In April 2017, we travelled to Cyprus to visit family and have a little holiday.

When I was pregnant, my husband and I decided we wouldn't take Luke abroad for the first year of his life because it would be too difficult and stressful.

When my cousin contacted me to say she was having her son Christened in Cyprus and would love for us to come, I made an exception! We were incredibly anxious, but I really wanted to see my family. We love Cyprus and I really want it to be a huge part of Luke's life!

I am half Greek Cypriot, making Luke a quarter. I only went to Cyprus for the first time at 18 years old with my family and since then, we try to go as often as possible. I have family that still live over there and it is lovely to be able to see them and I would love for Luke to learn about where his family were from, and if he picks up some Greek, then bonus!

So, we decided to travel with a 15 week old baby.. How were we going to do this?! Planning, that's how!

First of all, we decided to stay at a hotel local to the airport the night before the flight. This way, we only had 10 minutes to get from A to B. It was so much better than worrying about parking a car!

Luke was able to play and we were able to relax and get ready without worrying about time.

Next - the plane. Originally, we were going to have Luke seated on one of our laps. It is a four/five hour flight and we were nervous that he wouldn't want to be held for so long. Although he was little, he was so independent already! We decided to get him a seat, and we took his car seat on the plane. This way, we didn't have to worry that the car seat could be damaged in transit, and Luke had somewhere to sleep.

He loved it. We were so nervous about his ears popping for takeoff and landing, but making sure we had a bottle and dummy at the ready solved that problem.

He didn't make a sound! Apart from happy ones. We were so proud. The flight attendants loved him and he loved them.

The next predicament? Sleeping arrangements. When I was pregnant, I bought a Koo-Di pop up travel cot. The intention was to use this when we were at other peoples houses because it is so compact, we could fit it in the footwell of our pushchair.

We brought it along, and it was perfect. We took it everywhere with us - it was like having a moses basket wherever we went. It was brilliant!

The best part? It has a fly proof zip up screen that went all around him. It meant he could sleep outside and he was protected from the sun and bugs.

You can buy it here:

Hats were an essential - even though he pulled them off. Sun cream just doesn't rub into a baby's head very well unless they are completely bald!

Taking lots of sun cream obviously goes without saying. And my top tip? Do a patch test on your baby before you go! The worst thing that could happen is you buy all this expensive cream, or you buy a cream abroad and you find out your child as an allergy to it! Luckily, we tested Luke's skin first and he got on well with the sun cream we bought. My brand of choice is Boot's Soltan or Nivea.

I personally liked the ones that tie under the chin.

For my cousins christening, we got him a little suit. HOW CUTE does he look?! We decided on the waist coat as it wouldn't be too warm.

We took a little play mat for Luke - this one was fab. It is perfect for tummy time and came with a little cushion to help.

It was padded, so was perfect for the hard floors. It wrapped up so small, we could actually fit it in his changing bag!

Luke loved the beach - he scrunched his toes in the sand. We took this on the day he turned 4 months old. What a little cutie!!!

As I had stopped breastfeeding by this point, we were really worried about bottles and soothers, and how we were going to sterilise them. I have posted before about my love for them - but we hugely relied on MAM for this!!

As soon as we decided to go, a microwave was the only essential where we were staying. You can sterilise MAM bottles and Soothers in the microwave with no steriliser! PERFECT! You can even sterilise the soothers in the cases they come in, or you can place one in a bottle when you're sterilising it. They are fab and they always have the most adorable designs.

I took our own formula too. In Cyprus, they did sell the same brand that Luke has, but it was slightly different, so we brought our own.

Learning to make formula whilst out and about was a challenge as we couldn't take too many ready made bottles due to the weight! I am aware that the advice changes from country to country on how to make a bottle of formula, but it absolutely blew my mind.

At home, I use a Tommee Tippee Prep Machine and I absolutely swear by it. When we leave the house, I always used the ready prepared UHT formula. The current guidelines are that you make formula with boiled water to sterilise the formula itself. I was freaking out about how to do this out and about! Basically without going into it too much further, it involved cooled pre-boiled water and a flask of boiling water over 70 degrees C to sterilise the powder.

