Memory Quilt.

It's been a while since I last blogged; but whilst getting Riley's room ready to share with his baby sister, I came across this and decided to start sharing again ...

Riley's finished memory quilt.

This is a memory quilt that I had made using some of the clothes from Riley's first year; the ones that weren't so special I didn't want cut up but also ones that I didn't want to give away or chuck out. I would have loved to have made a quilt myself like this but my impatience, I wanted to get one made as soon as possible, and fear of destroying the baby clothes led me to ask about on a Facebook page called Crafty Bums and Lisa from Monkey Sew Monkey Do got back to me; http://www.facebook.com/MonkeySew. Lisa makes absolutely beautiful quilts so I had no doubt that, although mine was the first memory quilt she was to make, it would be brilliant like the others she makes. 

Lisa was in contact with me every step of the way, telling me her ideas, asking for any input I might have and updating her page with the photographic progress of my quilt. What I absolutely LOVE about this quilt is that unlike others I have seen, Lisa isn't simply cutting the clothes out and patching them together, she cuts little characters from the clothing and appliques them on to the quilt and adds her own decorative touches, such as cutting Riley's name out of his clothes for the quilt. There is so much more thought and care put in to the making of the quilt and this really shows in the quality of the finished product. In fact, the quilt is so brilliant that it is sadly stored away as I don't want Riley ruining it - however by blogging about his memory quilt, I now get to share it with everyone!! 

 This patch is made up of 3 different babygrows and the character and kite have been cut out from another outfit and appliqued on to the quilt.

Riley's name cut and stitched on to the quilt with the addition of buttons from another item of clothing sent. 

Prices begin from £100 for cotbed size quilts (this is the size Riley has) and includes postage costs and any extra materials added to your quilt, the sashing for example.  

These are the clothes that I sent off to Lisa at Monkey Sew Monkey Do.

... And this is what she did with them!!

1st birthday party planning ...

Riley's 1st birthday is fast approaching, a whole year has almost passed to my utter disbelief, and so I have began planning his party. I absolutely LOVE planning things so I'm completely in my element at the moment. We decided that hiring some soft play equipment for the day would be great fun for all the young children we will be inviting to Riley's party and I found this great company - Bugs Soft Play, that unlike so many others, offer so much equipment and for the WHOLE day. We have chosen the Bugs Standard Package priced at £99 (for the day). We had to pay a 40% deposit to secure our date and the rest will be payable on the day. The only problem I found is that May 19th (Riley's birthday weekend) was booked with 3 different companies!! I have therefore settled for May 26th. 

 Images belong to and are taken from, http://www.bugssoftplay.co.uk/index.php

Before I hired the equipment I called the local Church to see if we could hire the hall and use the gardens, as if it rains my Mum's front room won't accommodate all the soft play equipment and there is the bonus that the Church garden is bigger. Church halls, it turns out, are a great place to have children's parties ... £8.50 an hour; BARGAIN!! So, we now have the option to hold the party outside if we are blessed with a nice day or indoors, if in typical Great British style, we have a gloomy day. 

I haven't yet got around to placing an order for a cake but I do have an exact idea of what I would like. I have also got ideas for things like plates, cups, napkins etc. At the moment my next plan is to start looking into party invites as I would like to send out personalised ones to Riley's guests. 

My final big idea, is for the children to have a teddy bears picnic, whilst they sit down and eat, where we will give each of the children invited their own Build-a-Bear. I have so far purchased a couple but plan to buy a few each month, to spread the cost, up until the party. This will be the childrens' party favour as very young children can't have a party bag. 

Two of the bears I have already purchased.

Though Riley won't remember his 1st birthday party, it will be a lovely opportunity for all of our friends and family to celebrate his first year with us and for the children, a great day to play. 

What did you do, have planned or are you currently planning to mark your little one's 1st birthday? 

Record Books ...

