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Having done baby led weaning with Zara, we’ve always found whilst eating out is a pleasure as Zara pretty much eats what we do, the fact that she always eats directly off the highchair tray is pretty worrying especially when you see the state of some of the highchairs that are available. I seem to spend at least 15 minutes cleaning the highchair with a sterilising wipe before mealtimes just so I can be confident that she has somewhere safe to eat off.

When Tidy Trays sent us a tidy tray to test and review we were very happy to start using it straight away. Tidy Trays are a plastic highchair tray cover which creates a clean, safe eating surface for your child guarding them against germs and bacteria. They fit over the top of restaurant high chair trays and provide a clean surface for you to feed your baby from, there is even a built in sippy cup holder. Once you’ve finished using your Tidy Tray it can be quickly wiped with a baby wipe, folded back into the sippy cup pouch for storage and simply popped back into your changing bag, they are even machine washable.

Now I have to admit the first time we used the Tidy Tray cover, Zara did seem more interested in how she could pull the cover off the tray than her food but once the initial curiosity wore off it worked well. I’d recommend using it a couple of times at home first just so baby has time to explore it so when it is then used at a restaurant it isn’t such a novelty.

Using the Tidy Tray cover did give me peace of mind and allow me to relax a bit more about Zara eating from restaurant high chairs and I definitely feel it is a useful thing to have in your changing bag. My one problem with this product and it’s not actually a fault with the product itself, is that most of the restaurants near me are starting to use no tray high chairs and so Zara is having to eat off the table, now if Tidy Trays could also make a nice sticky placemat that I could pop on the restaurant table for her to eat off in those circumstances it would be perfect

You can find out more about Tidy Trays over at their website HERE

Now Zara has only just reached one year old but she is already proving to be a bit of a diva about certain things. I like to think it’s just because she is strong minded and independent like her mum but I wasn’t expecting the tantrums to kick in for at least another year.

When I was sent this CD to review I was most intrigued to see whether it would help at all, not all the songs are particularly relevant to us at the moment as it’s still early days in the tantrum department at our house but two particular issues we have are nappy changes and brushing teeth and so these songs were the ones I went straight for when the CD arrived.

This CD should come with a warning as the songs will get stuck in your head and you will find yourself humming them to yourself all day long, I admit finding myself walking the corridors of work singing the nappy song…

Nappy Time!
Ask your child to pretend to be a wriggly beetle on his back with his legs up in the air. Try it with him to make him laugh. Sing the song whilst changing his nappy. In the middle section stop for a moment and have a good tickle. For the other verses ask him if he can stretch his legs up to the ceiling for the daddy long legs, wiggle them around for the spider (arms as well!) and cross them for the grasshopper.

“I’m going to change my nappy
I’d better make it snappy
There’s a whiff around here that’s getting rather strong
I’m going to change my nappy
To keep my mummy happy
Before my little bottom really starts to pong!”

The nappy song is fantastic, Zara used to scream, wriggle and generally be a pain at nappy changing time, I don’t know why, she just seems to hate it and no matter what we do to distract her nappy times are usually a battle. This little song however does make nappy changing easier, now I can’t say we have a 100% improvement yet but we certainly have less battles and occasionally we now have laughter and giggles rather than tears and tantrums.

The other song that we have had fun with is the tooth brushing lion song, now Zara is still young and she used to be good for having her teeth cleaned but recently she has started objecting to it, I think mainly because of teething and sore gums bless her, but rather than turn it into a battleground we now sing the lion song whilst she is in the bath and try to make tooth brushing more about fun.

The Tooth Brushing Lion
For this song, ask your child to pretend to be a scary lion, growling and showing her sharp teeth. Pretend to be a bit scared of brushing and ask her to give a big load ‘ROAR’! If you manage to brush for the whole song you will have brushed for a minute and a half!

“Here’s a scary lion his mouth is open wide
I’m a bit scared to put my toothbrush inside
I’ll peek inside and see that he’s got sharper teeth than me
I hope this hungry lion doesn’t eat me for his tea.”

There are ten tracks in all on the CD covering situations from eating, putting on shoes, getting in the buggy, tidying up, brushing teeth to nappy time and they are all short, catchy little tunes that you will find yourself singing. I personally think it is a great idea and look forward to trying out the rest of the songs with my little diva, though hopefully we aren’t going to have battles with everything over the next couple of years!
The CD costs £9.99 and can be ordered from the Tunes 4 Toddler Tantrums website here
Tunes 4 Toddler Tantrums Website Pop across and check out their website for more information 