I’ve found two brands that design and make the softest, most beautiful bedding for all ages – from bassinet sheets through to bedding to fit a child’s king single bed.

Finn, three weeks old, is sleeping in his Stokke bassinet and on the Oh So Dandy grey and white print bassinet fitted sheet from Wilson & Frenchy.

Baby Finn on the Wilson & Frenchy Oh So Dandy bassinet sheet and wearing a Wilson & Frenchy Forest Frolic zipsuit

The brand’s new release bassinet and cot sheet sets are available in two different material blends and eight unique prints – and they are just devine.

The unisex print Finn has is so light and whimsical – perfect for a newborn. We didn’t find out our baby’s gender before he arrived so opted for the grey and white, but there’s dainty pink and blue prints too.

The 100 per cent cotton sheet sets are soft and durable (I’ve washed them so many times since Finn’s been here and they still look like new and just get softer) and the Melbourne-based company says they are designed to create the perfect setting for your baby to sleep tight in comfort and style.

I love Wilson & Frenchy’s grey and white prints for newborns

There’s also the cute Star Burst range, which is made from an ultra-soft, breathable cotton/bamboo mix. This blend features 70 per cent bamboo to keep the bub cool in summer and warm in winter.

Each Wilson & Frenchy bassinet sheet set contains a printed fitted sheet and a generously sized and very stretchy bunny rug, which can be used to either tuck your little one in nice and tight or to swaddle your newborn for a restful sleep. The cotton bassinet sheet set is only $39.95.

I’m eyeing off the super cute Pattern Play cot sheets for when Finn moves into his cot and by the rate he is growing this won’t be long off at all (*sob sob*).

Millie, almost three, is in a ‘big girl bed’ and I struggled to find sheets that weren’t tacky or in lurid colours, weren’t thin with a very low thread count or sheets that didn’t pill after the first use.

Babu, a New Zealand company, uses fabric made from the softest natural fibres to create contemporary baby bedding, clothing and accessories in classic neutral colours. Babu has gorgeous products to suit a baby’s every need – bedtime, bath time, mealtime and playtime.

Ali, the company’s founder, started Babu in 2002 after not being able to find the right type of sheeting fabric she wanted for her baby Jack, nicknamed “babu”. All material is sourced from the best quality suppliers, including 100 per cent merino wool for the baby blankets and clothing from New Zealand and Australia as well as 100 per cent organic cotton from India.

Millie cosy in her Babu organic cotton bedding

The single bed sheets are made from 100 per cent organic cotton and I wish they had sizes for my bed! They are the most beautifully soft and luxurious sheets I think I’ve ever felt. Millie has the Pink Star sheets and she just loves her cosy ‘twinkle twinkle’ bed.

In an ingenious move, the Babu top sheets are fitted at the bottom two corners, so a wriggly child can’t pull them off and become tangled. It makes the sheets sit snugly on the bed and saves your back having to tuck sheets under the mattress. So good.

Babu’s flat sheets are fitted at the bottom corners

Special mention has to be made about Babu’s organic hooded towel and the gauze muslin wash cloths, which have been a godsend come baby Finn’s bath time.

Shop Wilson & Frenchy sheet sets here

Shop Babu bedding here

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She’s been lucky enough to have been cast in some photo shoots for some fabulous Aussie brands (more on that in a post very soon).

But photo shoots take time and take their toll on mini models, so we had to give her usual swimming lesson a miss last week.

Not wanting to waste the fees I’d paid, we were able to do a catch-up lesson on a different day and time.

Whoa.

Who knew a different class at the same swim school would be such an eye opener?

The class we attended was jam packed. ARRGGH. Millie was completely distracted by all the noise and the instructor zoomed through the usual drills just to ensure everyone had a go before time was up.

Not a good start.

But I knew I was in for a fun ride when I hopped in the pool and was Ring-A-Rosing beside A MODEL. I recognised her from catalogues, but the perfectly coiffed topknot, black string bikini, false lashes and super all-over tan was a dead giveaway this was not your usual new mum.

Don’t get me wrong, she looked fabulous. Especially beside my pasty blob of a bod. Even in my super cute new (one piece) bathers, I was no match for this glamazon of the pool.

Ready to hit the water

After the uncomfortably cramped lesson, I was happy to be getting out of there (and thankful Millie’s usual lesson attracted no more than about 5 participants).

This was the next challenge. Getting out of the pool with a toddler is difficult. Making sure your swimsuit isn’t flashing boob, bum or tum is a mission while juggling floaties and a wet and wriggly baby.

But being discreet while clamouring out of the water should not have been a concern, for the change room was like a scene out of Police Academy.

Millie and I usually wander in and claim a shower before I dress her, then myself, with the help of a baby change table affixed to the wall.

On this particular day, there were two big kids hanging from the change table, rowdy kids sitting at the base of the showers playing under streams of water, prams with screaming babies pushed in the corners, bags/towels/clothes all over the floor and mums swanning around the room completely naked.