Riley has been doing a couple of new things in the past week, which I thought I should record somewhere in his record book; I'm usually so bad at remembering to update it! So I though I would share some of the pages from his record book on my blog. We have Eric Carle's Very Special Baby Book which retails at £12.99, however we got ours form Amazon for just £7.26, with FREE delivery! This is a lovely hardback book that comes in a presentation box, to keep it looking nice. The illustrations in the book are bright and are taken from different Eric Carle books. 

The front of the book has a little window where you can attach a picture of your little one. 

The book has several different sections and though it doesn't have everything I wanted in a record book (month by month pages for example), it was the closest to what I was looking for. I think so many books have too many sections. This book is comprised of the following sections; 

1." Before you were born", which has pages for all about Mummy/Daddy, Mummy's family and Daddy's family, waiting for you, thoughts and feelings. 

 These are some of the pictures I put into this section of myself and James in the years before Riley was born. 

These pictures are of both of our graduation ceremonies in 2010 ... little did we know we would be pregnant with Riley a couple of months later!

Some pictures I took of Riley's scans. 

2. The next section is titled "Welcome"! and has pages for your child's birth story along with space for both Mummy and Daddy's version of events! There is then some space for pictures, hand and footprints, birth announcements and an envelope to store hospital bracelets and other keepsakes. This section ends with a page to document what was happening in the world. 

 These are a couple of Riley's first pictures. 

 Riley's footprint.

Riley's hospital wristband x2 and belly button clip. 

3. "Coming Home". This section has space for, "Bringing You Home"; where you can record what baby was wearing and what you did in that first week. There is picture space for family, and a page to document visitors in those first few days. 

This is Riley's Bringing You Home page. 

4. "Your Firsts & Favourites". There is a page for firsts including; sleeping through the night, smiling, rolling over, sitting up, waving, crawling, standing, first words, holding a spoon, holding a bottle and first steps. There is also a first haircut page with an envelope to store a lock of hair. There is then a page for favourite things like toys and plenty of photo space in this section of the book. 

This is a picture from Riley's first football match and kit. He was only 11 days old for the Champions League Final. 

Riley's First's page.

4. "Playtime". Favourite friends, toys and picture space for playtime with both Mummy and Daddy. Bathtime rituals, bedtime rituals, favourite stories and toys baby sleeps with. 

5. "Special Days". Holidays; this is an American book, I realised, so Holidays means Christmas, Halloween, Easter etc. There is some space for pictures, though with the amount I have, I don't think the picture space is adequate! A first birthday page, with plenty of picture space. 

6. "Milestones". An age, height and weight chart. A keeping you healthy page, with space for recording first doctor visits and immunisations etc. Teeth, so you can record which ones come through and when. Finally there is space for letters from friends and family. 

I love this record book and think because of the quality of it, it will be lovely to look back at in years to come. This would make a great present for someone you may know who is expecting a baby ... I would have loved to have received something like this as a gift. 

Do you have a record book? Which one? Why did you choose that one? 

How to be a good mother ...

If only it were as simple as following a manual, or even watching a T.V programme; being a good mother. My "early" night turned into a late one when I decided to stay up and watch "How to be a good mother" on channel 4 wednesday night, http://www.channel4.com/programmes/how-to-be-a-good-mother-with-sharon-horgan/4od. This documentary was fronted by Sharon Horgan who spent some time with six mums, who think their ways of parenting make them good mothers'. Some parts of this documentary had me laughing with how ridiculous/extreme some of these mums views on bringing up their children were; while other parts infuriated me as to how some mums, who think they have got it so right, view other mums, so much so it impelled me to blog.

