Product reviews

These make lovely presents for new parents as it's probably not something that you'd buy for yourself but really nice to fill in as you go along and then you've got a beautiful permanent record to look back on.

A wonderful gist that can be put away as a record for your baby's first year.

An ideal gift for any new parent this year is this Baby's First Year Calendar, I bought one last Christmas when my granddaughter was six months old and my daughter has made it look so beautiful with photographs of the baby that I really believe it was one of the best things I could have bought for her.

It is basically a DIY personalised wall hanging calendar which has spaces for photographs of the new arrival, obviously the idea is to take a photo each month of your baby so that you can look back and see how she has changed over the twelve months. It's one of those calendars which is designed to be able to be started at any month so it doesn't matter if your loved one is expecting a baby next May, you can still buy them the calendar for Christmas knowing that pages haven't been wasted - perhaps they would like to use the first month for the scan photo?

The calendar looks absolutely lovely, it has a very pastel colour scheme which is perfectly appropriate for a new baby of either sex. The daily space for writing your appointments down is large enough to scribble in all the details and the calendar is not so shiny that pens don't work properly on it, a problem I had recently with a calendar I bought for my friend from Snapfish where she can only write on it in felt tip and even then the ink will still not have dried properly a couple of days later!

New mums and dads will love sticking recent photos into the spaces on the pages, my daughter used to enjoy looking through all of the photographs she'd taken over the previous month and choosing the best or most comical to display for that month in the calendar. It's a lovely idea, especially now most of us have digital cameras because we rarely even print out our photographs these days let alone display them nicely. It is lovely to flick through the calendar to see how much my granddaughter has changed since she was a dainty six month old - she's now an 18 month old brusier and it's hard to believe that just twelve months can have caused to to grow and change so much!

As well as the spaces to stick your photos, any new mum will love the small section on each months page to jot down milestones in your baby's first few months and also the smaller area where you write down details of special events. My daughter is not the most organised of people and has never got further than the first few pages in the numerous baby books she has started for each of her three children, so it's nice that this calendar can hold all this information but because it's literally one page per month she doesn't feel overwhelmed with details as can happen with the 100+ page books she has bought over the years. My granddaughters first steps, first words and the first time she fed herself are now detailed on the calendar and when it is finished (next month) it can either be displayed or placed in the keepsake box my daughter keeps for the girls'.

Ths can be used as a normal household calendar, or keep it simply for baby's appointments and check ups which is probably the nicer way to use it. It comes with two sheets of stickers that you can place in the daily sections to remind you of upcoming visits to the Health Visitor, injection dates and clinic times. Again, it's nice to look through at how often my granddaughter had to see the Health Visitor when she was tiny and this aspect was also useful for my daughter as she could see at a glance if she had anything that day and plan around it. She also used these daily spaces to jot down my granddaughters weight and height.

This Baby's First Year Calendar would honestly make a wonderful Christmas present for anyone who has recently had a baby or is expecting one soon. It's practical yet such a beautiful idea that any new parent will love it and it will last at least twelve months, or longer if you decide to use it as a display item after it is filled with beautiful baby photographs and notes lovingly written by mum or dad.

The calendar costs £11 from www.mamatoto.co.uk and this is money well spent in my opinion and this gift will last and is such fun!

This calendar is a great way to help any new mum remember and organise their baby's demanding first year. There's space for photos and to record your baby’s important milestones and special events. Plus lots of stickers to mark health visitor visits, vaccination appointments etc. The pocket at the back is great for storing those endless important bits of paper (that otherwise get scattered around the kitchen).

It's also a perennial calendar so you can start it in any month of the year. Perfect for a brand new mum whatever the time of year. I couldn't get through the chaotic first year without one and would certainly recommend it as an alternative and practical new parent gift.