Bepanthen Review

About a month ago we were very fortunate to receive a wonderful package in the post from the lovely people at BAYER makers of Bepanthen to review. Not only did we enjoy the products but we also found the website very helpful; packed with Baby Skin Care and Nappy Care information, tips and links.

Timing of the products however was perfect:

For Kerri the Bepanthen Baby Moisturiser  has been the star of the summer.

 With the weather just begining to improve we struck for the beach on many an occasion. Anyone with kids will know that getting stuck down into the sand, digging the "biggest hole ever", and becoming covered from head to toe in layers of wet on dry sand is all part of the days fun. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the beach. However Seán seemed to be constantly covered in sand.

 We live near the beach, so one sits on a towel in the car and with the quick trip home you come in with your wet togs and jump straight into the shower. This is where I really found Bepanthan was a life saver. Each day I washed the sand off. I know its not good to over bath children, especially children with dry skin as Seán does (very slightly on his arms). However what was I to do? It was a comforting reassurance that a very suited moisturiser was going to be applied within minutes. Bepanthen Baby Moisturiser is free from alcohol,colours, fragrances, parabens and other preservatives, lanolin or paraffin and is suitable from birth.

 The packaging is very user friendly and is a great size tube (pictured far right above). It goes on as a light white lotion and soaks into the skin within minutes. By bed time I could feel Sean's skin rehydrated and ready for another day at the beach. I used it each evening after his bath or shower so a couple of times a week and after a month I can see such an improvement in his skin. I love that there is no smell form it, and even Seán commented that it not sticky! I rub it on in circular motions and its a real hit. Back in the nappy days Bepanthen Nappy Care Ointment was a God Send however I had never tried the Bepanthen Baby Moisturiser. After using it for a month, I will certainly continue to use it and  I would highly recommend it for children of all ages. 



For Orla:

I have loved trying out the Bepanthen range. I used the Bepanthen Moisturiser on both Farrah and Georgia after their baths, it contains Provitamin B5 and you can notice the difference this unique ingredient makes to your child's skin. The girls skin looked and felt hydrated. Their skin was soft and it was not a heavy moisturiser, I could see that their skin looked fresh and could breathe after application.
Bepanthen recently launched their 100g Nappy Care Ointment in a new plastic pack with a flip top. For me this is a major improvement by Bayer, makers of Bepanthen. The original packaging annoyed me. You would have to screw off the lid and roll up the packaging as time went on to get cream out which resulted in it cracking and cream coming out from all angles, usually all over my changing bag. With changing a toddlers nappy and all the wriggling that goes with it, you just don't have the patience for a screw top lid, give me flip lid any day!Well this problem is now a thing of the past. The new plastic packaging and new flip lid is clean and easy to use! It is 100% better for me due to this. Now I would certainly recommend this product. Georgia still gets nappy rash when she is teething. We have a long time of teething left as at 18 months she only has 8 teeth. Recently she cut a tooth and had runny nappies resulting in nappy rash. I used Bepanthen Nappy Care Ointment and it cleared it right up. Bepanthen Nappy Care Ointment is gentle and can be used everyday to prevent the causes of nappy rash. It contains lanolin and Provitamin B5 resulting in a long lasting breathable transparent layer, therefore I would certainly recommend applying it daily especially when teething strikes.

Thanks for reading! Have you tried Bepanthen products? Did you find them good? We would love to hear from you?

Kerri & Orla Xxx





Disclaimer:  We received the Bepanthen products above free of charge in exchange for a fair and honest review. We did not receive any other remuneration for this post.  All thoughts and opinions in this review are our own.


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Our kids do chores do yours?

'Everybody wants to save the earth; nobody wants to help Mum with the dishes' :-)  P.J.O'Rourke

On today's blog I am discussing children and chores. We both feel very strongly about ensuring we provide our children with opportunities to be responsible and carry out their own jobs in their own home. Good habits last a lifetime and your future daughter/son in law will thank you for raising tidy children :-)



Here are a few jobs I have my girls carry out in the home; watering the raised beds, putting their dirty clothes in the laundry basket, putting toys back in their right place in the playroom, laying the table, handing me the clothes from the basket to be hung on the washing line and recently Farrah has been doing some hoovering for me! Happy days! Kids like to help,embrace this and always provide lots of positive reinforcement.

Kerri also get's her son Seán to do his daily "jobs". These include counting out the correct amount of cutlery for dinner, setting the table, bringing the used bowl or plate back to the sink and then putting it into the dishwasher. This is a chore but also something that if taught from a young age, when do so out of home especially, it becomes good manners. Hoovering is also a favourite of Seán's: if he does a good job he then gets a spin on the hoover! Of course he does not hoover to any great standard, but thats not the point. The idea is teaching him responsibility and identifying and realising the jobs that need to be done in a house. Bringing his clothes down to the washing machine is a new job for him and the novelty factor is keeping it going..here's hoping it stays!  Tidying away toys in the playroom before bed is one we are currently working on...it's not going too well, but i'll stick to it! 