We see this kind of thing, good parenting, debated all the time, in the news with results of research, saying we are harming our children and hindering their development; if we do or don't do certain things. Then there are other mums, who openly judge your choices and make you feel as if you're not a good mum, because your choices don't mimic their own. There are two points that I really took issue with, the first from stay-at-home-mum Daria who came across as quite ignorant; if you are not parenting her way, you in her mind are not a very good mother. Daria believes that women who go back to work do so because it's easy, easier than staying at home and bringing up your child. I'm due back at work in a couple of weeks and believe me I'm not going back because it's easier. I'm sure most mums will agree with me when I say, I'm going back to work for financial reasons. I would love to stay at home and raise Riley however, if we want to buy our own home and for our son to have the best, we need two wages to be coming in. I also think a little separation is good, for us both, being a mum isn't all there is to being me, and that doesn't make me a bad mother for saying that. It will also give Riley a little independence and will prepare him for the school years, when I can't be with him. I will be working part-time and will therefore be with Riley 24/7 for the majority of the week. I don't think that by working this makes me a part-time mum. 

Well that is rant number 1. over, now for number 2. Lynnea, who is placenta mad might I add, runs her own placenta baking business. What really frustrated me with Lynnea, was her suggestion that people that don't give birth naturally (caesarian section) don't have a bond with their child. How ignorant is this! What are women supposed to do if there are complications that mean this is the only viable option? I'm sure anyone who has had a caesarian section will not have any less of a bond with their child than someone who hasn't, and no woman should put another down for needing one. Her ignorance infuriated me!!


But this got me thinking about another issue that really frustrates me; pain relief. Some women seem to think that unless you give birth with the aid of only gas and air this has made them and their birth so much more triumphant than someone who needed more. Personally I think giving birth, with whatever "help" is an amazing feat. We don't have the exact same pain and experience during birth as each other, everyone is different. So to make someone feel as if they didn't achieve what you did, is awful. My birth plan was natural, natural, natural, NO! to Pethidine and Epidurals ... perhaps I was one of those people, pre-birth, that held that notion and being my first time, I was naive and didn't know what was in store. Fast forward to my birth, the most agonising pain I could ever imagine or even begin to explain. I was panicking and was only 2cm dilated and I needed to calm down so I was given Pethidine; this made me drowsy, it didn't stop the pain in any way or make the birth of my son any easier than someone that didn't have Pethidine.


How to be a good mother, is about doing what you think is right and I don't think it is anyone's place to be saying their way is the right way. After all, we have all been brought up differently and place emphasis on different morals and values, which we try to teach our children when raising them. Since becoming a mum, I've learnt to not take any notice of what anyone else is doing with their children. Ultimately, myself and Riley's dad know him and his needs better than anyone else, therefore so long as we are happy with: how we are raising him, teaching him to be a good citizen and how he is developing as a result of this then I think I'm being a good mother. It's not about if I breastfed or not, if I went to Antenatal classes, how he was born, if I work or don't work, if I take him to baby classes, or what clothes and possessions I buy him.


It seems to me, parenting is just another way for women to put each other down, when really we are all in the same boat; trying to be as good a mother to our children as we can.


What do you think? 

My bargain Diesel baby clothes ... thinking ahead to the summer

I know Christmas has only just passed and that we haven't even seen in the New Year yet, but this hasn't stopped me from thinking about the summer! I'm particularly excited about this one as we will be going on our first family holiday! I've been buying a couple of bits and pieces, already, for Riley and received my latest bargain this morning. 

These were reduced to just £12.30.

These baby Diesel shorts from Cat and Mouse, http://www.catandmousekids.co.uk/?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=13 were £41 reduced down to £12.30! I thought that they would go nicely with a couple of Diesel bargains I picked up a few months ago; 

Navy and pink t-shirt with my bargain shorts.

Lime and white t-shirt with my bargain shorts. 

Both of the Diesel t-shirts pictured are from http://www.dimplesdaisysanddandelions.co.uk/ and cost £8.50 each, both were reduced and were originally priced at £20. 

Finding Neverland ... Personalised jewellery.

