How to make an owl from knitting wool

This is great for make-it-yourself Christmas special, it's ideal as a stocking filler or hanging on the tree and won’t take you long.  You can make a whole family of them all different colours.  You may even remember making these at school.  Enjoy!

How to make a fish tank from a carboard box

This is one of my favourite 'make-it-yourself' craft toys as it provides hours of play, all for the price of a few buttons!

How to make a blow fish you can blow along

This is a really simple craft toy to make and you’ll have loads of fun blowing your fish along.  All you need is a couple of items you’ll probably have around the house and plenty of puff!

Home birth and the Press

Today the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit released the results of a cohort study between April 2008 and April 2010,  looking at care in labour, delivery and birth outcomes for the mother and baby for 64,000 'low risk' births in England.

It covered 97% of NHS Trusts providing home birth services and nearly 90% of midwifery units took part.

What I find so interesting is how robust academic data can be interrupted in such different ways by our various British newspapers and media.  So while many of the broadsheets offer a balanced and fair coverage some of the tabloids (and those with the highest circulations) choose to focus entirely on picking out and sensationalizing any statistic that potentially generates shock and fear among their readers.

How to make a dancing deer from coloured card

Here’s a great little craft toy – made all the better with the use of fasteners that allows the deer to jump and dance around.

How to spend less on your new baby

The Guardian published this great article with some useful links about the cost of having a baby.  I loved it because I can really relate to the couple in the article as when Maya was born we didn't have much money so using washable nappies was primarily a financial choice - the environment and health issues were learnt later.  We probably spent less than this couple as we luckily had a lot of hand me downs from my sister who had had a baby just 11 months earlier.

If you've been in one of our shops or on our website you might wonder how shopping with us could save you money as we are not and never have been a pile it high sell it cheap nursery store.  I've often heard people walk past the shop and comment that it is expensive without even coming in! This bugs me because if they had done some simple things like:

1. used washable nappies instead of disposables
2. bed shared instead of buying a cot
3. breastfed instead of bottle fed
4. used a sling instead of buying a fancy 3 in 1 travel system that they only used for 2 months, they would have saved hundreds if not thousands of £'s.

Saving money on the big items means you have more to spend on the things you love - like chemical free toiletries or a few gorgeous treat items of clothing.

I'm not saying never buy disposables, a cot or a pram, we sell them and they are useful when they are useful, but my point is to not buy them without assessing if you realy do need them, and if you decide you do need them buy quality that will last and can be useful (ie it grows with the child) can be resold or passed on when finished with - a great example is the Stokke Tripp Trapp.

There is so much stuff that is marketed to vulnerable parents-to-be who to be safe tend to buy too much rather than feel like they may be caught short. I love taking customers on a tour around the shop to show them the essentials, which when you get down to it is very little.  So in fact a visit to us can actualy safe you money, leaving you spare cash to spend on things you really need or love.

How to take beautiful baby pictures

When you newborn arrives it's not only a wonderful and unique time it's also a period when many of us have an almost overpowering desire to want to capture and record every single moment.  The first yawn, the first stretch, the first holding of your finger - I know when we had Jacob, our second child, that pretty much all of the delivery was captured!

Opening of the Milk Bank for the South West of England

5 years ago I helped to set up the Precious Drops fundraising campaign to set up a Human breast milk for Bristol and the South West of England.

Milk banks used to be widespread in UK hospitals until the Aids/HIV scare in the 1980's which led to many of them being shut down.

This is the first new milk bank for many years and will save many babies lives.

Sleeping with your baby

There's lot of coverage this morning in the press relating to the merits of sleeping with your baby.  Everyone from the Telegraph to the Daily Mail seems to be reviewing a piece of research by the paediatrician Dr Nils Bergman.

Bugaboo auction to fight HIV & AIDS

Help Bugaboo fight HIV / AIDS

In only two years Bugaboo, (one of our favourite buggy brands) have provided help and treatment to an amazing  70,000 HIV+ pregnant women in Africa.

Now with the auction of a very special Bugaboo edition you can help too!

Bugaboo have collaborated with British designer,  artist and new mum Zakee Shariff and between October 25-31^st the very exclusive buggy will be auctioned on ebay, with all of the proceeds going to help HIV/ AIDS programmes in Africa.

If you’re interested in exploring Zakee’s amazingly diverse work check out her blog here – I came across an interesting quote that seems to sum up the purpose of her work,

“ to touch people through her work and spread a message of peace and love, hopefully encouraging people to think more deeply about the world they live in”

I don’t think Born could have encapsulated what we’re about any better!

