It was something I grappled with in the months before my son arrived. Do I buy a new, bigger pram or try my luck with a toddler on the loose? It was so hard to decide that I didn’t end up buying anything – but immediately regretted it. Anything beyond a quick stroll to the local shops just became too hard. I just couldn’t manage to keep my hands on the pram and feel comfortable that I had a good grip on my daughter’s hand as well.

I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to try out the new phil&teds voyager, an inline pram that has room for both my baby and toddler. I can breathe a big sigh of relief when heading out, knowing they are safely strapped in and I can keep my eye on both children at once. Having that peace of mind means a nifty double pram like the voyager is absolutely worth every cent.

My baby can lie – and sleep – while completely flat, meaning he is still getting a comfortable rest while we are out and about. I was able to walk to my destination while bub drifted off to sleep, then parked the pram outside and took the carrycot with me once I arrived. He wasn’t disturbed and could remain close even in places without a lot of space and I had my arms free to eat or tend to my eldest child.

Meet you under the clocks! Millie and Finn in the phil&teds voyager

My daughter, three years old, is a tall girl but still has room to grow in her seat. She doesn’t look too big or awkward in the pram, despite her age, yet the seat itself doesn’t appear bulky. Cosy and relaxed, she often drifted off to sleep.

In the early days, you are your baby’s entire world. I love that my baby can face me, helping him to feel at ease when confronted with the strange sights and sounds of the great outdoors. With the toddler’s seat facing me, my daughter could chat to me and wasn’t left wondering what was happening if I had to stop and tend to the baby.

Hello in there Finn

Both sun hoods on the carrycot and the toddler seat well and truly came up and over the head and shoulders of my children, making it quite dark and encouraging lots of sleep. It was brilliant not having to rush home for nap times, with both kids having a snooze and allowing me to get things done! There’s a super-handy zipped pocket in the top hood, which held my phone, keys and coin purse within easy reach.

Train tripping in the phil&teds voyager

The cushioned feel of the air-free tyres made for a smooth ride on all surfaces without the worry of a puncture. Despite having two children on board, it was a cinch to pop the pram over kerbs or on and off the train. The handbrake is easy to operate with one hand and very accessible.

Millie was happy to be back in the pram

The parcel tray is the biggest I’ve seen on a pram. It holds my full-to-the-brim nappy bag, my handbag, blankets, drink bottles and toys with large side and front openings making it easy to grab what you need without having to lift off seats or bumping and disturbing your passengers.

The charcoal marle fabric colour is stylish and unisex, which suits both my daughter and son. It’s waterproof for protection if you’re caught far from home when the weather turns and quickly wipes clean in the case of spills.

Cosy in the carrycot on the phil&teds voyager

I’m really happy with this pram – being able to have both my children secure and transported in a slim buggy that doesn’t take up the entire footpath or supermarket aisle is clever. It’s easy to push, it’s modern and slick and it will adapt and grow as my children do. This pram will be used daily by our family for years to come.

Click here to hear what mummy bloggers had to say about the phil&teds voyager by reading the full review on the Babyology website

The post It’S How We Roll. The Phil&Teds Voyager Road Test appeared first on millie mummy melbourne.

When our Chibebe Snuggle Pod delivery arrived, I couldn’t open it to try it out quick enough. After filling with beans – into a kid-proof inner bag – we were quite literally ready to rock and roll.

As a newborn, Finn’s Chibebe Snuggle Pod came with a baby seat topper which is fitted with a safety harness and some extras that can be purchased separately – a Pod Rocker and a cosy Pod Warmer.

The rocker is placed under the baby’s Snuggle Pod and allows for easy rocking to help calm and soothe. The warmer, a must for this weather, is a zip-on blanket to keep bub snuggly while lounging.

Happy little man in his Snuggle Pod

Both additions were necessary for keeping Finn calm and comfortable and meant for happy lounging and a soft perch for napping or watching his sister tear around the house.

The Snuggle Pod allows your baby to be cradled and supported and its shape can help prevent reflux.

Millie’s pod came with the zip-on toddler seat and she has already decided it’s her reading chair when not using it to watch ABC for Kids.

Lounge lizards in their Chibebe Snuggle Pods

Being able to put Finn in his Snuggle Pod meant he was much safer than if I had placed him on the floor where we run the risk of him being trampled by an excited toddler. Giving him a gentle rock every now and then meant he was content for a lot longer too – and the best bit? My baby is happy and my hands are free!

The kids are happy, mum’s hands are free!

Finn will be able to continue to use his pod as a bean bag chair long after I’ve removed the detachable harness seat and zipped on the toddler topper (it will then match his sister’s Snuggle Pod).

The machine washable outer fabric can be selected to match your decor and the pod is so lightweight and easy to move when you want it somewhere else around the house. If I’m folding the washing, Finn happily sits in his pod and watches me. Having a shower? He’ll snooze in his pod in the bathroom while I do. I even place his pod in front of the window and he’ll gaze at the leaves dancing on the trees outside (I’d forgotten how much babies love to watch the trees!)

