1 Pair of Tickets to Give Away

The Baby Show will be taking place at ExCel, London 18-20 February 2011.

We have a pair of tickets to give away to one lucky winner – and it really couldn’t be easier to enter!

Simply visit our facebook page at www.facebook.com/BabyFirstCalendar hit the “like” button and post the following comment on our wall:

“I’d like to win tickets to the baby show from Baby’s First Calendar, pretty please!”

Simple!

If you would like a second entry giving you double the chance of winning and are on twitter simply tweet the following:

“To win £100 cash at The Baby Show ExCel visit @BabyCalendars on stand E47″

We will announce the winner on Friday 11th February on both facebook and twitter and will contact the winner directly.

Good Luck!

Visit us at the The Baby Show

We are really happy to announce that Baby’s First Calendar will again be attending  the UK’s number 1 baby show.

We last exhibited at at the Earls Court location. This will be our first experience of ExCel and we are we are really looking forward to it.

We hope to see lots of you at the show, do come and say hello and remember to enter our free prize draw to win £100 on the day!

Myleene Klass opens the Baby Show 2010. Which Celebs will be attending this year?!

Give your baby the best start by visiting the UK’s number one Baby Show.

In just one day you can…

• Enjoy huge savings on 1000s of must have products from top brands
• Try before you buy to find the right products for you
• Learn all you need for a happy, healthy baby from experts
• Talk with midwives and health experts to put any concerns to rest
• Get expert product advice and demos

… Plus, relax as nappy changing, feeding and play areas, shopping drop-off and collect by car services make visiting a breeze.

Visit us at the first ever Love Baby Festeval in Bristol on 30th January 2011

With such great organisers and a host of lovely products & services to browse or buy at special prices it’s going to be a fantastic day.

Whether you are expecting a baby or have the toddlers in tow (or both!) you’re sure to find something you’ll love.

Look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday 30th January 2011 at Paintworks, Bristol, BS4 3EH – open 10.30am – 4pm – Free Entry.

Entreprenuerial Business & Family man Theo Paphitis, widely known for not wanting to be frivolous with his “Childrens Inheritance” on Dragons Den, last night supported  Baby’s First Calendar by ReTweeting us to his 75k follows on social networking site twitter.

Each Sunday small businesses are encouraged to tweet Theo introducing their business, what they do and what they are about, condensed into less than 140 charactors and including the hashtag #sbs (Small Business Sunday), kind of like a mini pitch!

Theo then chooses his 6 favourite tweets and ReTweets these to his many followers, which in turn raises the profile of those six small business’.

This is a great idea by Theo as it allows many small businesses following the #sbs hashtag to expand their reach far and wide and raise awareness of their company, products or service’s to people that otherwise may never hear of it.

I’m am very happy to announce that last night, on our first attempt Theo deemed us one of the six worthy winners from 100′s of entrants and ReTweeted @BabyCalendars as you can see in the picture below!

The other winners you should check out as all are great businesses are @HGWeddingLounge @beamoogaloo @_Oblue @ShotByLucy @babynotincluded

Now I must confess I try very hard not to spend too much time on twitter at weekends as they are our quality family time, but this Sunday I happened to read a tweet saying that Theo’s #sbs small business Sunday was back this year. This jogged my memory as a friend of mine had won it a few months earlier (@johnlakey if you ‘re wondering!) He had mentioned it to me and said he had lots of new followers, new business and orders purely based on Theo’s ReTweet, plus he also won £100 Rymans voucher so this sounded great.

To my utter horror I wasn’t actually following Theo, which is really strange as he is my favourite Dragon (Honest! I used to work in Cyprus and am a great fan of Greek Cypriots!). I follow the others! So I corrected that immediatly and began following him, sent my tweet that you see above and waited.

For the first time in months I had an early night last night and missed Theo’s ReTweet by about 10 minutes. I awoke this morning to a huge amount of new twitter followers, congratulation messages, emails and orders for Baby Calendars. Looking at my phone and seeing 78 new emails in the space of 1 night was at first a little alarming, about 11 is the norm, on closer inspection I realised it was a result of Theo’s ReTweet and I had won!!