 

 

 

Tips on green & ethical parenting

Eva was recently interviewed to give her advice on how parents can raise their children in a green and ethical way.   As it contains lots of tips we thought you may enjoy reading the article here.

Help! I think I bought a fake ERGObaby Carrier

 

An increasing number of people are contacting us after they buy an ERGObaby carrier online and get suspicious about its legitimacy when it arrives.

Lo and behold, after we check it, it becomes clear that it's not an official ERGO carrier but a fake.



How to spot a counterfeit seller as opposed to a genuine second hand seller

1. Most people who have bought counterfeits have done so from the leading auction site (you know the one!) or from smaller ones that also have local sites.


2. They are being sold as a new boxed unwanted gifts or because their child did not get on with the carrier.


3. Online counterfeit sellers often have more than one carrier to sell. That should send alarm bells as no one selling a genuine one will have more than one to sell.

Say hello to Baby Jungle!

It was lovely to see Born get a mention from Baby Jungle, one of our favorite baby blogs!  This time is was for our range of special edition Ergo baby carriers by Petunia Pickle Bottom.

If you see any mention of Born in the press and blogs then we'd love to know!

Toys taking over the world!

Having spent the best part of the day tidying up Jacob's toys I can finally see my living room floor - a rare event these days thanks to Jacob's ever widening sprawl from his toy box!

In our house it often seems as though his toys are taking over a little.  It's a feeling you get from experiencing the amazing work of Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman.

His work involves working with local communities to transform public spaces by constructing truly amazing, and gigantic children's toys.

The wonder of Japanese paper balloons

If you're looking for that little something to brighten up your home, then we think you'll love these Japanese paper balloons as much as we do.

Kids designs that never go out of fashion

Design aesthetics is a big thing for Born.  We think it's important that we take time to try and seek out products that offer something truly original.

But trying to find new, exciting designs for baby or toddler toys & furniture can be a very time consuming process, it seems there are few radical designs that ever make it into the nursery.  Which makes many of the following antique products even more interesting - not only cutting edge all those years ago, but many would seen as radical today!

Fantastic ideas from around the globe

While searching high and low for new, exciting products for Born I've come across some great innovative ideas from around the world that I thought I'd share. Feel free to suggest some of your own at the end.

1. Take a trip on the Kids' minibus

Spanish bus company ALSA recently launched Pequebus, a kid-friendly bus service with features designed specifically for travelers aged five and under. 

Top festivals for little ones

With so many music festivals to choose from this year we thought we'd try to help by suggesting our favourites.  Remember the list is based not just on their line up but also how well they cater for under 5's!

Make sure you check out our post on top tips to enjoying festivals with little ones which has been put together by our friends at Boutique Babysitting.  And remember you'll enjoy festivals even more if your fully equipped so check out our festival survival kit!

Top festival tips for babies & toddlers

Here are some great tips on how to enjoy festivals if you're with a baby ot toddler.  Lisa is the co-founder of Boutique Babysitting.  They provide a fantastic set of activities and care at some the UK's best festivals.  We've also put together a list of our top ten festivals.

It's the little things that make you proud!

Although Born was started nearly 11 years ago it still feels like we're starting out, still trying to find our way in the world and more passionate than ever that Born grows ever bigger.

So today while I was checking through the Bugaboo facebook page I couldn't help but smile when Born was mentioned in the very first post for the new Bugaboo organiser.  So while it's only a small, insignificant event to others it made me feel just a little bit prouder.

So as a thanks to Georgia Martin for mentioning us we're sending you a little something we hope will make you smile! Thanks Georgia.

The wonder of Tripp Trapps

Part of the busy home

Fresh living space with Tripp Trapp

Since Born opened its doors all those years ago the Stokke Tripp Trapp has remained a signature product that has better illustrated what Born is about more than any other.  Not only beautifully made, the Tripp Trapp offers two features that so many other nursery chairs can't match - wonderful aesthetics and value!  But at over £130, how can I say the Tripp Trapp offers value?

How many home births in your area?

Born has always had an active interest in birthing issues and supporting parents to exercise their choice - we've two children, one born at home and the other in hospital.  So we were fascinated by a recent US study entitled ‘Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care’ that announced that the percentage of births occurring at home in the US increased by 20% between 2004 and 2008.

Help us add a bit of joy

When Eva and Georgina started Born 11 years ago an important part of the idea was for Born to play a very active role within local communities, especially with charities.

In the past we’ve worked with many not for profit organisations who support mums, parents and of course babies and toddlers – everything from raising money for the Southmead milk bank to supporting UNICEF campaigns overseas.

As part of our efforts this year we wanted to help a very special charity – Children’s Hospice South West.  It’s a truly remarkable organisation that achieves amazing results for the children that they support.