Reviews
Luschka 84

Regular readers will know by now that my little girl will be one in less than a month and that I have been searching high and low for items to enhance her zoo themed party. So when Trevor from Hello Baby emailed me with an offer to review and keep one a toy from his online shop, I jumped at the chance.

Hello Baby as a company is quite impressive. Its range of stock is on a par with some of the larger, better- known baby product companies but it comes with plenty of personal care. The owner, Trevor, is approachable and friendly, and often writes for the company blog, which is regularly updated with new product information.

Apart from some of the ‘usual’ baby brands, Hello Baby also caters for a few of the attachment parenting needs and has a definite foot in the environmentally friendly market too. It stocks slings and baby carriers, as well as reusable nappies and liners, and supports the Real Nappies for London network.

I specifically like that Hello Baby supports local and smaller businesses, such as Bickiepegs, Hippychick and the SLS free Beaming Baby Organic range. Personally I would love to see them extend this range to include some of the companies I’ve featured here before, such as Becothings, Green People, Bras4mums and Jackson Reece.

Even so, there are hundreds of items on Hello Baby that are worth a look, and the prices are highly competitive as it is an online only retailer.

As all good baby companies should, there is a wishlist that mums-to-be can complete and distribute to ensure they receive the items they want for their new arrivals.

There are also rather useful Baby Buying Guides, with straightforward honest advice on things to look for when buying anything from breast pumps to car seats to cots and Moses baskets.

As for the review item, my 11 month old, Ameli, already has a Jellykitten hare which she loves, so we were happy to be given the 37cm Skidaddle Giraffe, a plush soft toy with rings around its legs that make a fun clinking sound. We love the quality of both, especially that they are hardy enough to be dragged by the ear or leg through the house while still being soft enough to be fantastic bed time cuddle toys.

But, you don’t need to just take my word for it! Trevor has kindly agreed to share the love with a Diary of a First Child reader, who can win one of the same Skidaddle Giraffes as we have. In order to win, you need to have a look around Hello Baby then leave a comment here to tell me your favourite thing about the site. I must admit, I am rather partial to the extensive wooden toy selection myself!

The competition will run until mid day (GMT) 20 September 2010 and the winner will be drawn randomly using Random.org and will be announced here. Entries from anywhere are excepted and can be posted anywhere in the world.

You do not have to tweet or share this competition to enter, but doing so helps ensure that I can keep bringing you more giveaways every week! You can subscribe to Diary of a First Child by RSS, email or through Google Friend Connect (see the bottom to the right). You can also follow us on Facebook or on Twitter. We hope to see you back again soon!

And the winner is: Lynn Goring-Crook

Congratulations!

Tags:
Categories: Competitions Products Reviews

Author: Luschka

84 Comments

Hello Baby Online Shop For All Things Baby – Review and Giveaway

  5. had a really bad experience with hello baby. The customer service is awful / non existant – avoid avoid avoid. We definitely wont be using again..

    Reply

  6. You stated we return at our costs and no postage costs would be refunded. This is shocking considering it is your own site which is misleading. We are now awaiting a response from Trading Standards as you have an obligation as an online retailer to correct misleading products and also ensure customers are not out of pocket as a result. I really don’t understand why you would risk your brand for a few £££’s in postage costs. Terrible…! We for one will never use you again.

    Reply

    1. Damien,

      I feel sure that Trading standards will agree that any listing which states, in bold “Please note, this is a changing pad only and not a changer” and has the text ‘changing pad only’ over the photo cannot seriously be considered misleading.

      Reply

  7. Awful customer service @ hello baby direct, the site has some good prices but we bought a product that was descibed as a cot changer and had a picture of a cot changer. We then received a changing Mat…. AT NO POINT DID IT SAY THIS IS WHAT WE WERE GETTING.

    So we thought ok simple mistake so we rang them but they only have an answer machine. So I left a message, I then emailed and got a call back.

    They basically said Tuff…. I explained we wanted to return for a refund but they said we’d have to cover all postage costs and the inital postage costs wouldn’t be refunded either. It wasn’t our fault and they want us to be out of pocket.

    The guy on the phone was incredibly rude and arrogant.

