Filed under: Feeding
New research, commissioned by Weetabix, shows that despite an encouraging 80% of British schoolchildren eating breakfast before leaving home, family breakfasts are more a battle than a ball for today’s stressed-out parents. It’s even worse, I’d say, for busy mums, who often skip their breakfast and rely on the cuppa tea or coffee to do the trick for them. Well, it won’t. I speak from experience. While my little one’s favorite breakfast is Weetabix Original, I’ve been struggling to find a nice & easy to prep breakfast for myself. I’ve been trying different breakfast options but they either take time for prepping (which I don’t have), or are not tasty enough. I need something quick to prepare, to be healthy and still to give me a moment to indulge myself (come on, I deserve it!)
As of today, 12th July, a new tasty and nutritious breakfast from Weetabix is available at Sainsbury’s: Chocolate Weetabix! During my manic mornings all I need to do is to poor some organic milk and soak a couple of the Chocolate Weetabix biscuits in it for a perfectly balanced and tasty breakfast – the fuel that I’ll need to keep up with my busy day while juggling between my marketing career and my lovely child!
Chocolate Weetabix is high in fibre and low in salt, fortified with vitamins and iron and free from artificial colours. No guilt about the “mmm, so tasty and nicely melting” chocolate chips as part of my breakfast because the new cereal with all the goodness of wholegrain in Weetabix contains only half the sugar of the average chocolate flavoured breakfast cereal! Just what I need in the morning, and you know what – sometimes as an afternoon snack as well. It’s so tasty and indulgent, still healthy, I can’t get enough of it!
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July 12, 2010
GreenKiddie launches an online eco-store powered by Amazon. The brand new section will recommend carefully selected natural, organic and eco-friendly products for babies & children as well as for the whole family. The products are split by categories from nursing and feeding equipment to “green” cribs and highchairs.
Promoting the eco-friendly and toxic-free products we love is a great way to continue being helpful source of information for parents who consider natural living and the best care for their children. We believe that providing a “green”, natural care for your baby or toddler is best for your child, and it’s also great for the environment.
The “green” eStore will mainly promote products which are oxic-free, completely safe for babies and children, and have already proved their eco-friendly efforts. There will be a special space for mums and mums-to-be, where everything as pregnancy music for relaxation, books on natural and stress-free birth, organic clothing and fabulous organic cosmetics and beauty products will be featured.
GreenKiddie’s online store is a one-stop space for green products, where parents could find everything they need to raise their children naturally and eco-friendly. The same way GreenKiddie is a trustful online media for parenting advice, the hope is for the eStore to become a number one choice for parents to purchase “green” and toxic-free products for their families.
The payment process is trustful and secure and it’s powered by Amazon.
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June 17, 2010
GreenKiddie is holding a Twitter party on Sunday, 11th April between 9pm – 10pm!
We’ll be tweeting about what colic is, what causes colic in babies and how to treat it naturally.
Join us to share your thoughts, to seek advice, or just to have fun and chat to other mums. GreenKiddie will be giving away 3 prizes from BornFree, so don’t miss it!
How to join our #colic-free party?
- Log-in to your Twitter account (or create one if you don’t have an account yet)
- Type #colic-free in the “Search” field on “Home” tab. Click on “Save this search” so it’s easy for you to find it
- Click on your #colic-free saved search on 11th April, Sunday, at 9pm GMT and join the party!
- Follow me on Twitter @greenkiddie
- When I ask a question, tweet the answer to me and include the hashtag #colic-free
WHAT PRIZE YOU COULD WIN?
Twister brush set
The Twister Bottle & Teat Brush has an easy twist handle with a soft sponge to make cleaning faster and to eliminate the risk of scratching.
BPA-Free 9oz Baby Bottle twin pack
Twin-Pack 9oz. (260ml) BornFree™ Bisphenol-A Free plastic bottles, complete with the new innovative venting system that helps eliminate colic symptoms. Each bottle comes with a level 1 teat, sealing disk, and a cover. 
Breast pump adaptor
The Breast Pump Adaptor adapt most standard breast pumpts to fit BornFree™ wide-neck bottles. The Aadaptor is easy to clean and made of a safe Bisphenol-A Free plastic.
Twitter Party Tips:
- Download a viewing application for Twitter such as Tweetdeck for convenience.
- Follow new people, join the conversation and interact.
- Have Fun!
