Continuing our stock taking sale, we have further reduced the fantastic Natalia range of organic yummies for mummy and baby.

Made in the UK with high qualitynatural, organic and wild crafted ingredients, this range is a wonderful treat for that special newborn or parent to be.

Buy now with 20% off.

For those of you who live in and around Bristol, this update on the home birth campaign may be of interest to you:

Supporting Home Birth

The Maternity Services Liaison Committee (MSLC), chaired by Pip A’Ness, will be holding a Home Birth Workshop on Monday 15^th March from 11am-2pm at the YMCA, Marsden Road, Clevedon, BS21 7NW. This event will be building on the work of the Bristol Health Services Plan’s “Normalising the Birth Experience” workstream set up to deliver the recommendations of the Maternity & Newborn Services Review.  Maternity service providers in Bristol are committed to achieving a 10% home birth rate by 2011 and to this end, we will be seeking ideas from service users as to how this can be achieved.  Please phone 0117 9841562 or email  Noshin.Emamiannaeini@bristolpct.nhs.uk if you wish to attend and comment on how we can encourage and support women and midwives in the promotion of home birth.  Lunch and a crèche are included.

An exciting and challenging target of Bristol’s Maternity Review (2008) is that we must achieve 40% midwife-led birth settings (including home) in Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset by next year.  BCB and its Supporters inspired Bristol’s Maternity Review and Cossham Birth Centre so please lend your voice again at this crucial point to make even more happen in the promotion of normal midwife-led birth settings.

Thank you for your continued support.

For those of you based in and around Bristol, you may be interested in the latest update on the Birth Centre Update:

Dear Supporter

 If Cossham Birth Centre then why not South Bristol Birth Centre?

South Bristol Hospital at Hengrove is now going ahead.  For a year BCB has been having talks with NHS Bristol regarding the inclusion of a midwife-led birth centre. There has always been an interest for this at executive level but we need some clout from our Supporters to get South Bristol Birth Centre on the drawing board NOW and for its inclusion in Phase 2 of South Bristol Hospital’s plans. Women in South Bristol will then have the opportunity to labour and give birth near their own home. Please lend your voice once again to the BCB campaign: write with your support as soon as you can to Sue Learner (BCB Steering Group midwife), at 58, Bellevue Crescent, Bristol BS8 4TF or email  info@birthcentebristol.org.uk .

The development of Cossham Hospital is now well underway.  With the doors set to open in November 2011, midwives are now beginning to think about taking the first bookings just a year from now from women wishing to give birth at Cossham Birth Centre, Bristol’s first free-standing birth centre.  You can stay abreast of developments by visiting the Birth Centre Bristol news page.

 Thank you for your continued support.

Home made hobby horse

It’s raining, kids are bored, they seem to be bored with the mountain of toys in their bedroom, what shall we do?

I regularly buy new small toys or plan activities in advance so I can turn a boring day into magical fun within minutes. Sometimes, you just have to improvise.

Today, I remember that my little boy played with his friend’s hobby horse a whole afternoon last time we visited them. No hobby horse around here, no way I’m trekking to the shops on a rainy to get one. I’m also not keen on buying toys that will only be played with a handful of times. Even if traditional hobby horses look lovely with their soft fur and cute eyes, there won’t be space in their room to keep it.

Out comes the trusted cardboard!

Supplies:

• A small pole or stick
• Packing tape
• Some ribbons, paper strips, gift string
• Eyes were from the local supermarket or you can draw them with felt pens
• Scissors

Print out the hobby horse head.
Cut around it
Draw the shape of the head on the cardboard (twice)
Ask an adult to cut the cardboard head shapes
Stick them together with packing tape leave a small space on one corner for the pole
Slide the pole in and secure it with tape
Draw or glue the eyes
Ask an adult to cut a couple of small holes with a sharp knife or a knitting needle through the cardboard. Thread the ribbons and tie.

Et voila! Now you can make a second to whiz around and race with a friend!

It’s not the prettiest toy ever and not meant to last but making it taught the children to draw a shape, cut, stick, and will keep them entertained for the rest of the afternoon. When they’re done with, take it apart, reuse what can be reuse and recycle the rest.

Ideas for a green(er) Christmas

Let’s try to be a bit more gentle on the planet this Christmas. We have collected some ideas for a greener Christmas (in no particular order!) and would love to hear from you, what would you do?