    A real shame that our first purchase went so bad with them as they’ve lost out on a lot of future business. AND we’ll tell ALL our friends to avoid them at all costs…..

    AVOID

    Reply

    1. @Damian,

      Trevor from Hello Baby here. The customer purchased a East Coast changing pad. The listing clearly states that the product is a changing pad and not a changing top. This is written across the centre of the photo and also in bold in the listing. We therefore believe that the listing was not misleading. You can check this out for yourself here

      The customer was and still is welcome to return the item for a refund.

      Reply

  8. I absolutely love the nursery furniture, especially ‘East Coast Angelina Cot Bed – Cocoa’ and wil be ordering this for my first grandchild!

    Reply

  12. Never knew Hello Baby existed until I read your blog now it looks like I will be going there first for purchases. Love the website as it is a one-stop shop for all your baby needs!

    Reply

  14. Just seen this one which would be ideal for my husband with number 1 on the way ‘The Haynes Baby Manual : Conception to Two Years’

    Reply

  15. There are too many favourites my wihlist is bursting. The jellycat toys are the top of my list, pink stripey giraffe and the monkey.

    Reply

  17. I’m frightened of anything with eight legs, especially the octopus but the tomy Octopals looks like alot of fun. Unless I have to unstick them off the bathroom tiles lol

    Reply

  21. The infantino 2 in 1 activity mirror bug is a great toy for babies my youngest daughter loved anything with mirrors on when she was younger (4 months onwards) and still iggles and lays looking into her musical piano mirror and shes just turned one

    Reply

  35. My 1 year old Maddie lost her favourite toy, a penguin when we went shopping, I would love to win this giraffe for her, Im sure it would be a favourite of hers as it is my favourite too

    Reply

  43. I love the KidKraft Savannah Dollhouse, and I think its a great price. I think this might be going on my Christmas list never mind my daughters!

    Reply

  47. All my little ones love reading time so the books section is definitely my favourite. Some real memories there too as I had all the Mog books when I was younger!

    Reply

  50. I have only just found this website and what can i say ”WOW” its great it has some beautiful items and perfect for any baby,Im def going to recommend to all my friends with babys : )

    xx

    Reply

  53. I love the whole
    Children’s Books for 0-5 Year Olds section

    As a nursery nurse and having children myself I’ve always found reading a story a great way of spending some quality time with a child

    Reply

  54. I love soft toys and after going through the range of baby soft toys, my favorite is the Jelly Kitten Skidaddle Giraffe (which was what got me looking at the website in the first place)

    Reply

  55. I think my favourite would have to be the Flexibath in Pink, we actualy already have one of these and they are brilliant for holidays and space saving. They have a great selection on their site it’s hard to choose just one item!

    Reply

  58. I like looking around the whole site, and reading the reviews, decided to buy the baby born cup from your review and have to say it is my grandaughters favourite cup.

    Reply

  62. The whole site is fab! But my favourite thing is the Jelly Kitten Hoolaroo Sausage Dog – it’s just great!! Oh and I’m sure my daughter would love it too!

    Reply

  67. A good site with plenty of choice I liked the reusable nappies as we are trying to be as green as we can be be and we are keen toi use environmentally friendly products if possible

    Reply

  69. Great selection. Love all the toys. We will be moving from a one bedroom apartment to a two bedroom soon, so my daughter will finally have room for more toys. I feel like I’ve been stingy with toys due to lack of space.

    Reply

  70. Jelly Kitten Hoolaroo Sausage Dog is a great and fun looking toy! My little Jack would love all these excellent toys!!!!I would love to win! Please count me in too! Thanks a lot.I’ll go and tweet about the giveaway now
    jacksoncrisman@yahoo.com

    Reply

  71. My little one loves giraffes so I would pick the Jelly Kitten Hoopy Boing Giraffe Baby Soft Toy. He also loves noises so would love this toy!

    Reply

  75. A great site, thanks for bringing it to our attention. I too loved too many things! Emily was given a JellyCat bunny when she was born, I had no idea there were JellyKitten products too! 🙂

    Reply

  80. Love this website. My favourite thing is the Great Gizmos Okiedod Fropper. Will be perfect for my babis 1st birthday! Thanks for running the comp, lovely prize

    Reply

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