Long Distance Travel Tips For Parents Of Toddlers

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Toddlerhood is one of the toughest, yet most rewarding stages of parenthood. Along with my five-year-old, having just the one toddler is exhausting and throws lots of daily challenges. I can only imagine how much harder it must be to have multiples. I wouldn't have it any other way though.

We like to get out and about every day, just one day indoors make us all so stir crazy and this is one of the main reasons that we like to travel together. Travel offers an array of different benefits for children, the experiences they need to grow and it also grants us parents the sanity they need in order to parent. Traveling with young children isn't as daunting as it sounds, there are simple things you can do to prepare for the journey. I was recently emailed some tips that I'd like to share with you. Maybe they'll help your family enjoy the journey to your destination, there and back again.

Educational Tablet Time

Most parents limit screen time but there are times when tablets work miracles, one being when traveling. There have been times when my children have been quite restless on long journeys and educational apps help stimulate their minds, and movies help them relax. Once they've nodded I either read or enjoy some tablet time by playing online games on websites like www.novibet.co.uk.

Pack Toys

We like to pack travel bags and tend to fill them with a few new toys, and some old favorites. We select a random few to enjoy and alternate between activities and toys. As soon as the boredom settles in, swap around the older toys for the newer toys. Toddlers have a short attention span and by giving them a bundle of toys, you are giving away precious arsenal to keep them entertained.

Puzzles

Puzzles have been known to keep the little ones entertained for hours. This is, of course, assuming your toddler is old enough to understand the concept of a puzzle, if not, buy fewer piece puzzles and introduce them to the stimulating fun activity. Puzzles are great for planes, but you may want to reconsider if you are taking road transportation and swap a puzzle for a storytime book.

Snacks

There is nothing better than watching your energised baby munch away at a sleepy snack. You know their tummies are full and they are about to catch some serious Z’s. Flying may not be as satisfactory as they most probably wouldn’t fall asleep immediately, so save this trick for when the novelty of flying has worn off. If you are traveling by bus, car or train, also save the snack trick for when you can see the sleepy mood take hold.

Car Tricks

If your peanut is more energetic than most, you may want to consider recording meditation talks, songs or yoga practices as this has been found to soothe younger children. This has something to do with the tone of voice and the soothing and relaxing meditation themed music.

Traveling with a toddler has its challenges, but believe me, it's doable and not as daunting as it sounds. Hopefully, these tips will help you in some way. Do you have any tips that you would like to share?

Things To Consider When Buying A Rug For The Family Home

Living with a family often means that practicality becomes your main focus when it comes to your home. Over recent years, the interiors world has become far more accommodating to family life by incorporating both practicality and style. A home isn’t complete without a rug, they tie together themes in a room and add that welcoming, comfortable atmosphere. Although, if you have kids, it can be hard to know what you need to be looking for. Here is a list put together by the team at Rug Mountain to help you find that perfect rug.

Durability and Pile Length

One of the most important features your rug must have is the ability to survive in the family home and this puts durability at the top of your list. The rug you choose needs to be able to handle the busy environment of the family home without diminishing over time. It's best therefore to avoid rugs with a longer pile. The pile length refers to how long the material is. For example, a shaggy or sheepskin rug has a long pile thanks to their fluffy texture. Although longer pile rugs are beautifully soft, they aren't ideal when you've kid kids running around or playing on them all day. This causes the softer texture to wear down quicker and ruin that gorgeous feel. A deeper pile will also retain dirt and dust more so than a shorter pile rug. This isn’t great for the little ones who spend a lot of time on their hands and knees playing or crawling around. Similarly, longer pile rugs can’t be vacuumed as easily as this destroys the material over a long time period. Ideally, you therefore want a low pile rug that’s easier to maintain, can be vacuumed and can handle a higher usage.

Easy to Clean

The number one factor that comes up time and time again. Cleaning. No one enjoys it, but unfortunately with a family this can be your number one concern. When choosing a rug, try to find one that is made from a material that is easily salvageable from those food and drink spills. However, this brings with it good news. As a general tip, you want to be avoiding more expensive rugs. This is because expensive rugs are made from higher quality but more delicate materials which makes them a nightmare to clean. A simple nylon or acrylic rug is you best bet as they can handle cleaning products far easier than their expensive counterparts.

