A bright shining friend to keep me company at night :-)

Product name: Pabobo Barbapapa Night Light

What is it?A night lamp shaped as a Barbapapa character that illuminates with a pleasant bright light that shines for up to 11 hours after it is removed from the little docking station

Why did it catch my attention?The interior architecht who helps us finding furniture and accessories for our new house mentioned to me that her daughter loves this light and we bought it on her advise

How old was my baby when I bought it?A little bit more than 7 months, but this product is relevant from the moment a baby starts enjoying to look at bright faces and/or when they get a little bit older and start getting afraid of the dark

What value does it add for us?It looks nice and I think it will be an appreciated friend for my son when he gets older if he (as many children) becomes scared of the dark

What does it replace?Other night lights and other nursery decorations

How did my baby respond to it?As with many things he seems to like he wanted to chew it. He is not yet old enough to be scared of the dark so I don’t have evidence to evaluate the comforting effect on him

How much does it cost?£35 on Amazon UK

Can I see any drawbacks?Not for the moment. It is both nice to look at, seems to work well and the docking station is both discrete and practical

Turn your bath tub into a baby bath with a BabyDam

Product name: BabyDam (http://www.babydam.com/)

What is it?This is a good idea that I want to promote although it did not work well for us in our current bath tub. It is a dam made of a blue rubber material that in theory ‘blocks off’ part of your large ordinary bath tub to become a baby bath – saving water and making it quicker to fill up the bath for your little one

Why did it catch my attention?Having spent time with an impatient baby waiting for the bath to get ready and having struggled to make a baby bath work well in a relatively small bath room, I saw the BabyDam at a competing baby gadget blog and thought it might be the answer to our challenge

How old was my baby when I bought it?A little bit more than 7 months, but this product is relevant from when you start bathing your little one for real (we started at approximately 2 weeks, but I would have waited until he was stable enough to sit on a bath support rather than a ‘floating cushion’ that we used until he was ~4 kilos heavy before I tried the BabyDam in our tub)

What value does it add for us?If it worked it would have saved water and waiting time

What does it replace?Using the whole big bath tub or one of the various baby baths on the market

How did my baby respond to it?He thinks it is a toy and turns around to try to chew it!

How much does it cost?£27,50 with free shipping in mainland UK

Can I see any drawbacks?For us it did not work as the water leaked through the dam – but I am hoping that it was because of our bath tub and not the BabyDam itself. The intense blue colour turned out to be distracting for my son, who turned around and got more difficult to clean than before we got the BabyDam

Funky soft toy mirror from Manhattan Toys

Product name: Whoozit See Me Mirror (Whoozit See Me Mirror)

What is it?A mirror with some funky soft toys and colourful fringes on the frame. It has two ribbons at the back that gives you the flexibility to attach it to for example a cot, a playmat or the backseat of your car

Why did it catch my attention?At about 3 months of age, my little son started to love watching himself in the mirror, and I was looking for a mirror that (a) was soft and that he would be unable to hurt himself on and (b) that would fit in his cosleeper so that he could entertain himself for an hour or so in the morning while his mummy got some extra sleep! ;-)

How old was my baby when I bought it?I started buying mirrors for him when he was 2 months old, and found this one when he was just over 3 months

What value does it add for us?This is an appreciated toy that helps my son keep himself entertained on his own and is flexible enough to be attractive to bring along when we are travelling. In addition to the mirror, my son really loves playing with the smiley Whoozit face and the multi-coloured fringes

What does it replace?Other toy or non-toy mirrors

How did my baby respond to it?He has always loved this mirror, which differentiates it from a few other toy mirrors I bought for him and that he in many cases started to appreciate 2-3 months later when his motor skills were developed enough for him to be able to grab it and play around with creating reflections

How much does it cost?£15 on Amazon UK

Can I see any drawbacks?The seams don’t look very solid to me, and as he grows stronger I am quite sure that Whoozit will get torn off at some point soon

Babysitters-on-demand

Product name: Sitters Babysitting Service (http://www.sitters.co.uk/)

What is it?This service is a ‘broker’ for babysitters – connecting families in need of babysitting with local individuals with various degrees of childcare experience. The customer interface is very similar to the way we are used to booking meeting rooms at work – you just insert your booking into a calendar and the system starts processing it for you. Families have the opportunity to create a ‘wish-list’ of babysitters and it is also possible to block babysitters who you don’t like

