You're asleep. They looked asleep when you popped in to gaze lovingly at their cuddly torso at 11pm. But they were just pretending. Now it's 3am, and they're plotting. And this is what's on the agenda...
1. These pyjamas aren't my colour. What's the quickest way to get some new ones? Oh yeah I remember. Think of a water fountain and peeeeeeeeeeeeee. Perfect: now it's out of my nappy, onto the PJs, on to the bedding (always nice to have new sheets), so I'll call the washer woman.
2. I wonder if baby sibling is awake too. I'll yell and find out. BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYBEEEEEEE....?
3. What's that small thing lying on the carpet almost within touching distance of my cot? Is it White Bear? OK, I know that Green Bear, Grey Bear, Brown Bear and Yellow Bear are here in my cot, but I'd like White Bear. And I know just the person who'd love to bring me White Bear, and have a tea party with all the other Bears, for an hour, now. I'll just call her. MAAAAAAAMAAAAAAAAAA!
4. What? You outsourced me to dada? No. Not happening. I wanted the other one. The milk one. MAMAAAAAAAAA!
4. Haven't seen the neighbours for a while. It was pretty funny when they rung the bell to check 'if everything was OK' because they hadn't heard screaming so loud "since that episode of Crime Watch." Time to try it again. WAAAAAAH!
5. The side of my cot looks a lot like the slide at the park. Going to try to get over it.
6. Do my teeth hurt? Actually no. But that gel they bought tastes nice. Fancy some. Will cry whilst touching mouth and get some. MAMAAAA!
7. Wait. Is that those noises I hear? The weird ones I heard about nine months before the New One came along? Better do a massive poop and WAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!
The Rainforest Cafe might just be the only restaurant in London to have buggy valet-parking. You stroll up to the red velvet rope at this Piccadilly Circus spot, hand over your wheels (removing the precious cargo inside who might just be inhaling excitement after walking through the cuddly animal-stuffed shop first), are handed a ticket and descend down, past an interior waterfall, into the jungle. No navigating a buggy around the tables here - but then, the Rainforest Cafe is probably London's most child-friendly eatery. It's the sort of place I'd have mocked before I became a parent - I'd have thought the hairy, breathing, tree-tickling gorrillas tacky, and the prices - well I'd have reckoned that I eat at Nobu for about the same price as our family would munch at the Rainforest Cafe. But then I became a parent, and I just visited - with my own tiny man and two nieces, aged 11 and 8 - and the cynicism's gone. They started grinning as soon as we walked in, when our khaki-clad 'safari guide' (the bloke who walks you to your table - you have to enter with a Disney-style belief in magic here) pointed out the parrots hanging from the ceiling, the enormous trump-waving elephant, the fish in the central aquarium, the big dangling gorillas. He remembered that I'd mentioned a special occasion (my oldest niece's starting Big School) on my booking, and asked her all about it. And all three kids beamed all lunch long - and tiny man is still talking about the giant frog who visited our table, of which more later. When we left, the older kids - who I've taken on trips including Legoland, press cinema trips, beach amusement parks, treasure hunts around London - exclaimed: "that was one of our best days out ever!" So that's why I've lost my cynicism. That and the fact that the food was surprisingly good, so I was full and happy. Sure, you're unlikely to win at your diet here: there are salads and I did have one of the best fresh juices I've ever had (freshly-squeezed raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, blueberry & cranberry - £6.30 and worth it, seriously). But nearly every table is gobbling sweet-smelling fries and so... you're likely to enter into said spirit.
