Natural Nursery: Make Your Baby's Room Greener

If you're interested in making sure that you have a green home, your baby's nursery is one of the main areas you should focus on. Creating an eco-friendly nursery is good for the environment, and it also helps to keep the room healthy for your baby. 

You can use a few different tricks if you're thinking of ways to create a natural nursery. The way you decorate it, the things you choose to put in it and how you clean it can all make a difference to how green your nursery is. Take a look at these methods for making it more natural.

Use Paint with No VOCs

VOCs (volatile organic compounds) can be found in most house paints, as well as a variety of other materials. These chemicals can affect the air quality, and they're not particularly healthy, especially for a nursery. Fortunately, you can get paint that doesn't contain VOCs or only has a very low level of them. It's important to be careful when you paint a nursery, anyway. You should always make sure that the room is well ventilated and has plenty of time to air out before your baby starts sleeping in there.

Pixabay photo

Choose Toys Made with Natural Materials

As well as practical items, you probably want to fill the nursery with toys. It's hard sometimes to keep the volume of toys under control, but sticking to natural and eco-friendly ones can help. 

If you want toys that are healthy and greener than those made from plastic, there are plenty of baby toys made from wood and other organic materials, such as cotton. Of course, you also need to make sure that any toys you choose are safe too. That means checking for any small pieces that could come off or anything that could cause injury.

Pick Organic Bedding

The bedding in your baby's bed is another thing to consider too. You have to put some thought into how safe it is in other ways, so it's a good idea to think about how natural it is at the same time. Choosing organic bedding will ensure you have eco-friendly, soft and natural materials. You can often make sure that it's fair trade too, especially if you choose to buy organic cotton. There are still plenty of cute options for colours, patterns and styles if you choose organic bedding for your baby's nursery, and it's not hard to find.

Use Green Cleaners

You also need to think about how to keep your nursery clean. It's understandable if you want to choose gentle and natural cleaners for this room in particular. But you also want to keep everything clean to help your baby stay healthy. Fortunately, there are more natural cleaning products that will help you clean your baby's room and are also non-toxic and good for the environment. It's also good to keep in mind that you don't want to clean obsessively - babies need to be exposed to some germs to help their immune system.

Make your nursery more natural by carefully choosing the things you choose to go in it, as well as how you clean it.

Running for their lives – Alder Hey Children’s Charity launches Running Hub for useful information on running for charity

Fancy running for charity?

One of the most fun and rewarding ways to raise money for charity is to take part in a running event. Now, Alder Hey Children’s Charity wants to help runners get even more from their race.

We’ve launched the Alder Hey Running Hub to provide help and advice to runners of any age or ability. Because running a Marathon, or even your first 5k, can help to boost a person’s health and self-esteem, but could also allow them to do something extraordinary for those who need it most.

Childhood should be filled with happiness, laughter and fun.

Unfortunately, for some children, this time can involve more trips to the hospital than the park. But now a trip to the hospital doesn’t have to be daunting or scary. 

With the recreational and distraction techniques funded by Alder Hey Children’s Charity, we can help children to be children, even when they’re forced to be patients.

The charity also raises funds for pioneering equipment which can improve children’s experience in surgery, and improve their chances of a full recovery.

Just ask Daniel Bell, and his mum, Rosalind.

 When three-year-old Daniel was diagnosed with a brain tumour, he was rushed to Alder Hey, a centre for excellence in brain conditions. His tumour was the size of an adult fist and there was a possibility that the surgery which would save his life could also rob him of key motor and mobility skills. 

Thankfully, his surgeries were aided by Alder Hey’s state of the art 3-T MRI scanner. The device, which was paid for by charitable donations, allows surgeons to scan the brain during surgery and assess the success of the operation in the operating theatre and not many months after recovery.

Daniel is now a healthy and active seven-year-old boy, and a budding actor besides, who was recently seen in a production of Little Shop of Horrors with his local Performing Arts Club.

He also raises money for Alder Hey and was proud to be named a Young Fundraising Ambassador for the charity. 

So far, Daniel and his family have raised more than £22,000 for Alder Hey. 

They’ve accomplished this by collecting people’s Christmas trees. But this is just one of the many fun and exciting ways our fundraisers young and old can help out, from bake sales and charity car washes to exhilarating park runs.

Why not explore our brand new running hub? 

You’ll find help, inspiration and lots of motivation. You’ll find delicious and nutritious recipe ideas, running tips, and training guides for every distance.

Lily is an Alder Hey ambassador  

So if you’d like to challenge yourself to run a 5K, 10K or even a marathon we would love to you go and check out the Alder Hey Running Hub now.

Top Tips that will Help you To Adjust to Life as a New Parent

If you are a new mother then you will understand how life-changing this can be. At times you may feel as though all you need is a few hours’ sleep and at other times you just need to be with your child no matter what. The bond that you have with your child will be unlike anything that you have ever experienced before and at the same time, you are exhausted like never before. If you want to get some top tips that will help you to adjust to being a new mum then here are some hints that will help you to get started.