Why did it catch my attention?Far away from our family and with a limited support network in London, we were looking for a way of finding reliable people to look after our little one so that we could get some ‘own time’. Because my husband travels a lot with his work I also sometimes need babysitters for very short timeslots during daytime to be able to do things like going to the dentist or the hairdresser

How old was my baby when I bought it?The first time we tried Sitters was for my birthday party when my son was 3,5 months old

What value does it add for us?It gives us flexibility and because Sitters take on the responsibility for staffing your timeslot it saves the time that I see many other parents around me spending on calling around to or getting last-minute cancellations from their babysitters

What does it replace?- Staying at home instead of getting out and/or bringing a baby along to places where it gets increasingly difficult to bring him the older he gets
- Creating and managing your own network of family, friends, friends’ nannies etc.

How did my baby respond to it?We have had mixed experiences: one great lady who had children herself, one professional nanny with limited experience of small babies who did not respond very well to my son and one lovely young student who quickly became my son’s favorite playmate!

How much does it cost?£13,85 per quarter for being registered in their database, a £4 fee per booking and £7 per hour that you pay directly to the babysitter

Can I see any drawbacks?Not being able to meet the person before they come to your house to look after the most valuable you have. It is furthermore important to be aware that Sitters is a national call center service and that the people you talk to don’t personally know the sitters they book for you. They unfortunately don’t have a reliable overview of which sitters that have experience with your children’s age band – hence why we got a person without experience with babies to look after our 3 month old son (and we had to leave the restaurant before we had finished the main course)

Dinos for the bath

Product name: Cuckoo Bath Squirters Dinos (Bath Squirters - Dinos In Bag)

What is it?Bright-coloured bath squirters shaped as dinosaurs

Why did it catch my attention?I needed something to make bath time more interesting for a very small and somewhat reluctant little boy

How old was my baby when I bought it?5 weeks

What value does it add for us?Together with the Spöket Laban squirters and the Rub a Dub mirror, they keep my baby entertained and happily kicking when in the bath. Now when he is teething he also likes chewing them to ease the pain of his itching gums. They come in a nice solid plastic bag that makes them handy to bring along when travelling

What does it replace?They complement other bath toys and to some extent replace other teething toys, such as Sophie the Giraffe

How did my baby respond to it?At first, the yellow dino was his favorite one to stare at – during the period of his life when he only was able to see strong contrasts (black-white, yellow-brown). He then went on to punching them around in the bath and at last started grabbing and chewing them around 5 months of age

How much does it cost?£7,50 at Amazon UK

Can I see any drawbacks?Not that I can think of

There are bubbles in the air, in the air...

Product name: Gymboree Bubble Ooodles (http://www.inspiremetoys.co.uk/)

What is it?What is special with these bubble oodles is the ‘multi-pipe’ wand that allows you to blow loads of bubbles at a time. The producer also claims that there is something very secretive with the formula – and it is true that these bubbles tend to stay for longer in the air and leave less traces when they dissolve than home-made formula made up of water and washing liquid. Because it is used in music classes for very small children the formula is chemical free – e.g. not harmful on fragile baby skin or even in their months!

Why did it catch my attention?Like with all Gymboree toys, they are used in the Play&Music classes – the perfect display window for gullible parents! My son loved the ‘bubbles in the air’ exercise so much that I just had to bring them home

How old was my baby when I bought it?He was 4-5 months old, but loved bubbles from his debut at Gymboree at 11 weeks old

What value does it add for us?This is an additional game we can play, and I have in particular used it to cheer up the waiting time for the bath to get ready over the last few, frozen weeks when we have been struggling to get enough hot water here in London. We also blow bubbles in the bath, which he loves!

What does it replace?Other games or toys that makes my son laugh

How did my baby respond to it?Laughing, kicking, intensely waiving his arms, gurgling very happily

How much does it cost?£7 at our local Gymboree branch

Can I see any drawbacks?The solution tray gets sticky of you forget to wash it after use. In true colour-printer-business-model style you can buy refills for the soap – but only at Gymboree!

