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Reviews

Introducing the mamaRoo – Review & Giveaway

by Ellie on September 1, 2010

This is a review and giveaway post.

I’m a sucker for a great baby product. From snack traps to pushchairs, baby seats to interactive toys, if it’s new and innovative then I’ll be coveting it from a far

I was recently contacted by Emily at 4mums online who asked if I’d like to try out this years biggest news, the mamaRoo.

The mamaRoo is the ultimate baby seat. Designed around the movement a parent makes when picking up their child to soothe and comfort, the mamaRoo is revolutionary in its design and functionality. Instead of bouncing or vibrating, like most infant chairs and recliners, the mamaRoo sways, just like many parents instinctively do.

Suitable from birth to when your baby can sit unaided (or 11kgs), this is far more than your basic equipment. The mamaRoo is controlled via an easily navigable LCD display on its base. It has five different motions (Car Ride, Kangaroo, Tree Swing, Rock-a-bye, Ocean Wave), can be set at five different speeds, and reclines at any point along its axis. There are five different soothing ‘white noise’ nature sounds and you can even hook your mp3 player or iPhone up to its speakers and play your own music.

The seat itself zips off and is fully machine washable. The detachable mobile features 3 super soft balls, one half black and white, the other vibrant colour, featuring the art of Van Gogh, Monet and Seurat. The balls are easily popped in and out of the mobile so your baby can have a good old nosey at them.

The mamaRoo really is a beautiful piece of equipment. Its design is aesthetically pleasing, it’s sleek, stylish and really is a top notch baby gadget.

After spending the afternoon playing with ours we completely fell in love with it. Little E is a bit too old for it now but we had fun nevertheless. I wish we’d had this when Big E was small and would only be rocked to sleep! We think it’s the bees knees!

The mamaRoo isn’t cheap by any means. It’s a quality, aspirational product which is reflected in the retail price of £199.99, and is available in the UK at Mothercare.

Would you like to be one of the first people in the UK to own a mamaRoo? Then look no further!

Thanks to 4mums online I have a mamaRoo to giveaway to one lucky reader! All you have to do is leave a comment below. For an extra entry you can tweet:

I’m entering the @4moms #mamaRooGiveaway @InsomniacMummy – http://wp.me/pO1G4-t6

And, for further entries you can become a 4Mum’s fan on Facebook, or Follow @4moms on Twitter. Please remember to come back and comment again for each extra entry so they can be added to the draw.

Good luck!

Terms and conditions: Entries are limited to five per person. The competition will close at 8pm, Friday 10th September 2010, and the winner chosen using a random number generator. The winner will be announced later the same day. The prize includes one mamaRoo in silver, pink or red. The winner’s details will be passed on to Emily at 4mums, who will contact you directly to arrange your prize. The competition is open to UK residents only.

{ 42 comments }

This is a review and giveaway post.

When it comes to lounging around in the sun it has to be said that I’m a bit of a vampire. Robert Pattinson has nothing on me!

I’m usually the one hogging the shade,  fully clothed, smothered in SPF50, sporting the biggest, darkest shades known to man. I think it’s fair to day I’m not a sun-worshipper!

That doesn’t mean that I don’t have a bit of a thing for sunglasses though. Gotta protect delicate  peepers from those nasty UV rays!

Recently I was lucky enough to be sent 3 pairs of fabulous Polaroid polarized sunglasses to review. One pair for me and one pair each for the children.

Mine are a fabulous pair called ‘Papillion‘. Slightly over-sized frames, decorative metallic hinge and ever so tiny diamante detailing . Very glamourous indeed!

The lenses themselves offer UV400 protection, which is 100% protection from those damaging UV rays, and a filter category of 3 (filter category relating to the darkness of the lens on a scale of 0 to 4, four being the darkest).

When the husband is chauffeuring me about town, to all my important engagements *cough*, I feel exactly like a Hollywood starlet, except without the looks, or the money or indeed the questionable talent.

Big E’s is much happier in the sun than I! His pair, aptly named ‘Hot‘, are made of super bendable plastic. Perfect for small boys intent on destruction. Once again they offer 100% UV400 protection and a lens filter category of 3. Rubber insets in their arms mean they offer extra comfort and grip.