It’s fantastic that hugely successful people such as Theo who don’t need to help the smaller businesses take the time and effort to do so.

Thank you Theo, and if your ever in the West Country I’d happily say thanks with a pint of  “Proper Cider”!!!! in the mean time, heres Little Boss saying thank you on behalf of his daddy!

If you are on twitter and would like to follow us we are @BabyCalendars

Bristol Tweet Drinks Social Meet Up

Organised By www.Guide2Bristol.com / @G2Bristol

Where's Wally!?

I’ve been an active member of of the social networking service, twitter for over a year now. As a result I’ve met (online) many fantastic people, become aware of breaking news from all over the world, enjoyed “twitter only” discounts on various products and found it a useful way of communicating with new and expectant mums and dads who would like to know more about Baby’s First Calendar.

What I’ve not done is attend a social gathering where I can meet face to face and be, well…social..with the local twitter community……until now.

Being a Bristol lad I like to keep a column open in tweetdeck to monitor the word *Bristol*. A few weeks ago I noticed a tweet by @G2Bristol, the guys behind www.Guide2Bristol.com which is, as the name suggests a guide to whats going on in our beautiful city of Bristol. This tweet was to invite their twitter followers to meet up at Cafe Rouge, enjoy a complimetary glass of champagne, yummy canapés, meet some new friends and generally have a good time – I’ll have some of that I thought!

I had a thoroughly enjoyable time, the group were welcoming and settled any nerves I had about being the “Newbie” in no time.I didn’t get a chance to meet everyone, but there’s always next time:-)

I’ll be attending #BrisTweetDrinks again – with a few notes to self :- arrive earlier – drink less and get home at a decent time!

This weekend saw a new era in Little Boss’s life. He has moved from a cot to a “Big Boy” Bed.

For a few months now our 2.5yr old has been letting us know that he would like a proper bed, while we have no problem with this – we do tend to like our sleep! Since teaching him to sleep properly at 8 months using the controlled crying technique we have enjoyed peaceful nights and happy bedtimes, we were worried that the transition from a cot to a  toddler bed would upset both his and our routine, how selfish are we?!

So yesterday we decided to put it off no longer and bite the bullet. A trip to Ikea was the order of the day. Bed – check, mattress – check, duvet, pillow and all covers – check. We also popped into mothercare to grab a Gro-Clock Sleep Trainer, a bit steep at £30 but we had heard good things about it – more about the Gro clock later.

The First Daytime Nap…

We arrived home with plenty of time to construct the bed before Little Boss’s nap time, he was uber excited and keen to “help”!

Without too much faffing we had the bed up in no time and into position. We’re not sure who was more excited him or us, it was a very proud moment our little man going to a big bed! (I know, I know, It’s only a bed!)

We explained to him how his new “special clock” (the Gro clock) works, when the picture is stars you have to stay in bed – it’s sleep time, when the picture is of the sun you can get up – simple – and easy for him to understand.

Ok so it was time – we followed the same routine as always, gave him his 10 minute warning that its almost naptime, then tucked him into his new bed, read him a story, kissed him sweet dreams and left the room.

Usually that would be that until he wakes a few hours later – not now he had freedom!

The first time he got up we placed him back into bed with  “its naptime now honey, go to sleep”. the next time (5 mins later) we didn’t say a word and placed him back into his bed (in true supernanny fashion – where would some of us be without Jo frost eh?!). We continued to do this for 1.5hrs EEEK!! We lost count of how many times it was – but it was a lot – still 1.5hrs…could’ve been worse.

The First Night…

When nightime came I was very apprehensive – thinking nightime would be the biggest challenge – I even tweeted asking for good luck!

To my complete and utter surprise he only got up once, we placed him back into bed and there was no further problems – it did take a LOT longer than usual for him to fall asleep (we could hear him singing to himself – or his teddies we’re not sure!)  overall a great success and I am happy to report that at naptime today we only had to go in once and he was asleep shortly after. Lets hope it stays like that!

The Good & The Bad of the Gro Clock

The good – really easy for a toddler to understand as it uses a simple image to let them know when its sleep time and when its ok to get up. It comes with a story book that also helps get the message across of how the clock works which is well written.