Take a bath with Laban the Ghost

Product name: Lilla Spöket Laban badleksak (www.dunderbutiken.se/art/laban-badleksak.php)

What is it?A floating bath toy with popular Swedish fairy-tale character Laban the Ghost

Why did it catch my attention?This was a present from my mother to her grandchild, knowing how much he loved the Spöket Laban outfit he bought when on holiday at her place

How old was my baby when I bought it?He was 5,5 months

What value does it add for us?They are fun to play with in the bath, obviously more interesting than the colorful dinosaurs he had before, maybe because they have big black-and-white faces on them. Because of the little hole underneath you can also use them to squirt water to make bath time more fun. They are light and therefore easy to bring along in the luggage when travelling

What does it replace?Any other bath toys such as ducks, boats and squirting octopuses

How did my baby respond to it?Grabbed them and started chewing them

How much does it cost?SEK 29 at Dunderbutiken

Can I see any drawbacks?Not that I can think of

Snug and warm in bitterly cold weather

Product name: Voksi Urban vognpose (www.voksishop.com)

What is it?A snug and cosy bag filled with a combination of down and feather, designed for keeping babies warm during the cold Nordic winters. Voksi Urban is a universal bag with a flexible design that fits the most common buggies on the Scandinavian market

Why did it catch my attention?My sons grandmother suggested to buy one of these bags to protect my little son from the Nordic winter and liked the fact that we would be able to move it between the three buggies, all of different brands and shapes, that he has up in Scandinavia (one at his parental grandparents’, one at his maternal grandparents’ and one that is mother bought on impulse a snowy Friday and left in the basement of our flat in one of the Scandinavian capitals)

How old was my baby when I bought it?He was 4 months, but weather and climate are more important drivers than age for the relevance of this product. It comes with an extension that makes it suitable from birth until approximately 3 years of age

What value does it add for us?It saves a couple of layers of clothes and/or the poor little one from freezing in very cold weather (this Christmas it was -19 where we were). Most Scandinavian buggy brands sell their own proprietary bags as add-ons, but the Voksi can be moved along when changing buggy

What does it replace?Proprietary buggy bags, several extra layers of clothing or, worst case, a baby with frost wounds on his/her skin

How did my baby respond to it?He seems to feel snug and cosy in there, but since it is made from Michelin-man material it is important to get him out of there promptly when getting inside since it otherwise gets too hot for him

How much does it cost?NOK 1899 at voksishop.com

Can I see any drawbacks?The Michelin-man overheating effect if used in less cold weather. I doubt that it would fit the trendy city buggies that are popular here in London

The hidden treasure of the Tiny Love baby gym! :-)

Product name: The tummy time cushion from the Tiny Love Gymini Monkey Island baby gym

What is it?This is a bean-shaped cushion intended for tummy time training that has proven to be so useful that I think it deserves its own post here on the blog

Why did it catch my attention?It actually did not – this cushion just happened to be part of the package when I ‘emergency-bought’ a playmat so that my son would have some entertainment while stuck for a week far out in the Scandinavian countryside

How old was my baby when I bought it?He was 4 months, but I can see a number of ways it could have been useful for us from birth

What value does it add for us?This cushion has so far (2 days after we bought it) served as
a) Tummy time support
b) Head cushion in the buggy
c) Support for my son’s lower back during his first attempts to sit up
d) Head support to avoid a flu-ridden little boy with a blocked nose from ‘falling off’ a mattress that was slightly elevated at the head end to help him breath more easily
e) Entertainment - my son loves looking at the colourful garden pattern with two rabbits and a turtle
What does it replace?A number of different cushions that could do the same jobs as mentioned above + baby books for the purpose of entertainment

How did my baby respond to it?Very well, for all different ways it has been used so far

How much does it cost?This item is unfortunately (as far as I know) not sold independently, but has to be bought together with Tiny Love Gymini Monkey Island

Can I see any drawbacks?Using it as a head cushion or head support is only advisable once your baby’s head and neck are strong enough for it not to cause difficulties for them to breathe. The polyester material is flammable and can’t be washed in water

**ADDITIONAL USE DISCOVERED THIS XMAS**

My son has over the last few weeks started to sit up, but he is still too wobbly for most highchairs. This cushion once again proved useful for a different purpose than originally intended when his grandmother piled it up in front of him in the highchair so that he could participate in the cristmas dinner. Thanks again Tiny Love for this clever invention!