We started with nachos, sharing cheddar-oozing and guacamole-loaded chips, then all went for juicy chargrilled burgers. They came loaded with chips and portions are big: the 11-year-old ordered from the adult menu and wouldn't have been able to finish even the kids' burger. I like the way the children's menu is split into one for under sevens, and tiny man demolished his salmon fish cakes from this section (really fishy and good, with steamed veg) - and bigger portions for under 11s. No salt is used in kids' meals, and either option is available for £13 (including a main course, drink, and dessert) or £17 (with those plus an extra side and an activity pack, with a pack of Snap, masks, stickers, puzzle book and more). It's fantastic for anyone with allergies too: there's an interactive menu-helper to work out meal choices in advance if you want to, and staff are super-clued up on gluten-free, allergen-free and other options. They're generally really thoughtful too: there's a rainforest-style thunder storm (complete with singing animals) every so often. Our waiter came over to warn me in advance in case it scared tiny man; "it's every 30 minutes but only lasts 57 seconds," he knowlingly told me. We had the same warning before the restaurant's giant walking frog came to visit - "give me a thumbs up or down if he's scared and we'll leave" - but no need, he was a big hit. Oh... and then it was time for dessert. A dessert so amazing I wondered if the husband and I would look weird swinging by the Rainforest Cafe without kids on a date night. Bigger Eyes Than Stomach syndrome saw us pick three options - a fruit salad for tiny man (well, someone had to be sensible), a delicious strawberry and lightly-toasted marshmallow set of kebabs (with a slightly odd chocolate sauce), and... The Sparkling Volcano. This is the one that saw the kids' eyes pop out of their heads. It's humungous. A bigger than an adult-sized head-kind of humungous sundae. There's strawberry and vanilla ice cream, cream,
marshmallows, strawberry and banana chunks, caramel and chocolate sauces, chocolate brownie at the bottom and two jazzy sparklers setting the whole thing alight. Stuffed and beaming, we basically rolled out of the Rainforest Cafe, auntie of the day award secured. It'll cost you more than a trip to the average family-friendly chain - but you'll probably enjoy it a lot more too: birthdays are a big thing here, with celebrating kids invited to stand on chairs as the whole room sings to them. Winding our way out, we picked up the buggy from valet parking. There were no cleaning service on offer at this valet, but hey, every restaurant has to have some ideas for improvements... We'll be back. * Run out of Womb was a guest of the Rainforest Cafe, but rest assured we're seriously gobby and only rave about things we really love.
There are two types of bedding in our household. One of the bedrooms is dominated by a king-sized bed with one of two stripy double duvets. On posh weeks, the cover's John Lewis. Other weeks, it's Ikea.
Then there's another bedroom, next door. That one's got a much smaller bed. A cot, actually. And that cot is swathed in another kind of bedding all together... One so good it's used at the Savoy.
And we don't envy tiny man his super-soft white duvet cover, pillow case set and feathery duvet one bit.. OK, maybe a little bit. But - coincidence or otherwise - he's finally started sleeping well. So I might well start washing his bedding all in one day, so scared am I to lose the Tielle Love Luxury sleeping wonder-effect.
The brand was set up last year by TradeLinens, who make bedding for the Savoy and other 'spensive sleeping spots. There are duvets, cot sheets, pillow cases and pillows, and they're seriously so luxury-feeling that you'll want to crawl into the cot yourself. Practically speaking, they can also be washed at 40 degrees and have anti-allergen fillings in the duvets.
It's pricey - you get a complete set of duvet, cover, pillow case and pillow packaged in a lush cotton drawstring bag - and that's £85.
But it's been keeping tiny man cool in summer and warm in autumn and - best of all - asleep in the night time. So we wanted to share the secret.
* We were sent a cot bed set to review, but rest assured we're only raving because we love it!
Sitting next to each other on the sofa in their west London home, Anna and Alex swipe left and, occasionally, right on a Tinder-like app. The married couple gradually build up their own lists, before comparing their selected names to see if they’d picked any of the same options.
Oh, and Anna is pregnant. The couple aren’t involved in a weird new dating-while-up-the-duff trend, but using BabyName, an app where parents-to-be filter by gender (or, if preferred, by celebrity, hipster, or athletes’ names) and swipe through names looking for ones they like.
BabyName is the latest of many new arrivals on the pregnancy-tech market. Where once parents-to-be received health advice from antenatal appointments and Dr Spock books, now pregnancy is all about downloadable, recordable and wearable technology that keeps you in the loop about everything from the size of your baby to its heartbeat...
If there's one part of human-rearing that requires a lot of equipment, it's feeding. I have a whole huge drawer in my kitchen devoted to cups, bottles, bibs, bowls, plates, bibs, random plastic items that tiny man has put there.. And that's lucky because that drawer is the only reason I'm ever allowed to do any cooking - because tiny man is next to me diligently removing entire contents of said drawer, and spreading it around the kitchen to leave it looking like the opening scene of Holby City.. (you know, where man walks up wonky ladder.. WHATEVER COULD HAPPEN NEXT?)
