NOW CLOSED Tesco Loves Baby bedding tester review thread: non-testers - win £100 cash by sharing your top tips for getting babies to nod off

[AlexMumsnet]

This thread is for the MNers who are putting the Tesco Loves Baby range of bedding to the test. We'd love to hear what you think of the item you've been trying with your baby. We've provided a few questions to get you started but please feel free to add your own comments - the more detail the better!

Every tester who adds their feedback on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win £100 cash (to hopefully spend on Tesco Direct's Baby & Toddler range!).

We'd also like testers to add a review of the item they've tried here.

Please remember to tell us what item(s) you've been testing in your response

~ What was your overall impression of the product?

~ What did you think of the quality? Have you washed the item? How did it cope with being washed?

~ And how about value for money? You can find out how much the item you've been testing costs here

~ If it came up in conversation, would you recommend this product to a friend?

~ Now that you've tried a product from the Tesco Loves Baby range, do you think you'd try any others? If so, which one(s)? You can see the whole range here

If you're not a tester, the team at Tesco Direct would still love to hear from you - for a chance to win a separate £100 cash prize please share on this thread any tips or advice you have on the topic of baby bedding, and getting babies off to sleep more generally - what do you find your LO finds most cosy? Any sure fire winners for getting them to nod off? Please share this on the thread and you'll be entered into the prize draw.

Lastly, Tesco Direct are offering a special discount for all MNers - save £10 when you spend £50 on Baby and Toddler ranges for First Time Shoppers when you use code TDX-7GRT - ends 12/05/13 Link here. See T&Cs below*.

Thanks and good luck with the prize draws

MNHQ

• eCoupon code TDX-7GRT entitles you to save £10 when you spend £50 or more on baby & toddler ranges.
  This eCoupon applies to first time shoppers only.
  This eCoupon is valid on orders placed on or before 23.59 on 12/05/2013.
  Normal eCoupon terms and conditions apply.

[TheOtherHelenMumsnet]

orangeshortbread - if you go to this page - www.mumsnet.com/reviews/nursery/cots-cribs-cotbeds and click 'add a review' that should work. Thanks!

[Ramblings]

My top tip for getting babies to sleep is consistency. Use the same covers, sheets etc so babies get used to their environment and feel comfortable and safe.

My children both love old fashioned flannelette sheets and soft blankets and as babies I always combined those with baby sleeping bags to help keep them warm and safe.

[Kveta]

not a tester, but my only tip for getting babies to sleep is 'boobs'. I have fed both of mine to sleep until they were old enough to self settle (not happened yet with DD).

Also, baby in a sling almost always = baby falling asleep, so slings are another handy invention!

[lagoonhaze]

Co sleeping is my tip. The only way to try and maintain sanity.

[ThePskettiIncident]

My top tip is co-sleeping. I got so much more sleep by breast feeding and co-sleeping. Night waking was very brief because of it. It's cosy, safe and really helped me to tune in to my baby's needs more.

For daytime sleeping, white noise clips from you tube were brilliant.

[prakattack]

My top tip, once they're big enough, would definitely be baby sleeping bags.
My two have both been real wrigglers and sleeping bags have saved my sanity by avoiding the numerous wakings when blankets and sheets get kicked or wriggled off! They both had a propensity for sleeping horizontally across the bed rather than the normal way round...

[MadMonkeys]

Non tester here. Top tips for a tiny baby - swaddle at night, feed then put in Moby wrap in the day. Prop up head end of crib if baby is troubled by wind at night. For older babies use sleeping bags and stick to a consistent bedtime routine. Put baby down for first nap after 2 hours of being awake. But all babies are different, try any suggestions you like but dint let anyone bully you into trying something you don't like, controlled crying for example if that first suit your approach to parenthood.

[florencebabyjo]

I'm not a tester for this one but would love a voucher. My top tip for getting little one off to sleep is a warm bath followed by a bit of baby massage with a little almond oil and 1 drop of lavender oil. I make the room nice and warm and put baby onto a soft towel. I massage her little arms and legs one at a time and even tiny fingers and toes. She can hardly keep her eyes open after this and it works every time!