How to sterilise a whole load of stuff in 6 minutes only

Product name: Philips Avent 24-Hour Steam Steriliser (Philips AVENT iQ24 Steam Sterilizer)

What is it?A digital steriliser for bottles, dummies, teething rings and other things that are in contact with your baby’s food or designed for him/her to put in the mouth, and that you want to make sure do not have any harmful bacteria on them. It is only a little bit bigger than an average electric water boiler and just as easy to operate

Why did it catch my attention?This was something that my husband found before our little one was born and it turned out to be one of our most important investments we made

How old was my baby when I bought it?We bought it before he was born and started using it the first night after we came home from the hospital

What value does it add for us?With a minimum of hassle (not any more complicated to operate than an electric water boiler) it keeps bottles, dummies and teething rings safe for our son to use. Because of its size it can typically steam 4 bottles (including all its parts) and 10-15 dummies in one go. By starting the steriliser before we leave it helps us make sure that his babysitters use clean bottles when they feed him

What does it replace?Boiling items in a pot on the stove as our little one’s grandparents do, which is more time-consuming, or giving your baby food from an unclean bottle and make him/her sick – a classical cause of infant deaths among uninformed populations in developing countries

How did my baby respond to it?He does not know that it exists, but his parents and babysitters use it all the time – although the frequency has decreased since the early days when we sterilised his dummies as soon as they fell on the floor

How much does it cost?£45 at Boots

Can I see any drawbacks?It does take up space in our tiny kitchen and it is not the most practical item to bring along when travelling, even if we did when we went on holiday to Spain in Octobre

Best practice baby care rooms at Harrods, Landvetter and Heathrow Airport

Product name: Not a product in itself, but three good examples of commercial establishments with a great understanding of young families’ needs (www.harrods.com, www.swedavia.se/sv/Goteborg/Resenar, www.heathrowairport.com)

What is it?Harrods (London’s most famous department store), Landvetter Airport in Sweden and Heathrow Airport in London all have very helpful baby care rooms catering for the needs of young parents on the move, ensuring that they stay longer and spend more money by providing facilities not only for nappy changing, but for feeding, play and relaxation as well. They are all different, with the ‘best practice’ feature being (a) bottle warmer and vending machines with nappies at Harrods, (b) a really comfortable armchair perfect for breastfeeding at Landvetter and (c) a clever little barrier blocking the baby from falling off the changing table and thereby freeing up at least one hand for the parent at Heathrow

Why did it catch my attention?Travelling and shopping alone with a baby is very tiring and finding good changing and feeding facilities often an issue. I was therefore very happily surprised to find the baby care rooms in these three establishments

How old was my baby when I bought it?This is a question of using facilities, not buying anything and they are useful for parents as soon as you feel energized enough to venture out on the roads with your little one

What value does it add for us?They are all shielded places allowing parent and baby to relax from some of the stress and too many impressions that tend to be part of being in very crowded places alone with a baby

What does it replace?Feeding and changing in dodgy toilets or airport benches or not getting a chance to sit down and rest at all

How did my baby respond to it?He finds these places very relaxing, and in particular when overstimulated he tends to wind down if we sit down and play a little bit with some of his favourite toys in one of these shielded rooms before we venture out to all (for him) new impressions again

How much does it cost?Access is free to all of them (provided you have a boarding card for the airport ones)

Can I see any drawbacks?There are too few of them

Don't forget to label your buggy

Product name: Mono stripe luggage tag (www.paperchase.co.uk)

What is it?A luggage tag intended for tagging suitcases with your name and address when out travelling. The only thing that is different from regular luggage tags is that is has a nice design that matches my son’s buggy ;-)

Why did it catch my attention?When our baby was only a few weeks old, my husband and I had a scary incident where we were very close to buggy and baby disappearing with a Piccadilly Line train while the parents were left on the platform. This made me aware of the need for marking our buggy with name and phone number so that it (and above all the baby) can be returned to the parents again if the unthinkable should happen

How old was my baby when I bought it?5 months, but we should have had it from the first time we took public transport with him in the buggy

What value does it add for us?In case we for any reason would be separated, the buggy can be identified and the finder will be able to call us