Anyway, we've tried out more plastic crockery, drinking mechanisms, on-the-go snacks and bibs and bottles and food-making devices than, well, fit in that drawer. Some were amazing for the early weaning days - if you're just starting to Spread Food Around Your Baby's Mouth (aka Weaning), check out my guide to what to buy here. And some were brilliantly useful for when they got a bit bigger, and you need slightly larger freezer pots as those ice-cube trays aren't cutting it anymore - my Weaning Part 2 equpment guide is here.
But then they keep on growing, and want to feed themselves all the time, and are hungry for snacks, and you need car food because otherwise there's whaling non-stop in the car seat and so that's why I wrote this post: your toddler eating armoury. Here's what we're using most, in an order that doesn't match the pictures because I didn't think ahead...
8 and 4. Once you're done with sucky teat bottles (which should be around 1, apparently, as they're no longer good for babes' teeth after that) these miracle cups are brilliant: Tommee Tippee's Meal Trainer and Munchkin's Miracle 360 cup. I don't really understand the physics, but when your babe sucks either cup, at any place on the rim, water comes out, and when they don't suck (when said cup is tossed around your handbag, for example), water doesn't come out. Teaches them to drink from a beaker with no mess: amazing.
5. We're that family who still like going to hipster/cool/nice places to eat even when they don't have highchairs. The ones everyone else in the restaurant stares at; the ones who call to book and in response to the 'no we don't have highchairs' say, 'oh never mind we'll bring our own.' The Oxo Nest Booster seat isn't absolutely tiny, but it fits in our buggy basket and is far more comfy than the usual travel high chairs - it firmly clips onto nearly any chair with a back (rounded backs don't work) and usually gets tiny man level with the table, where he's super-happy. My mum's bought one too now as it's great for her house - can easily put it away when not being used.
9. and 1. When out in restaurants, we use the Oxo Nest in combo with Bibetta's amazing place mat with pockets- in fact, I take this everywhere even when they do have a highchair, because inevitably it doesn't come with a tray, or the tray isn't the cleanest, and if I can give my boy his own finger food it means I can eat my meal (for a whole two minutes). The pocket catches stray food, it folds up small and I love not having to rely on cafe's dodgy table-wiping... We're also big fans of Bibetta's Ultra Bib with Sleeves- it's waterproof (made of wet suit material) and even that killer tomato sauce doesn't stain it: amazing.
2. and 6. On the crockery front, we only eat from white porcelain because it's so much more... Yeah, whatever. Meal times mean tossed plates and plastic all the way - so Tommee Tippee's Magic Mat is fantastic: keeps the plate on the high-chair tray. It's not pictured but I like to use the same brand's section plates to try new foods and old ones alongside each other. Oxo's tot-training tablewear is great too: the plates and bowls are slightly weighted via a removeable ring, so help them learn how to use cutlery as the plate doesn't jump around when it's tapped. In fact, Oxo is one of my favourite brands for weaning - not least because the stuff actually looks really nice and Scandi-style (if you squint) so your table doesn't look like a brand of Toys R Us. Its Flippy Snack Pot and Small & Large bowl set are perfect for storing food and snacks for a day out.
1. and 3. I used to have a parenting theory about not giving too many snacks because they're bad for your teeth and ruin meals. But then I had a baby. Snacks mean you can go shopping, do things that a toddler wouldn't normally put up with, go out... etc. My favourite at the moment are Kiddilicious' couldn't-be-more-middle-class Quinoa and Lentil super snacks - awkwardly these crisps really are my favourite, tiny man usually only gets half the pack. They do have a little salt in though, so are only for older babes. Piccolo's organic pouches, meanwhile, are the best for hands-free snacking: we love the cherry yogurt ones for dessert, and the banana blueberry ones are delicious on their own or use them to make really easy sugar-free fairy cakes for the tots. Dare I say it, but these are yummier, to my mind, than a certain baby pouch giant's versions...
Beach-side Piccolo-ing
* Some items were sent to Run Out of Womb for review - but rest assured we're seriously gobby and only rave about what we really love.
If you asked tiny man his favourite thing about our weekend at Fawsley Hall, a small luxury hotel near Daventry, I reckon he'd have a lot to say about its stick collection. At 15 months, he loves pottering around gardens and 'drawing' on tree trunks with the carefully-curated vault of sticks that he will rapidly accumulate at any opportunity.
