The Baby Show - Top 10 Must-Have Baby Products

Top 10 must-haves at The Baby Show NEC
Innovative new products in abundance at parenting show

Taking place this weekend and now in its tenth year, The Baby Show remains shopping heaven for new mums and mums to-be.  Here, we share with you the ten hottest products at the show.

1. Bouncing fun with Fisher-Price

Baby will be bouncing around in delight in this gorgeous Jumperoo! With all the great features mum has come to expect, plus a new specially designed space-saving frame. With 360 degrees of fun, baby’s bounces will activate music, lights and rewards! Three-position height adjustments enable a custom fit and comfortable, safe bouncing fun for baby. Featuring a removable seat for cleaning, the Jumperoo folds for storage. Suitable when a baby can hold their head independently, this one-of-a-kind product is definitely one to check out with your little one! Usually £100, it’s £75 at the show!

2. Unique new car seat from Britax

Say hello to the new generation of car seats, with Britax’s brand new TRIFIX. The TRIFIX is the first seat to feature a revolutionary ISOFIX + installation system providing complete and unrivalled protection for your little one. It combines three unique Britax technologies; the patented and proven pivot link ISOFIX system reduces the seats forward rotation, V-Tether controls  and absorbs frontal forces by adding a third anchorage point, New, wider, ISOFIX fixings further improve side impact protection.

3. Exclusive to the show, it’s the Marks & Spencer maternity range
Usually only available online, you can view this beautiful maternity range from Marks & Spencer at The Baby Show. There are some gorgeous v-neck dresses perfect for summer and flared and bootleg jeans that support and grow as you do.

4. Tasty new treats for your little one with Plum Baby
Take babies on a taste adventure with the new products from Plum. Organic baby food brand, Plum, is launching a new range of stage three (10+months) meals, enabling mini adventurers to taste flavours from around the world; no wok or paella pan required. Be sure to try the scrummy Mediterranean paella and salmon.

5. Carry in style with the My Carrier from Stokke
The new Stokke MyCarrier is a new unique 3 in 1 baby carrier that allows you to keep your baby close, maintaining your symbiotic harmony as your child grows. Adjustable and really easy to use Stokke® MyCarrier grows with your child adapting to their ever changing needs as they develop and grow.

6. Mothercare makes bathing easy

The Mothercare Aqua Pod is a unique extra long bath mat with a special support for your baby, and allows you to keep both hands free to wash your little one or join in bath time games.

7. New cotbed with Babies R Us makes the perfect sleep option

A Contemporary, fresh, brand new Cotbed from Babies R Us. With three mattress positions, two split ends for easy conversion into a toddler bed. Co-ordinates with Babies R Us Dresser, Wardrobe, Tall Boys and Storage / Toy Box, available in White or Antique. This was £199.99 but now at £129.99, great value!

8. iBaby Monitor allows you to keep a watchful eye

Wherever you are, the iBaby Monitor keeps your baby close with a simple swipe of your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad! Innovative and most certainly a must-have for 2012, the iBaby Monitor is ideal for the modern mum, allowing you to immediately respond to your baby through two-way audio and one touch response. iBaby knows that babies move and traditional baby monitors don’t, the iBaby Monitor follows your little one with an up/down or left/right swipe of your iOS 4.0+ touch screen or click of your PC mouse.

9. Sit in style with the Baby Snug from Mamas & Papas

 The Baby Snug is the ideal first seat as it grows and adjusts with your baby and is ergonomically designed to provide support and comfort for your little one. It is also easy to clean and lightweight.

10. Want something a little different then look no further than Poco Nido
A gorgeous new range of clothing and footwear, this is perfect for those wanting something super sweet and different.  The shoes look like they have just come off this year’s catwalk, especially with the cat design!

For more information on The Baby Show log on to www.thebabyshow.co.uk.

Review: Britax B-Smart 4 Pushchair

When I was asked to test out and review one of Britax's pushchairs I jumped at the chance as we own a Britax car seat and had heard many good things about their products in the past. So we got sent the B-Smart and here's what we thought of it.

Waiting for our train - I love how big
the shopping basket is!

I picked the B-Smart 4 as this suited us more than the B-Smart 3 would have. Putting it together wasn't too hard, I was shocked to see the size of the back wheels which are huge! The manual was fairly easy to follow, although it came in so many different languages the first task was to find "GB" for English. Everything clicked in with ease and didn't come back out without the use of a button of some kind, which puts your mind at ease knowing the wheels you just put on aren't going to pop off whilst out doing your weekly shopping. Unfolding it was also simple to do too. It's slightly wider then I expected and bigger looking and first downfall for me was the handle bar isn't as soft as it could be. I do however like the brake system which you just press it down so it clicks in and shows red. This means it's on and won't move at all. You then press it again and it goes green, meaning the brakes are off and can move the pushchair again. The only way you can not put the brake on properly is by not clicking it down enough, but if you see red and it stays red then the brake is on fully. The hood is very large and there's a zip in the middle so if you have your child forward facing and want to check on them then you can unzip the hood and see them with great ease. I also like to point out that the shopping basket is very big and has two pockets as well. Thumbs up so far from me!

In Town
Taking this around supermarkets was a breeze, however a few times whilst clothes shopping I found it was too wide and I ended up dragging a bunch of clothes with me as I passed them. The wheels easily moved around and felt smooth when on a bumpy bit of pathway.

In the City
I didn't have much trouble getting around the city, however in some of the shops where they have put stands in the middle of their floor space I found we'd get stuck and unable to get around them due to being too wide for the gap that they considered to be suitable.

In the Country
No real problems here, thanks for the big wheels. I must say the wheels have taken some damage though and did collect a bit of dirt on them. Disappointing there but this didn't have trouble on bumpy ground.

On Public Transport
Getting this on the train was tricky as it meant picking up it. This pushchair is 12kgs which is 2kgs more then what I'm normally use to. It can be little hard to hold onto when someone is trying to help by picking up the front, and a few said it was pretty heavy. However the big wheels did help once again and where there were gaps between the platform and train the wheels were big enough that didn't lose control of the pushchair and it was safe on the platform.

So what problems did I have overall? Well the raincover doesn't fit very well when you have it rear facing (baby facing you) and when I did get it on when rear facing it was tight and Baby Al got upset as it pressed against his feet. Also for the £329.99 price tag I'd expect a footmuff.

You can change the height of the bumper bar.

Pros
- Big wheels helps with bumps and taking down stairs.
- Black base makes it look very stylish!
- Easy to maneuver.
- Huge shopping basket with two pockets!
- Comes with a raincover.
- Easy click on and off braking system.

Cons
- Wider than most pushchairs.
- Expensive.
- Raincover only fits properly when seat is forward facing.
- Doesn't come with a footmuff.

Baby Al's Rating: 7/10
Petit Mom's Rating: 7/10

We do really like this pushchair, but the price of £329.99 is a bit much for us, specially when it doesn't come with a footmuff. I must say I did get the raincover on the B-Smart 4 to fit when rear facing, but it stopped us getting to the shopping basket and was very tight.

This product was kindly provided to us by Britax.