I've been saving this post for a while, well just until Christmas had passed, as the product I am about to blog about was a present. I found ANOTHER great Facebook page, this time belonging to Clare Birkby who makes personalised jewellery that incorporates your child's handprints, footprints, drawings, fingerprints and even scan pictures, http://www.facebook.com/neverlandcreations?sk=wall. There are a fair few websites that also sell these products but, Clare's prices are by far the cheapest I've come across (quality is NOT sacrificed for this) and the customer service you receive from Clare is beyond any I have ever received ... I even received an email Christmas card from her!!


So what did I buy? Well, despite coming close to ordering myself a neckless, a charm for my Links of London bracelet and countless other items, I ordered a keying for James inscribed with 'love you daddy' with Riley's handprint on. I emailed Clare who sent me out a handprint pack for £5 so that I could take Riley's handprints/footprints and then take a picture to email to her so she could get to work.


This is what I sent to Clare:

Riley's handprint taken on October 30th 2011 (5 and a half months). 

Once my print had been sent and my invoice paid, I waited for Clare to work her magic and for Riley's Christmas present to his daddy to arrive; delivery is 21-28 days from when payment is received and costs £5, though I think Clare does have an express delivery service (which is charged, understandably, at a higher price). 

You can see my reflection in the keyring, unfortunately I couldn't get a better picture. 

The box it came in, there is also a care card/leaflet with it. 

When you look closely at the keyring and the print I sent to Clare, you can see this is Riley's hand, exactly; the splodge on the thumb, the bent in little finger, the circular make up of the fingers and the little dents depicting the lines on his hands in the outer shape of the hand. As far as I can tell, James was very happy with his personal keyring from Riley, so much so he doesn't want to use it and ruin it! 

I LOVE how personal this jewellery is and I have already picked (and told James) which pieces I would like from Clare. I'm a bit late for my birthday but Mother's day isn't far away!! 

Highchair Review - Cosatto Hiccup Highchair (Lime Zing) RRP £60.

We finally got to the point, a few weeks ago, where feeding Riley in his bouncy chair or Bumbo was just no longer working ... it was time to buy a highchair. We chose the Cosatto Hiccup highchair in Lime Zing which has a rrp of £60.

The Cosatto Hiccup in Lime Zing. 

In typical "Rachel" style, I picked this based on how it looked; modern and minimalistic/non-fussy. I did not think to consider any other factors such as, size, comfort, ease of use etc. When the highchair was delivered, it arrived in a smallish box and took no longer than about ten minutes for James to put together; everything just clicks into place. 

We were a little surprised when the highchair was up, at how small it looked in comparison to how we had envisaged it from the pictures online and on the box. This prompted a massive wave of indecision as to whether we should keep it or not. There was also the fact the Cosatto Hiccup is a non-folding highchair to consider. However, after putting Riley in the highchair and attempting to convince ourselves that we should keep it, we began to see the positives this highchair has. 

The Cosatto Hiccup is small in comparison to other highchairs on the market, however Riley fits snugly into the highchair as the seat cocoons him. Though it looks small, there is plenty of room meaning Riley won't outgrow the highchair too quickly; the box also had older children advertising the Cosatto Hiccup, which was reassuring when we were trying to decide whether it was worth keeping. Without the tray attached, the highchair fits around the dinner table as a normal chair would, meaning it doesn't matter that it doesn't fold down as it really doesn't take up a lot of space. It also means that Riley can sit at the table (when the tray is off) with the rest of the family, properly, which he absolutely loves ... though we have to be careful he doesn't grab food off our plates. Its modern and simplistic design also means that we don't mind keeping it up as it looks good. 

Riley at the dinner table in the Cosatto Hiccup.

Though it doesn't look as comfortable as other highchairs, the plastic seat just wipes clean and therefore cannot be stained with baby food, drinks or dribble. I also think the fact this highchair doesn't fold up and down means that it will last longer than the average highchair as mechanisms cannot break and parts cannot come loose. I would definitely recommend the Cosatto Hiccup and I am glad that we didn't send it back based on our initial reactions to it. 