Luckily for us, then, that Fawsley has beautiful, lush green grounds (and trees) and is in the middle fo 2000 acres of parkland; the relaxing spa garden with outdoor hydro pool was particularly ideally located, giving tiny man space to quietly pad around, and his mama and dada the chance to share pottering with him alongside lying on comfy loungers. We all loved the big indoor pool, and the grown-up outdoor hydro pool too.
Fawsley is a particularly baby-friendly bolthole because there are lots of ways for adults to relax - that spa, and long walks, croquet, gorgeous afternoon teas, stacks of games, and a well-stocked bar.. - and babies and toddlers are very welcome too.
Home-cooked meals are free for under threes - so we took tiny man for a fish, potatoes and vegetable and berries for dessert dinner at 6pm, before returning for a more leisuringly three-course adult dinner ourselves later..
THE SCENE: playing in tiny man's bedroom; books and miscellaneous items he has picked up in the last ten-minutes (reel of sellotape, single work shoe of husband that husband will shout at wife for losing, car key that I will later hunt down for 15 minutes, kitchen wooden spoon). THE HEAD (seconds 1-3): This is amazing. Look at him reading the book! He's so clever! I'm so lucky to have the time to sit and read with him on a Thursday afternoon. Life is great!
THE SCENE: tiny man bores of That's Not My Elephant book (who can blame him), and upturns box of wooden train, which I OCD-ishly earlier spent ages intricately setting up Exactly As The Box Says. THE HEAD (seconds 4-9): I should stop pointlessly building that train to its box specifications. It's not a Northern line to Morden. WOW! He can build the blocks onto the train himself! It's so fun and beautiful to watch my little guy growing and learning all the time! THE SCENE (seconds 10-20): I slip my iPhone out of my back pocket, check work email, finger slips onto Facebook icon, scroll through old school frenemy's wedding pics. THE HEAD: (seconds 22-24): Oh man. I'm addicted to my phone. It's pathetic that I can't mindfully be 'in the moment'. When tiny man's doing art in five years' time and the teacher asks him to draw his mama, will I be the shamed parent who gets sketched with her hand permanently attatched to a phone?! THE SCENE: (seconds 25-27) hurls phone into other room, focuses back on tiny man, who is now emptying his vest drawer out onto the floor. THE HEAD: (seconds 28-30) Wonder what the time is. Can't check as don't have phone. Is it nap time? THE SCENE: (seconds 31-33) All vests, trousers, babygrows, PJs and socks have now been removed from all drawers. Carpet no longer visible. THE HEAD: (seconds 33-35) Doesn't matter, already posted perfect room shot on Instagram today. OH CRAP DISTANT RELATIVE IS COMING OVER LATER. THE SCENE: (seconds 36-38): Mad 'tidying' (hurling items in drawers), effusive praise for three items tiny man also puts away (despite fact he then takes them, and others, out again.) THE HEAD: He's so gorgeous. I love him so much. Is it nap-time yet?
"Going out-out" USED TO MEAN: a Saturday afternoon of pampering, blow-drying, maybe some Brent Cross outfit-shopping, followed by getting changed, made up, sorting an Uber and leaving the house. NOW MEANS: a whole day of routine-tweaking to get the baby to sleep by 7pm. Fail, and eventually get them down an hour later. Madly Batiste hair, rub self with baby wipe, pick some clean (black) clothes out of wardrobe, pay £15.3 million to a baby sitter, give them 45-minute lecture about baby's routine, leave house at 9pm (you drive, too tired to drink), realise at 10pm you're knackered and would rather be in bed. Go home again. "Me time" USED TO MEAN: an afternoon reading in the park, an evening getting a massage at a spa, a night out with friends and a lot of wine. NOW MEANS: the chance to do a poo on the loo with just Instagram for company, and no one redecorating the bathroom with toilet roll / asking about lunch / yanking on your leg. "Just popping to the shops" USED TO MEAN: walking out the door with a wallet, buying some milk / gin / Hula Hoops, coming back. NOW MEANS: grappling an irate octopus into a car seat by promising said octopus rice cake snacks, proffering it three books and a spinning electronic toy, and playing the octopus's favourite six chords of the eighth track on a nursery rhyme CD repeatedly. Getting to the supermarket, doing six circuits of the car park before finding a space, trying 12 trolleys before finding one with a working baby chair AND seatbelt, rushing up the aisles doing a supermarket sweep whilst singing Ten Green Bottles, bagging