You Don’t Have to be Super Quiet

Believe it or not, you don’t actually have to be super quiet when your baby is sleeping. This is because in the womb, things are pretty loud and newborn babies are really used to that level of noise. For this reason, you shouldn’t be afraid to watch television if this is what you want to do and you should also not be afraid to vacuum up either. If you need to wash the dishes then get it done or even speak on the phone when you know that the baby is sleeping. In fact, if you are able to get your baby used to sleeping with some level of noise then this can really help them in the future and you may even get to the point when you can vacuum up while they sleep when they are over a year old. If you feel bad about making noise then this is completely normal, but the sooner you are able to get around this the better it is for you and them as well.

image source

Try and Soothe your Baby

When your baby cries, you may feel helpless and you may also find it hard to know what to do. One thing that you can do is try and pat them on the back in a heartbeat rhythm. This will help them to burp much more quickly and it will also help them to relax much more as well. If they are crying because they don’t feel secure then this can work wonders. If this doesn’t work then try and swaddle the baby, hold them on their side or even swinging them from side to side. The more you can do to try and provide them with some level of comfort, the better so you do have to try and keep this in mind wherever possible.

Image source

Latching On

if you are a mother then you may find it hard to get your baby to latch. It is more than possible for you to use breast shields to help you with this and there is no shame in admitting that you find it difficult. It is also important to know that it is okay to be frustrated at this point but what is happening is completely normal. So many mothers go through things like this and it can be a difficult phase for you to try and get through. If you would like to try and get some support nursing when you are out and about then the best way for you to get around this would be for you to try and look into things such as the best nursing tops. This can provide you with a lot of confidence and it can help you to nurse your baby when you are out.

Prepare

When your baby is around a month old, there is a high chance that the days and nights will become more predictable. At this point, you will be able to focus completely on your newborn as well as yourself. It is so important that you are able to take into account your own stress levels and you also need to focus on preparing your own meals as well. If you are struggling to do this then one way for you to get around this would be for you to prepare your meals way ahead of time. This way you don’t have to prepare too far ahead and you also don’t have to worry about how you are going to cook when they are crying. Little things can really help you out here, such as putting a glass of water next to your bed before you sleep and even watching your favourite TV show. When you do things like this to try and look after yourself, you would be surprised at how much energy you have in the day and you would also be surprised at how much you can de-stress as well.

Keeping your Baby Awake

This may sound like a strange concept because most of the time you will probably be trying to get your baby to go to sleep. If your baby is eating slowly and trying to sleep then you can try and massage their cheeks. When you do this, it will help them to suckle faster and this is sometimes all it takes for you to try and encourage them. So many people find that this works and it also helps to stop them from waking up again soon for another feed. When babies are able to fill themselves up before they go to sleep, they can then feel more relaxed and there is also a high chance that they will be calmer as well. This is great if you are struggling to get them to sleep for longer periods of time and it also gives you way more time to try and get things done as well.

So there are plenty of things that you can do to try and keep your baby in good health and when you follow the above tips, you can be sure to keep yourself in good health as well. After all, sometimes you only need to take a few simple steps to really turn your life around and when you are a new mother, this is really helpful even at the best of times.

*Collaborative post

...Crazy Chicken Lady...

Soooo my chicken count has gone from 3 to 7 in just over two months!

Once I had my original 3 I just couldn't help but want more, so here I am now 7 chickens in and completely chicken crazy and wishing for that basket full of rainbow coloured eggs!

So let me introduce the new ones...

Luna and Hermione who are Lavender Araucana's and they lay blue eggs.

These are pure breeds and will most likely stop laying during the colder months, but that's alright with us, eggs are just a bonus.

We've had these two just over a month now and Luna started laying on Saturday. 

Her little pullet egg was totally worth the wait and I cannot wait for Hermione to join the layers club.

She enjoys singing the egg song for Luna so I'm guessing it won't be long till she's part of the club.

We did try to get them to coexist with the original three but it just wasn't to be.

Coraline and Betsy full on attacked them and it was far too stressful for everyone, so we quickly knocked up a chicken coop in our wood store, it was a bit shabby to start with but now it's looking pretty cool and they are happy.

Owning five chickens just left me wanting more and I couldn't help but stalk the poultry facebook groups I'm now a member of to see who was selling what type of bird and I saw someone selling some Partridge Pekin Bantams and even though I had said I didn't want Bantams I knew I had to have some.

I missed out on the first post but it wasn't long till someone else was selling some.

So meet Sansa and Arya...

They are only two months so it won't be until next year that they start laying but when they do they will lay little cream eggs.

We decided they would be housed with the Araucana's as they are a gentler breed and after a day or so they took them under their wings and we've had no upsets.

Hermione seems to have become the girls adoptive mum and they are never far apart, I've even spotted them all snuggling up for an afternoon nap.

The girls all have their runs, but at least once a day they will get free reign of the garden and go scratching around the grass and upturned raised beds for goodies.

They have all gotten used to me and the original girls will actually follow me around waiting for me to magically produce special treats for them.

Hermione still is a bit iffy with me and the two babies still zoom away when we get too close, but I'm sure it won't be long till they realise I'm not out to kill them.

