TrendLife Baby

With its vivid and captivating graphics and  interactive touchy feely textures, the Humpty Dumpty Touch-and-Feel board book was a sure winner with our testers.  Strong black outlines to the drawings meant little eyes were captivated by Humpty Dumpty immediately and the textures kept them interested.  Thankfully the board is tough enough to withstand lots of grabbing hands and chewing mouths.

The fabrics were fun and varied and cleverly integrated into the designs, with rough card, felt, soft, fluffy and shiny materials. 

A lovely, fun and educational book which is ideal for under-ones

£6.99

www.templarco.co.uk

Trend Life received a wonderful array of baby books at our offices this week – and we delved in with much anticipation!

The Buggy Books collection from Amazing Baby gives your baby fun educational stimulation while you are out and about in the buggy.

The black and white signature stripes of the strap immediately grabs babies’ eyes and the eye-catching graphics and interactive font make for fun learning on the move.  Each book ends with a question for babies to discover and practice what they have learnt.

It has a lovely heart ring for attaching to the buggy, which makes a nice finishing touch

£3.99

www.templarco.co.uk

The Food Masher and Bowl is a handy gadget for mashing on the move without having to get out a big blender.

The masher combined with the bowl’s ridged inner edge makes it quick and easy to mash avocados, bananas, papayas and other soft fruits or boiled veggies.

It leaves a few little lumps so is perfect for just after the initial stages of weaning.  As with the rest of the range, it is bright and attractive enough to leave on display!

£4.99

www.annabelkarmel.com

The Bambeano Baby Seat was something we hadn’t seen before at TrendLife – but it works!  It is a nice place for little ones to view the goings on or have a snooze safely, in a semi-upright position, while you can get on with the chores or sit close by. The beanbag comes with a harness to keep your little one in place. Comfy, compact and attractive, it makes a nice piece for the room too.

It is ideal for newborns and young babies, but is suitable for up to 6 months.

£49.99

Annabel Karmel’s Stackable Weaning Pots by NUK come in three sizes which hold the perfect portions for little ones.  Brightly coloured and stackable, they look great on the shelf, and are also ideal for kitchens with little storage space.

So not only a whizz at recipes – Annabel Karmel is a winner at product design too!

£3.99

www.annabelkarmel.com

In the summertime, it's hard to know how to take out baby food for fear of it getting hot and those pesky germs spoiling it or, even worse, your baby getting poorly. At the same time, you don’t want to take out frozen food in case it doesn’t thaw in time.  The Philips Avent Feeding on-the-go Bag lets you take up to four pots of chilled food and the bag keeps it cool for up to four hours.

It has a handy long strap so you can hook it over the buggy, or remove it if you want to pop it into your changing bag.

This bag is a summer essential!

£12.25

www.philips.co.uk

These adorable pacifiers from Philips Avent are nice and summery with their animal designs, including cute sheep and rabbits. Not only do they look lovely, they are easy to find in the cot (unlike annoying clear dummies which are impossible to find in a darkened nursery!)

£4.60

www.philips.co.uk and follow on www.twitter.com/Philips_AVENT

The moment Rosie laid her eyes on the Twisty Bugz she was hooked by the bright colours and ease of movement of the bugs. The Twisty Bugz made satisfying clicks and rattles which amused her for hours! Each of the bug characters is the perfect size for her little hand and there are lots of textures for her to touch  – a big thing for her since she reached about five months old.  It can be chilled in the fridge as it contains purICE gel which stays cooler for longer compared to water, making it great for easing those teething gums.

£4.99

www.nuby-uk.com

We recently tried out the Mothercare Floating Ring.  Being an inflatable, it's great to pack into the suitcase and it didn’t require a pump, just a bit of lung power.  It supported a five month old well, but my baby did tend to float forwards or backwards, as the swim nappies caused her to have a buoyant bum!

Smaller babies can’t reach over the edges to splash the water which is one of the main swimming appeals for little ones.

It didn’t deflate very easily at all, which meant that in a rush to pack, we had to leave it behind.

All in all – I would suggest going for a small swimming aid.

£13 - www.mothercare.com

The Boots Botanics Baby Body and Hair Wash comes in a small pump container – which, incidentally, makes it an ideal size for a two-week holiday.  It foams the gel as you pump, meaning it gives a very light and gentle wash, so I felt it was ideal for very small babies.  For older ones over six months, you may find you want a thicker consistency to give them a good wash, especially once they are weaning!

The smell was gorgeous, soft and clean, leaving Rosie smelling lovely and fresh.

As with all Boots' own products, the price was very reasonable at £3.05

www.boots.com