One thing we did find was the nappies and wipes in Cyprus were very, very expensive in comparison to the UK. We took a large pack with us with the intention of buying more out there, but we didn't actually need to in the end. Phew.

On reflection, the one thing we didn't bring that I was worried about needing was a baby carrier. I wish we had brought one for the airport. Taking him through security would have been so much easier with a carrier! It was way too hot in Cyprus to use it there though.

The baby carrier I had at home would have been perfect. When it is not in use, it folds away into a bum bag! I should have brought it with me! I keep it in the boot of my car normally, so I have no idea why I didn't take it.

Overall, we had a brilliant and relatively stress free trip! I cannot wait to do the next one, but now Luke is a walking whirlwind, I am a little nervous for different reasons..!

My Essentials Checklist for Luke

Bibs

We brought dribble bibs and enough for one per day. Luckily for us, Luke wasn't too dribbly at the time!

Clothes

We brought enough for three changes of clothes per day - this was too many. Bring enough for two changes per day, and an extra set for the change bag.

Bottles and Soothers

At the time, Luke was having between 5-7 bottles per day, so we took 8 in total. We took 6 soothers - baby's manage to lose these a lot!

Muslin Swaddle Blankets and a Baby Sleeping Bag

The muslin swaddles were a brilliant blanket for the hot evenings. The sleep bag was a life saver for the air conditioned evenings!

Hats x2

Suncream

Formula and Flask

We took a full tub of powder and 12 small bottles of ready made. I also took the flask to prepare the formula out and about.

Nappies, Wipes and Cream

One large pack of 60ish nappies worked out to be the perfect amount. Two packs of wipes was more than enough. We saved up some samples of Sudocrem and took them.

Toys and Mat

We took toys that were easy to clean and pack. We ended up buying a few out there, too.

Travel Cot

The Koo-Di fit perfectly in our luggage and didn't weigh anything.

Baby Wash, Towel and Sponge

I took the biggest hooded towel we had, a sponge I didn't mind leaving there and a travel size baby wash and shampoo. Childs farm do a brilliant 2 in 1.

Car Seat

Even if we didn't get a seat for Luke on the plane, we would have taken our own car seat. Lots of people I know have got to the other side and the only car seat available for hire is forward facing, no matter what age your child is. Not worth the risk, in my opinion!

Stroller

We took our travel system bracket that fit our car seat into it. On reflection, I wish we brought our stroller so Luke wasn't so cooped up in his car seat all the time.

Video Monitor

I know - random one! Our room was a the very top of the villa and we wouldn't hear Luke if he stirred. I picked up a cheap video monitor from Amazon for about £25 and it worked a treat!

Have you taken your little one abroad? What were your essentials??

Small print: I have included affiliate links to these products on Amazon. I love these products and want to make them available to you all!

MAM Baby Diary

Baby apps. Finding one that you get on with is really important. When I was pregnant, there were so many! But none that really did anything for me. When Luke was born, a lot of those apps became redundant and I went on the search for one that would meet my needs. Then I found the MAM Baby Diary! This app has managed to help me every step of the way with Luke. Whether it is advice or the diary function, this app is a must have.

There is a section of the app for advice through pregnancy, and each stage of your baby's development. I downloaded this app towards the end of my pregnancy, and I fell in love straight away!

The MAM Baby Diary is fantastic. The diary function of the app allows you to log any milestones. Such as walking, crawling, etc. This was incredibly handy as my memory is not what it used to be (baby brain, anyone?!)! I don't know about you, but I have people ask "how old was Luke when he did (insert milestone here)?" and I pause.. then I refer to my MAM Baby Diary. Phew.

When Luke was younger, I used it to track his feeds. As I was combination feeding, I used it to track both breast and bottle, and it worked so well. With the breast feeding tracker, you can track which breast and for how long. I would normally add in the comments if I thought it was just a comfort feed, rather than a proper feed.