What does it replace?I have been looking for a while for something that I could write on and that would stick on the inside of the hood but have failed to find any product to satisfy this need

How did my baby respond to it?I attached it today and don’t think he has seen it yet. I deliberately attached it to a handle that would be out of reach for him so that it would not accidentally fall (or be pulled) off

How much does it cost?£5 at Paperchase

Can I see any drawbacks?Not that I can think of

How to keep socks in place on slippery baby feet

Product name: Sockons (http://www.sockons.co.uk/)

What is it?Sock holders made from an elastic material that you slip on over your baby’s socks to keep them in place. It was invented by a mother of five with a degree in Art & Design

Why did it catch my attention?Like many new parents with me, I was struggling with the issue of how socks keep sliding off my son’s feet, to both his and my frustration. When I saw these on the feet of a neighbour’s daughter I felt that I had found the solution!

How old was my baby when I bought it?He was 4 months, but my friend has used them on her daughter since she was only a few weeks old

What value does it add for us?The socks stay in place – avoiding his feet to get cold and his mother having to stock up on replacements for ‘disappeared’ socks  

What does it replace?A lot of frustrations throwing away and replacing odd socks, for then suddenly to find a bunch of socks you thought were long gone in the ‘feet’ of your baby’s winter overall

How did my baby respond to it?He is pretty indifferent, but I hope he appreciates not getting his feet cold anymore

How much does it cost?I bought mine for around £5 at JoJoMamanBebe

Can I see any drawbacks?If I was a sock producer I would maybe experience a decline in turnover, but as my husband said when I showed them to him – why on earth is this not built in to baby socks already?

Sleeping bag for babies - for the love of sleep :-)

Product name: Grobag Baby sleeping bags (www.gro.co.uk/Grobag-Baby-Sleep-Bags.html)

*WRITTEN BY GUEST AUTHOR WITH A 6 MONTH OLD DAUGHTER FROM OSLO*

What is it?A sleeping bag for babies. Keeps them from kicking of their bed spread/duvets during the night, getting cold and waking up

Why did it catch my attention?I knew babies didn’t always sleep quiet during the night. A problem is that they kick of their duvet, get cold and wake up. I needed to prevent this and was very interested in things that could help my baby to sleep

How old was my baby when I bought it?1 month old. It is wise to start early to use the bag, so that the child is used to it

What value does it add for us?A) The baby does not get cold, and wakes up unnecessary because of it
B) It is a part of the night routine to put on the bag and it shows the baby difference in day and night sleeping
C) As the baby gets older and more mobile, the bag prevents the child from getting out of bed by themselves
D) There are different “togs”, thicknesses for different seasons, you know the baby is not to hot or cold
E) There are some bags that fit in five-point harness for car seats or buggies.

What does it replace?Other bed spreads and duvets that are easily kicked off

How did my baby respond to it?She loves it!

How much does it cost?It costs £20-30 online. Definitely worth it!

Can I see any drawbacks?If you start using it to late, the baby might not like it

How we play mummy's voice for baby when she is somewhere else

Product name: Philips SBCSC150 Baby Cradle Player (www.p4c.philips.com/files/s/sbcsc150_86/sbcsc150_86_pss_eng.pdf)

What is it?A device that plays a range of soothing sounds (lullabies, heartbeat and running water) and provides the opportunity to record your own sounds to play for the baby, for example his/her mother’s voice, which can be handy when left with a babysitter. It has an adjustable rubber band that gives the flexibility to attach it to for example buggy handles, cots and other furniture

Why did it catch my attention?This was one of the many gadgets I bought during the first few weeks when I desperately looked for something that played sounds that would make my baby sleep without involving too much physical effort from the parents

How old was my baby when I bought it?A few weeks, but this product is suitable from birth

What value does it add for us?There are two features of this device that have proven to be useful for us
a) the running water sound, which has a soothing effect on our son
b) the self-recorded sound, which I have used to record myself singing his favourite lullaby in order to (i) help babysitters settling him and (ii) sometimes make life easier for his tired mother in the middle of the night when he needs some singing to fall back asleep

What does it replace?a) Other gadgets with soothing sounds
b) Phone calls home to help babysitters calm an unsettled baby by hearing his mother’s voice
c) His mother singing for real