Here are some tips in getting your children to help with chores at home;

Start young. Make a tidy up session before bathtime an integral part of the day.

Set ground rules. For example-pen lids must be replaced,outdoor shoes(wellies) must always be put away, and pyjamas folded under pillows.

Everyone helps. Children grumble about clearing up when they didn't personally make the mess. You can make the point that it wasn't mum or dad who scattered jigsaw pieces or dropped play dough on the floor. Make it clear that everybody tidy's up,every day.

Show what needs to be done. If we don't water the vegetables we won't have them to eat for dinner because they need water to grow big and strong. Also dont expect a child to know what to tidy up,show them exactly. Children often don't recognise toys on the floor as mess.

Make it easy. Use easy to reach boxes for example, one box for play food, one box for Lego.

Reward particularly good behaviour. Positive reinforcement is so important and works wonders. Household tasks should be regarded as part of family life, not something that children are paid to do. Besides lots of positive reinforcement, extra special effort can be recognised with sticker charts for younger children and additional pocket money for older kids.

Easy Tasks For Children

Pre-schoolers
Picking up toys
Watering plants
Putting clothes in laundry basket
Laying the table

5 to 10 year olds
Loading the dishwasher
Washing the car
Sweeping the floors

11 to 16 year olds
Vacuuming
Gardening tasks
Taking out the rubbish

Let me know if your children help at home,what tasks they carry out,do they complain or enjoy it? We would love to hear.



Until next time, thanks for reading!

Orla and Kerri  xxx

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The Smell of Home

Although I'm a huge Yankee Candle fan, I still can't understand how they haven’t bottled up he smell of a typical Irish home and sold it by the bucket load. Now I'm not talking the smell of days old wet GAA training gear or the smell of spuds and bacon cooking  for the 12 noon dinner (all very homely  smells of my childhood) I’m talking about the smell of fresh scones or soda bread just about to come out for the oven....... Heavenly. 

There's no smell as warm and comforting as a batch of scones or a loaf of soda bread that is minutes away form layering up with real butter and homemade jam. My taste buds are tickling as I write. I know it's nostalgia that's playing a key factor here but none the less, we cannot deny that no matter how much of a health kick we are on that it is a difficult task to decline such an invitation as a cup of tea and a warm fresh scone. I was spoiled as a child to come in off the school bus to this said invitation, and still today there is no greater txt I rather receive than "scones  in oven, kettle on, will ye call?" From mammy. I now try to recreate  such smells in my home today (well the days old wet GAA gear smell has been perfected!) and with that I share with you my favourite scones recipe.  Perhaps some day I'll be as good as Mam and won't need a recipe, I'll know my own recipe and quantities form experience but for now it’s my tried and trusted Rory O'Connell recipe.

INGREDIENTS

4 cups white flour

1/2 heaping teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 heaping teaspoon sugar

Sift ingredients into a large mixing bowl.  2 cups buttermilk

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 200°.

Sift ingredients into a large mixing bowl.

Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and add buttermilk.

Mix together by hand until thoroughly combined (be careful not to overwork the dough, as this causes toughness). At this point add in some raisins if desired. (I would if I was you!) 

Turn out dough onto a well-floured surface and form into a large rectangle about 1 inch thick.

Using a rolling pin and extra flour as needed, roll rectangle into a ¾ inch thickness.

Using a scone cutter (or in my case a glass!) class out as many scones as you can. Keeping them good and thick.

Lightly flour a large sheet pan and arrange the scones in rows just barely touching.

Bake for 10 minutes, rotate the tray, and bake for 5- 10 more minutes. (Depends on your oven, fan etc..) 

Then plug in the kettle, get out the real butter and jam and sit back and enjoy the smells of home until the scones are ready!

I always make two batches of scones when baking: one batch as above and one batch dairy free. I do this my simply substituting almond milk for butter milk and sunflower butter for real butter. In my eyes theres an obvious winner, but my son knows no different and loves them. Scones are also so handy to put in the freezer and pull out as needed.

Hope you enjoy recreating my favourite 'smell of home'.

We would love to hear what smells sum up home for you, and how you recreate those smells in your home today xxx 

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Sweetie Soup ;-)

Hey,

This week I made Sweet Potato and Orange Soup. It is a lovely creamy soup filled with goodness that your little ones will just love. My girls love it and I always receive an empty bowl back! One happy mum! 

Give it a go!

Ingredients:

20g Butter
1 large Onion
500g Sweet Potato
200g Patato
2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed Orange Juice
700mls Vegetable Stock
1/2 teaspoon of Ground Coriander
150ml Milk

Just leave out the milk for a dairy free option still tastes nice :-) 

Melt the butter,add chopped onion, cook gently until soft without Browning.

Add chopped sweet patato, patatoes, Orange juice, vegetable stock and coriander.

Bring to boil,cover and simmer for 30minutes until vegetables are tender.

Add milk and blend until smooth.

Enjoy!!

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Let me know if you try the soup and if it was liked by the family,I would love to know!

