The New Pampers Baby-Dry

Having a toddler still in nappies we are pretty switched on when it comes to which nappies we are comfortable using. We have tried a few different brands over the years, but we have always stuck with one, and that is Pampers. We have only ever had one case of nappy rash that has caused Leo any dis-comfort, and that was during a case of illness. I am sure that using Pampers and changing Leo regulary has played it’s part in this, and that is precisely why we still use them today.

Last February I was lucky enough to go to the Pampers Factory in Frankfurt to see last years development on the Baby Dry range, it was here that I learnt all about the research and technology that goes into each of their nappy products. I couldn’t actually believe my eyes and was balled over with just how clever nappies really are, I know before I had seen the testing and everything else that is involved, I took being able to use disposable nappies for granted.

You can read all about my visit to the Pampers Factory here.

Pampers have been busy again and packing more into their Baby Dry range, and the nappies now boast unique Double Dry-Zones. This means that they absorb moisture and lock it away quicker than ever before. The Top Zone absorbs the liquid quickly in order to get it away from the babies skin, and the Inner Zone locks it away so that it can’t resurface and thus keeps your little one dry. But now there is the New Soft Dry Layer, this enables all over absorbency allowing liquid in all directions.

The other month we were sent a sample of the new nappies to try out with Leo, and as usual we have been nothing but impressed with our Pampers experience. Leo’s skin is clear and soft, and 9 times out of 10 we don’t get any bed time leaks come the morning. Of course Leo is a little guzzler and we have had a few occasions where he has even managed to over flow a Pampers Baby Dry, but for the most part this isn’t the case.

Pampers have even re-designed the graphics on these new nappies, and we now have Lion and Friends. These have been welcomed by Leo, and it may explain the constant roaring come time for a nappy change!

Disclaimer: We were sent a sample pack of Pampers Baby Dry for the purpose of this review. All views and opinions expressed are completely honest and my own.   

Pampers & UNICEF team up for their 8th consecutive year!

Last year I told you all about Pampers and their fantastic partnership with UNICEF. This year is the Eighth consecutive year that they have joined forces in a mission to fight against Maternal and Newborn Tetanus (MNT).

What is MNT?

MNT mainly affects Mother’s and babies living in Africa and Southern and Easten Asia, really in any areas where the women have little or no access to health care. It is mainly such an issue due to inadequate immunisation services, a lack of hygienic places to give birth with many women giving birth at home on the floor, or on the side of a river bank. The after care services after having a baby are another cause with the improper cutting of the umbilical cord which can lead to infection.

MNT is a swift and painful disease with the power to kill. It killed 59,000 newborn babies back in 2008 alone. Once the disease is contracted, the fatality rate is pretty high (up to 100%) if hospital care and treatment is not sought.

As parents we all want the best start for our babies, and the fact of the matter is MNT is preventable! In fact with the right vaccinations MNT can become a thing of the past. Pampers have already helped rid MNT in 10 of the world's poorest countries: to eliminate MNT in ten of the world’s poorest countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Myanmar, Senegal, Tanzania, Timor Leste and Uganda.

But there is still lot's of women and babies who need our help, and that is precisely why Pampers and UNICEF have teamed up for their 8th year.

Earlier this month Pampers invited myself and other parents along to support them in their campaign to help make every parents wish of a healthy start for their children a reality. I was so looking forward to attending and hearing all about how Pampers and UNICEF have helped parents and babies in the last year. Unfortunately not long after arriving in London Leo became poorly, so we had to hop in a taxi and catch the next train home again. 

I still wanted to tell you all about the latest campaign as it is a subject very close to my heart, and it is so easy for you to get involved and help. 

1 Pack = 1 Vaccine 

During October – December 2013, you can help Pampers® and UNICEF protect women of child-

bearing age and pregnant women in the developing world against MNT. For each Pampers® - UNICEF pack purchased, Pampers® will donate for example the cost of one tetanus vaccine to support in the fight against MNT. 