Sleeping in the Snuggle Pod

The pods arrived unfilled for easy postage, but bags of beans are readily available at shops like Kmart, Target and Clark Rubber. We paid about $12 for a 100L bag.

The pods have been laboratory tested for safety and to meet the strictest standards for use by babies from newborn age.

It’s a nifty and practical product that my children love. And now that I’ve got my hands free and can finally get things done around the house, I love it too.

Follow my Instagram page for details on how you can win your very own Chibebe Snuggle Pod.

The post Snuggle Pods For My Cuddlepies appeared first on millie mummy melbourne.

There’s hundreds out there, all looking snazzy and user-friendly, but it’s not until you get them home and pop bub in it you realise it may not be as compact/comfortable/easy to push as you thought when wheeling around a doll inside a shop.

I’m a writer for parenting website Babyology and was invited to road test the new Mountain Buggy Swift with some other mummy bloggers. With baby number two almost here, I couldn’t wait to try it out and get used to how it manoeuvred and folded before our baby’s arrival.

You can never quite plan what happens during pregnancy and birth and our little man, baby Finn, didn’t wait patiently on the inside, arriving days before our beautiful new gold and black pram.

But, as I found out, every feature on the Mountain Buggy Swift is simple, practical and very easy to operate. So I didn’t get any pram practise in before our baby was born, but I didn’t need to. The Swift was ready to go.

It makes life with a newborn so easy – especially after just arriving home from hospital after a c-section. There’s no fiddling or tricky folds, just a simple button push and the Swift packs up. Can be done with one hand (which is ideal because mums always have their hands full). It’s light and compact and fits nicely in the back of the car.

The Swift looks (and is) very streamlined yet doesn’t compromise on space for your child. Millie, nearly three and almost 15kg, happily sat in the full-sized seat with room to spare. The compact buggy size and the ease in which it can be pushed – despite carrying a heavy toddler – surprisingly took very little effort.

I love that the seat can recline fully, enabling the family to remain out and about while our youngest sleeps. It will be especially handy for travel when getting the baby to a bed is not as easy. The lie-flat mode is great feature not often found in prams once your baby grows out of the carrycot/bassinet, yet will be used often by us.

This pram will grow with my baby. By sitting Millie in it I can see it is big enough for a three-year-old, but at the moment our little guy is cosy in the Carrycot plus, shielded from the wind and sun. I can tilt the carrycot slightly if bub is suffering from reflux too, making it a much more enjoyable ride for him.

When Finn is a little older he will be comfy riding in the parent-facing seat, able to see the world around him while feeling secure because he can still see me while I push.

Being able to effortlessly fold the Swift and have it in a compact, standing positon ready to put into the car was invaluable. The frame locks into place meaning the pram doesn’t swing open when lifting it and is ready and in position for when you use it next.

The Swift’s width and the front swivel wheel made it very easy to master the supermarket aisles. I didn’t feel like I was in anyone’s way and could easily push it around boxes and other shoppers with one hand with the other used to hold on to my toddler.

It remained a smooth ride on all surfaces. Finn didn’t stir while pushing the buggy across gravel, cobblestones or grass and was easy to pop up the front wheel onto kerbs while negotiating footpaths and road crossings near my home.

Click here to read the full Babyology review and see all the pictures from the blogging mums’ road test of the Mountain Buggy Swift.

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Millie and her little friend Olivia snooze under their Breezy Sun Canopies during a walk to Luna Park

We bought quite a few baby essentials at a David Jones Baby & Toddler Expo. The department store hosts these special days a couple of times a year and brand representatives are on hand to answer questions – but the best part is that prams, cots, car seats, monitors etc are 20% off on the day.

It was perfect because we picked out what we wanted and paid a deposit while it was all ordered in. There’s not much space at our place and we could relax knowing we had all we needed on its way while we cleared out the spare room that was to become bub’s nursery.

I didn’t test out many prams to be honest, but trusted the opinions of friends who used a Bugaboo.

After a go of pushing it around DJs and a shot at folding it up, we settled on a Cameleon 3 with the plain black fabric set. We didn’t find out if we were having a girl or boy, so black suited either. It looks chic too, and when baby did arrive, the dark canopy meant it was easy for her to fall asleep.

While the pram is close to perfect, there have been some additions I’ve made (seems just because you spend $1000+ on a pram doesn’t mean everything you need comes with it, oh no). There are some pram accessories that I think are worth the extra cash.

The cup holder was on my birthday wish-list. It’s great. It keeps my daily takeaway latte upright while I tend to baby and allows me to have two hands on the pram. You can buy them at Baby Bunting.

I bought a cheap bag hook that’s been super handy, especially while Millie was in the bassinet. The bassinet on the Bugaboo is very roomy (Millie still fitted in it until she was 6 months) but it’s tricky to access the underpram bag holder. The bag hook allowed me to attach lightweight bags without the need for squashing it under. The Brica brand one I have is hardened plastic so it doesn’t make a noisy clunk along the handlebar when you fold the pram up. Toys R Us, Kmart, Target and Baby Bunting all have lots of different types.