I get it. It’s a change room. It’s where wet swimwear comes off and dry clothes are put on.

But even I was unprepared. Millie and I were standing in the centre of the room. Dripping wet. Unable to reach my bag and towel or nab a hot shower. Surrounded by vajayjay.

We were in the middle of a nude merry-go-round.

These women must have been trying to impress one another. I have no idea what was going on. About 6 women were rudey-nudey at once and in absolutely no hurry to put it away.

The door was constantly swinging open, exposing their parts to everyone in the aquatic centre. They didn’t care.
Their own children were running amok. Young boys who had followed their mums in were staring.

One woman was standing naked in front of a foggy mirror BRUSHING HER HAIR. Proud of the fact that the hair on her head was the only hair on her body?

Another had stripped off and was bent over, fossicking in her bag.

One mum had at least put on a rather teeny, see-through G-string while continuing to dress her kids.

I’m no prude, but it was bizarre. I didn’t know where to look.

Am I the only one who uses a towel shield tied around my waist when taking off bikini bottoms? The only one who makes sure at least boobs or bum are covered when I’m in a busy change room? Mindful of trying not to flash other people’s school-age children?

I was almost convinced Ashton Kutcher was going to pop out of a cubicle to tell me I’d been Punk’d. He didn’t.

TELL ME: Am I being overly sensitive or do you think being discreet is good change room etiquette?

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The Terrible Twos are not really all that bad. It’s the unpredictability of mealtimes that frustrates me – Finn is a pretty good eater and will often surprise me by eating everything on his dinner plate. Peas are his favourite. Happy days. But sometimes, usually in a stretch of days on end, he will not touch the food in front of him. He’s a growing boy and must eat to get that goodness that growing boys need to go about their busy little lives – and its days like this that send any well-meaning parent into a tizz.

Finn has always loved his milk

Thankfully, Finn loves his milk. Babyccinos, smoothies, lots of milk on his cereal and warm milk before bed. Breastfed until 14 months old, he easily transitioned to toddler milk drinks and will guzzle from his sippy cups without hesitation.

Milk moustache

Finn has been drinking NAN A2 Stage 3 toddler milk for weeks now. It’s a premium milk drink designed for toddlers from the age of one, providing them with a combination of high quality ingredients and important essential nutrients, such as iron and zinc. The milk supports his growth and development, giving him the extra nourishment he can do with at this age (especially when he’s had a bad day at the dinner table).

NAN A2 Stage 3 toddler milk is packed with 16 vitamins and minerals for growing bodies

NAN A2 Stage 3 contains 16 vitamins and minerals, A2 β-casein protein* (a blend of whey and casein, where the A2 β-casein protein comes from milk of special cows, selected to exclusively contain the A2 βcasein protein), and Probiotic Bifidus Bι, a probiotic similar to those found in the digestive system of breastfed babies. NAN A2 Stage 3 shouldn’t replace a varied diet. It’s specially formulated for toddlers that may not be getting all the energy and nutrients they need from their food.

I had previously considered giving Finn a daily probiotic supplement, so I love that it’s already included in his cup of milk each day. I sometimes blend his NAN A2 Stage 3 milk drink with a banana – he thinks it’s a very special treat and I’m just thankful he’s getting all that goodness.

NAN A2 Stage 3 is available from Coles Supermarkets and the new Nestlé e-commerce website. 

*Proteins, including A2 β Casein protein, helps support growth and development in young children. 

*This is a sponsored post for NAN A2 Stage 3 premium milk

The post Please Eat The Peas – A Guide To A Toddler’S Eating Habits appeared first on millie mummy melbourne.

The lovely assistant at my local Chemist Warehouse told me that Happy Baby soothers HAVE BEEN DISCONTINUED.

Say it ain’t so.

These dummies have seen us through otherwise sleepless nights, international flights, long pram walks, supermarket queues, car trips, illnesses and teething.

This news is enough to make me crave my own ‘soother’.

Affectionately known as the bogan dummy, the Happy Baby dummy with the cherry shape teat was the only one Millie would use.

I’d tried them all – natural rubber, orthodontic, silicone – but luckily for my hip pocket the readily-available and Australian-made Happy Baby cheapies were her favourite.

From memory I think it was about $5 for a 3-pack. Nothing fancy about Millie’s choice of dummy!

I’ve tried to find a pack at every chemist and supermarket in my local area, to no avail. I think it must be true. They’re gone.

Millie doesn’t use a dummy apart from at sleep time and doesn’t completely rely on it to get to sleep (thank goodness). But I’m wishing I stocked up.

There’d be a lot of mums of Happy Baby babies who will no doubt feel my pain. What to do once you lose your last dummy or bub chomps it flat and renders it useless?

It is probably time to start easing Millie off dummies anyway but I’m sure it would be a hell of a lot easier to do it with her old faithful Happy Baby in her cot one last time.

