same day, in a matter of hours.  The company’s experience means they know the most appropriate and best quality safety products to install.  If the same day installation service is chosen, the initial consultation will be free.  Installation costs vary according to what needs to be done and equipment costs are competitive to those found on the high street or Internet.

Call 0207 559 1491 for more info, or visit www.babysafehomes.co.uk

 

 

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Review: buggy tug

Child Safety week ran from 20th to 26th June and was sponsored by Argos, the UK’s number 1 safety retailer, and Lindam, the UK’s number 1 safety brand.  It is organised by the Child Accident Prevention Trust with the aim to raise awareness of the accidents that seriously injure or kill children and help advise parents on how to prevent them.

When Edward started crawling we began to look at our house completely differently. We quickly bought stair gates, cupboard locks and put plastic edges of the corners of the table to limit any damage he could possibly do to himself. Over the months some things have fallen off and been forgotten (like the table corners) whilst we’ve gone and bought more stair gates and a lock for the bin – I’ve lost count on the times I’ve retrieved the remote control from the bin, his favourite hiding place.

However, it is never too early to start thinking of child safety. We were recently sent a buggy tug to review. A buggy tug is the UK’s first pram wrist strap and is designed to ensure that should you take your hands off the pram it won’t go rolling away. It’s made of neoprene, is easy to use, comfortable, short enough that there’s no danger of tripping over it and is strong enough to support the weight of a large pram. It retails at £4.99.

Unfortunately they are only suitable for prams with a single handle or bar and some, like the Bubgaboo (which we had), Phil & Teds and some joggers, already have one. However, they are affordable and will give you peace of mind, especially if you live in a hilly area!

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