I also bought the Bugaboo Breezy Sun Canopy and it’s been fantastic so far in these sweltering summer temperatures. It allows for extra ventilation and mozzie protection through fine mesh panels on the sides and at the feet, has a UPF of 50+ and extends over the stroller seat (or bassinet) so to keep the sun off bub entirely. It means we can still have a walk outside on warmer days. I got mine at Buckets and Spades in Brighton, it was about $100.

After converting my pram to the stroller mode I purchased a seat liner. I figure that it’s easier to pull it off and wash it than trying to clean the actual pram. There are some talented sewers out there making seat liners in all kinds of bright and beautiful printed fabric if you don’t want to spend the $75 on the Bugaboo one. A quick search on Etsy or eBay will offer up plenty of options.

Spending extra money on the footmuff is probably uneccessary. Most babies have multiple sleeping bags with holes for harnesses and warm blankets to keep cosy during the winter chill. If it was that cold and blowy I probably wouldn’t venture outdoors with my baby anyway!

I admit the printed canopies look funky. There’s Andy Warhol prints and alternative colours but the fabric set that it comes with is fine.

You can buy snack trays, parasols and Bugaboo-branded blankets but I think these are add-ons you really don’t need.

There’s even a Bugaboo transport bag…but at $210 I’d be tempted to buy a stroller overseas to use while on holiday or even buy a cheap stroller here that won’t worry you if it’s thrown around and damaged while in transit. Target has a cheap and cheerful stroller available now for just $25 that would suit bubs over 6 months.

The post Steering Down The Right Path For Bugaboo Accessories appeared first on millie mummy melbourne.

All of this and more was sucked out of my car and shot into the clear chamber of a Dyson V6 Absolute.

I hadn’t given my car a proper vacuum since Millie was born and I shuddered when I looked at the crud that came out of my vehicle. But at the same time I’ve never felt more satisfied.

My new Dyson cordless vacuum comes with a mini motorised head just made for whizzing over your car seats. Never will I again struggle with one of those insipid vacuum hoses at the car wash, trying unsuccessfully to get the car looking presentable before my $2 worth of suction runs out.

The cordless Dyson V6 Absolute at work on my car seats The dust and dirt that came out of my car was clear to see

When I finally did some vacuuming of the floors inside the house, I was, well, floored.

After about 20 seconds of running the lightweight handstick over the carpet, the body of the vacuum was CHOCK-A-BLOCK with dirt and dust. I’m a clean and tidy housekeeper. I maintain a neat household and vacuum regularly. But looking at the dust and dirt my old vacuum had ‘missed’ made me feel ill. These are the same floors my baby girl has been rolling around on since day dot. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

Now I don’t need to have a clean-freak panic attack when Millie upturns her box of Duplo all over the lounge room floor.

It must be the direct drive cleaner head that ‘drives bristles deeper into the carpet’ to remove more filth. Whatever it is, I’m in love.

The Dyson V6 Absolute contains a washable filter and weighs only 2.3kg. Pic: Dyson

Bonus feature: There’s a patented fine dust and dirt filter inside with a sealed system so that the air leaving the vac is cleaner than what you’re breathing in. For a sneezy, watery-eye hayfever sufferer with a young child, this is brilliant. Kind of feels like I’m cleaning our entire house, not just the floor.

I love that I don’t have to unplug as I go from room to room – when fully charged the battery provides 20 minutes of suction – or even change the head when going from the carpeted areas to the tiles. So clever.

Millie is not at all bothered by the vacuuming going on around her

It takes me half as much time to vacuum now because the suction is so strong. I only ever have to go over something once. There’s a max power button too, but I haven’t really needed the extra oomph.

It’s not as noisy and cumbersome as my old vac either, which used to frighten Millie and send her bolting to her room. When this one is on and she doesn’t bat an eyelid.

Cleaning is simple. A button releases a hatch and the dirt falls straight into the rubbish bin. I’ve had to help pull out some of the hair wound around the inside of the chamber on a couple of occasions though.

I’m really impressed with this appliance. I’m actually excited to vacuum – the chamber full of dirt when I finish is incredibly pleasing (I know, it sounds weird, but it’s got me hooked). This busy mumma is glad she no longer has to waste precious time going over and over the floors with dud vacuum for little result. A quick scoot around the house and it’s spic and span – and I can get right back to spending quality time with my little girl.

Would a normal domestic vacuum be capable of picking up as much dust and dirt as the Dyson V6 Absolute? I don’t know (but unlikely). Would it be cheaper? Probably. But it certainly wouldn’t be as efficient, powerful or convenient. This vacuum is well worth its $899 price tag, and then some.

Find out more about the Dyson V6 Absolute here 
Click here for stockists

*MillieMummyMelbourne was gifted a Dyson V6 Absolute cordless vacuum to try out at home for the purposes of a review

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