Baby toiletry essentials

When I reached my 35^th week of pregnancy I realised that I really should start buying some toiletries for the Mini Grumpy Egyptian and myself in case I went into labour early. Walking around the shops, I was amazed at how much variety there is and a quick Google search showed every mum had their own favourite brands. After a couple of bad product tries... I have come up with my top picks for babies and will do a post later for mums.

Nappies

I chose the disposable route and after some horror leaks with other brands, a friend recommended I try the Tesco Loves Baby ones and we haven’t (touch wood!) had a leak yet.

Wipes

To be honest we are still changing on this one as the ones we used to get in Oman for some reason cause a reaction on the little one when we got them in the UK. Currently trying out the Tesco Loves Baby sensitive wipes and Huggies Pure wipes as they were on offer. Loving the fact the Tesco ones have a proper lid to them instead of the useless peel/restick one many wipes seem to. When it comes to nappy bags I have been using the Mothercare ones as they are scented enough that if you are somewhere without a bin and need to do an emergency change that is going to be stuck in your bag for a while, it isn’t going to get offensive!

Nappy Rash cream

We have been lucky with Mini Grumpy Egyptian that she hasn’t had much issue here, but when she did seem a bit uncomfortable I tried a couple of products and found Boots Baby SensitiveBottom Balm was the way to go on this one. It acts like a barrier cream and helps sooth any sore bits so two big ticks there.

Bedtime routine

The Mini Grumpy Egyptian has never been too keen on bedtime, but loves the water so it was really important for me to try and introduce a bedtime routine that included a nice warm bath with lots of bubbles. Currently we use Tesco Loves Baby Bath Bedtime, but it can be quite hard to get hold of so have been known to use the Johnson’s bedtime bubblebath. However worth seeking out the Tesco version as it is cheaper, has a lovely relaxing smell and gives lots of bubbles for grumpy princesses! We follow her bath with Johnsons Baby Bedtime Lotion because it smells AMAZING.

Extras

When needed we use Boots Baby Sensitive Moisturiser on her face and (for when the sun shines in the UK) a bottle of Nivea Sun Kids Caring sun lotion at 50SPF+ keeps her skin safe.

So there are my favourites. What products do you consider your essentials?

The Egyptian Mummy

New mum onboard

I moved to Muscat four and a half years ago from the UK with the intention of working two years and then moving back to the UK. A couple of months in and I met The Grumpy Egyptian (TGE) and things changed forever. Now we are married and life just got more exciting with the introduction of Mini Grumpy Egyptian (MGE) back in May 2013.When I was without kids I used to tease my friends that had children about how they were always the last one to turn up at the coffee shop, the first one to leave and instead of Chanel No 5 they were wearing Eau de Baby Powder (and that was the lucky ones!). They always smiled and I thought they were just humouring me, but now I know it was a knowing smile as they knew I was pregnant and soon I was going to be the one being teased.

When the MGE came into our lives she came with quite a spectacular bang and demanded to come out a couple of weeks early. As I recovered in the hospital room, I found myself staring at this beautiful bundle of joy that happily slept and woke almost like clockwork every two hours for a feed/change/cuddle and then dozed off again.

Despite reading the books and having younger siblings, I started to fool myself that perhaps I was going to be one of those yummy mummy types that you see other mums glaring at. Oh how wrong I was. The day after we got MGE home, the screaming and the sleepless nights began. Now I have competitions with people – when I manage to go out/talk long enough on the phone – about who has slept the least.

Now we have moved back to the UK and this blog is going to act as a way of me sharing my adventures as a new mum as well as hopefully helping some other new mums realise things never go to plan - and there is nothing wrong with that!

See you soon :)

The Egyptian Mummy (who isn't really Egyptian!)