up the food one-handed whilst keeping a now-screaming octopus in its seat.. Then going through the whole rigmarole on the way home. "Early night" USED TO MEAN: bed at 10pm, bit of Netflix, sleep an hour later, for a nice nine-hour slumber. NOW MEANS: bed at 8pm, woken at 9pm by waaaaahh, same at 9.20pm, 9.40pm, 10pm. Then finally get the babe properly asleep, as you lie awake, unable to sleep. Wake up at 5am (not independently..) "Making dinner" USED TO MEAN: Thumbing through Ottolenghi / Nigella / bbcgoodfood.com to find a new recipe; pick any required ingredients (see above 'just popping to the shops'), spending an hour in the kitchen stirring, cooking, etc, then sitting down to eat said meal. NOW MEANS: Opening up the Kitchen Drawer of Delights (tupperwares, spoons, pans, bowls) to allow toddler to take entire contents out and spread around downstairs of house (the tip of a wooden spoon makes a lovely protrusion to sit on in the sofa, I find). Chucking onion, tomato and mushroom into pan. Hurling drawer contents back (promising self will remember to wash said items before use, definitely). Giving now-bored toddler a bowl of cold water to stir / upturn on the floor / entertain self with. Cook pasta. Do kitchen dancing with toddler. Give toddler the pasta / sauce combo for dinner. Leave rest on stove for parental dinner in six hours' time after bathtime. Eat dinner, disturbed only by 45-minute cot back-patting session to get said toddler to sleep. Alarm clock USED TO MEAN: Setting your phone to wake you up for work, at the time you wanted to wake up. NOW MEANS: Being dragged awake at a time not of your making, too-often beginning with '5', but by the world's cutest alarm clock so that makes it OK. iPad USED TO MEAN: Device to read the news on, play Angry Birds on, quite nice entertainment for plane journeys. NOW MEANS: Electronic babysitter, with a hard drive large enough for innumerable In the Night Garden / Peppa Pig / Paws Patrol episodes. As in, "He's tired - get the iPad". You won't get on a plane without it.
Sling USED TO MEAN: A cocktail you might have on a summer's eve NOW MEANS: Life-saving device with a better chance of getting a babe to sleep than ANYTHING. Tired USED TO MEAN: Yawned at one point today. Only got 8.75 hours sleep last night. Could do with an early night (see above). NOW MEANS: You're in a heap on the carpet, counting the seconds til bedtime. (Theirs, and yours: it's the same thing). You've done 'all nighters' (hourly baby demands through the night, no dancing involved) for four nights/months/years in a row and feel like you were run over by the bin men's truck, sixteen times, and have dumb-bells hanging off your eyelids. You'd laugh at pre-parent you's idea of tired, but you're too tired.
You'll probably recognise this Little Tikes car because, well, almost everyone has it. My parents have a 20-year-old one in their garden (the classic red and yellow variety) - and it still drives more smoothly than most two-decade-old real-life hatchbacks do. Tiny man loves it. His refusal to get out of the Cozy Coupe car means it often lives in our lounge. It has seen me push it 15 minutes to the post office as he sits waving at everyone en route. Since the car has better sun-shielding coverage than a buggy, this works out well - I just had pretty tired arms on the uphill stretch home... So the car is seriously popular. And half the tots in Britain seem to heart this car - so one question that stuck in my mind as I took its many components of the huge cardboard box and read the pictural instructions, and tried to work out how its makers wanted me to drill into plastic, and swore repeatedly as I tried to follow the instructions and ultimately called on my brother (and his drill) to help, was: how have all their parents put it together?
Well, we got there. Building the car takes about an hour - btw, if you have a bradawl, and some muscle, you don't need a drill, despite the instructions. But you will need some patience - and I don't think the instructions are as clear as they could be. But... And there's a big but... It's worth it. On wet days, the Dino Cozy Coupe is bought into the house, where tiny man pushes it around the dining table whilst singing (no need for an in-built radio here), or plays with the petrol cap and clicking ignition key (it's connected to the car, unlike older versions - although my boy is doing his best to free the key...) Outdoors, it's forever doing rounds on the grass. We've built the car's floor in, to keep his feet safe, but he'll enjoy pushing himself around on the grass when he's bigger too.
Car's out = I can put my feet up ..