1 View = 1 Life-Saving Vaccine / 1 Share = 1 Life-Saving Vaccine

During October – December 2013, you can help Pampers® and UNICEF protect women of child-

bearing age and pregnant women in the developing world against tetanus. For each view of our films on http://www.youtube.com/user/Pampers Pampers® tetanus vaccine to support UNICEF in the fight against MNT. Each film depicts what a healthy start to life can bring, through the eyes of children.

Leo and I are avid Pampers fans already, so even if you are not usually using them, why not for just a few months in order to support this life saving campaign? 

I wish I could have shown my face at the event and heard Emma Bunton speak so passionately about the work she has been doing with Pampers and UNICEF, but unfortunately that day was not the day for Leo and I to meet our favourite Spice Girl.

So let's get our little one's in Pampers and support this campaign with everything we have got. Lets give these parents and babies the support and chances that we take fore-granted. Lets help make a difference!

Pampers Unveil The Royal Baby Blanket

I recently told you all about how Pampers were inviting members of the public to share their personal experiences and good wishes for Kate and Will's as they prepared to welcome their royal bundle into the world. 

On the 22nd July 2013 Prince George Alexander Louis arrived.

All 8lbs 6oz of him.

Pampers have very recently unveiled their giant Baby Blanket – knitted with the nation’s good wishes for Prince George! As mentioned recently on my blog, to celebrate the birth of the new royal baby, Pampers has knitted a giant baby blanket made from the good wishes of love and support from the UK public, in aid of family support charity Home-Start UK. I hope you got involved too?

The campaign has received overwhelming support from all over the world – including Canada, China and Australia - with thousands of parents sharing their wishes of love and support for the royal couple. And for every message received, Pampers has donated a nappy to family support charity Home-Start UK with a final donation of 100,000 nappies being made. 

On Thursday, Pampers invited mums and babies to see the unveiling of this giant blanket and continue the nation’s celebration of the new arrival! Now that the blanket has been unveiled, Pampers will be donating framed sections of the blanket to neonatal units and children’s hospitals across the UK to display on their walls. Every little baby is a prince or princess to their mum and dad, and Pampers wishes them nothing but love, sleep and play. To find out further information visit www.pampers.co.uk.

Disclaimer: This is a Sponsored Post

Pampers #babyblanket

Pampers is encouraging the nation to celebrate the birth of the royal baby by sharing their good wishes and support via Twitter #babyblanket and http://www.pampers.co.uk/babyblanket over the next two weeks.

Pampers will be knitting these messages of support into a baby blanket for the new parents, and are hoping to create the world’s largest baby blanket composed of best wishes. For every message sent to the blanket, Pampers will be donating a nappy to family support charity Home-Start UK (aiming to reach a quarter of a million nappies). 

You can keep up to date with how Pampers is getting on with their record-breaking attempt by viewing a live stream at http://www.pampers.co.uk/babyblanket. The blanket will also be being knitted live at Westfield Shopping Centre (Shepherd’s Bush) between 18 - 21 July, and then will be unveiled later this month at a location to-be-confirmed!  Once the blanket has been completed, Pampers will be donating framed sections of the blanket to a number of children’s hospitals across the UK.

If there is one thing I wish someone had said to me on the run up to giving birth, it would be 'Don't stress' because every pregnancy, ever labor is different. No two are ever the same and someone else's bad experience will not become yours. Try and enjoy the moment because it is the start of the rest of your life.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post

Pampers Celebrate Great Mornings

Pampers are celebrating ‘great mornings’ and asking mums to share pictures & their sleep tips for a chance to win a professional photoshoot and appear in Mother & Baby magazine!

You can tell just by looking at your baby’s beautiful morning face whether they've had a good night’s sleep or not, and we want mums to show us what works for their baby to have a great start to the day.

Pampers, whose Baby-Dry nappies are recommended for up to 12 hours of Golden Sleep by 92% of UK mums*, are celebrating these great morning moments by inviting you to share images of the great morning moments you share with your little one along with your tip for a good night’s sleep. 

