The Bambeano is – you guessed it – a bean bag designed especially for your baby. It's suitable for 0-6-month-olds and comes with a special strap to keep your baby securely in place.

I've been buckling my daughter into the Bambeano since she was born, and now she's three months old, she's still enjoying reclining on the kitchen floor while I get chores done around her.

It's a nicely designed product and I like the fact that I can slightly alter the height and positioning thanks to the beans. I'd prefer more covers to choose from – beige dots are tasteful but unexciting, and I'm avoiding the baby pinks like the plague – and a warmer fabric option such as fleece would make this more winter friendly.

When you've just had a baby, life's all about the little things. Little new person, little clothes, and little sleep. Which is why heading out for a day with the baby can seem like a pretty big deal.

So thank goodness that my first major excursion across London on public transport with my 10-week-old was to visit a special mother and baby spa.

Cupcake is a very different sort of gym and spa. If the long line of buggies parked at the entrance and the play pen in the corner don't give the game away, the countless little people charging merrily about the place soon will. This is a gym for parents.

Started in 2008 by American Karen Hastings, Cupcake is Hastings' answer to what she felt was a lack of really nice gyms in the UK. And it certainly is different to any other gym I've been to. It's a place to hang out over some food and wine, a place to have a calming treatment, a place to do your ante-natal classes and a place to leave your children when you're doing all of the above.

I admit it, I've been totally won over by mOmma from Tomy. The new range of "developmental feeding products" has more than a whiff of Alessi about it and I like to think I'm not impressed by designer gear. But the combination of kooky looks, bright colours and clearly quite clever ergonomic design has left me hankering for a complete set.

Everything about the range has clearly been very carefully thought out, with bottles, plates and cutlery all designed to be un-tippable thanks to their rounded bottoms.

For those slow eaters, the Warm Plate can be filled with warm water so that food doesn't go cold so quickly, while the chunky cutlery makes for easy gripping.

You'll be carrying a changing bag round with you for quite some time, which means it's a perfect excuse to buy something a bit special.

These OiOi changing bags are fresh and vibrant looking, with a choice of monchrome designs that will keep your baby enraptured.

They're also incredibly practical, with plenty of pockets, a wipes box, a zippable waterproof case, comfy sleeping bag-style changing mat and an insulated bottle case.

Most importantly, it's got clips for keys and dummies to save you rooting round in your bag.

I love my OiOi bag - and it's getting plenty of admiration from the other mothers as well. It's roomy, practical, and I'm more than happy to be seen carrying it around for the next year or so.

Picking the right baby monitor means making some decisions about exactly what features you want. Do you want lullabies included? Talkback? Do you want extras like feeding schedules and alerts?

The LeapFrog Advanced Digital Baby Monitor comes close to ticking pretty much every box when it comes to jazzy extras. It keeps track of the room temperature in the nursery (and you can set it to bleep if it gets too hot or cold); it plays digital lullabies that you can start up remotely using the receiver unit; and if you want to remind yourself when you last fed your baby or when it's time to feed again, the Leapfrog's feeding alerts can help.

Personally, I'm a big fan of the "parent talkback" feature – though I'm not sure the manufacturer intended it to be used to request a cup of tea from the bedroom while your other half is downstairs.

As if travelling on public transport isn't stressful enough, this surveillance video captures the moment a bewildered young boy is separated from his father by a faulty train.

As three-year-old Aiden jumps off the train holding his father's hand, the doors immediately begin to shut, leaving the young boy alone on the platform.

The incident happened at 8.15am on Monday in Portland. Luckily the platform wasn't crowded when Aaron Bailey desperately tried to open the carriage door in a futile bid to reach his stranded son.

Thankfully, a kindly commuter witnessed the train door malfunctioning and stayed behind to look after the young lad until his father was able to return, seven minutes later.

Watch the video to see the pair reuniting after what must have been a very stressful way to start a Monday morning. Possibly don't watch if you're pregnant however. I'm still wiping away the tears.

Meanwhile, the train company, TriMet, have got some explaining to do. They don't seem to know why the doors closed on Aaron's hand - or why the emergency stop button didn't work.

Source

As you read this on Friday morning, I'll be packing up the last of the boxes, moving out of our one-bedroom flat and moving into our new house.

Oh, and I'll be 37 weeks pregnant.

Yes, in spite of all the advice to the contrary, all those friends telling me not to put myself through it, we are moving house before the baby is born.

The plan had been to wait until the baby was a few months old before putting the flat on the market. But then an estate agent's leaflet came through the door saying that some buyers were desperate to buy on our road and the next thing I knew the flat was on the market and my husband was holding his head in his hands and resigning himself to his fate.

But I have an excuse!

How do you know you might be pregnant? There are some early pregnancy symptoms that you can look out for if you are trying for a baby.

Here are ten hints you might be in the family way.

1. Tiredness and dizziness
An awful lot happens in the early stages of pregnancy and your body may well let you know it's preparing for the miracle of creation by making you drop off at every opportunity. You may also find yourself swooning like a Victorian heroine, which is not as much fun as it sounds.

When Becky Goddard-Hill realised that she didn't want to go back to work after her maternity leave was over, she was faced with a difficult decision. Her salary was a large proportion of the family income, and managing on just her husband's earnings was going to be next to impossible.

Or so she thought.

Two babies later, Becky is still a full-time mum. She's learned a lot along the way, and has put all her tips, experiences and advice together into a book "How to Afford Time off with your Baby". We asked her to share some of her top tips for affording full time motherhood.

Here's what she said...

Caffeine during pregnancy is a thorny issue. In some countries (such as the US), it's frowned upon for women to drink coffee or tea while pregnant. But over here in the UK, where tea is a part of our national identity, the very idea that a pregnant woman might forsake a refreshing cuppa is - in some circles - laughable.

Certainly, no one in my family has ever given up tea during pregnancy, but I admit to cutting right back on my intake of caffeine when I got pregnant. Pre-pregnancy, I was always careful to limit my coffee and tea to no more than three cups of tea a day (or one cup and one cup of coffee), but when I found out I was pregnant, I often switched tea for redbush or mint in a bid to cut out excess caffeine.

Given the fact that caffeine restricts the uptake of vitamins (and most vitally, iron - which is hard enough to absorb at the best of times) cutting back your caffeine makes sense. However, I found it all pretty much a moot point in the end. Increased heart-rate, anaemia, and never-ending acid indigestion have all meant that a strong cup of coffee is the last thing on my mind. Now, if I have a coffee at all, it's watered right down, laced with milk and comes in a tiny cup.

A cappuccino hasn't passed my lips in months.

Did you give up caffeine? And if so, what did you drink instead? How about herbal teas? Mama Tea is the first range of tea "specifically designed in the UK for pregnant women".