When I found out I was pregnant, both my mum and mother-in-law advised me to invest in a towelling apron they had found useful when bathing their babies. With the arrival of our little bundle, I hadn’t the time to shop around for one so persisted with the towels we had been given. After a few weeks struggling to transfer a slippery baby from bath to changing mat, I was beginning to see their point and decided to invest in the Cuddledry Baby Apron Towel.
This natty product is fairly new on the market and is the brainchild of mums Helen Wooldridge and Polly Marsh who came up with the idea after watching their husbands struggling with their own babies at bathtime.
The apron itself is basically a large towel with a triangle at one corner for the baby’s head and a strap at the top to slip your head through. It is made with unbleached, organic cotton and natural bamboo fibres making it perfectly soft for your baby’s skin. Unlike an apron, it does lack ties to secure around the waist. This means it hangs free and can be a little unwieldy although it does mean the towel is ready to scoop up the baby once on your lap.
At bathtime, I found the apron indispensable. By the end of his dip, my nine-week-old son has usually had enough and is beginning to make his feelings known. This only increases when I lift him out of the bath but with the apron, I was able to put him straight onto my lap and then quickly wrap the towel around him before bringing him up against my chest to comfort him. Once calmed, I could then transfer him to the changing mat for a quick dry down and dress. The neck strap is attached by poppers so it is simple to detach with one hand, freeing yourself from the towel in one swift movement.
As the apron is so luxuriously soft, I did worry it would be difficult to get dry afterwards but happily I found it became almost dry to the touch within minutes. Although the price tag of £24.99 is a little steep for what is essentially just a towel, the difference it makes to bathtimes I believe makes it worth every penny. The Cuddledry apron is available to buy from Mothercare, John Lewis, Harrods, Debenhams and the Cuddledry website
www.cuddledry.com. It comes in a range of four colours – oatmeal, natural white, soft pink and soft blue – as well as cute cow print and wild giraffe for £29.99.
If, like me, you live in a flat and are short for space, finding room for a baby bath can be difficult so when I came across the Flexibath I just had to try it out. This ingenious product from A Real Cool World folds away flat, making it ideal for those with limited storage as well as for taking away on holiday.
It is made from plastic with a catch on the top which locks the sides together when folded so you can easily slip it under the bed or in a drawer out of sight. Once unfolded, the bath becomes a sturdy, rectangular vessel that feels more than up to the rough and tumble of bathtime. The instructions claim it can accommodate two babies aged 0 to 4 years but having bathed my two month old in it, I think it would be difficult to squeeze any more excitable water babies into the space although I would be happy to stand corrected. There is a handy plug to drain away the water and I found it fit perfectly put upside down over the bath to dry it out after use. The instructions also advised to avoid using baby oil in the bath, which is a little disappointing, although other soaps are fine to use. This is a clever invention that I will be using again both at home and on our holidays. The Flexi Bath is available at
www.flexibath.co.uk priced £29.95.
BVLGARI, the Italian jewelry and luxury fashion goods retailer has created an exclusive fragance and bath collection designed to give joyful and precious moments for mothers and their children.
Once every month, BabyMoon luxury pre-birth getaways will give away this exclusive Bulgari collection of Petits et Mamans bath products : a beautiful soap coffret with 6 soaps, gentle shampoo & bath gel (6.8 fl. oz.) and a gentle body lotion (6.8 fl. oz.). You and your baby will love the soft fragance!
Through completing the BabyMoon Survey this exclusive collection could be yours.
When you are planning ahead for a trip with the three of you, a stop (over) at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands gets more interesting with their new “Babycare Lounge by Nutricia”.
Nutricia is a baby food brand.In the Babycare Lounge parents can take care of their babies (in private), bathe them, feed them and/or allow them to sleep for a while in one of the seven bed cabins, which include comfortable seats for the parents. In the hectic airport environment, the Babycare Lounge is a haven of peace and quiet where parents can get their breath back while their babies are comfortably asleep or playing. The Babycare Lounge is designed by Marjolein Vreeburg of MV Architects. At their website you will find more images of the Babycare Lounge.