[CuppaSarah]

~ What was your overall impression of the product?
I got the white Jersey Moses Basket Sheets and Fleece Banket. Overall I was really impressed, they do the job they are meant for perfectly. They feel lovely and soft and come out really well from the wash. DD has been sleeping really well with them and seems to prefer the fleece to her old cellular blankets, which surprised me. I also thought DD might overheat in a fleece blanket, which worried me, so the first couple nights I kept checking her to feel if she was too hot, but she was just about right each time.

~ What did you think of the quality? Have you washed the item? How did it cope with being washed?
Theres no issues with the quality, stichings fine and the elastic on the sheets is holding up fine. It's all been through the wash a few times and it's made the sheets a little softer, the fleece hasn't gone bobbly either, which it often does!

~ And how about value for money?
Really good value for money! Bedding seems to be overpriced quite alot of the time. Even though the products are cheap to buy they don't feel like cheap fabric, I was surprised how lovely the fleece felt for how much it costs.

~ If it came up in conversation, would you recommend this product to a friend?
Deffinatly, I've already been singing their praises to friends.

~ Now that you've tried a product from the Tesco Loves Baby range, do you think you'd try any others? If so, which one(s)?*
The cot bed bales are really reasonably priced, so when DD is a bit bigger and moves into her cot bed I'll probably buy a few of them. The hearts fleece blanket is adorable too and since I know the fleece is lovely and snug I might get it for her buggy in the winter.

[greathat]

I tested the blue cotbed sheets and fleece blanket
What was your overall impression of the product?
Sheets - Nice and soft. Good quality and a nice size for the cot bed. They stayed in place well.
Blanket - Again good size, nice and soft, but don't use them at night as I like to use blankets with air holes as I worry about risk of overheating/suffocation

~ What did you think of the quality? Have you washed the item? How did it cope with being washed?
Washed well, and have stayed soft. Material seems to be good quality

~ And how about value for money? You can find out how much the item you've been testing costs here
Blanket was nicely packaged you could give as a gift. Too much packaging on sheets. Liked the two different colours of sheets. Happy with value for money - would have been pleased if I'd bought them

~ If it came up in conversation, would you recommend this product to a friend?
Yes I would

~ Now that you've tried a product from the Tesco Loves Baby range, do you think you'd try any others?
Might get some more sheets when needed. Would consider purchasing them as gifts if I knew someone expecting a baby

[greathat]

What category would you like us to add reviews under? The closest I can see is baby sleeping bags

[Huffpot]

Not a tester but with my little ones (11 months age difference and both very very active boys) I find a solid bedtime routine works wonders. A warm bath, pj's on, story, hugs and kisses and lights out.
In terms of bedding they are both new in big boy beds and over their duvets I tuck a large blanket and put in under the mattress so they feel secure and don't fall out of their beds.
And now its light longer I wouldn't be without my blackout blind!

[ThedementedPenguin]

~ What was your overall impression of the product?

I thought the product looked great. Felt very soft and seemed like great quality. Unfortunately the sheets are actually too small for my cotbed. I loved the darker blue sheet. Product came packaged very big compared to other brands.

~ What did you think of the quality? Have you washed the item? How did it cope with being washed?

I washed the item before use. It seemed to wash well, however it would need more washes to see how it would stand after a couple of uses.

~ And how about value for money?

I thought if was great value for money.

~ If it came up in conversation, would you recommend this product to a friend?

I would def tell a friend about the products but I am a bit gutted I couldn't try it out properly.

~ Now that you've tried a product from the Tesco Loves Baby range, do you think you'd try any others? If so, which one(s)?

Yes I would try other products. Including:

Blankets
Duvets
Cellular blankets

[ThedementedPenguin]

Ooopppsss sorry I was testing

Tesco Loves Baby Cotbed Jersey Fitted sheet 2 pack blue

[TiredFeet]

for a chance to win a separate £100 cash prize please share on this thread any tips or advice you have on the topic of baby bedding, and getting babies off to sleep more generally - what do you find your LO finds most cosy? Any sure fire winners for getting them to nod off?