Simply email a recent photo of you and your baby, and your tip in no more than 50 words to pamperscompetition@hkstrategies.com. Remember to include your address and a contact number.

A selection of the entries will be shared each week on the Pampers Facebook page, and three winners will be selected to have a professional photoshoot and appear in a Pampers advertorial in Mother & Baby magazine!

This is such a great opportunity to share all of those beautiful snaps that you have captured of your little one. I for one never miss the chance to show the world just how beautiful my little guy is to me.

So with that said... Here are a few snaps of Leo after a good nights sleep.

I look forward to seeing the submissions, happy snapping!

Closing date for entries is 9^th July 2013. 

*Based on a survey by 704 mums.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post

A Visit to Pampers HQ

Up until recently I had a very narrow minded view on nappies. I had never considered the technology and research that goes into making them, the tests they would have to carry out to even deem them safe for our children. 

You see.. I really was that narrow minded.

We have used Pampers with Leo since he was a tiny newborn because they seemed to fit him perfectly and we never had any problems. Of course we have tried other brands along the way but we always come back to Pampers.

We still use Pampers today and at 21 months old we are still as happy if not happier with them. I say happier because I have recently opened up my mind to the world of nappies, and I have learnt many interesting things that I think all parent’s should know.

You should know all about the care and research that goes on behind the Pampers brand, the love and dedication that I felt upon a recent visit to their factory in Frankfurt.

Pampers very kindly gave us the low down on disposable nappy history, being fairly new to the nappy table and only ever coming across nappy's in retail today, it is fair to say that I let my mouth fall wide open and hit the table. Some of these nappies from back in the day were big, plastic and alien looking. Well in comparison to the selection on offer in 2013!

The purpose for the trip over to the fancy head office in Frankfurt was to see the new and improved Pampers Baby Dry nappies. This clever nappy is jam packed full of science, yes science! I won't go into all the in's and out's on the science in the nappy but what I will tell you is that it absorbs wetness faster than ever before. They have improved the sleep-layer by making it longer and enabled the nappy to absorb large amounts of liquid faster than ever before!

I have seen first hand just how quickly these nappies react when liquid comes into contact with the nappy. Pampers research highlighted that babies being dry during the night would most likely  help them to sleep better, as the act of going to the toilet is enough to wake them up, which highlights the importance and the need for the wetness to be taken away and locked away as quickly as possible.

Would you believe it if I told you that it takes 10 years to develop and manufacture a nappy? Because before this eye opening experience around the Pampers Factory I would have thought that was madness, but it is completely and utterly true. 

The attention to detail that goes into Pampers nappies is second to none, they think of absolutely everything. Looking around the factory they are fully set up to test the nappies before they go to market and part of this test is carried out in the soft play area within the factory!

They send out the nappies to local families in Frankfurt and invite them in to play, as they run around the nappies are put to the test! Every single morning sixty babies are brought into the facility to provide Pampers with essential feedback. All the babies are still in their overnight nappies so that they can run tests. One by one they are taken into the test room in order to have the climate in their nappy tested and to check the skin moisture readings.

The children were so happy in the play area, running around and enjoying themselves and they didn't even mind the tests that were being run. It was so interesting to see all of the readings that were continuously taken in order to provide customers with the best. 

I had no idea so much time, effort, science and technology went into one nappy. I had no idea that Pampers did so much testing behind the scenes and that it takes a whopping 10 years to produce a nappy!

Here you can see a little of what we experienced on the day.

I was also very privelaged to meet Wendy Dean, Pampers Sleep Expert who is very hot on all things baby and of course sleep! 

Here is what Wendy has to say on getting your little one's to bed and into a routine that works for you.

Disclaimer: Pampers very kindly invited me out to Frankfurt and covered all of my travel costs, and just generally pampered us all. Everything I have shared here is either my personal opinion or based on actual fact.