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April 9, 2010
The Edinburgh Evening News is looking for mums who agree/disagree with the French philosopher Elisabeth Badinter’s take on motherhood and feminism.
In her new book The Conflict, The Woman and The Mother, she suggests that “earth mothers” and the Green movement are setting women back with their desire to have mothers breastfeed for years, use “real” nappies and puree their own baby food. She argues that disposables, baby powder milk and jars of baby food help women retain their identities outside of motherhood by giving them more time to be themselves, not just a mother. All very controversial.
We are looking for mums who agree with her view – and are/have been mums who use such products to make life easier – and those who don’t. This would involve a chat with a feature writer and a photographer visiting your home to get a lovely pic of you and your child/children.
If you could call Gina Davidson on 0131 620 8683 we would be most grateful.
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March 28, 2010
I am always pro home-made food and freshly squeezed juices. But it’s spring now and spending more time outside is part of my toddler’s daily routine. I had no idea how to make it work – being out and about and still giving my precious organic-fan girl… organic juice… until I found the new range from Organix – Goodies Organic Squeezies! It’s an organic blend of natural fruit purées in three delicious flavours, a tasty and fun way for toddlers from 12+ months and young children to eat fruit, and get one of their recommended five a day portions.
There are the three delicious flavours – Organic Mango, Pear & Orange; Organic Strawberry, Banana and Pear; and Organic Kiwi, Pear & Banana – all of them are made with 100% pure organic fruit – just what I’ve been looking for! The moment my girl tasted them, she loved them! (A bit jealous though, now she prefers those to mine).
Each comes with the Organix No Junk Promise, guaranteeing mums only the best quality ingredients are used and no unnecessary, artificial ingredients are added to the Squeezies. That’s no added sugar, no additives, no artificial colours or flavours, and no thickeners – just 100% organic fruit for a tasty, healthy snack or a delicious dessert.
In a convenient, re-sealable pouch, Goodies Organic Squeezy is a fun and guilt-free way to feed your toddlers a variety of fruit and give them one of their recommended daily portions of fruit whilst out and about… or at home when I’m feeling a bit lazy.
The prize is not bad, too – they cost 89p each for a 100g pouch.
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March 20, 2010
GreenKiddie has teamed with Baby BornFree to give you a chance to test their products for free! We will select 5 mums who bottle-feed their babies (either expressing their breastmilk or using formula) and will give them the opportunity to try the BPA-free, anti-colic and anti-leakage BornFree bottles. After a month you will need to give us your feedback for us to upload on GreenKiddie.co.uk. Your chances of being selected for the product testing will increase if you have a blog yourself where you’d review your experience as well.
The brand, which is a best-seller in the USA, and also becoming a leader in the UK, offers a completely safe option for parents wishing to avoid any risks from BPA. And it’s not just the BPA-free materials used that has helped BornFreeTM to become number 1 choice for parents, but also the efficacy of the products themselves.
If you are interested in taking part, please email info@greenkiddie.co.uk with your name, baby age, feeding method and your blog address, if any. Another way to let us know you wish to test the BornFree bottles is to join our Facebook page HERE and explain WHY you want to test them!
Closing date: 26th March 2010. The selected mums will be announcedon 1st April.
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March 16, 2010
Mumpreneur Hillary Graves at Little Dish
Hillary, your business sounds great. Tell us where it all started and how you came up with the idea?
I’ve always wanted to run my own business, and in 2004 I met my business partner John Stapleton, who was on the founding team of the New Covent Garden Soup Company. We’re both passionate about healthy food for kids and wanted to provide a truly healthy alternative to home cooking that parents could feel good about feeding their children. As a result, Little Dish was born in April 2006 offering busy mums something that hadn’t been available before – a fresh, nutritionally balanced meal that allowed them to feel a little less guilty when they didn’t have time to cook. Our Little Dish recipes contain no added salt or sugar and are made with 100% natural ingredients replicating what mothers make in their own kitchens. We want kids to eat healthily and love their food, while mums and dads feel confident in the nutritious recipes that we make.
Being a mumpreneur is not easy. How do you juggle between work and kids?
It’s definitely a challenge. As a working mother of 2 young children, you have to be extremely organised (and have a sense of humour as nothing ever goes exactly to plan!) I am fortunate enough to be able to work from home some days, so that I can spend time with my two little ones. We also have a lovely nanny who looks after Monty and Ridley when I’m at work. They often pop by the office to say hello which is always a treat. In my opinion the key is getting a good team in place; your business is all about its people and we’re really lucky to have a brilliant team helping us fulfil our vision of feeding fresh, healthy food to as many kids as possible.