I 'cheated' and just breastfed my son to sleep until he was 14 months old. we would have a bath and story routine and then a feed. He had bad eczema so found it hard to settle and it was just the easiest way. Then all of a sudden he just started not nodding off whilst feeding, so I did a bit of patting/ holding his hand and then eased him off that. He has always been easy to get down every since. so feed to sleep - that's my sure fire winner! it wasn't a rod for my own back he just stopped in his own time.

on bedding - we used baby sleeping bags and found these really good as he would always lose his blankets if we used them. he also slept with a pillow under his mattress as he got congested a lot, so I think that helped mean the blankets would just fall off.

[lottytheladybird]

I've now had a look at the range, now that the links work. I think I would definitely buy more bedding, as it does seem to be great value for money.

[Chot]

Not a tester, but a mum of four and would say that the 'classic bedtime routine' - nice, warm bath then a brief massage (baby no. 4's massage is significantly more brief than baby no. 1's used to be!!!!!) before a milk feed / story and a nice, cosy cuddle - when done consistently each day at around the same time ish (as far as is possible) really does help babies to settle more readily at bedtime. Once they've gone to sleep, I also put a soft, quietly jingly toy in the cot so that when my baby wakes up in the morning, he is happy to play for a little while, giving me a very welcome extra 5 or 10 minutes of snooze time first thing!

[Jojobump1986]

DS1 was a really good sleeper but I'm not sure how much of that was down to anything we did! We sort of co-slept by having the cotbed with one side off wedged between our bed & the wall. It meant that I could reach him easily but also that he had his own space. We swaddled him for the first few months until he discovered his thumb. After that we gradually went from one-arm-free swaddling to a sleeping bag.

DS1 was an unusual baby though - he was far more likely to go to sleep if he was just put down & left alone when tired than if we held/rocked him! It did make me feel a little rejected that my baby didn't seem to want to be cuddled all the time but I guess the extra sleep I got did help keep me sane!

[whattodoo]

Not a tester.
My best tip for getting baby to sleep is a consistent routine.
Same time each evening, bath, singing, bottle, story, cuddles and bed with dimmed light.
Once the pattern was established, we were able to ocassionally change it slightly if we were out late or in a different bedroom etc - we weren't slaves to the bedtime routine!

[ilovepicnmix]

Im not a tester. My baby has been a pretty poor sleeper but we've always stuck to a routine of bath, feed and bed. He knows this routine now and knows it's bedtime. While getting dressed after bed he can get upset but a song (usually a pop song in a chilled out styleeee as I don't know lullabies) always calms and quietens him. A forehead stroke sends him off if he's struggling once he's in his cot.

[TheOtherHelenMumsnet]

greathat - please add your review under this category. Thank you!

[dahville]

Non-tester - What do you find your LO finds most cosy?
Sleeping with a sleeping bag instead of blankets has been a winner for us. He moves around so much during the night that blankets just fall away but a sleeping bag moves with him.

Any sure fire winners for getting them to nod off?
I think the work we did when he was a newborn has paid dividends at his bedtime now - during the first three months we always picked him up when he cried and gave him a great sense of security. Since about 4/5 months we haven't had any bedtime problems (unless he's under the weather) - he doesn't fear or fight sleep time.

[WowOoo]

Non tester:

Tip for getting babies to sleep is to have relaxing music playing in their room.
Along with the normal routine once they've heard 'Chill with Bach' is on I think it acts as a cue for sleep.
Both my 7 and 3 year old still listen to relaxing classical music now.

For soft, cosy bedding they seem to like flananette (sp?), especially in the cold winter months.

[Puppypoppet]

Non tester here.

My top tip would be professionally installed black out blinds - great for both daytime naps and night time now it is getting lighter. If you have a good installer they can minimise light coming through around the edges.

Also agree with grobags / sleeping bags my daughter always seemed to sleep better when we used them.