Usually a pair of sunglasses only lasts a few days in the hands of Big E. So I’m very happy to report that these are still in once piece!

My Little Lady E has a thing for glasses. Sunglasses, Mummy’s glasses, the lady at the checkouts glasses. You name it she’ll try and pull them off and try them on herself.

She was absolutely thrilled with her pair called ‘Sugar‘. For a little girl of just 15 months she’s certainly fast developing a love of trying things on and giggling sweetly at herself in the mirror.

Again, with 100% UV400 protection and a filter category of 3, these sweet little shades are just perfect for keeping safe the tiniest of baby blues.

Papillion retail at £49.99 and ‘Hot’ and ‘Sugar’ both retail at £19.99.  All the sunglasses we received were great looking and very well manufactured. Would I recommend them? Yes, I would.

Now if only someone could explain to my children that they need to actually wear them for more than five minutes in the sun, that’d be excellent!

Fancy a pair of Polaroid sunglasses for you and your child?

One lucky reader has the chance to win a parent & child sunglasses combo! Two pairs of these fabulous sunglasses could be yours! All you need to do to enter is leave a comment below, and for an extra entry copy, paste and tweet the text below:

I’m entering the #PolaroidGiveaway @InsomniacMummy – http://wp.me/pO1G4-sf

Entries are limited to one comment and five tweets per person. The competition will close at midday, Tuesday 31st August 2010, and the winner chosen using a random number generator. The winner will be announced later the same day. The prize includes one adult and one child (of any age) pair. The winners details will be passed on to Laura at Marketing Zone, who will contact you directly to arrange your prize. The competition is open to UK residents only.

Good luck!

{ 38 comments }

Little Dish Giveaway – Winner

August 17, 2010

The winner of the Little Dish Favourites Cookbook is…. {Drum roll please} Jenny at Gingerbread House Congratulations Jenny, I’ll be in touch shortly for your details. A huge thank you and commiserations to everyone who took the time to enter! Stay tuned for another giveaway very soon!

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Little Dish Favourites Cookbook – Review & Giveaway

August 10, 2010

It has to be said that I’m a little bit of a cookbook whore. I have shelves full of them in my kitchen, all filled with promises of delicious and often decadent treats, just waiting to be opened and poured over. So, of course, when Charlotte from Little Dish asked me if I’d like to [...]

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Leapfrog ‘My Pal Violet’ – Review

May 9, 2010

As a parent, when it comes to choosing toys for my children I can be quite picky. They have to be from a brand that I trust or one that comes highly recommended by another parent. So, when I was asked if I’d like to chose a Leapfrog toy for each of the children to [...]

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Sophie the Giraffe – Review

May 4, 2010

When the lovely people at Hello Baby offered to send me a ‘Sophie the Giraffe’ to review I jumped at the chance. Little E is currently (and constantly) teething and anything, anything to help ease the pain is worth a try! Sophie the Giraffe is older than you might expect. She’s been synonymous with teething [...]

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Glee Season 1 Volume 1 – Road to Sectionals – DVD Review

April 26, 2010

These days, with two young children ruling the roost, it’s not often I get the time to watch anything on TV other than Cbeebies, on a loop. So, when the Prince and Princess of Mayhem are nicely tucked up in bed, I get comfy on the sofa, grab myself a Diet Coke and take the [...]

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Green & Black’s Chocolate – Review

March 4, 2010

When the people at Green & Black’s sent me eight bars of temptingly delicious organic chocolate I had big, big plans. Huge. I was going to wow you with my culinary skills and bake you all something gooey and velvety, I was going to tempt and titillate your taste buds with tantalising tales. What actually [...]

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Save the Lullaby! – Plus a CD Giveaway

March 3, 2010

When your baby cries there is an almost primal instinct that surfaces to sing softly to them and soothe away their tears. Those gently hummed melodic tones often work wonders to calm and send baby back into peaceful slumber. Most people would say they were singing a lullaby, but were they? According to new research [...]

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How to Afford Time Off with Your Baby – Book Review

February 9, 2010

So, you want to be a stay at home mum but aren’t sure if your finances can take the strain? I’ve recently found myself facing this very dilemma so when Becky Goddard-Hill sent me a copy of her book ‘How to Afford Time Off with Your Baby: 101 Ways to Ease the Financial Strain’ I [...]

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