And given I have proof of the longevity of this toy - alongside my parents' vehicle, grandparents I know in the States have a 37-year-old Little Tikes car from its first year of production - the cost is pretty low: £55-£80, depending on whether you opt for the classic, the dinosaur version, the princess version, the truck, police car, fire truck etc - you don't have to be traditional. (I went for the dino version to be different, but am grateful I did as the roof spikes make excellent handles)
You can hope to be using it for grandkids one day. And by then, I'll have forgotten that I almost lost my cool in trying to build the thing, "all the way back in 2016..." * Run Out of Womb was sent a Cozy Coupe for review. Rest assured, though, that we're seriously gobby and only rave about stuff we really love.
Most Wednesdays, tiny man and I meet up with his bestie Oli and his mama - and we're always after exciting things to do with a baby/toddler in London.
After another Whatsapping session debating various London activities, I decided to write down the fab places we've been to, and the ones we're aiming for next. They're all baby-friendly (for when you want to go out and have fun and baby's coming too), and most are baby-focused (but beyond soft play).
They're all fairly close to NW London, within an hour's travel, because that's where ROOW lives. So, enough chat... Bookmark it, share it, but most of all visit them - and let me know what I've missed...
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1. If your tiny one is half the fan of aeroplanes that mine is, don't miss Hendon's RAF museum. It's free (parking is £3 or free on the road) and has huge hangars of plane history, including gliders and war jets, statues and films. Tiny man loved running around and seeing all the planes even before we reached the kids' area. It's retro - but very hands-on, lots of buttons to press and planes to ride, and even a glider to hang from. 2. Stroll the Southbank. The Southbank Centre itself has storytelling, music and other events, the whole bank is full of buskers, street food, NO STAIRS (buggy bliss), and colours and there's always something to do - plus loads of chain restaurants that don't shudder at the sight of your over-burdened City not-so- Mini rolling in.
3. Kenwood - there are ducks in the pond and huge grassy expanses to explore outside, whilst the house has a kids' room, and music/art classes dotted throughout the week too.
4. St Albans - visit the Verulamium park with its lake, splash park, playground, and history - then cross over the road to gorge on waffles at The Waffle House. Perfect afternoon out.
5. Golders Hill Park - there are animals (deer, birds, lemurs), there's a sand pit, there's a playground, there's delicious gelato, there are rolling hills for scrambling around, there's a beautiful garden, there's a duck pond, and it's just a short walk up from Golders Green station.. And it's all free.
6. It's closed until later this year, but when it reopens check out The Discover Children's Story Centre, with big indoor and outdoor playgrounds, storytelling rooms, crafty groups and lots of space.
7. We love a City farm: tiny man loves oinking at the pigs, and seeing the chickens, horses and more at Kentish Town, and the ones in Spitalfields and Hackney are on our list too. All free.
8. The Geffrye Museum in Hoxton is a museum of houses: it's all on one level, so buggy-friendly, really interesting insight into how we've been living over the past centuries, dollshouse-loving toddlers will like it and there's a delicious cafe too. Plus hipsterville shopping is there ready for nap-time.
9. Bethnal Green's Museum of Childhood - there's a small sensory area for babies, some hands-on playing parts for kids although a fair amount is behind glass cases so older toddlers may enjoy a bit more.
10. The Science Museum is a nightmare to get to on the Tube from the northern line, but worth it - the Garden bit in the basement has a long water splashing activity, big blocks to play with, concave mirrors, noisy activities and more. The rest of the museum is great for a toddling one to explore, and the hanging planes are a hit with my tiny man. By contrast, I find the National History Museum too school group-packed for much babe fun.
11. Hit up some galleries - might not seem baby-friendly but for tiny ones when you the mama want to enjoy yourself, the Royal Academy, Hayward Gallery andTate Modern all have wide, buggy-friendly spaces and lots of things for babies to stare at. And for toddlers, the Tates are great space-wise for a wander and have activities for older kids too.
12. Baby Cinema was the highlight of my week when tiny man was, er, tiny. Until about 9m it was a dreamy few hours: watching the latest films whilst having a baby sleepy-cuddle on you (when tiny) or play on your lap when bigger. It's definitely easiest when they're small... I love the Phoenix (£7) in east Finchley, and the Everyman chain's dotted around London (£13 but that does include tasty cake and drink delivered to your seat by waiters). Great parent and baby cinema screenings at the Barbican too. Useful weekly listings here:Babes About Town. For older kids, lots of the chains do cheap toddler movie screenings. 13. Take a boat trip: for a big'un, take the Thames Clipper to Greenwich and it's really easy to wheel a buggy on and off. Plenty of places to park them next to a seat too.