You can track nappy changes, too. I generally have only use this when Luke has been unwell, and it has given me great peace of mind! Recently (and over his birthday, poor thing!) Luke had a tummy bug. He was having lots of nappies, but not many wet ones at all. This gave us a chance to monitor him.

There have been two occasions where I have forgotten Luke's red book when we have gone to get him weighed. This app might as well be his red book, to be honest! You can log all measurements on the app. I have a lot of mum friends with babies the same age, and it is really handy to have the measurements to hand when we are comparing our little ones.

You can track anything, just see above! The own recording is super - I have been tracking his vaccines there.

You can even add more than one child!

I personally have tried many other apps with similar features, but none like this one. This app is by far my favourite and I would recommend it to any pregnant person, or those with a little one. Try it out!

Download the app here.

MAM asked me to review this app, but I did however already have this app and use it. All opinions are my own.

MAM Oral Care Week! *

This week is MAM Oral Care Week! YAY! MAM have some fantastic products to help look after your little one's mouth.

Go to the store here and enter "ORALCARE25" for 25% off oral care and teethers! (excluding MAM Friends)

For your chance to win a teether of choice, keep reading!

Oral care is so important for your little one. I always thought that it was simple when you had a baby. They don't have any teeth, so why do I need to worry about their oral care?? Ohh Rowan, how wrong can you be?

When Luke's first tooth came through, I was so excited. I had the toothbrush at the ready! Luke had other plans. He would not let me brush his tooth. In fact, if the toothbrush went near him, he would gag and clamp his jaw shut. Even when he started to accept the toothbrush (just holding it though..) he would scream if it went near his mouth. Oh man.

His first tooth came through on the 1st August, followed by the second on the 12th August. Two adorable bottom teeth to take care of - but no way of him allowing me! So I tried to make it fun. I let him basically just have one toothbrush at all times, and showed him throughout the day, every day, how to brush his teeth. Eventually, it worked! Now, if I hand him his brush, he brushes his teeth (and then I step in and make sure they are sparkling!).

Growing up, my baby teeth were a real problem. I had an addiction to fruit juice in a bottle and would not let my parents brush my teeth. The result? Painful tooth extractions and adult teeth growing where they shouldn't. This really motivated me to make sure that Luke would never have this problem. But where to start..

MAM have some incredible products to ensure your baby has the best oral care from day one. I honestly could not recommend them more.

The MAM Oral Care Rabbit

This product can be used from BIRTH! Yes, birth! It is so important to keep gums clean.

This is a product I am so glad I had before Luke's teeth came through. I was a bit late to the party though, and got it when he was about 4-5 months old. It helped him get used to having his gums brushed. And when he refused the toothbrush at first, this helped keep his brand new little tooth clean!

You simply put the ears over your fingers and gently rub over the baby gums!

I do let Luke just hold and chew this too. He loves it.

MAM Bite and Relax (Phase 2)
Hands up if your baby started teething ridiculously early, but no teeth appeared for a while?!

Luke started teething at about 7-8 weeks. It was hell! He would chew everything, mainly blankets, and cry all the time. He was too young for pain relief and only just old enough for a tiny dose of teething powder which didn't work for long.

I bought a couple of teethers to relieve him, but the issue I had was sterilising them. I threw them in the steriliser and then... Well and then what?! How was I supposed to take them with me and keep them clean? I actually resorted to putting them in a sterilised bottle, which meant more to carry.

These teethers come with a sterilisble case - YES! YOU READ THAT RIGHT!! Just like the MAM Soothers, you can sterilise this teether in the microwave in the case, and take it with you. The case keeps them sterile for 48 hours.

Luke chews on every part of this teether. I attach it to one of our soother clips and he favours it over his soother!

MAM also sell the Bite and Relax Phase 1 from 2+ months - it also comes in a sterilisable case and you can find it here.

MAM Friends
Meet Bob and Lucy. They are Luke's MAM Friends.

They are made of 100% natural rubber, making them 100% baby safe.

These guys are brilliant. Luke actually talks to them - not too sure what he is saying, but he looks right at their little eyes and talks! After he has had a nice long chat with them, he tries to eat them. Just as well they are perfect for this!