Colour

The colour of your rug is a chance for you to work with personalisation and pick something that reflects your home. You might want a rug that blends in with your floor or alternatively maybe you’re after a pop of colour for a dramatic flare. However, if you’ve got a family, there are some colours your should try to avoid to increase the life of your rug. It comes as no surprise to learn that the paler the rug, the more likely it is to show up dirt and stains. Because of this, try to avoid white rugs, for obvious reasons! If you’ve got your heart set on a lighter rug try instead a brown, cream of beige for a neutral palette. Your safest bet would be a rug with more colour, as this will show up dirt far less and can mask those odd imperfections far more easily.

What do you look for when buying a rug for the family home?

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Ava - 5 Months Old

Ava is now five months old and time is flying by way too quickly for my liking, can I not hit pause for a moment? I can remember writing Noah's 5 month update like it was only yesterday so it's crazy to think that now Ava is that age too and Noah is 4 in just 3 months time!

Character
Oh, she is the sweetest thing you will ever meet. I absolutely adore her, so much so that sometimes I think my heart could just burst. From the moment she wakes up until she goes to bed she's a delight, even when going through a leap. She's very rarely grumpy or whiny and is so easy to please. There's nothing she loves more than being cuddled, kissed or being sung too and she likes lots of physical contact. The only time she really protests is when she is having her clothes changed but that's literally it! She's such a good girl.

Size
She's a big girl, quite similar to how Noah was at the same age. She weighs roughly 16lb and is in a mix of 3-6 and 6-9 month clothing, depending on the fit and where the clothes are from as I find everything varies so much. She's very long and quite chunky, she's solid! She has the sweetest chunky thighs, bum and cheeks! I could just gobble her up.

Health
Nothing to write home about this month when it comes to her health, everything has been fine. Not even a patch of cradle cap or nappy rash, she's been great.

 
Feeding
Breastfeeding is going really well and I'm so happy with how our journey has been so far. I feel so fortunate that everything has just gone so smoothly because I had my breastfeeding fears before she was born but I really didn't need to fret. I still feed her on demand but recently I've noticed she spaces her feeds out a lot more and feeds for longer at the breast. She can go between 2-3 hours in the day and at night it's usually every 3-4 hours, sometimes longer. She's had a couple of cluster feeding days here and there as she is currently going through a huge leap but it's been fine. I express my milk every now and again but not as much as I was last month because it can be so time consuming. I've also recently introduced some baby porridge because at supper time she would cry seeing Noah have his, she was salivating and reaching for the spoon in a frenzy. I couldn't avoid it any longer so usually everyday she will have a little bowl of baby porridge for either supper or breakfast and she absolutely loves it. I'm so excited to start properly weaning her in just a few weeks time. I have a feeling she will be a foodie just like her brother.

Sleeping
She's her usual when it comes to sleep and is not yet sleeping through but this is to be expected with her being breastfed. She does however settle a lot easier at night now. We cuddle up in bed, I play her lullaby music or sing to her and feed her to sleep. I love that time, where everything is quiet and relaxing, a little bit of time just for us. I usually lay with her for half an hour and then pop her into her snuzpod and she usually sleeps until I go to bed a couple of hours later. I think I disturb her when I go to bed or she can sense that I'm there so she usually wants me to feed her again and she will doze off back to sleep. She feeds between 2-3 times during the night but just goes straight back to sleep so it's not bad really. Naps are still very hit and miss but hopefully we can get into some sort of routine once Noah is back at nursery as I'll have more time to try and stick to one and there won't be a three year old waking her up!

Milestones and new tricks
* Rolling Over. Ava can now roll over and is such a whizz at doing it, she's over in a flash and is so proud of herself when she does it.
* Sitting. She's pretty much there with sitting, already! She can sit unaided for minutes at a time and is so steady although I'd never leave her unattended or without a dozen cushions all around her. 
* Crawling. I don't think it will be long until she's crawling. She's already wiggling about and can move about here and there and she tries to shove herself forward. It's like she's hit so many milestones all at the same time!
* She now recognises her name and turns to you when you say it. 
* She face plants into my boobs when she wants feeding, it's hilarious. 
* Always on the go! Although she can't get move herself about she's so determined to move and is always lunging forward and grabbing things.
* Vocal, she is so loud! She's constantly figuring out new sounds and noises and has the most piercing screech.