Our egg basket gets full pretty quickly even with only three ladies laying and the boys love their fresh egg breakfasts.

They've all developed bonds with the girls and all enjoy helping out with them.

I started a brand new Instagram just for the chickens.... told you I was a crazy chicken lady but I love sharing their pictures along like-minded crazy chicken heads.

If you want to keep up to date with the chicken goings on why not follow them...

www.instagram.com/tattooedchickenlady

... Back To School With Spiral Backpacks ...

It's finally here! 

Spiral's Back to school collection is ready to keep your kids

ahead of the pack this term.

Noah was recently sent one of Spiral's superly cool backpacks ready for his return to Year 6!

He's truly going to be rocking his back to school look with this awesome Galaxy Saturn design OG backpack.

RRP £24.99

Spiral is an eye-catching alternative to the outdated idea that backpacks are simply an item to carry your day to day belongings. 

Spiral backpacks are a canvas to make a statement about our character – and make sure we look good doing so!

Bag Features

- Hard wearing premium Polyester fabric 
- Reinforced and adjustable back straps 
- Additional back padding 
- Spacious front pocket 
- Media port 
- Grab handle 
- Custom Spiral labelling

Interior features:

- Large, 18L capacity 

- Hidden zip pouch 

- Inner laptop / book divider

Dimensions - 29 x 14 x 44 cm

As soon as Noah saw the bag he was in love, he's had the same backpack since Year 4 so he was over the moon to get such an awesome bag as a replacement. 

He's usually pretty fussy over bags and every time I show him a new one he'll always decline and say he likes his current one better.

I knew he would love this bag as his favourite colour is purple and he always enjoys looking at the stars with me and now he has all of that to carry around on his back.

There is plenty of space for all his school books and his homework will no longer go in scrunched up as he'll be able to place it neatly in the laptop section.

He also takes a ridiculous amount of reading books into class for what reason I am unsure of, but I know with the Spiral OG backpack he'll have plenty of space to do so.

To see more designs from Spiral why not check out their website & Social sites...

www.spiraluk.com

Facebook 

Twitter

Instagram 

... Puppy Dog Pals Toy Collection ...

If your children adore the show Puppy Dog Pals over on Disney Jr they're going to love the brand new Puppy Dog Pal toy collection!

We were recently sent a twitter party box filled to the brim with Puppy Dog Pal toys.

The boys couldn't believe their eyes!  

I thought I'd let you have a sneak peak ahead of the Puppy Dog Pal twitter party that we are part of on the 15th August at 1pm.

Inside our box we had...

Figures on The Go

RRP £12.99

Load your figure and their vehicle into the launcher, press down on the paw-print and watching them zoom off!

Puppy Love Plush and Pet & Talk Plush Pals.

RRP £16.99 & £9.99

The super soft and cuddly Puppy Love Plush are they perfect canine companion. Their large size will have kids playing and cuddling for hours.

Press the Pet & Talk Plush to activate the fun head bobbing movement and hear over 10 sounds and phrases from the show.

Deluxe Figure Set

RRP £29.99

The perfect set for the ultimate fan! All your favourite characters and accessories in one set!

Doghouse Playset

RRP £29.99

Kids can relive the fun with the action-packed two story Doghouse playset!

Bingo and Rolly figures can ride on the tyre swing, take the lift up and down, play on the seesaw and so much more!

Included poseable ARF figure as a vehicle too!

Travel Pets and Figures

RRP £3.99

Each travel pet carrier contains one collectable figure. The adorable signature pet carriers are perfect for both play and display.

The boys all had fun playing with the Puppy Dog Pal Toy Collection and each has their favourites.

Rupert has had endless fun playing with the Doghouse playset with the deluxe figure set acting out his very own Puppy Dog Pal shows, the twins have enjoyed racing their Figures on the Go each trying to outspeed the other and Noah has taken his Puppy Love Plush to bed every night since he unboxed him. He's always wanted a Pug and now he has his very own one.

The Puppy Dog Pal Toy Collection has something for everyone's budget and some of the bigger sets would make fantastic birthday / Christmas presents (yes I know I said the C word!)

They will all spark the child's imagination and they'll have endless fun with each and every toy!

All toys suitable for ages 3 and up.

Double thumbs up from the Mini Beast Gang.

Available from all good toy stores and Amazon 

Please join us over on Twitter @ukmumstv on the 15th August @ 1pm.

#PuppyDogPalsToys 

**We were sent the toy collection for free, all thoughts are our own.**

Beach Days

The start of the summer holidays hit us like a bus and we've all struggled to adjust to a new routine, so last Friday we got up had breakfast then headed out the door.

No time for tantrums or any sort of moaning, we walked from our house down to the beach.

As it was early the beach was pretty empty and the tourists were all still in their holiday homes.

So it seemed we had the whole stretch to ourselves.

The boys had a paddle in the sea and enjoyed jumping over the waves, once they decided they were too wet and started getting a bit grumpy I decided to treat them all to morning ice creams.

A bit of a sugar pick me up and a run along the sea they were happy to take on my challenge of finding the smallest shells they could possibly see!

That kept them busy well over 2 hours.

Here are a couple of photos from our morning.