My latest find ...

I'm not entirely sure what women did on maternity leave before Facebook, probably all of the sorts of things I should be doing! Nevertheless, I made a new Facebook discovery a couple of months ago; The Crafty Mouse, and I have been stalking her page ever since. The Crafty Mouse, the talented Emma Chapman, makes beautiful keepsakes from your baby's clothes; turning them into things like Bunny's, Roary the Lion, Polo the Pony, Sparky the Dragon, Deano the Dinosaur and Scraps the Dog, to name but a few ... All of which have been designed by The Crafty Mouse, herself.


So how does this work ... ? Well, The Crafty Mouse is a very hardworking lady, who as well as being a mum and turning people's precious baby clothes into keepsakes, has a full-time job. Therefore there is a waiting list, which you need to get your name on. When your turn comes about you send off your baby clothes, then begins the eager, stalker like, wait for The Crafty Mouse to work her magic; this can take about four weeks (this time-frame has been taken from http://www.thecraftymouse.co.uk/). Prices for keepsakes range from £15-£25 (prices are correct at the time of this post but are due to change in the New Year), though personally I would pay a lot more for something so special and unique. You can also have your keepsake personalised for an extra £3.50. 


I was lucky enough to "jump" the queue as I placed a bid, which was subsequently the winning bid, on a Roary that was kindly donated to a charity auction by The Crafty Mouse.  

Our finished Roary. 

Close up of the personalisation - Riley 17.05.11

All of the items I sent for this keepsake were some of the first clothes Riley wore. Instead of being stuffed into boxes and forgotten about, we now have a beautiful keepsake which I can display and Riley can keep forever. 

These clothes are similar to some of the items I sent to The Crafty Mouse.

I absolutely Love this personalised Roary and I'm still on the waiting list awaiting my "proper" turn. When this comes around, I will be ordering a Sparky the Dragon and Deano the Dinosaur. The quality of these keepsakes is amazing, as are the prices for such a great product. I would definitely recommend getting one!

Santa Claus is going to town

The countdown to Christmas has now officially begun; it is at long last December. I have been looking forward to Christmas 2011 since last Christmas when I was about 4 months pregnant. “This time next year” …  was how most of my sentences began. I LOVE Christmas and this year is extra special as it is Riley’s first and Santa Claus (that’s me) is going to town! 

I began my preparations way back in August, when “normal” people were jetting away on their holidays. I’m not completely crackers though (see what I did there), but, with one full wage, a maternity wage, saving a deposit for a house and raising a baby, this was the only way I could ensure we would be ready for Christmas. 

Firstly, I purchased both James’ and my family’s presents, getting some great deals in the end of summer sales meaning I didn’t need to sacrifice the quality of presents to fit my budget. I have also been buying presents for Riley each month needless to say, the underneath of his cot and our bed are crammed with toys and we still haven’t been out shopping together to buy presents!

Presents aren’t what it’s all about though and although Riley is not old enough to understand what is going on I still want to create a magical first Christmas, what parent doesn’t? I recently ordered a letter from Santa from the NSPCC website, http://christmas.nspcc.org.uk/santa.  I thought it would be lovely so that when he is older, and does understand, he will be able to see that Santa has written to him every year since his first Christmas. I would highly recommend the NSPCC letter from Santa. Of all the letters I looked in to buying, including various sites who specialise in letters from Santa and Toys R Us, the NSPCC letter was the only one that had options for a special, baby’s first Christmas letter and by choosing this one all the funds raised go to a great cause. This letter can be purchased for a suggested donation of £5

 

NSPCC leaflet.