• Have a massive clear out:  You can sell (if you have time) or donate to charity or to someone else. Become a member of your local free share group (it’s free) to offer the items you no longer need. Items usually get picked up quickly. Recently we’ve given away a broken computer, a broken shredder, a collapsed wardrobe, some big boxes of children clothing and children toys, some fabric scraps… Somebody’s junk is someone’s treasure!
• Use and recycle: Now look at everything that can be used or reused. Be creative! Last year’s Christmas pudding leftover dried fruit ma a lovely dried fruit salad for example. Cut up last year’s Christmas cards to make gift tags (or if you’re really crafty, they can make excellent material for new Christmas cards). After Christmas, many stores have cards recycling stations, keep an eye out for them. Instead of sending Christmas cards, you can also send e-cards and donate the equivalent to a charity.
• Give yourself a ‘green’ challenge: If you’re not already doing it, recycle all your glass and plastic bottles until the New Year. Some councils don’t take them from your house but you can find recycle points everywhere. (Obviously it would be better to walk there than drive!)
• If you choose a ‘real’ Christmas tree, remember to contact your council to enquire about Christmas tree recycling.
• Forget wrapping paper! Imagine the tons of paper used every year just to end up in the bin. Open your presents carefully, fold the paper away and reuse it. Use craft paper and fabric ribbons which can be used and reused (and composted when they’re really done). Get the kids to decorate some old boxes with paint, cut outs, magazines, fabric scraps… Sew some easy reusable gift bags which can be used and reused for birthdays, parties, keep the kids’ things organised.
• Start your Christmas shopping early. Throughout the year, jolt down some gift ideas. That way you won’t be stuck shopping for last minute gadgets which will be discarded after a few days.
• Buy good quality gifts: one way to protect the environment is to make sure that every item that is produced is fully used. This way we will have made the most of the resources used to produce it.
• Buy ethical gifts whenever possible. A wooden toy like the Lanka Kade collection helps provide families in Sri Lanka with a steady income. They are made of recycled rubberwood sourced from exhausted rubber plantations. Fairly traded fancy dress will provide hours of fun too. Organic products like bubble bath, massage oils are also thoughtful presents that you know will be well used. The instant gardens makes beautiful organic gifts for grown ups.
• Christmas is the perfect time of the year to discover your local food market. Produce is fresh, of excellent quality and usually produced locally. You will support your local economy and save on the fuel it would normally take to transport the produce to the supermarket.

That’s a few of our tips for a green Christmas. What about you? What do you do, don’t do?

We have just received our first delivery of this brand new directory and my, are we blown away with it.

It truely is jam packed full of eco tips and places to source all your green living essentials.

It is laid out in really lovely sections, so it is easy to find what you need and I have to say that I am amazed by the sheer number of ethical and sustainable companies that there are now.

Of course, we are featured in the Green Child section, as we do sell one of the best ranges of organic baby products around.

And the best bit?  Well we will be popping one of these directories into all orders from www.naturalnursery.co.uk FREE this month. 

Happy reading!

Arabella

At long last, the fabby Exeter Steiner School Cook Book has now been published.  Packed full of inspiring seasonal recipes, this book is a true celebration of food, family life and a friendly lifestyle!

You can buy your cookbook direct from the Exeter Steiner School itself or from our website.  Please note that all proceeds from the sale of the cook book will go direct to the school.

Ergo Sport Baby Carrier

We get lots of calls asking what is so different about the Ergo Sport so I thought it would be a good idea to put some of the differences down on paper:

General Features and Benefits

The Ergo Sport is designed for fathers and male carriers – it still has all the features and functions of the Ergo New Generation II but is cut slightly larger to accommodate a male frame and looks more rugged.

Fabric

The Sport is made from a 35% cotton/65% polyester blend designed to have a slight wicking to help keep babywearers more comfortable.  This fabric is lighter and more breathable.  The fabric also feels soft to the touch.

The New Gen II is made from 100% cotton with 100% cotton poplin lining (both SKAL certified organic in the case of the organic Ergos). 

Sizing

The Sport’s waist strap can be extended an extra 5”, so fits from 30 inches to a maximum of 48 inches.

The Sport’s shoulder straps extend an extra 4”, so it will fit 5′ to 6.5′ body height.

The New Gen II has a waist belt circumference of 25″ to 43″ and the shoulder straps will adjust to fit from 5′ to 6′5″ body height but we would suggest that those over 6’ would be more comfortable with the Sport.

Design

The Sport has a vent to provide added breathability to keep both baby and parent cooler and more comfortable.

The Sport is available in black with feature white stitching making an urban, rugged looking sling.

Sleeping Hood

The Sport’s hood can be completely removed and stored in the built-in pocket.

The New Gen II sleep hood is fixed to the babycarrier and can be tucked into the pocket when not in use.

Carry positions

Both baby carriers can be used in the front, back and hip positions, for babies from birth up to 18kgs.  Both carriers support the spread squat position being the correct sitting position for the baby’s hip, pelvis and spine growth and does not allow the baby to hang from the crotch.

Both slings distributes weight to the carrier’s hips and shoulders giving a more comfort carrying experience.

Back Pocket

On the Sport, the zippered pocket has been removed and instead there is a poppered pocket to store the sleep hood when it is not in use.

The New Gen II has a side zippered pocket to store small items in and an open top pocket to keep the sleeping hood tidy when not is use.

Can they be used by male and female carriers?

Absolutely, both carriers are designed to be used by both sexes.

Personal thoughts

I haven’t actually used the Ergo Sport as I am barely 5’ 2” and my daughter is sadly too big to be carrier now but I did use the New Gen 4 or 5 times a week until she was 4 1/2 years old.  I can say that the new fabric on for the Sport is lovely and soft, it looks really hard wearing and my husband would have jumped at the chance to have one.

You can see our range of childrens books on our site. The range is broken down into baby books, toddler books and books for children to make browsing easier for you.

The code you need is “books” – simply pop it into the space during checkout and you will receive a massive 25% off the books!

Any questions or problems, just drop me an email.

Arabella