I have found the Tommee Tippee ‘latex super soft comforters’ have a very similar shape to the Happy Baby ones and Millie will (reluctantly) use one. No substitute for her fave ‘dumdum’ though.

So excuse me while I trawl online and buy up big on what might be the last of the Happy Baby dummies. The happiness of my baby depends on it!

The post Dummy Dilemma: Where Can I Find A Happy Baby? appeared first on millie mummy melbourne.

I have thousands of pics on my phone, each one a moment in time and a precious snap capturing my baby girl and her speedy growth.

But I’m constantly getting the dreaded ‘storage almost full’ message on my iPhone.

Boo. I hate that.

I’m sure every proud mum out there is very familiar with this problem.

It pops up when Millie is doing something particularly cute or funny (ie. all the time) and I panic and scroll back to pics before July 2013 and reluctantly delete the photos of the amazing dish I ate/cooked for dinner that at the time I thought was the bee’s knees.

Then I tried SmileyPrint. I now have Millie’s adorable little face peering at me from an equally adorable mini Instagram album and a set of glossy square prints.

The SmileyPrint website allows you to easily upload your Instagram feed and from there you can pick and choose the snaps you would like to rescue from the tiny screen of your phone.

The mini spiral-bound album arrived quickly in the post. It’s very sweet. It has a book cover and is a nifty little size to keep in my bag for anyone else interested enough to see photos of my girl.

The square prints are also beautiful – almost a modern-day Polaroid – and will soon take pride of place hanging from twine with tiny pegs in our hallway. We’ll be able to print more pics as we take them and add them to our mini square gallery.

I’m thinking it would be a nice way to display piccies at Millie’s 1st birthday party coming up.

I’m really happy with my SmileyPrint goodies, but also so pleased some of the best pics of Millie will emerge from the black box that is my phone and see the light of day.

You can follow SmileyPrint on Facebook or Instagram or order your own SmileyPrints here

For the chance to win a SmileyPrint mini Instagram album, visit MillieMummyMelbourne on Instagram

*This is a sponsored post

My Instagram snaps have been made into a mini album and square prints thanks to SmileyPrint

The post Snap Happy In Little Squares appeared first on millie mummy melbourne.

I could have just done what my friend’s husband did and bought a tarp from Bunnings to pop under the fitted sheet. He also folded it so it was crinkly and stiff and noisy and blue and uncomfortable only on her side of the bed. NO JOKE PEOPLE, MY FRIEND SLEPT ON A TARP BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF HER BABY. How she slept, why she agreed to it and how her husband managed to keep out of the dog house for that little idea I do not know.

You don’t need to take such extreme, penny-pinching measures. Waterproof mattress protectors can be found that add a luxurious layer to your bed, stop liquid from seeping into your mattress and are machine washable so will be your little bed bodyguard for a long time.

Gross fact: After 5 years, half the weight of an unprotected mattress can be made up of body fluids, skin cells, mould and bacteria.

We were given a Protect-A-Bed Signature Tencel Mattress Protector for our queen size bed ($149.99). It prevents everyday accidents, spills, stains, perspiration and skin flakes from getting onto the mattress below, is approved by National Asthma Council Australia and has been approved by the Eczema Association as ‘Sensitive Skin Tried and Tested’. I was sold before I actually slept on it!

Our Protect-A-Bed mattress protector is a new friend at bedtime

It provides a thin extra layer of cushioning to the mattress and is soft and comfortable while protecting from spills and stains. It’s a fitted sheet style and easily slipped on over our deep mattress. Climbing into bed that evening it was impossible to tell there was a waterproof protector on there.

Gross fact: The average person loses up to a litre of fluid and millions of skin flakes per day.

What I love is that I can stop my mattress from yellowing – caused by perspiration, skin flakes and everyday spills and stains – and rather than continue to sleep on top of it I can whip off the mattress protector, throw it in the wash and have it dry before I go to bed that night.

Protect-A-Bed mattress and pillow protectors are approved by the National Asthma Council of Australia

After spending hundreds on mattresses for the kids, I love that we can keep them as spic as the day we bought them by using single size mattress protectors on top. I won’t fly into a complete panic if there’s a bedwetting incident or gastro causes the re-emergence of the night’s dinner after they’ve been tucked into bed (this actually happened to Millie a week ago).

Gross fact: Dust mites are everywhere and produce 10-20 waste particles a day.

Protect-A-Bed has many types of waterproof mattress and pillow protectors in its range, from soft bamboo jersey to premium cotton terry styles.

At selected mattress retailers, if you purchase a Protect-A-Bed mattress protector together with a new mattress, and both items are shown on the same sales receipt, Protect-A-Bed will guarantee the mattress sleep surface against staining.

Use the code PROTECT10 when buying online for free shipping on all Protect-A-Bed orders.

*MillieMummyMelbourne was gifted a Protect-A-Bed mattress protector for the purposes of a review.

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