Cosatto Giggle 2 Pram System Review

This is a long winded review about the Cosatto Giggle 2 Pram System, mostly because I have a lot to say about it. But also, if anyone is looking at buying this system I want to give as much, honest information possible. Pram systems are probably one of the most expensive, but essential, things on your list of baby items. So before you part with your hard earned money you will want to do as much research as possible, and want to know as much as possible... Hopefully this review will help if you are considering the Cosatto Giggle Pram.

Pros:

• Beautifully designed, lovely colours and it gets lots of comments.
• Bright colours of the Oaker design (the one we bought, pictures below: it comes in lots of other designs too) means it is easy to spot, comforting to think about when crossing roads
• Includes so many items (rain covers, changing bag, changing mat and more...)
• Car seat can be used either with an Isofix base or car seat belt, meaning it is good for transporting your baby when you need to take them in a friends car (you can just fix it in with a seat belt).
• Pram base has a decent sized bag holder
• Pushchair, car seat and carry cot can face either way (facing the world or facing you)
• Materials feel like they are good quality and that it will last
• It can be used for a long time, the carry cot and car seat do have limits on how long you can use them (about 6 months) but the pram base and pushchair can be used until my son is a toddler and I decide to get rid of using a pram all together.
• A lot of the items have removable and washable parts
• UPF 50+ sunshade protection and sunshades on all parts (car seat, pushchair and carry cot).
• Really easy to assemble, and easy to fold down
• Adjustable handle height (this was really important to us as my husband is 6ft 3inches, whereas I am only 5ft 3inches... this meant we needed different heights for the handle bar in order to push the pram comfortably).
• Comes with a 4 year guarantee (you just need to register with Cosatto for this).

Cons:

• Manoeuvrability can be hard due to the large back wheel base and the front wheel swivelling around
• Carry cot is large and blocks access to the bag holder at the base a bit
• Some of the materials are synthetic (i.e. the carry cot base/mattress) and can make my baby sweaty in hot temperatures (I resolved this by putting cotton based blankets over the carry cot mattress).
• The car seat has a thick head cushion (good for protecting the babies head) but it makes baby hot/sweaty in hot temperatures.
• Takes up a lot of boot and storage space

Deal:
We bought our pram in the January sales of 2015 and managed to get a great deal. We paid £378 for the pram system which included the carry cot, base and pushchair. It also came with a changing bag (which has a changing mat inside it and a small bag to place dirty nappies) and a rain cover.

In addition to this, the deal included the matching Cosatto Giggle Hold Infant car seat. This was a special one off sale deal at the time. The price should have been higher and it doesn't usually include the car seat, it is worth keeping an eye out for future, similar deals. I also got Mothercare to price match to Toys R Us.

If you like something in Mothercare it is always worth checking if you can find it cheaper elsewhere as they often price match and for expensive items they have an interest free payment plan so you can spread the cost.

The car seat also came with a rain cover and adaptors so it can be placed into the pram system. We bought an Isofix base specifically suitable for the Cosatto Giggle Hold car seat which is around £130.

Overall Rating 4.5/5

I am so impressed with this pram system, for the price we paid we got a real bargain! It is a beautiful pram, really well designed and it comes with so much.
Overall the items we got with the deal/system we bought were:

• Carry Cot (has a removable cover/blanket)
• Pram Base
  Pushchair (comes with removable foot cover, which can be used either way/side and has a different design on each side) 
• Car Seat
• Rain covers for the Pushchair and the Car Seat
• Changing Bag, which has in it a Changing Mat and Small Bag (for dirty nappies I assume)
• Adaptors for the Car Seat (for it to go into the Pram Base)

The closest pram, in terms of price and included items, that we found (and liked the design of) was about £299. However, the design of this alternative pram was nowhere near as nice, the materials didn't seem anywhere near as good a quality and it didn't include foot covers, rain covers, adaptors and a changing bag. So when we totalled up the price of the extras we would have had to buy for this other pram system there really was no saving.

The only thing the alternative, £299, pram was better at was manoeuvrability. This Cosatto does have a wide wheel base and the front wheel can go into a funny angle at times, making manoeuvrability harder.

But I would highly recommend this pram system and am very happy that this is the one we decided to buy.

Note: when we researched this pram system we discovered that previous models had been recalled and had issues with a failing folding mechanism on the front of the pram. However, we felt happy and safe buying this pram as the Oaker model we wanted hadn't been part of the batch with issues, that needed to be recalled/fixed. In addition to this, Cosatto seems to have resolved the issue, we haven;t had any issues and it is comforting to know that it comes with a 4 year guarantee. If you are looking at this pram and are worried you can check which models had the issue on this website: http://www.which.co.uk/news/2014/08/safety-alert-cosatto-giggle-pushchair-377876/.

This is not a sponsored post.

Sassy Bloom: monthly box of baby goodies!

I love receiving monthly subscriptions in the post, anything where you don't know what you will get each month. It is nice to break up the constant stream of bills and leaflets that come through the letter box.

So when I recently got given a voucher for money off a Sassy Bloom box I had to have a look into it. It is a monthly subscription that you get delivered with goodies specifically designed for your baby. For instance, if your baby is 3 months old they will send age appropriate gifts/goodies for your baby and you.

You can get it from your last month of pregnancy onwards (which I have done). When the first box came it was filled with lots of lovely goodies, some for my new baby and some for me to help through the last stage of pregnancy.

One of the items I got in this first box was a pram clip, I am not sure of the brand as I threw away the packaging without thinking, but it looks like this one here. This pram clip is used to hold your handbag or shopping bags on the handle of your pram! This has been an amazing item to have. I find that wearing a shoulder handbag while driving the pram can be a pain (it keeps falling off my shoulder) but this clip means I can place my bag close to me and it is safe, while not getting in my way. It also increases the number of shopping bags you can put in/on your pram... so dare I say it is an essential for shopping sprees?