14. Or a smaller one, we loved the swan boats and pedaloes (bonus: great work out) at Ally Pally. It's about £3 a person and young kids are free: must be over one to go on a boat. They have tiny lifejackets.
15. Also in Ally Pally is Little Dinosaurs soft-play: it's a good one for younger tots as there's a spacious baby area and go before 3pm and the rest is fairly empty too so they can traverse bigger obstacles with you. Soft-play wise, we've also enjoyed Clown Town behind Tesco Colney Hatch.
16. Book in advance to enjoy Sky Garden in the City - it's free and has lovely views (just have to book a time slot in advance). Great cafe and tons of space for rattling around.
17. The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park has loads of space to explore, little cafes, the Tumbling Bay Playground and flowery grassy land to relax.
18. Coram’s Fields is super-central - just near Euston - but a gloriously green pocket with farm animals, lots of different play areas and often organised activities.
19. We were disappointed with the £million-a-ticket and too-busy-to-move London Aquarium. For a cheaper hit, Forest Hill's Horniman Museum has an aquarium as well as lots of child-friendly exhibits. For a realllly cheaper hit, we sometimes visit the local pet shop or Pets at Home to see fish, guinea pigs, etc.
20. Spend a day at Kew Gardens. We're members (which is good value if you're going more than twice a year, and means you can beat the crowds and arrive at 8am). There are the obviously awesome acres of beautiful borders, the lakes, the ducks, the trees and the flowers, and tots all love the indoor soft play (with weird rubber bouncing 'sand' which is no-mess and epic) and the play area. Just don't lose your car key there like I did..
21. Watch street performers in Covent Garden ... then get one of London's best ice creams at Morelli's Gelato.
22. Get on the front carriage of the Docklands Light Railway and let your tot 'be the driver'. On the weekend, Canary Wharf's shops and restaurants are fairly empty so have lots of room for a tot-takeover.
23. Sunny day? Put the tot in Crocs and take a spare pair of clothes to the lit-up dancing fountains at Granary Square in King’s Cross. Then visit..
24. Camley Street Natural Park around the corner - it’s a volunteer-run green pocket of London with lots to see and learn about.
25. Take the number 9 bus (one of the few old-fashioned Routemasters still in service) for a cheapo sightseeing tour of Trafalgar Square, Knightsbridge and Kensington, or the no. 11 does King's Road, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Shoreditch, if you last that long.
26. Get off that no. 9 at Kensington Gardens and visit the Princess Diana memorial playground - there's a secure entrance (you must have a kid with you), a huge Peter Pan pirates ship, lots of swings, lots of shade, enormous sandpit, water fountains, splash puddles, all free; try to shield the kids' eyes as you pass the pricey carousel. Walk down to Ken High St after and toddlers will love seeing the food piled up and gorging on the freebies at Whole Foods Market
. 27. Take a bluebell hike in Ashridge Estate around May (check the website for when the flowers are in full bloom) and take a fully charged camera..
28. Make a "Mini Masterpiece" at Dulwich Picture Gallery - once a month on Tuesdays, for babies aged six-to-18 months. Preceeded by tour of the Sir John Soames-designed gallery.
30. Rave on at a Big Fish Little Fish, Baby Disco or Disco Loco gig - not-too-loud music and dancing for the parents and tots, bubble areas, light shows, craft tables and more.
31. Broomfield Park: it has one of London's biggest adventure playgrounds (and a smaller one that's more tot-friendly), plus conservatory with bananas growing, crazy golf (not such a crazy one), lake and model boating pond. There's the nearby Baskervilles Tea shop, too, with delicious cakes and a room just for baby classes if you time your visit right (sometimes need to prebook).
32. Go to a ceramics cafe. Yes, breakable pots + tots sounds crazy, but if they're in a calm mood (and you go at a quiet time) it can be great. And a handprint plate / paint-sploshed vase makes a great present for dads, grandparents, etc.
33. Go train or plane-spotting. Sure, it's pretty boring for you.. But lots of toddlers love nothing more than sitting at Kings Cross / under the flight path (Syon Park in west London and Kew are good for this) and watching their fave mode of transport trundle by.