I have also purchased a personalised Santa please stop here sign - £6.99 from Studio Cards, http://www.24studio.co.uk/ss/index.jsp and a lovely Santa sack from sacks ‘n’ stories, http://www.sacks-n-stories.co.uk/santa-sacks-2-w.asp. Jan, who handcrafts these, makes personalised Santa sacks from all kinds of different fabrics and in a variety of different colours etc. The sack I ordered cost £22 (inclusive of postage) and I intend to get a tag to write Riley’s name and address on it … How else would Santa know whose sack is whose in that big ole sleigh? We have also decided that a few presents will be from mummy and daddy. 

Santa Please Stop here sign to go outside.

Riley's personalised Santa sack. Because it's not babyish, 

we can keep this for years to come. 

Riley will be sending out his own personalised Christmas cards. I got these from poundland, £1 for 6.  You simply put a picture inside the frame, ta-dah! Mamas and Papas sell similar cards, which are priced at £4 for 8, http://www.mamasandpapas.com/product-christmas-gift-cards/481101904/type-i/.  I do still need to purchase an outfit, take his picture and get them developed though … hmmm maybe I’m not that organised. 

Each pack has two designs. 

What I’m most excited about is that we will be able to start our own little family traditions, things that will be with us in years to come. This is something we have already discussed, and debated; important things like what to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve. I like the idea of wrapping up a nice new pair of special pyjamas to open on Christmas Eve, and have seen a multitude of Christmasy pyjamas to suit all budgets.

I did attempt to make us each our own stocking, an attempt that failed miserably when I stitched the top of the first stocking shut! I have since purchased plain ready-made stockings and will just personalise them myself.

Writing this post has actually got me panicking a bit when I think of all the things I have left to do; dig out the decorations for tree choosing and decorating day on Saturday, make my Christmas crackers (I did say I was going a bit OTT this year), get a recipe for eggnog, find a ginger bread house, or two, write my Christmas cards, wrap some more presents (I could have my own branch of Clintons cards with the amount and variety of wrapping paper I have) and finish my shopping off. How prepared are you?

I intend to make these a bit more grown up, so

need to find something to go inside them and maybe not 

colour them with crayons!!

24 days to go …

D.I.Y Calendar for 2012

I have been thinking about making my own calendar for 2012, you know the ones where you choose your own pictures. Despite the fact I'm on maternity leave and should have plenty of time, I have never actually got round to beginning the process (I wouldn't really know where to start either). 


Last week in Poundland I came across a blank calendar with spaces to put your own pictures in. This cost a grand total of, yep you guessed it, £1. The calendar actually comes with one pack of 12 6"x 4" white glossy photo paper, so that you can print your pictures at home. I however went to my local Tesco and printed them off in there. 

Blank calendar - 2012.

In about 15 minutes, I had transformed my blank calendar into a 2012 calendar full of pictures of Riley. Because the picture spaces were all for landscape pictures and a lot of mine were portrait, I mounted my pictures onto coloured pieces of card to hide the borders already provided. Here are a few pages from my calendar ... 

 January.

 Looking summery for August.

December.

This calendar is similar to the products offered at this time of year,  particularly on websites like funky pigeon and in stores like Tesco and Asda BUT, at a fraction of the price!

I'm now feeling creative ...

Points mean prizes with Tesco Clubcard ...

While every child will at some point dream of going to Disney World Florida, like me, I'm sure every parent dreams of being able to afford to take their children to Disney World. As if getting to America wasn't expensive enough, theme park tickets really push up the cost of a holiday to Florida. Well, I think I've found an inexpensive way to get there, at least!

Parade in the Magical Kingdom, Disney World Florida.

Points really do mean prizes with Tesco Clubcard, if you exchange your vouchers for some of the deals they offer. Your money back vouchers can be worth up to four times their cash value if exchanged for the many deals offered by Tesco, http://www.tesco.com/clubcard/deals/

As of 2012 Tesco Clubacrd vouchers can be exchanged for tokens to pay in full or in part for a Virgin holiday to Orlando, Florida! On this particular offer your vouchers are worth three times the voucher's cash value! furthermore, Virgin Atlantic were awarded "most baby-friendly airline in the holiday extras customers' awards 2011" (Practical Parenting & Pregnancy, December 2011 p.16). Perfect, if you are considering enduring a nine hour flight with little ones!