The bad – it can only be plugged in, having the option of using batteries in our case would have been nice (as it limits where you can place it). Although only a dim light, the Gro Clock is illuminated all night – no problem if you have a toddler used to sleeping with a nightlight – not so great if you have toddler that has been taught to sleep in complete darkness – we think its having this light in his room that’s the cause of taking longer to settle.

Conclusion – time will tell, it definately works in that he fully understands when its sleep time and when he is allowed to get up – but having a constant light in his room may be a deal breaker. We shall see!

Have you been through the transition of cot to bed with your little ones? How did it go – leave a comment below?

I Made It!

This weekend I rollerbooted from Bristol to London, 120 miles for the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths. The following video shows some of my journey.  Thank you to everyone who has helped or donated and please spread the word and help me reach my target of £1000 for this amazing charity.

Please donate if you can at www.justgiving.com/Danny-Maddocks

1 Day to Go…..

A quick update to say thanks to everyone who has supported me so far, over this weekend I’ll be skating 120 miles trying to raise £1000 for the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths.

I encourage everyone reading this post to view the FSID in memory site at http://www.fsidinmemory.org.uk/ to gain a little understanding of exactly why I am doing this challenge.

Please donate if you can at http://www.justgiving.com/Danny-Maddocks , I know £1000 is a big ask in the current climate but if we all donate a little it really can help make a difference.

So thats it for now, I guess I should get some rest! thank you all for reading, I’ll be posting updates throughout the weekend on twitter and can be reached/followed on www.twitter.com/Babys1stCalenda – feel free to come and keep me company – hash tag #SABM.

I’ll also be posting a video blog of the event next week so do keep an eye out for it.

Have a great weekend all.

A very nervous yet excited Danny! xx

Me and Little Boss – preparing for the 120 mile charity skate

Dad’s 120 Mile Roller-Skate for “Save a Baby Month”

Danny Maddocks was so moved by the heartache felt by parents of cot death victims that he decided to get his skates on and do something to help… literally.

So next month Danny, 28, will roll into action to support the fourth annual ‘Save A Baby Month’ by roller-skating all the way from Bristol to London – a marathon 120-mile, three–day trip.

“Save a Baby Month’ is a national campaign organised by the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) to raise awareness of simple, effective measures parents can take to reduce the risk of cot death – otherwise known as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Danny, of Bristol hasn’t pulled on a pair of skates in earnest since he was a teenager – but is determined to raise £1,000 that could pay for two baby breathing monitors.

“It’s been over 10 years since I last slipped into a pair of roller boots but even back then the farthest I had skated was 12 miles from Bristol to Bath!” he said.

Danny first became aware of the FSID and the work they do two years ago when his partner was due with their first child.

“Cot death was one of our biggest fears, being first-time parents,” said Danny. “All of a sudden baby safety was the top priority for both of us and research led me to the FSID website.

“It was there I discovered an ‘in memory’ website, also run by FSID, where bereaved parents can create a memorial for their child. We can only begin to imagine the pain, suffering and heartache that these parents are going through.

“I have been moved to tears on many occasions reading those and that is my motivation to do all I can to support the charity.”

So on Saturday, May 8, Danny will set off skating from Bristol to FSID headquarters in London, handing out Safe Sleeping literature and raising money along the way. Bristol skate shop Rollermania has donated a pair of roller skates for Danny’s challenge, while overnight stays have also been gifted by the Hare and Hounds Hotel, Newbury and the Royal Adelaide, Windsor.

Holly Butcher, FSID’s Head of Fundraising, said: “We are all very excited about Danny’s incredible roller-skating challenge and wish him the best of luck.

“Cot death is still the biggest killer of babies over one month old in the UK, claiming more lives than meningitis, leukaemia and all other cancers combined.

“We rely on the magnificent efforts of supporters like Danny, who go above and beyond to help us give every baby the chance of a lifetime.”

Anyone who would like to sponsor Danny’s skate can go to www.justgiving.com/Danny-Maddocks or visit www.babysfirstcalendar.com/blog for updates.

For more information on “Save a Baby Month”, go to the FSID website at http://fsid.org.uk.