Picture a Better Future

Last Thursday I was invited along to an event in London hosted by Pampers and UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) in order to raise awareness and show case the stories of children less fortunate than our own.

For the seventh consecutive year Pampers and UNICEF are joining forces in the ongoing fight to help eliminate Maternal and Newborn Tetanus (MNT).

 Pampers and UNICEF, this month, are launching the ‘Picture A Better Future’ campaign. For every specially marked pack of Pampers bought or mum and baby photo uploaded onto the Pampers Facebook page, Pampers will donate the cost of one tetanus vaccine to continue to support UNICEF in the fight against MNT.

Pampers and UNICEF ‘one pack = one vaccine campaign’ supports two crucial interventions:

1. Expectant mothers are vaccinated which protects mum and baby against Maternal & Newborn Tetanus during birth (the riskiest time to contract this disease).

2. Mums are also encouraged to give birth in health facilities with a proper trained attendant using sterile equipment.

MNT mainly affects Mother’s and babies living in Africa and Southern and Easten Asia, really in any areas where the women are poor and have little or no access to health care. It is mainly such an issue due to inadequate immunisation services, a lack of hygienic places to give birth with many women giving birth at home on the floor, or on the side of a river bank. The after care services after having a baby are another cause with the improper cutting of the umbilical cord which can lead to infection.

MNT is a swift and painful disease with the power to kill. It killed 59,000 newborn babies back in 2008 alone. Once the disease is contracted, the fatality rate is pretty high (up to 100%) if hospital care and treatment is not sought.

But this does not have to be the case…

Over the past 7 years with the help of everyday Mum’s like you and I purchasing a pack of Pampers nappies, Pampers funding has already helped to eliminate MNT in 8 of the world’s poorest countries.

Ghana, Myanmar, Uganda, Liberia, Senegal, Guinea Bisau, Timor Leste and Burkina Faso

The event was held at Iris Studios in London and we were shown the story of these Mum’s and Mum’s to be from across the world through a series of photographs. These photographs had been put together into an eye opening exhibition. The images were beautiful and really captured the essence of these women, who really were just like you and I.

Mothers.

I found the stories of these Mum’s on the Ivory Coast eye opening, some of these parent’s to be had to travel hours to their nearest health care provider, and would have to make the same journey in the throws of labour, or just have the baby at home. It is easy to see how many of these Mum’s either don’t make the journey or end up having the baby at home, as it is such a mission to get anywhere.

Would you walk 2 hours to get to hospital while suffering contractions? I know I wouldn't, It was mission enough being driven to hospital in the car, let alone walking.

UNICEF is working hard with Pampers in order to eliminate MNT in every country. They are bringing the information and education in order to help Mum’s and babies. With each pack of Pampers that you purchase, 1 vaccine will be donated and used to immunise these Mother’s and babies against MNT.

Pampers aim is to be in touch with Mum’s around the world and make a better future for babies.

In the theme of photography, Leo and I were lucky enough to have our photograph taken by a professional photographer and came away with some lovely images and prints.

The whole day was a real eye opener, and looking through the window into a completely different culture and from some respects, world. It really did make me appreciate all that we take for granted. We are lucky enough to be immunised against all of these nasty diseases, and give birth in clean hygienic environments. We expect these things and even consider them a right, but for some people this is not a reality, and we need to do our bit to change that.

Ways you can help

1 Photo = 1 Life-Saving Vaccine: Between 1st October – 31st December 2012 you can help Pampers® and UNICEF protect pregnant women and women of child-bearing age in the developing world against Maternal & Newborn Tetanus. For each parent and baby photo uploaded onto facebook.com/PampersUKIre, Pampers® will donate the cost of one tetanus vaccine to support UNICEF in the fight against MNT.

1 Pack = 1 Live-Saving Vaccine: You can also help simply by buying a specially marked Pampers® UNICEF pack. For every pack purchased, Pampers® will donate the cost of one tetanus vaccine to support UNICEF in the fight against MNT.