Eco-friendly

Brenda writes…

Continuing on from last week, here are a few more fabulous toys for £10 or under.

London in a Bag

This is a great little playset for a toddler. Made from FSC certified wood, it comes in its own little cloth bag, so once you have finished playing with it, just pop it back in until the next play date. It has all the famous landmarks of London. Available from Nigels Eco Store for £9.99.

Baby active crawl along mirror

This would make a great little gift for a little one. Suitable for ages 6-18 months, your baby can learn to push it, spin it, listen to the fun sounds it plays and watch how the stars light-up. Available from Early Learning Centre for £8 was £10.

Lamaze Jacques the Peacock

Suitable from birth, this is a cute and colourful soft toy. It helps stimulate your baby with its use of different textured fabrics (velvet and corduroy) and sounds. It has a plastic ring for easy attaching to cots or prams. Available from John Lewis for £6.95.

Sue writes…

This Santa Claus Hand Squeeze Torch is absolutely wonderful and would make the perfect stocking filler for any child (or adult!). The Santa Claus face is very friendly and the whole torch is delightful to look at.

The torch is quite small, so it’s ideal for children as it’s very easy for them to hold. It’s ideal for Christmas Day as no batteries are required to use the torch. Sliding a small switch on the side releases a large squeeze handle on the opposite side of the torch. Squeezing this repeatedly with your hand will charge the torch up. It is easy to squeeze the handle and just a few squeezes is enough to get the torch working. Children will be fascinated by this and I think it’s a brilliant way of teaching them about renewable energy and energy consumption. I have used a few hand-squeeze torches before and they can feel a bit ‘flimsy’. However, I found that the Santa torch feels really solid and I am sure it would last for many years, even when regularly handled by an enthusiastic child!

The beam from the torch is small but bright and ideal for children to explore the garden with their parents or just play under the bed clothes or in their darkened bedroom! By far the best bit for me though is the fact that Santa’s red nose flashes when the torch is switched on - guaranteed to get your child laughing!

The Santa Hand Squeeze Torch can be purchased from Ethical Superstore for just £4.99. I think this is a fantastic bargain. As well as being a perfect stocking filler for children, it would also make a brilliant Secret Santa present for adults!

Brenda writes…

Bebe Cannelle are having a massive sale on at the moment.  There are limited numbers of stock available, so hurry along and you may get yourself a bargain.  Items include: clothing, soft shoes, BabyLegs, and babywearing slings.  Below are a couple of my favourite items.

Anemone Pololo Natural Leather Baby Soft Shoes

Made from eco-friendly, eco-pell leather, these are great first baby shoes. Coming in a selection of designs, they have been designed by two mums.  Sizes available are 18/19, 20/21, or 22/23.  £14.50. Was £22.90. Continued

Brenda writes…

The girls on the team like a bit babywearing, and as such, we have tried out and written about many different types of baby carriers/slings, over the last few months.  A couple of months ago, I wrote about the Close Baby Carrier over on our sister site Bambino Goodies, so imagine my joy at seeing this fab baby carrier reduced at BBG favourite Kiddicare.

It is a stylish one piec, organic baby carrier, which is available in a choice of colours. It has wide straps for ease with weight distribution and your child can be carried in 5 possible positions. It’s suitable for use from newborn through to 32kg and can be machine washed, which is very handy if you have a sicky baby.

It comes in its own box with a drawstring pouch and includes a DVD, which gives you detailed instructions on how best to use it.

Available from Kiddicare for £39.50.  RRP is £49.50.

Brenda writes…

If you are trying to be eco-friendly and use disposable nappies, check out this great bargain from BBG favourite Ethical Superstore on the Moltex Oko disposable nappies.

These are great for the environment with their bio-degradable capabilities, and kind to your bambinos skin (brill if your baby suffers from eczema or skin problems).

Available in sizes midi, maxi, junior and XL.

Get them from Ethical Superstore for £8.69 reduced from £12.95 - A great 32% off.

Brenda writes…

As we have mentioned here before on BBG, one way to save money is to go down the real nappy route, but it can be an expensive layout to begin with.  Here are a few of the real nappy bargains to help you through the dreaded credit crunch.

Later today, on our sister site The Green Familia, we are featuring a fabulous offer from Clean Green Nappy on Bamboozle Nappies from Tots Bots.  Coming in a range of colours and sizes, these nappies are reduced by 35% from £9.25 to £5.95.

