Ickle Bubba Orb Highchair

As Miss DL is 4 months now, weaning will begin in the next few months. We tend to do Baby Led Weaning (BLW for short) and I have done that with both boys so far. Its fun, very messy, but great fun.

This would mean we would need a highchair. This time I was going to go for an IKEA Antilop highchair with a lovely little supporting cushion. This is the best highchair when doing BLW, as trust me when I say food goes everywhere.

But then I saw the Ickle Bubba Orb highchair for sale at Costco for around £80. It came in two choices for the frame colour - white or black, and an array of colours for the seat - navy, lime, pink, plum, yellow and more. We chose the white frame and the plum seat colour. I was very excited to get this delivered.

It arrived today, and came in this HUGE box. Inside the box was two more boxes. My boys were having a ball playing with all the packaging!

 

 

After getting everything out of the boxes and bubble wrap, we set out the parts and opened the instructions. It was fairly simple to put together. First up, you get the base which is flat and you pull the middle bar up and towards you until it clicks into place.

 

 

You then need to assemble the seat unit and tray. This is very straightforward. There is a set of "bars" with the footrest attached, which slide through to holes on either side of the tray. There are two buttons that you lift so the bars slide through and then lock into place.

 

 

 

 

This then slides and clicks into place on the seat unit. Like below.

 

The seat unit itself comes ready with the plum liner and the harness attached, you just need to attach the tray, and once that is done, you simply lift the seat onto the base unit until you hear the click.

 

 

 

The highchair itself is a great design, it comes in lovely colours and although it is foldable for storing, it isn't something I wouldn't necessarily pack and fold away. I personally think its a nice statement piece in the dining area, its stylish and the colours aren't too "in your face" like some highchairs are. I also like the fact the seat can be reclined and is one of the reasons we went for this chair. Miss DL isn't old enough or ready for weaning yet, but I still like her to join us at the table for meals. She can sit in this, but should she fall asleep there is no major rush to move her to somewhere comfier.

 

This highchair states it is from birth, but I don't think I would put my new born in this. It needs a little more padding or cushioning for a new born in my opinion. I also think the foot rest is a little flimsy. From having older children who tend to kick and play whilst waiting for their food, I could imagine the footrest breaking or possibly coming loose after a little while.

 

All in all, it is a lovely highchair, a great design with some lovely colours to choose from. It has a sturdy frame and a futuristic look to it. A great buy for the parent who likes style and practicality.

 

H.x





 



Ewan The Dream Sheep.

I did a review of sorts for this product when Master L was a few months old. It was a life saver and we still use it to this day - ok its not the same one; we had to replace his - but it is still a firm favourite in this household. I thought I would put it up here for you all to read :)

May 2013
Master L has been sleeping in our bed since being diagnosed with Colic, and whilst I loved the cuddles and easy access to feeding during the night, it was something I wanted to discourage. I wanted him to sleep in his own bed and get used to it for when the time came to move him into him and Master D's bedroom.

We got the from birth travel cot back from Nanas last weekend (left there from when Master D slept over before he outgrew it) and put it up at the end of our bed ready for that night. It didn't take us long to realise, though, that Master L was not for one minute, going to give his new sleeping quarters the time of day. He kicked off big style. That first night when we put him to bed, it took us 2 hours of running up and down the stairs, lots of shushing, picking up and rocking, and returning his dummy before he settled. For 20 minutes he slept before waking up for round two, so I brought him down and he fell asleep with Daddy, on the couch, for an hour.

In the end I gave up and he slept with me that night. I tried again Sunday night, and Monday night but the same thing happened, he screamed, I gave in and he slept in our bed. That was until a friend told me about Ewan the dream sheep. I knew a few girls had bought this sheep for their little ones but I wasn't really sure what it did, where to get it or how effective it was. I asked around, it seemed to play white noise and a lullaby and was , in their words "magic".

I must admit, I was a bit sceptical. How can a sheep that plays music be that good? Surely its just like any other lullaby playing baby item? But the more I asked, the more I was sold on this singing sheep. The more I heard it was successful, the more I wanted it. I had to try it. If it had such success with my friends babies, its got to have some kind of success with mine. But then Master L is particularly "high maintenance" and I wasn't sure anything would work too well.