As well as the pram clip I have also received other items such as: teddies, rattles, chocolates, body creams for me and the baby, blankets, feeding and nursing items for my baby and more...

For anyone who loves monthly subscriptions, or just wants to treat their little one to goodies then it is well worth trying.

You can also get £10 off your first box using this unique code: MAMALUCY

MAMALUCY

MAMALUCY

Here is a link to their website: https://www.sassybloom.com/

This is not a sponsored post.

DUI (Driving Under the Influence... of Milk!)

I know I am still new to motherhood so there are a lot of things I am still learning. One thing I have still not quite got a handle on is our pram. In particular driving it.

In fact, my really bad "pram driving" has become a joke amongst my family. Sadly, their joking has some fact behind it. I can hardly claim to be good at controlling the pram when in 24 hours I managed to run over a stranger's foot in the street, crash into a bin, bashed into a pavement several times and almost took out a shop display. I am worried I will accidentally drag out a shop display soon and get arrested for unintentionally stealing.

Yes, I am no good at steering my pram. I am so bad that I apologise to people in the street and explain I am new to motherhood and controlling the pram.

It doesn't help that the pavements where I live have so many potholes, pavement works and uneven surfaces that it is like a rally car/off road experience for my baby.

Yet another obstacle!

In addition to this, you also have other people to swerve around and other prams to negotiate. Which pram has right of way on a pavement? Someone really needs to create a "Pramway Code"... and I definitely need driving lessons.

I just hope I get better soon, if only for the sake of the feet in my local neighbourhood.

Does anyone else have this problem? It would be reassuring to know other parents struggle too.

5 Pregnancy and New Mummy Life Hacks (and advice)

I am by no means an expert at anything to do with pregnancy or being a Mum, but I have discovered a few things over the past 12 months. From trying to get pregnant to pregnancy, birth and eventually being a new Mum.

There is a few Mummy life hacks that I wanted to share. These are just basics, I plan on writing a blog for advice on each stage (conception, pregnancy and new mummy life) at a later stage.

Most of these are about what I did to save money on the costs involved with pregnancy and babies.

One: Pregnancy Vitamin Tablets
Firstly, I found that pregnancy vitamin tablets can be expensive (especially if you get unnecessarily drawn into brands). However, I found that Boots own brand pregnancy supplements did the job (it contains the important things like Folic Acid, Vitamin D and more), I had a healthy 8lb 15oz baby boy (and fingers crossed he will stay that way). I have two hints for the Boots vitamins (link to the ones I used here). The first one is that they have 2 options, a 90 tablet option at £9.84, or a 30 tablet option at £3.49. However, Boots always seem to have an offer on their vitamins, of 3 for the price of 2. So it is cheaper to buy 3 boxes of the 30 tablets, saving you £2.86 for 90 tablets!

In addition to this, I read that you can use pregnancy tablets after you give birth in place of expensive, branded breastfeeding vitamin tablets. I would always advise checking labels on tablets though and checking with your Doctor.


Two: Maternity Pads
Needing maternity pads after giving birth is inevitable and most women will need a decent supply of them! Mothercare do large packs of 30 which are usually £4.99, but they are currently on offer at £3.33 (link here).

Even at the regular price I felt they were inexpensive - but I found that they were also very handy for periods postpartum. Sorry to be going into detail but after pregnancy you may find that your periods are a lot heavier, and the heavy duty maternity pads were ideal for this (as well as being cheaper than many sanitary pads!).


Three: Baby Wipes
I know there probably isn't much sense in it, but I prefer the Pampers sensitive wipes over other wipes. They are just thicker, wetter and seem to be softer than many others. However, Pampers is generally one of the most expensive brands for nappies and wipes. So as a compromise I buy the Pampers sensitive wipes either in bulk or using a deal (Tesco currently have packs of 56 wipes for 2 for £2.00) and also buy cheaper supermarket own brand wipes (such as Tesco Everyday Value Fragrance Free Baby Wipes - 72 Wipes for 46p). I then use the cheap wipes for those really dirty nappies that seem to use 30 wipes to finally get your baby's bottom clean again, and only use the sensitive Pampers wipes to finish off and for nappies that are just wet. I find doing this keeps the cost down a little bit while also meaning I can use the wipes I prefer, most of the time.


Four: Breast Pads
I have two tips about breast pads, first of all I bought reusable ones and regret this. They were bulky in my bra and made my boobs look weird shapes and they would get lost in the wash (because they were so small). I would not advise buying them.

Secondly, you don’t need anywhere near as many disposable breast pads as you may think. I got given boxes and boxes of unused pads from female friends (recently given birth) who had bought loads of them and never used them. I barely used any of them myself!

Your milk (that leaks enough to need pads) comes in a few days after giving birth, and within a day or two I found that your milk is meeting the demands of your baby. So you stop leaking. This may be different for every woman but I believe it may be better to just buy 1 box of breast pads before giving birth, and then buying more in the unlikely event of needing more.


Five: Baby Bodycare
I have been given and bought so many baby moisturisers, soaps, shampoo and more. I just don't have enough bathroom space for it all and my baby barely uses any of them. We only use 3 items: sudocrem (for any nappy rashes), Johnson’s shampoo and Johnson’s baby soap with honey (you can buy a pack of 4 for £1.00 in many shops).

Basically my top tip here is not to go overboard on all the bodycare products for babies. Buy a couple of items to start with. Often soaps are bad for a newborn's skin as babies only have a thin layer of skin and soaps dry it out quickly. Some people even advise only using water to clean your baby for the first couple of months.