Mumpreneur - Carrie from Baby Swap or Shop

As the rise of the mumpreneur seems to be daily in the news we asked Carrie from Baby Swap or Shop what she is looking forward to in 2012 and whether she could share a few tips for other mums wanting to take the plunge into self-employment
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What are you looking forward to in 2012?
I am looking forward to taking the website to a new level in terms of traffic as well as new features and the re-launch!

What are your goals?
To take our website to a high level and ultimately makes some money! I want to see BSOS become a household name...

What are the best things that have happened for you and your business in 2011?
Personally, and professionally - Got married in June and we have recruited staff and the website has gone a long way we have also launched a social media business - Picnic Media

What's your top tip to anyone thinking of starting a business in 2012?
Do your research, plan a strategy, don't expect an easy ride, work hard and hopefully be rewarded.

Where do you want to be in 5 years?
I would like to see BSOS being massive and possibly the introduction of Kids Swap or Shop and so on. I think taking the site from strength to strength, building a community of parents and making sure we offer a great place for parents to swap shop and communicate with each other.

What is the most important thing you've learnt this year - personally and professionally?
You can't take your foot off the gas!! You don't have time to be ill or go on holiday! ; ) (unless you have cover).

In the next month or so I will be dipping my feet into the world of self-employment as I open an online cloth nappy store as well as give free advice to parents online and help local parents try cloth nappies out within West Midlands. Wish me Luck!

WIN: One of THREE Pairs of Bobux Shoes

Win one of three pairs of Bobux!

The original baby & toddler footwear that combines nature with nurture

From birth to three, little feet undergo an enormous amount of change. Whether crawling, toddling or walking, a child’s footwear needs to support healthy, natural development.

Bobux, a leading New Zealand innovator in children’s footwear, draws on both science and working with globally renowned specialists and natural health researchers to create eco-friendly footwear that allows unrestricted development as babies and toddlers grow.

Bobux offer three ranges of footwear based around the philosophy that children do better when they’re comfortable, happy and free to develop as nature intended. Each shoe is designed to support key stages of a child’s development from crawling to walking.

Soft Sole (indoor wear)
The first ever soft-soled elasticated leather baby shoe was created in 1991 by Bobux founder Chris Bennett. These are soft, breathable and flexible shoes for babies of 0 to 27 months. Made with eco-leather and non-toxic stitching and dyes. With a unique elastic ankle support, these Bobux originals works with little feet as they grip the floor, flex muscles and spread toes, assisting in crawling and making those first steps as easy as possible. The fun, colourful soft sole designs also work to stimulate little minds just as they’re starting to take in visual information. It’s like having a mobile on the end of their legs!

Pre-walk (outdoor wear)
Feature a revolutionary duo-flex sole (leather round the edges and rubber underneath) to support but not restrict natural movement during those first few steps. The pre-walk range consists of sandals, ballet shoes and sport shoes.

i-walk (outdoor wear)
A soft, flexible rubber-sole shoe with extra grip that conforms to the natural walking motion of little feet allowing them to grow and explore without restriction, avoiding malformation and spinal issues later in life. The i-walk range consists of sneakers, loafers, casual shoes and sandals.

We got to try some of the i-walk range for boys and must say they are great. It was nice to find some boots for boys and although they have been used and worn so often inside and outside they haven't taken much wear or tear, so thumbs up from us!

To view the entire collection visit www.bobux.co.uk Prices start from £19.

To be in to win one of THREE pairs of Bobux shoes click here to enter!

Competition Ends: 9th January 2012 11:59pm
Please Note: This competition is for UK residents only, sorry!


Please leave a comment once you have entered to tell me you've entered the contest and good luck!


Disclosure: We were given a pair of Bobux boys boots to try out, however our opinions is our own... we do truly love them!

When is Your Baby No Longer a Baby?

Just 5 hours old.

I had pondered for a while as to when you start to call your baby a 'Toddler' rather than 'Baby' and ignored this simply because everyone else calls my son a baby. But today it hit me in the face hard and actually made me rather sad.

When is your baby no longer a baby? When you realise all the clothes in the baby section of the store are too small and you are now having to look into the girls/boys clothes section.

I was out buying some new clothes for my boy today as he has out grown a lot of his stuff and the weather has finally become more summer-like. I found myself in the little boy's section of Asda Living buying shorts for the first time. Tesco was no different, I wandered around the baby clothes but it dawned on me... he was not a baby anymore.

13 months old and reorganising his clothes.

Of course he will always be our little boy, whether he's crawling around going "baba" or when he's six foot tall and moving into his own pad.

So when did you realise your child was no longer a baby? Do you think 'Toddler' is when they start to crawl or walk or something else?

Our Week Away

We were away for a week, well Baby Al and I were. We spent a whole week with my parents in the countryside, enjoying time away from the busy urban life we live and got to go to The Deep in Hull as well. Here are a few pictures of our time away.

"Hello, just taking a morning crawl around the house!"

I think the cute-o-meter just broke.

Over the Humber Bridge... looks gloomy!

A power nap before an exciting day at The Deep.

"Ooohhh! Fishies!"

Looking into the big tank with Granddad.

The floor reacted to feet or hands and the fish would swim away!

Back over the bridge and it's sunny and warm!

"Can I have some Omega 3 tablets, Mummy?"

I did a few videos at The Deep as flash photography was not allowed and because it was very dark in most areas photographs without flash didn't come out very well. I shall have to make a video at some point of the fun you can have there and all the interesting things you can see.

About VBlogging by Baby Al

Do check out GeekMummy and British Mummy Bloggers.

Silent Sunday - In Hospital

Petit Baby Syndrome

My son is a little baby for his age. This can be a problem as not only do I get comments from people saying he's small for his age but I find myself looking at other babies and those who are the same age as him are huge compared to Baby Al and last week I met a little baby who was only 4 months old and yet he was the same size as my 10 month old.

All this does make me paranoid that I am not feeding my son enough food or the right things. He loves fruit, vegetables, meat, and so on. About the only two things he doesn't like are cheese (on it's own, loves it as a sauce with his greens) and broccoli. I find myself in some sort of panic as I go into the cupboard to pick something that will make my son grow. Daft, right? I know it is but this is what it has come down to, all because a few people pointed out that he's small for his age and from my eyes overlooking that others are bigger than him.

I have a baby boy who would eat all day if I let him. Right now he's just had breakfast less then an hour ago and even after all the filling and healthy breakfast food he has just had he still wants more. So he's munching on a couple of grapes, a new fruit for him that he seems to love so much that he has to stare at each grape for a good long time before considering to eat it and then finally biting down on it. There are days where I think maybe I should give him some biscuits instead of fruit, but another side of me thinks if I just fed him biscuits he may end up unhealthy and I'd blame myself for the rest of my life and he'd be bullied at school and... aarghhhh! I know, I know, I am one crazy lady.

The thing is, and I say this because I don't want to end this with you worrying your child isn't eating enough and becoming like me, you should only be concerned when they stop gaining weight or lose weight. And don't go rushing to the scales every hour of every day. You can get your child checked by a health visitor. At first they tend to say come in every 1-2 weeks and then every month and so on. This is because at first babies gain weight like no tomorrow and by about 6 months old it starts to slow down, I use to see Baby Al put on 1lb a week when he was newborn and now he's doing that once a month.

If you have concerns about your child's weight gain then speak to your Health Visitor or GP.