I had a look online, and found my local Mothercare and Boots stored sold Ewan. It was decided, after picking Master D up from the Child-minder's, we would go on the hunt for Ewan the sheep. Mothercare, it turned out, didn't sell them in store, only online and if was to try him out I wanted to try him out that night. So off we went to Boots.

Thankfully, we found him in Boots. We snapped him up and got him home ready for bedtime. Master L was washed, fed and in his baby grow and I put him down with Ewan in his cot. I'm not going to say he instantly went off to sleep, end of story. We did have a bit of crying,  I did have to pick him up and settle him a few times. But it took, what,  20 minutes before he was asleep. I was shocked. Truly shocked, but also wondering if this was too much of a good thing.  Too easy. Will this happen every night?  I couldn't see it personally.

But I was wrong. The second night with Ewan, I put L down, turned on the womb sound (he seems to like this one best) and went downstairs. I had to go up three times, once to return his dummy, the second to give medicine for a slight temperature (from his needles given that day), and the third to turn Ewan back on. And that's it he was asleep.

And that, my fiends, is how our nights are now. He goes up to bed around 7.30 after Master D is asleep and we switch Ewan on, pop dummy in and leave him to go to sleep.
I am know a fan of Ewan the dream sheep. I take him out with us, he takes naps with Master L, and never fails to get him back off to sleep after his 3am feed.

Ewan really is magic!

 

We used Ewan until Master L was around 2 years old, every day for naps and every evening at bedtime. It was put on so many times and the batteries changed over and over, but unfortunately, with that amount of use it had, it couldn't last forever. Around this time I found I was expecting Master D and Master L's baby sister. I entered a competition on a Facebook page to win a Ewan the Dream Sheep and, surprisingly (I never win anything) we won!! As Master L had stopped using the sounds within the sheep a short while before me entering the competition (he used to use it as a teddy!) I decided to keep the new one for our new baby.

 

Miss DL uses Ewan too, Master L still has cuddles from time to time and Miss DL uses Ewan when she is particularly struggling to drop off to sleep. He is a definite winner in our household. We LOVE Ewan!

 

 

 

H.x 

Double-Decker Pram!

I Love, Love, Love my pram.


This is us, and how I normally transport my 3 childlings:

When I first found out we were expecting bambino number 3, I knew we would need a double. By the time he/she was due, my then youngest would only be just turned two. We had no car at the time & walked or used public transport to get everywhere.

I began searching the internet for a suitable contender and came up with quite a few options, but it was only really between the Bugaboo Donkey or the Baby Jogger City Select. I loved the fact they could both be singles and doubles at the flick of a switch, but in the end the Baby Jogger won. The HUGE basket was a must - shopping trips and school runs, I always end up with bags and bags of stuff. But the thing that had me hook, line and sinker, was the so many different ways you could have the seat arrangement! I just could not wait to get the pram in my house to try out!!

And then it arrived.

I couldn't wait to start putting it together, but I knew J (my other half, fiancé, partner etc.) would want to play too, so I reluctantly had a little peek but left everything in the boxes for when he got home.

We put it together, and I remember having all of the seats - car seat, Master L's seat and the bassinet all out so I could try each and every combination. I was in heaven. Here are two of the combination's we tried:

I also tried it with the car seat on top and Master L's seat "underneath" but facing out. I liked this way too, but was a bit heavier to lift due to all the weight being on the front.

This is the first pram I have ever bought new. The first one that arrived in my house in a box, that needed putting together, with shiny wheels and crisp material on the seats. Its such a lovely pram to push, even as a double. We do sometimes use it as a single if Master L is tired and I can wear Miss DL in my baby carrier. Its such a versatile pram & I cannot recommend it enough. And what makes it even better is both children love it too, they both look so comfortable in it, which makes me feel I made the right choice! And no one can dislike being complimented on their wheels when out and about either ;-)

H.x