Be ready for a BBQ Summer with your Cuddledry Poncho!

Our summer must-have SPF50+ Cuddledry Ponchos are featured within the Kids Retail Section of the Telegraph on Saturday today. With half term and the promise of a BBQ summer just around the corner now is the perfect time to buy one, two or even more! The UV protective towels, the first of their kind in the UK, are a must for lazing on the beach or by the pool or even in your own back garden between dipping in and out of the paddling pool on a glorious sunny day like today. Will you choose the aqua towel featuring a stylish Hammerhead shark design, embroidered onto the front, and cotton edging in deep turquoise, or maybe the lilac towel featuring a stylish Angelfish design, embroidered onto the front, and cotton edging in cherry. Friendly Baby have both colours of SPF50+ Cuddledry Poncho Towels in stock for dispatch on Monday (orders placed by noon are dispatched the very same day by First Class post as standard) at a fantastic offer price of 10% off RRP so buy now!

Fatally Flawed?

Here at Friendly Baby we've never used socket covers or plug covers as they are sometimes known. With the knowledge that British sockets are actually the safest in the world (hurrah!) as they have internal shutters, we made the decision that they were just one safety measure too far...

We have only just found out that 'safety' socket covers are actually dangerous! Most are designed in a way which allows a curious child to insert them upside down into the earth pin only, this has the effect of opening the safety shutters and allowing children access to the power sockets! Normally it is quite difficult to find an object which will do that, and stay in place as a socket cover will.

It is a Myth that children can’t remove covers. The pins on socket covers are never quite the same size as a plug, so they cannot properly fit into sockets, and babies as young as 5 months have been known to remove a socket cover!

Do you have any idea if “safety socket covers” conform to standards? What does it say on the packet or on the cover itself? Actually, socket covers are UNREGULATED!

Please watch the video in full to see some truly shocking facts about safety covers.

Fatally Flawed are pushing to get the law changed with regards to safety socket covers but in the meantime we urge you to stop using them, and to pass this message on to anyone else that you know who has responsibility for children.

White Tots Bots EasyFit V2 NOW IN STOCK!!!!

Order your Tots Bots EasyFit V2 now and beat the stampede!!!

Tots Bots TeenyFit and EasyFit V2

If you love the convenience of an all in one nappy, and want a nappy to use from birth right through to potty training (or as a size 2 to the size 1 TeenyFit) then this is the nappy for you. Made with the same soft and stretchy bamboo as the Bamboozle STRETCH, so there is a fast absorbing fabric next to baby's delicate skin, and with a hidden microfibre terry core for both increased volume and faster drying capabilities this is a really impressive design. In fact the microfibre terry core can hold so much liquid that Tots Bots have done away with the snap-in booster resulting in a slimmer fitting nappy too. With a softer PUL outer than the original version of the EasyFit that is visibly waterproof (try pouring liquid down the soft front of the nappy and you'll be amazed to watch it run off) there are improvements all around with this version of the EasyFit / TeenyFit.

For a Day Pack just add 5 or more to your basket and receive your discount automatically! Unlike with the original stars and spots prints of EasyFits we aren't so sure that you would want one of each design as some may be more girl biased and others more boy biased, so instead of a day pack of 5 nappies you will receive a 5% discount when you purchase any 5 EasyFits at the same time, or 10% discount when you purchase any 10 or more EasyFits.

Available for pre-order now!

Sustainable Thornbury's Eco Fair - Saturday 22nd May 2010

For our local customers we are pleased to tell you about Sustainable Thornbury's Eco Fair.

Between 10.30 am and 4 pm at the Chantry, Thornbury, on Saturday 22nd May 2010 you will have the chance to enjoy a fun day out, whatever the weather. There will be a wide range of attractions, including activities for both children and adults, indoors and outdoors, a performance space for talks, music, and stories which will go on throughout the day. There will be the chance to buy sustainable goods and services as well as plenty of expert advice about, for example, energy saving, generating energy at home and the grants available. There is also plenty of tasty food and drink to keep you going.

So, if you’ve always wondered about how a basket or willow hurdle is made, or you have been fascinated by BBC2’s recent Mastercraft programme about green woodworking, now is your chance to see things up close and talk to the experts.