34. Or for a more in-depth version of the above, try driving a train and more at the ltmuseum.co.uk
35. Swim. Of my local pools, Spires in Bushey is rated for being warm, Borehamwood's Venue has a baby pool, or find a friend with a guest pass for a gym with a baby pool... :)
36. Meet dinosaurs (aka models of them built by the Victorians) in Crystal Palace Park. There's a children’s farm, playground and maze too.
37. Watch pelicans being fed every afternoon (usually around 2:30) at St James's Park. There are also owls, woodpeckers and bats, if you're keen-eyed.
38. Enjoy trees-a-plenty at Highgate Woods - also a great (big) playground and easygoing cafe.
40. Visit one of London's huge toy shops (like Hamley's or The Toy Store) - toddler is obviously the ideal age: they're distractable so won't notice you're not buying *everything* (or anything).
Getting my 15-month-old into his old stage 0 car seat had become one of the worst parts of my day. I mean, worse than an unscheduled 3am WAAAAAH wake up. I've never tried to shoehorn an caffeinated octopus into an Evian bottle, but I imagine it would be easier than the daily battle I was facing trying to get my planking, screaming baby to sit in a car seat for ten minutes.
It was still the right size for him - but he's super nosy (hey, I'm his mum; it was inevitable) and likes to see more than the grey back of a Ford Fiesta seat. The mirror wasn't cutting it anymore - there's only so long that someone can spend gazing at themselves. It was time for a new car seat.
But I wasn't ready to give up the superior safety of a rear-facing ride: I'll still commit to that car seat battle for long journeys. The Government recommends babies face rearward in cars up until 15 months, or as long as possible - this position protects their necks and heads if a car was in an accident.
So the Maxi-Cosi AxiisFix was the perfect solution: babes can ride forward or backward facing, and, best of all and the feature my own parents really like - with the flick of a simple switch, the whole seat swivels around 360 degrees so you can face the seat towards the outside. That means it's easy to put even a chunky babe in and out of the car, as you don't have to contort your body like Max Whitlock in Rio.
We went for the Triangle Flow beautiful turquoise colour - it is, as the practical parents about you will notice, the least-best at blending in those inevitable strawberry car bribes or muddy shoe marks, but is such a lovely colour I couldn't resist.. Black is boring.
Another thing I love about the AxissFix is that it's one of the few car seats on the market that's approved for the new European standards, the i-Size regulations. I was as anti-Brexit as the next sane person, but just because we're leaving Europe we can still adopt their thorough safety checks.
Still, I'd just got to grips with Isofix so had to do my research on i-Size - a new set of regulations that mean, eventually, all car seats will fit in all cars. The car and car seat both need Isofix, (the fitting system that attaches car seats directly to the frame of your car using connectors, rather than seat belts) and i-Size cuts the risk of you fitting your car seat incorrectly -which can be really dangerous.
i-Size-approved seats have been tested more vigorously - frontal and rear-impact AND side-impact tests, for example, and you pick one based on your baby's height rather than weight. There's no need to buy a new i-Size seat if you don't need a new car seat- the two types of regulation are running alongside each other for now - but given their improved safety checks, the AxissFix's i-Size approval gave me piece of mind.
Now we've been using the car a month, the seat-battles have cut right down: tiny man seems to find it comfortable - it's really padded and with good neck support: even when he's asleep, his head stays back on the chair, not slumped forward. I planned to keep the Axiss rear-facing for as long as possible, but when tiny man tantrums about it, I love having the option to turn it around.
The seat was really easy to fit - clipping into the Isofix and having a top-tether that you just clip together like a hiking carabiner. Video here:
Another positive is that whilst the seat is spacious and expands to fit roughly a four-year-old, it's not huge at the base so doesn't take up more than one 'bum space' in the car's back seat. The only things I dislike about the AxissFix are: my Houdini-like baby can sometimes slip his arms out of the seatbelt, even though it's a five-point harness, tightened as much as possible. We're working on 'No!' to stop him doing so as I don't think any car seat would.. The other issue is I find the belts tricky to clip into the bottom unit sometimes: given it can be a battle, it would be nice if the two straps clipped together better before they go into the bottom part of the strap.
The AxissFix looks expensive - at around £375 - but that includes the built-in base, where other seats require you to buy a separate one. It also grows with the child, until they're 105cm long, so lasts a long while.
If you're hunting for a new car seat and have any questions about the AxissFix, ask below and I'll try to answer as quickly as poss.
* Item sent to ROOW for review - but rest assured we're seriosuly gobby and only rave about things we genuinely love.