Babykind have the Fluffles nappy, again from Tots Bots on special offer.  Was £8.50 now £5.50.  There is limited stock of this.  You can also claim a 5% discount if you buy 10 or more Tots Bots nappies from them.

Twinkle Twinkle have the Stuffables by Nature Babies on offer.  This is the old sized version, they are available in a variety of colours and sizes.  Was £10 now £7.50.

Brenda writes…

This would be a great accessory if you are going out trick or treating this year with your toddlers, plus it can also be used as a night light in their room.  Another great energy saving device from our sister site The Green Familia favourite Ethical Superstore.

Styled as a cute and loveable bat, this hand-squeeze operated torch is easy to use and it teaches children that not everything needs to be battery operated.

Available from Ethical Superstore for £4.99.

Brenda writes…

Thanks to eagle eyed reader Zoe, this nearly 50% discount on a starter pack of Tots Bots can be shared amongst you all.

Tots Bots are well renowned for their natural nappies and are often the brand that people go for when starting out with real nappies and investing in a starter pack. The Tots Bots Nappy Starter Pack is stage 2 and they have Aplix fastenings and are made from organic cotton.

Available from Amazon for £79.57 via our Bambino Goodies Amazon Store where you can also see our other current BBG bargain finds. RRP is £155.  This is directly shipped from Amazon and delivery is free.

Please note that this special offer is no longer available at this price.

Natalie writes…

Nappy wipes are something that you always need and I’ve taken to buying in bulk online, to reduce my costs, especially as my wipes of choice are Jackson Reece Herbal Wipes, definitely the best wipes I’ve ever tried!

I reviewed them a few months ago over on Bambino Goodies and at the moment, Little Green Earthlets, one of our favourite stores is doing a BOGOF offer until the 30th September. They are £2.79 a pack which makes this a brilliant deal! That makes them about £1.34 a pack - bargain-o-rama! Delivery is £3.95 and I recommend buying the pack of 12 so you end up with 24, which brings the cost per pack of 72 wipes to a very reasonable £1.56 when you take into account that these are no ordinary wipes.

Alcohol free, Jackson Reece Herbal Wipes are aimed at both skin and environmentally conscious mums. They’re made from renewable natural plant resources with ingredients that include organic lavender oil, aloe vera, and tea tree oil plus high purity water AND a vegetable based preservative system approved by the Vegan Society. They’re suitable for most skin types including eczema sufferers and are 100% biodegradable. The packaging is degradable and they’re made in the UK so their carbon footprint is reduced. I have been using them for about 6 months after I got some free samples to review, and they are fantastic.

These are a great buy and I suggest you hotfoot it there pronto and stock up whilst you can!

Brenda writes…

Coming in two parts is this essential guide to our top 10 essential newborn best buys.

Nappies

You have a choice of real nappies, eco- friendly disposables or normal disposables. Check out Little Lambs website where they are offering customers to try out The Original Cotton Nappy Trial Kit for £8.50. Two sizes available. We also highly recommend Fill Your Pants.

Bodysuits

Bodysuits are a must have, as your bambino will live in these to begin with. Remember to wash your babies clothes before wearing. I have found a pack of 5 for £19.99. Made from organic cotton with a cute animal print on the front in white so it does not matter what sex your bambino is. Available from Little Butterfly. For non-organic, a tighter budget, but still great quality, John Lewis is fantastic, with stuff like 7 short-sleeved bodysuits for £8.

Babygros

Ideal when small for either lounging about at home or when going to bed, there are some very funky babygros out there to suit all budgets. I have chosen to highlight an organic cotton stripey babygro from favourites of ours DamTam for £8.99. Comes in a choice of 2 colours and sizes 0-3 to 12-18 months. Again John Lewis is brilliant.

Cardigans

These will come in handy in the cooler months. There are so many to choose from but I have chosen a lambswool mix from Vertbaudet, coming in 2 colours. Available in sizes 3-18 months for £9.

Moses Basket

I had a moses basket for all of mine and loved it, although some people pass on having one. You can always sell it on or buy a pre-used one if you wish to reduce your costs. I have found one at Hippins which includes the mattress, light top quilt, soft maize basket and dressings in a pale yellow colour with a Jungle ABC design. Available for £59.95.