Both can be secured onto a dummy clip so Luke can take them everywhere with him (and I don't have to worry about them getting lost!). Luke points and pokes the little bumps and patterns and found them incredibly easy to pick up from very early on. They are extremely squidgy with no squeek - that means I don't have to worry about stepping on one when Luke is in bed - result!

These can't be sterilised, but I personally just give them a quick once over with the bottle brush and some antibacterial washing up liquid and dry them thoroughly.

Lucy is suitable from 2+ months and can be found here.
Max is suitable from 4+ months and can be found here.
Ellie is suitable from 4+ months and can be found here.
Bob is suitable from 5+ months and can be found here.

MAM Massaging Brush
The MAM Massaging Brush is a life saver. When Luke's gums are causing him pain, the last thing he wants me to do is brush his teeth. The MAM Massaging Brush not only cleans his existing teeth and gums, it brings a great deal of comfort to those sore gums!

One thing I adore about the MAM Massaging Brush is that it is long - long enough for Luke to hold, and still room for me to help!

MAM Learn to Brush Set
This brush set does exactly what it says on the tin. It helped Luke learn to brush his own teeth, and hugely helped my piece of mind at the same time!

Like the other one, the MAM Learn to Brush Set comes with a long brush. Luke can hold this and I can help him! The smaller brush is perfect for little hands.

The reason this brush saved my piece of mind is that little round plastic piece that comes with the brushes. This clips around the neck of the brush to stop Luke from shoving the whole brush down his throat! It is such a fab idea and it really works. Luke cannot take it off which is even better! He uses it as a handle, too.


The Giveaway is now closed!!

MAM have kindly offered a fantastic prize of a choice of teether from their website! The range can be found here.

Giveaway closes on 20th October 2017 (winner selected and announced on the 21st).

All you have to do is enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Good Luck!!


The fine print: MAM have sent me this product for the purpose of review. All views are my own.
The giveaway is for UK residents only and will be drawn at random on the 21st October2017

Coffee Shops Aren’t The Only Place For Great Coffee*

For many people, coffee is the fuel that keeps them going – it wakes you up on a morning, gives you a boost during that pre-lunch lull in energy and ensures you remain alert late into the afternoon. But the concept of great quality coffee has also become tied up with the idea of the coffee shop – after all, you can’t get really good coffee at home or at the office, right?

Coffee Shop Culture

We have almost become spoiled in terms of coffee due to the quality of products easily available at our many local coffee shops. Not only that but the whole coffee shop culture has gained a place in our work lives. Many freelancers and flexible location workers often turn to the coffee shop as a great place to work and also to enjoy their favourite coffee. With free Wi-Fi, charging spots for the smartphone and even the odd free refill, the coffee shop is an ideal place for solo workers to have a change of scene.

This has also led to the desire for better quality coffee both at home and at work. For most people, gone are the days of coffee that looked and tasted like used petrol. In fact, some 40% of employees say they are willing to leave the office to buy quality coffee on the high street. So, what can be done to make quality coffee available everywhere?

Importance of Quality Coffee

There are lots of ways to get the very highest quality coffee in your home or at the office and that’s why many businesses are now investing money in ensuring that their staff get only the best. In fact, as the awareness of the benefits of coffee for staff has grown, so has the investment that businesses are willing to make in their coffee facilities, and there are a growing number of specialist commercial coffee companies like Honest Coffees (www.HonestCoffees.com) providing the latest machines and the highest quality coffee to offices and workplaces.

In fact, studies have shown that coffee has lots of positive connections for the workplace that will also apply to anyone working from home. Good coffee:

·       Helps keep you alert – caffeine is a stimulant and boosts the central nervous system, helping with all-day productivity

·       Good reasons for a break – short breaks have shown to be beneficial for long-term productivity and also help employees spend a little time with colleagues, chatting and sharing experiences, which has a positive effect on overall performance

·       Makes people get up from their desk – spending too long in one position isn’t good for the body so the need to get up and make some coffee is a good incentive to take a break and move around

·       Relieves stress from lack of sleep – we’ve all had those spells where you don’t sleep well and feel like a zombie but a good cup of quality coffee can help boost the body and overcome the stress of sleeplessness

Selecting a Coffee Machine

Whether you are considering a coffee machine for home, the home office or the work office, there is now a host of machines to choose from, all offering different benefits. So how do you select the right one?