How did my baby respond to it?He did not like the heartbeat and the lullabies, responded well to the water sound after a while and seems to be unable to distinguish my recorded voice from the real thing. Unlike other gadgets designed to help babies sleep, this one does not have a design that is especially appealing to babies – he does not find the round, plastic box interesting at all

How much does it cost?£10 on Amazon UK

Can I see any drawbacks?My impression is that this product was developed without any target group consultation, otherwise the following drawbacks would have been addressed in the product design:
a) This item is too big to fit smoothly in a carrycot or a cot and therefore has to be placed outside of where the baby is
b) There is no off-button and the shortest play interval is 2 minutes – which is super-annoying when you happen to start it by accident
c) The design of the start-button makes it extremely easy to start by accident, for example when carrying it in a changing bag or packing it in the luggage for travelling
d) It is not especially intuitive what you need to do to actually record something, and in my experience approximately ¾ of all attempts to record something result in failure (an annoying scratching noise instead of what you wanted)
e) A baby can accidentally strangle him/herself with the rubber band

A thermos for milk bottles

Product name: Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Insulated Bottle Bag (http://www.tommeetippee.com/)

What is it?A bottle-shaped bag made from thermo material that keeps your milk or water bottles at the right temperature. The Velcro straps on the top add value by making it easy to attach to bikes, buggies, cots, armchairs etc

Why did it catch my attention?Another one of the clever things that my husband found while equipping the house with everything related to bottle-feeding the last few weeks before our son was born

How old was my baby when I bought it?This was bought before he was born but is suitable from the moment you start bottle-feeding

What value does it add for us?It makes it easier to bring bottles of ready-made formula along when we go out, for example during the heatwave in London this summer. In addition it makes nightfeeding more hassle-free for us, since it allows us to keep a ‘ready-to-eat-tempered’ bottle of milk attached to his cot in our 18 degrees cold, air-conditioned bedroom at night

What does it replace?Either having to bring a bottle warmer along, wrapping bottles in blankets and towels to keep them warm in the cold and ice cubes to keep them cold in the heat or feeding your baby with milk with an inappropriate temperature

How did my baby respond to it?He does not have a clue that it exists, but his parents and grandparents find it very helpful

How much does it cost?£8 for two on Amazon UK

Can I see any drawbacks?When the baby’s fingers get stronger and he/she starts grabbing things, it is important to make sure that it is closed if kept close to the baby, as the fabric does not breathe if they put it over their heads

Alain Cozon-designed, flexible toy arch to cheer up the most boring buggies, bouncers, car seats and cots

Product name: Taf Toys Arch n’ Touch (www.taftoys.com)

What is it?A bendable arch with a range of soft toys attached to it and two large plastic clips in each end that enables you to attach it to buggies, bouncers, car seats, highchairs etc to make life more interesting for your baby. The flexible design makes it easy to replace the original toys with something else and like all Taf Toys’ toys, it has been designed in cooperation with a French cartoon and child book illustrator named Alain Crozon

Why did it catch my attention?Stuck in the countryside in Scandinavia for an unplanned week due to a baby with flu, I needed a bouncer for him to sit in, but the only one that could safely carry his 9 kilos was a boring, black one without any toys at all – but by attaching this arch he suddenly had an entertaining place to sit, and the flexibility to bring it along also made the old, worn-out buggy that his grandparents had borrowed from a neighbor much more interesting as well

How old was my baby when I bought it?He was 4 months old, but this product is suitable from birth

What value does it add for us?Flexibility to make the most boring places feel entertaining and familiar by bringing along toys he knows well and likes. The original toys are of the soft but clever, pedagogical kind that is so popular in Scandinavia and quickly became favourites for him

What does it replace?Because of its flexibility it could reduce the number of items you need to purchase – in our case we had very plain, boring bouncers and buggies that the Taf Toys arch ‘revamped’ and therefore saved us from buying new, more fancy ones

How did my baby respond to it?He loves it – in particular the shocking pink jingle bell fish that is part of the original toy set

How much does it cost?£20 on Amazon UK, I think I paid around SEK 250 in a store in the little town where my parents live in Scandinavia

Can I see any drawbacks?The only thing I can think of is that you need to be careful when packing it, in order that the arch does not break in the luggage