Perhaps you’ve wondered about whether you could keep bees or hens, or which is the best way to compost or how you can save money by making and using a ‘hot box’ cooker – you can find it all at the Fair.

Are you using too much fuel because of your driving technique? Challenge yourself to see how economically you can drive using the Energy Saving Trust’s driving simulator. Bring your bike to the fair and get a free maintenance check and advice.

Creative activities for children (such as mask-making, collage, colouring, junk models) will be available all day. There will be performances by a ‘junk orchestra’ using musical instruments made out of recycled materials at around 11.30am and 2.30 pm. Activities for adults, including making mats, personalising shopping bags, plant a salad will go alongside a full programme of entertainment in the performance space – music, drama, story-telling, gardeners’ question time, talks and demonstrations. Plenty for everyone, all day.

Entry charges: individuals 50p, families £1. For primary age children there is the opportunity to get your family in for free by making a junk instrument and bringing it with you to the fair.

Unfortunately Friendly Baby are unable to attend the event this year, but please support the fair well and hopefully we'll be able to attend if they decide to run it again next year!

Sun Awareness Week: 3rd - 9th May

900 people were surveyed and a staggering 85% of parents believe that keeping their children's skin covered up offers better protection than SPF 30 sunscreen. They couldn't be more wrong!

A simple exercise to demonstrate this is to hold a child's t-shirt up to the light, if you can see through it it is likely to be offering the equivalent of just SPF15 protection - not nearly enough to protect the delicate skin of our children. So, keeping a toddler covered up in loose clothing or ordinary towels does not guarantee strong enough sun protection, in fact depending on the weight of the fabric harmful UV rays can easily pass through contributing to short and long term skin damage.

For your Summer beach or poolside holiday your little one will benefit from our SPF50+ Ponchos. Available in two gorgeous colours the Ponchos have been treated with a high quality sunblock, which is applied like a dye to the fabric and stays with it permanently regardless of washing or use. The towels provide a sun protection of SPF50+ and use patented Rayosan technology which coats the fabric and acts like a mirror deflecting the harmful UVA & UVB rays off the towel instead of letting them through the fabric and harming sensitive skin.

While swimming in the sunshine make sure your little one has their Splash About swim outfit with them as all Splash About fabrics are tested by Arpansa and are SPF50+. Whether it is a Float Jacket, Warm in Water Baby Wrap or Frou Frou that you choose to go with their Happy Nappy swim nappy you can be confident that they are wearing the best sun protection there is. Don't forget to use plenty of high factor sun protection lotion on all exposed skin and reapply in accordance with the instructions on the bottle.

Happy Birthday Sophie La Girafe!

Little French teething toy Sophie la Girafe will be 49 years old on 25th May, St Sophie’s day (after which she is named).

This classic and timeless toy has charmed the world in the last few years and is now a best selling baby toy in the US, Canada and UK.

Born in France in 1961 nearly every French baby receives a Sophie – it’s just the tradition there – but it was only about 5 years ago that French manufacturer Vulli decided to start sharing the Sophie la Girafe phenomenon with the rest of the world.

In the UK this year it is estimated that more than 50,000 babies will chomp, chew, drool and squeak on a Sophie the Giraffe toy – not bad when you consider you couldn’t buy one here 4 years ago and she’s not available in any of the big retailers.

So why do UK babies and their parents love Sophie so much? Part of Sophie’s charm is her retro look, indeed she’s not changed since she was created. She’s seen as safe - natural rubber and food grade paint – so no PVC, BPA, Phthalates or other nasties lurking here.

She’s also an affordable piece of luxury. You may not be able to stretch to the mega-priced yummy mummy push chair that various celebs are spotted with, but at £11.00, Friendly Baby's special price, you can have the same toy and join that exclusive club shared by Sofia Coppola, Isla Fisher, Nicole Richie and Naomi Watts, among others.

But the real appeal is that she genuinely works – babies just can’t seem to get enough of this toy. No marketing hype, no million pound advertising budget…just mums and dads passing on the word to others.

So, with Sophie’s 50th birthday just a year away it will be interesting to see whether she’ll be around in another 50 years… and if she is, Sophie la Girafe will surely be one of the most enduring and best loved baby toys ever made.