There are four main types of coffee machine to consider:

A manual espresso machine is the type similar to those found in coffee shops and allows you to create the largest range of drinks. This is ideal if you’re a fan of cappuccinos, lattes and hot chocolates or want to offer a wide range of options to your staff.

If you want something a little simpler but also want to use great quality beans, then a bean-to-cup machine is the way to go. This involves grinding and pouring the coffee automatically, so this option offers really high-quality products with less time involved in the making.

Capsule machines can be an ideal option for homes, home offices or small offices as each coffee is made from a pod. They tend to be a little more expensive than other systems but offer a very reliable result and take very little cleaning.

If you just want lots of good, strong coffee constantly available then a filter coffee machine will be the answer. This is the simplest type of coffee machine and offers plain, hot coffee that you can then add milk, cream, sugar or anything else to. All you need to do is insert a single filter paper to the brew basket and pour the contents of the filter grind coffee sachet into the basket. The basket is slid into the machine and then left for 4-5 minutes before being ready to pour and drink.

Enjoy the Benefits

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Even a simple filter coffee machine in the workplace stocked with a good quality coffee can quickly bring the benefits for employees and therefore for the business. You can work with a coffee machine expert to see what is the best type of machine for both office tastes and office sizes to ensure everyone gets the coffee they need, when they need it.

Disclamer: I was paid for this post, however all opinions are my own

MAM Soothers! *

A few posts ago, you would have seen that one of my essentials for every baby are MAM bottles - we love them! Since that post, MAM have got in touch and sent me some soothers for Luke to review, and asked us to hold a giveaway! Here is the verdict, and giveaway details below..


MAM Crystal Soothers

The characters on these are totally adorable - a Rhino and a Lion! Luke loves animals and I have always bought vibrant soothers with animals or characters on them.

The MAM Crystal Soothers are my favourites because they are so bright and cheerful. Every single pattern I have seen has been fun and I love the shiny finish!

Luke has a habit of scraping his two (and only) bottom teeth along the patterns of these soothers - and the patterns have not shifted! I am more than impressed. I expected the finish to at least wear, but it hasn't!

You can check out more in the range here.

MAM Nature Soothers

As Luke was born on Christmas Day, I adore the winter patterns on these. I LOVE them! Luke is currently obsessed with dogs - not overly sure why as we don't have one! But he has pointed to the fox on the blue soother and waved a few times, just like he does with dogs. It is incredibly sweet!

I have grown a strange attachment to these soothers. Part of me only wants to take these ones with us when we leave the house, but the other part of me doesn't want to risk loosing them!

Again - the finish on these is fab and hasn't worn at all, despite Luke trying to eat them.

You can check out more in the range here.

Why we love these soothers..!

The shape of these soothers are the best. Other brands have a different shape to them and from very early on, Luke just didn't get them. The MAM Soothers, he just took to immediately.

This is probably because the teats are incredibly soft and the soothers fit so perfectly in his mouth. With other soothers, he seems to really struggle to keep a hold of it in his mouth - he even pulls them out and looks at them with a really puzzled look on his face.

Luke has never been that good at putting his soother back in his own mouth until these - I think it is because the back is perfect size for Luke to hold. He always holds one in his hand.

We always keep a stash around the house, the car, the changing bag.. The fact that they come in a box that you can throw in the microwave and sterilise them in, seals the deal for me!


The Giveaway is now closed!

MAM have kindly offered a fantastic prize of a choice of soother from their website! The range can be found here.

Giveaway closes on 28th September 2017 (winner selected and announced on the 29th).

All you have to do is enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!


The fine print: MAM have sent me this product for the purpose of review. All views are my own.
The giveaway is for UK residents only and will be drawn at random on the 29th September 2017