What you need to know: 

1. Each voucher is valid for two years.
2. When exchanged into tokens, they are valid for a further six months (your holiday needs to be booked in this six months. It doesn't have to be taken within the six months though). 
3. You need to book at least 21 days in advance.
4. You must book directly with Virgin Atlantic. You cannot go through a travel agent. 
5. You cannot just book flights. Accommodation must be included in this. 
6. Each passenger can use a maximum of £525 in tokens to pay for/towards the holiday (£175 in Tesco vouchers, per person). 
7. All vouchers must be in your name. If your partner or someone traveling with you has a Clubcard you can use their points as well but, basically, all vouchers need to be in the name(s) of persons traveling. 
8. You need to have exchanged the vouchers for tokens at the time of booking.

Once you have tripled the value of your vouchers and received tokens, the remainder of what you have to pay (if there is any left for you to pay), for your family holiday to Disney World, can be kept low by by doing the following; go on to the Virgin website, http://www.virginholidays.co.uk/ and play about with the search function to see when the cheapest times of year to travel are. You could also risk booking late (at least 21 days in advance though), in the hope of getting a great late deal. 

We will certainly be handing over our Clubcard every time we visit Tesco and hopefully, in a couple of years when Riley is a little older, we will be going on a dream family holiday to Disney World Florida!

Pushchair review: Silver Cross 3D Pram System In Henley - £299 (Babies R us) and Quinny Zapp Xtra In Electric Blue - £230 (Mothercare).

It’s been six months since Riley was born and I’ve already had to buy another pushchair. Admittedly I wanted a new one, for reasons I will explain in a moment, however I didn’t expect to HAVE to buy a new one.

A pushchair is one of the main/big/expensive items you’ll purchase when you’re expecting. I spent hours looking for what I wanted online, which was probably my first mistake not actually going to look at them. Eventually I decided the Silver Cross 3D Pram System in Henley was the pushchair for us. My reasons for this were based mostly on how this pushchair looked as a pram, BIG MISTAKE!

Silver Cross 3D as a pram.

Silver Cross 3D as a pushchair.

What I initially loved about this pushchair was that when Riley was born we would be able to use the pushchair as a pram, and then as he got bigger we would be able to use the pushchair as, well, a pushchair.

So what was the problem? Well, where to begin; Riley outgrew the pram function of the pushchair pretty quickly. He wasn’t the biggest of babies, an average sized little boy at 7lb 3oz. We therefore found ourselves constantly using the car seat (Ventura £114.99 – Babies R Us), which is compatible with the 3D Pram System, so that we could have Riley facing us, as at a few months old he still seemed too small to be facing outward and I wanted to be able to see him when we were out and about.  The problem with this was that it made the already heavy pushchair even heavier, not to mention it was a bit of an eyesore.

Silver Cross 3D with Ventura car seat attached. 

The size of the pushchair is pretty big in comparison to some of the other pushchairs on the market and this was evident whenever I took Riley out shopping. Navigating the lifts (oh yes, lifts, you cannot go anywhere without needing to use a lift when you have a pushchair) was an absolute nightmare. Trying to squeeze in, and out, with my huge heavy pushchair, which had a mind of its own due to the wheels taking us in whichever direction they felt like, whilst other mums seemed to be whizzing about hassle free made going out quite a stressful experience. Getting buses was equally as bad. Even when folded down the 3D Pram System took up the whole boot space of our Citron Saxo (we have since brought a new, bigger, car) and lifting it in and out was heavy work, as was putting it up. You’re meant to just lift the “1” and “2” labelled levers and just “flick” the pushchair up and vice versa when folding it down, Voila! Easy! Maybe for Superman but not for an energy drained mother.  Furthermore, we always had problems with the right side of the pushchair, which refused to click into place when being put up.