Likes and dislikes
Ava has so many likes and loves! She loves; Mummy, Daddy and Noah. Other children. She is fascinated with animals and is constantly watching and stroking our cat and her Nan's dogs. She likes; Peppa Pig, singing, songs, cuddles, kisses, books, rolling around, playing with Noah and his toys, cuddle and feeding time, Mummy's bed, her toys, sophie la girafe, trees, watching her brother on the swings, watching her brother do anything, cuddly smiles in the morning, porridge, blowing raspberries, her jumperoo, bath time! She doesn't like being in her car seat or having her clothes changed.

The Benefits of an International Education

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For most children, going to an international school is due to their parents taking a job role abroad, and for many workers (such as teachers or Embassy workers) they’d like to put their child in the best school for them to develop and grow.

Look no further than the huge benefits an international school offers. It usually caters to children who could speak English and will be learning a new language, meeting new people and further developing transferable skills they can use at home or in their new country. Here are the biggest benefits your child will receive through international education, courtesy of the best international school in China.

Greater awareness of the world
Your child is more likely to know about how the world works, common struggles of the world and how other countries operate. Following an international-led curriculum dedicates time to a broader curriculum and gives students the chance to learn about neighbouring countries, the history of the country they’re residing in and key moments in that history that has led to changes in the world.

Improved communication skills
Meeting with different students around the world can give your child the chance to socialise with a lot of new people who are from different backgrounds, cultures and have a range of interests and thoughts they want to share. There’s a lot more focus on team building activities where children are able to learn about each other, work together in groups and in turn improve their communication skills and confidence.

Students are more aware of cultures, customs, and social norms
Your child will be more prepared for situations that happen outside of school as a result of learning about different customs and traditions of the country they’re based in. This is great for building rapport with different people, making friends and building strong connections outside of school, as well as having more opportunities to join outside clubs and social organisations.

Good Bubble Bath Set - Review & Competition

When it comes to bathing my children I always reach for products which I believe will be kind and gentle to their skin, just like every other parent out there. I've tried so many brands which are currently on the market, some which are now favourites and some that I probably wouldn't use again. Good Bubble was a brand that was new to me, one that I noticed through the blogging grapevine after reading a couple of reviews here and there. I thought their products sounded fantastic so when the chance came to review them myself I was excited to try them out.  

In case you didn't know, Good Bubble was created here in England and is a lovely family run business. They pride themselves on concocting natural and fun bath products which kids will love to use, making bath time so much more fun.Their gentle formulations are rich in nutrients and free from harsh chemicals which really nourishes your little one’s hair and skin, yours too if you steal a bit of the kids bubble bath like I do! Each product smells absolutely divine and a little bit goes such a long way too. 

We received the Clean as a Bean Shampoo, Smoothly Softly Conditioner and Super Bubbly Bubble Bath to review and for the past couple of weeks have been using them at every bath time, for both Noah and Ava.

We adore all three products that we were sent and once everything has run out I'll be buying it all again, that's for sure! The fact that they are made from 98% natural ingredients sits really well with me and allowed me to bath Ava with Noah without worrying that it would dry out her delicate and young skin. The shampoo and conditioner is fabulous too and has been ideal for Noah's coarse hair. It's made his hair so much more manageable and soft, not to mention he smells absolutely delicious! Good Bubble has really ticked all the boxes and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to a friend.

Prices for Good Bubble products start at £3.39 for the character wash mitts through to £8.00 for the gift sets which I think is excellent value for money. Speaking of gift sets how would you like to win one? I have two sets to give away here on the blog! To enter all you need to do is use the Gleam form below. Good luck and don't forget to enter my other blog competitions!

Good Bubble Gift Set

Terms & Conditions.                                                                                                 
1. There will be 2 winners who will each win 1 gift set.
2. Prize sent directly by the PR. 
3. Competition ends 10/09/17
4. Incomplete entries with be disqualified. 
5. UK entries only.

My Sunday Photo - 33/52