Little dish is a lovely brand name! Please tell me a bit more about the Little Dish products: how do they differ from others like Annabel Karmel’s or Cow & Gate’s ready meals? What ingredients do you use, what age group they are suitable for, and how do you manage to preserve them?
Little Dish is the first brand to launch a range of fresh, healthy food for toddlers and young children (12 months +) made with 100% natural ingredients and no added salt or sugar. All of our recipes are created with a paediatric dietician, and every dish is taste tested by lots of kids. The Little Dish company mission is to encourage as many children as possible to eat fresh, healthy food from an early age, to discover new flavours and textures and enjoy mealtimes.
Our competitors offer ambient pots and trays with long shelf-life and traditional ready meals made with salt and sugar. We’ve opted to make fresh food made with 100% natural ingredients that is sourced as locally as possible, with no added salt or sugar, providing the nutritional value that growing toddlers require. There are no preservatives in our meals and by working closely with the supermarkets we ensure that our meals are on shelf the next day. It is hard work, but we’re committed to giving mothers fresh, healthy recipes just like they would cook at home!
I love the “all natural ingredients” idea! – Does it mean there is no added sugar, salt or preservatives and colourants?
That’s right – we’ve opted to make wholesome food with no added salt, sugar, additives or preservatives.
Where can parents find your products – are they available to order online, too?
We are currently listed in Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Ocado.com. You can find out exactly where on our website.
Which are your little ones’ favourite dishes from the Little Dish range?
Monty is 3 years old and his favourite at the moment is Vegetarian Lasagne. Ridley who turns 1 next week loves the Fish Pie and the Cottage Pie.
What would be your ideal toddler Easter menu, some secret recipes (they may already be included in your products range)?
Both children like lamb, so perhaps a lamb and lentil casserole which is already a favourite in our house. And Monty loves to bake, so I’m sure we will make some Easter cup cakes.
Your top tips and recommendations for fussy eaters?
Here are four tips that I have found to work:
- Patience and perseverance – keep trying foods that are rejected and don’t make a fuss if they are refused.
- New foods – encourage toddlers to try new foods regularly and reinforce that they cannot have treats and puddings until they have finished their main course.
- Food names – we always refer to broccoli as ‘green trees’ and lasagne is a favourite in our house so other dishes, like enchiladas, get called ‘Mexican lasagne’ which works well.
- Getting involved – if you are cooking from scratch get your little ones to help, if they stir something or add in an ingredient they are more likely to want to taste and enjoy the food.
On a more personal note, which has been the most precious moment with your kids so far?
There are so many, but I especially love the weekends when I don’t have to go to the office.
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March 3, 2010
Over 70% of parents believe kids tend to get more infections when hygiene in the nursery is poor, but only 7% claim hygiene in their child’s nursery is outstanding. These are some of the results revealed in a recent parents’ survey, run by GreenKiddie.co.uk. The survey is part of GreenKiddie’s national campaign “Close2Nature” for better children’s health and well-being in nurseries. Close2Nature campaign aims to provide easy-to-use tips and advice for daycare providers and help them adopt our eco-friendly strategy for their premises in order to help with improving children’s health.
For this campaign GreenKiddie is partnering with Change4Life initiative run by the Department of Health, and focuses on 5 main areas:
- Provide better food and nutrition at nurseries
- Reduce toxics in the daycare premises
- Help children stay active
- Improve hygiene in daycare premises
- Help nurseries become more eco-friendly
There are over 850,000 children under 5 years of age in the UK attending either part-time or full-time daycare (DCSN, 2009). This means that nurseries’ environment plays crucial role for children’s health. Making nurseries more eco-friendly and encouraging them to reduce chemicals and toxics at their premises will promote better baby and children’s health and well-being, reducing the infections and straightening their immunity.”