The final straw came when we had a drama in Sainsbury’s car park a couple of weeks ago. This spelt the end of our time with the Silver Cross 3D Pram System. It just would not fold down! We battled with it and even turned against each other in our quest to put it down. After about twenty minutes James found a wire, which was linked to the mechanism that folds the pushchair down. We managed to get it down and get home. This was the end of the 3D Pram System’s time with us.

There are some positives to the Silver Cross 3D Pram System. In terms of comfort for baby, the Silver Cross 3D pushchair is brilliant. It’s cosy and has several seat positions, including upright and a recline to laying down position. There is a bar which toys can be attached to (something my new one doesn’t have). The basket can carry heavy loads … I know this from carrying six litres of coke in mine. The pushchair is sold with baby bag, footmuff, raincover and pram liner.

For me however, the negatives outweigh the positives and for my next pushchair I wanted something light, easy to get about with and small.  I chose the Quinny Zapp Xtra in electric blue.

Quinny Zapp Xtra forward facing.

Quinny Zapp Xtra rearward facing.

What I loved about this was that I could have Riley facing me without the need for a car seat on my pushchair, though this is compatible with Maxi Cosi car seats and adaptors for it come with the pushchair.  The seat has two positions when rearward facing and three when facing outwards – perfect! The fact the pushchair has a rearward facing function means it is suitable from birth, whereas the original “Quinny Zapp” isn’t. There is also a little footrest that pops into use, and out, for when baby is older and requires it.

 Footrest not in use.

Footrest in use. 

As I alluded to before, there is nowhere on this pushchair for toys to be attached (I have been hooking Riley’s onto the hood). I also think comfort has been sacrificed to enable Quinny to make such a compact pushchair. The Quinny, I believe, is the smallest folding pushchair on the market.

Quinny folded down.

This pushchair is a dream to take out it’s light and easily manoeuvrable. We don’t take up the whole floor space of a lift or the whole disabled bay on a bus.

One negative is that the seat must come off in order to fold the pushchair down whereas on its predecessor, the “Zapp”, the seat folds with the frame. I don’t need Popeye muscles to lift the Zapp Xtra in and out of the car and so far the wheels listen to me. Putting it up did require watching a YouTube video as the written instructions were wasted on me; pictures, argggg. The video on Quinny’s website consisted of women parading about with different colour variations of the Zapp Xtra … not exactly a guide for idiots on how to put it up and down. It really isn’t difficult once you know how though: press the “1 and 2” buttons in and lift the handles and frame up towards you. Then pull the number “3” handle toward you, until it all clicks into place. To fold down, push “1 and 2” buttons in and fold the handle and frame away from you and then push the number “3” handle in and the pushchair will all fold in.

The Zapp Xtra doesn’t come with all the mod cons the Silver Cross 3D does. It does however come with a raincover, basket and adaptors, for a Maxi Cosi car seat. It also has a built-in sun canopy on the hood and the seat cover is removable and therefore washable, which is good as I can already see some grubby marks. I have done some research, as I would like to purchase the matching electric blue footmuff and I have found that a Quinny footmuff is around £50 to buy.

In my opinion based on the experiences I have had with these two pushchairs, the Silver Cross 3D Pram System would get 3/5 marks and the Quinny Zapp Xtra 4/5.

With the busy lives mums lead and the unfriendliness towards pushchairs on the highstreet, practicality far outweighs any other feature a particular pushchair might have. Whilst the Silver Cross 3D Pram System looks very comfortable, it's not really practical and at a cost of £299 (other shops sell this at a higher price), six months use is not acceptable. We were not excessively rough with this pushchair, though you do expect a fair amount of durability with such a product. On the other hand the Quinny Zapp Xtra, which appears to lack slightly in comfort, is a practical lightweight pushchair and at a cost of £230 isn’t too pricey in comparison to similar products on the market.