Tips to make your BabySpa trip enjoyable

Okay, please be prepared for the overload of photos. We brought our baby to the BabySpa and honestly, it was quite a lot of fun (both for baby and us!) I am sure many of you (even non-parents) are familiar with BabySpa and their services. They have a few outlets (Punggol Oasis Terraces, Harbour Front Center, North Point City and Westgate) and you must have at one point in your life, ogling at those cute little babies floating around. 

For parents who are considering to bring your little one there, we thought we should come out with some tips to make your trip even more awesome than it already is!

1. To set the record straight, the water training at BabySpa is not just a frills bucketlist for your baby. It can help to strengthen the heart and lungs of the baby as well as to develop the motor control, agility, coordination and balance. 

2. If you have old folks at home (like mine), you will know how adverse they are to babies "swimming". After knowing our child is going to BabySpa, they were a lot more assured (probably because they have seen other babies swimming in the pools). The pools at the BabySpa is designed for babies aged 1 to 24 months under the supervision of the staff. A staff will also be with the baby at all times to ensure that it is safe. 

3. Each session is about 15-20 minutes, and will be increased in the following sessions. Our little one was around 6 months by the time he was exposed to a pool. He love his bathtime and had pretty good stamina by then. And so, we managed to enjoy a slightly longer session (Note: The duration would depends on the condition/ mood of your baby.) So, don't jam-pack your schedule cos your baby may be enjoying himself/ herself for a longer time. 

4. Charge your phone or bring a powerbank. My baby isn't even there that long but I have tons (I am not joking here) of photos and videos. I have to even create a whole album for him. Now, whenever I miss him, I would even view those photos and videos to relive his smiles. Don't miss any moments (like my husband), charge your phone so that you can have more gadgets to use and snap every shoot. 

5. Don't be disappointed. The babies usually start off without smiles and without the neck float. Even my smilely one was slightly worried at first. The ladies at BabySpa are very friendly and will try their very best to set the baby at ease. Just give the baby some time to flounder about (may take more than one session) and soon you will see them kicking, smiling, chewing the toys like it is their home.

6. BIGGEST TIP: Go on a weekday! This is crazy, but the weekday package is cheaper and comes with a hamper of goodies (will write more about them in the subsequent posts). You literally get all the attention and the whole place to yourself . For working parents, just try to get the Friday evening slot and you probably get the best of both world. *winks*

Psss. for my readers only, quote CHAA10 and you will get to enjoy 10% off the products from their online store!

Pee-ka-Poo Starter Pack

If you have read our last post, you would know that we are quite huge fans of the diapers and baby body shampoo/soap. For Mummies (and Daddies) who are keen to try out their products, here's some tips (I think you can save a bit of money too) on how to navigate on their site. 

If you are new to their products, I would recommend you to try out their starter packs. Each pack contains 12 pieces of diapers, 1 small bottle of body shampoo/soap and 1 big packet of wet wipes (80pcs) as well as small packet of wet wipes (10 pcs). With this starter pack, you can get to sample all their products at quite a discounted price. The tape diapers starter pack costs $12.90, while the pull-up pants starter pack costs $15.90.

Personally, I found the starter box very presentable. Although it is not meant for this purpose but it makes quite a good gift for newborns (I think it is ok to give a bigger size cos babies upsize very fast!) or babies/toddlers at their important milestones :D

Many people probably don't know this, but every month Pee-Ka-Poo has some promotions with freebies. It changes every month. For the month of February, the free item were tops from Bootiquewear. The tees were super comfy. I was seen wearing them on my 6-months celebration (yes, I had 2 celebrations one for Daddy's side and another for Mummy's side)

Currently, the free stuff are quite practical. There is the cutlery set, wet wipes and even milk cans. If you love their wet wipes, there is a clearance sale going on now. Don't say we don't share!

To get a good bang for your bucks, always buy in carton. The downside is that the little ones do upsize very fast. For Pee-Ka-Poo, they have this exchange policy which I find it to be very considerate to parents. As long as it is unopened, you can do an exchange and the timeframe is 90 days (very generous) and quite a decent time period because so far baby upsize every 3 months, sometimes even earlier. 

Ending off the post with some unboxing boomerang of the starter box. :P By the way, baby's favourite game now is peekaboo, lol. Can't help but wonder if this is under the influence of his diapers. Hehe. 

We got our sofa online ft. Zinus

Ok ok, most of you know how much reservations I have with purchasing stuff online. For big ticket items, somehow I still like touching them. My sofa is from Zinus. If you find them sounding very familiar, that's because they are more known for their mattress. Zinus does have a showroom around Paya Lebar area, but this time round I was so tied up with the baby and the housework, I was like "Let's give online purchase a go"

And so, I didn't go down. We just checked the measurements online and decided to take the plunge because the design does fit very well with thouse and I was really quite sick of going to showrooms after showrooms and going home with nothing. (Yes, I am picky like this.) The whole process was quite fuss-free and you could select your preferred delivery date (3-4 days after working day).

It arrived on the dot and boy this was one huge package. Assembly is not part of the package, but by now the Hubs and I actually do enjoy doing some DIY. Given the price-point, doing some work ourselves was still acceptable. Believe it or not, the fixing was really simple. There was some turning to fit the legs, snips to insert the middle leg and sliding of the parts into a hinge. In less than 30 minutes, we had a sofa.

But as life would have it, shit happened. Our sofa had some defects. If you have bought things online, you would know that the worse fear would be poor after-sales service. I would have to commend Zinus for its prompt after-sales support. The next day, I had someone sending over the replacement parts. 

The sofa looks as per the prictures. The measurements are also true to the measurements given. For our house, we go for a very simple look so this sofa fits in very well to the overall theme. We will be putting a few cushions to make it more homey. The only grouse is that...the sofa covers isn't removable (not the best when you have a little pukey baby at home). We will probably be investing in a throw or a nice blanket to add in some colours.

The chair is very deep. I don't have the longest legs but I sit cross-legged normally, so this still works for me. The back cushion is really soft while the seat cushions are rather firm. Depending on your preference, some people actually do like their sofas like this. We will be slowly building up our living room and will share more pics here. So stay tune. :P This series is truly rather exciting for me!