The survey, based on the 514 parents’ replies, reveals that 18% of kids in nurseries are not having their 5 a day portions of fruits and vegetables, based on food being served at the nursery. Fish, helping children’s brain development, is being served on a weekly basis in only half of the nurseries, and 17% of kids are not being served the extremely important for kids’ growth high in protein food like meat and eggs. Some 15% of nurseries provide kids with very unsatisfactory amount of milk and diary products during their 10-hour stay at the premises, so kids are not able to get the calcium they need for this age. As little as 2 out of 100 nurseries serve organic food in every meal, where 15% of nurseries have never sourced organic produce for the kids. Home-made food has never been served to every tenth nursery, and in these cases processed food is what kids eat on a regular basis. Every third nursery adds sugar and/or salt in kids’ food, and only 4% follow the guidelines for avoiding salt in cooking for kids under 3-years old.
The eco-friendly efforts are outstanding in only 3 out of 100 nurseries, and are qualified as poor and unsatisfactory in 15% of cases. It looks like great percentage of nurseries are doing great when it comes to recycling, reusing and using eco-friendly craft-materials (42%), although improvement others is needed. When it comes to soaps, washing powders and cleaning materials about 20% will not even try to be eco-friendly. Most of the above soaps, cleaning sprays and washing powders contain harsh chemicals which not only reflect the environment, but are also toxic and irritating for the sensitive kids’ skin. Around the same percent of nurseries (20-25%) are not making any efforts to use BPA-Free baby/kids food equipment, biodegradable or cloth nappies (although in most of them parents are advised to provide nappies in their choice). About the same percent of nursery staff are willing to “go green”, but don’t seem to have enough information and knowledge on how to do that, according to parents.
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February 3, 2010
Eating great food when pregnant and then giving your children an organic start in life makes them more likely to grow up happy and healthy. Planet Organic, the UK’s leading organic supermarket, has everything you and your baby need to get off to the best start.
“I have raised three organic children who are happy, healthy and beautiful. I know that organic is the best you can give your kids.” Renée Elliott, founder of Planet Organic and mother to Jessie, Nicholas and Cassandra.
Be the first in line for “The Best Recipes for Babies and Toddlers”, Renée Elliott’s cutting edge book which shows you how to use highly nutritious ingredients to create fabulous meals your children will love.
Sign up at www.planetorganic.com/baby and have a look at their full range of organic baby food, baby clothing, natural nappies and nappy creams as well as supplements to support you throughout pregnancy.
Visit www.planetorganic.com/baby for…
- Advice on how to feel better and grow a healthier baby by eating the best possible foods.
- A supplement plan for your journey from the first trimester through to breast-feeding.
- No-nasties nappy creams as well as the cutest organic baby clothes and natural nappies.
- A great selection of only organic baby foods, as well as easy, healthy recipes.
- Regular tips, special offers and to swap stories with other mums.
Use promo code ‘GREENKIDDIE” to get a 10% off all products when you shop at www.PlanetOrganic.com. Offer is valid until the end of March 2010.
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January 31, 2010
The Better Nursery Food Now Campaign, which calls on the Government to implement nutritional standards for nursery school food, has now launched a Facebook campaign to spread the word and engage mums and dads in supporting. The campaign is being run and promoted by The Soil Association and Organix, the baby and toddler food company.
The Better Nursery Food Campaign aims to increase the pressure on Government by highlighting examples of nurseries where parents are dissatisfied with the nutritional standards of nursery food. Whether it’s a nursery serving junk food, or food with artificial additives and e-numbers, or poor food generally, we are asking parents and nursery workers to post their experiences on the Facebook page and sign the petition to take to government.
The experiences from mums and dads will enable the Better Nursery Food Now campaigns team to step up the pressure on Government to put in place nutritional standards that will cover all nurseries, guaranteeing better food in nurseries.
Just to remind you that, according to the report Georgie Porgie Pudding and Pie – exposing the truth about nursery food:
- There are no clear nutritional standards for UK nurseries.
- Some nurseries spend as little as 25p per meal, per child.
- Colourings and additives, not allowed in manufactured foods for children, were regularly being permitted in nurseries.
- Foods banned or restricted in primary and secondary schools – like chips, sweets and chocolate – are still regularly served in nurseries.
- No Government Department was willing to take responsibility for the quality and monitoring of nursery food.
BBC 1 Panorama programme on Monday 25 January at 8.30pm will be investigating “What Is Really In Our Kid’s Food”. The programme has discovered that one in five children starts school already overweight and, according to the latest research, children who are fat by five are likely to stay that way. Shelley Jofre investigates the food being dished up to pre-schoolers at nurseries and at home. There’s a rapidly growing market in ready meals specifically for toddlers, but are they really a healthy option? The programme looks behind the marketing claims
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January 20, 2010
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