Happy Saturday from all @ Countryside Mumsie

Orla & Kerri xx

Our Allergy Adventure

I will be the first to put my hand up and admit that when I was younger I had little tolerance for those children with 'allergies'. I thought it was over sensitive parents looking for something to fuss about for the little one. Since becoming a parent, I have quickly realised how ignorant I had been. Having a son or daughter with any kind of allergy or intolerance can be very difficult. 

A short list of foods account for about 90 per cent of food allergies: milk, egg, peanut, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat. Our story is about Milk.

In our situations, I had been ebf for almost 6 months, then with the decision to introduce a formula feed once a day we quickly realised somehing was a miss. Vomiting EVERYWHERE within 15 minutes of swallowing the cows milk based formula feed, made me quicky realise we had a problem.So next day we brought  our son to the GP and were told it was just a co-incidence he vomited and told it was just a tummy bug, and keep going with the introduction of formula. When the vomiting continued later that day and again on the same feed the following day, it was a case of back to the GP. This time we met an out of hours doctor who we had not met before. He was very helpful and suggested it may be an allergy and so prescribed a non cows milk based formula. From then on we have been advised many things by many people; some in the medical profession, some from a  homeopathic background, other mums, and then everyone else who likes to share their tupennny's worth. 

Overall I found, and still find it a really difficult task to get assistance and information. I realise milk intolerance or allergy is not any way as serious as other allergies and here in lies the descripiencies. Reseach and Professionals cannot seem to agree. This has confirmed in my heart that, like everything about a child, each child is unique and individual. Its a mothers instinct that knows not to take the first bit of advice. It can be a lonely journey and sometimes i'm questioning my sanity; maybe i'm that fussy parent looking for something to fuss about? But No, when my son is struggling to breath at night due to a spoon of yogurt earlier that day, I know to stop. I know that  this gentle introduction of dairy, called the The Oral Food Challenge (http://ifan.ie/milk/oral-food-challenges/) is not working so we were back to square one. 

It's been a tricky journey but here's what we do: Avoid ALL dairy! Yes ALL. We have become experts at finding subsitutes for all the typical, and even non typical dairy food your child may enjoy. 

The symptions our son gets if even the smallest bit of daiy has accidently gotten into his diet that day: begins with a runny nose and by bed time his beathing gets very shallow. One time we woke him from his sleep, afraid he was not going to take his next breath. 

The diagnosis: Having seen homeopaths and a few GP's and then a pediatric consultant that yes, he thinks its an allergy and we are now waiting to see a paediatric allergy specialist in the new Year. However, despite the outcome of this day, I know dairy does not like our son, and our son doesn't like dairy. Its that simple really.

The solution: We ensure dairy is excluded from his diet. We have swapped  cows milk for coconut or almond milk (luckily we found fresh almond milk), butter for cocount oil or sunflower butter and chocolate for Dairy free chocloate. After that we make sure products do not contain dairy and that's it. The hardest part was educating other adults our son may be with if we are not, such as Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles, Childminders or Babysitters. Everyone means well but there have been some mistakes, these have been tough but once addressed it becomes clear that he is being punished not treated by giving him dairy.

Our favourite dairy free Ice-cream 'No bó' (No Cow)

Personally I find following blogs and getting advice from other parents with similiar experiences is what has helped  our family adjust.  Dairy Free Kids is a blog I religiously follow and find brilliant. There are so many myths and old wives tales out there. My advice to any parent unsure about whether your son or daughter has an allergy or intolerance is to stick to your gut feeling. Avoid the food and note any differences. This way you have evidence of differences in your childs health or behaviuor and you will not question yourself when asked by a health care professional. 

With our son now 3 1/2 it has taken 3 years for us to figure the whole thing out, or some part at least. And with preschool, school, friends, birthday parties etc all around the corner God only knows how we'll cope! Deep breaths, deep breath......it'll be grand! He loves strawberries......of course he will say no thank you to ice-cream, chocolate and tayto's at birthday parties.....wont he!!!  

In the meantime I'm bursting my backside making and baking dairy free alternatives! Keep an eye on 'Country Cooking' tab in the blog for recipes. 

Don't forget you can keep up to date with both us countryside mums on facebook and instagram. We'd love you to drop by and say hi x

Until next time,

Kerri and Orla xx 

Some helpfull websites and blogs on allergies and Dairy Free: 

http://ifan.ie/

http://www.safefood.eu/Food-safety/Food-Allergies/Allergy-or-intolerance.aspx

https://www.fsai.ie/faq/allergens.html

https://www.facebook.com/dairyfreekids?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/TheHappyPear

Craggaunowen - Weekend Fun!

Morning,

Recently we visited Bunratty Castle and Folk Park and had such a great time we decided to venture to Craggaunowen in Quin, Co Clare. I think I remember being on a school tour to Craggaunowen many moons ago so I was dying to check it out again and I was sure the whole family would enjoy it.

Craggaunowen is a reconstruction of a Bronze Age site with prehistoric lake dwellings called Crannogs, early Christain ring fort, Iron Age roadway and a replica of the Brendan Boat which is a sixth century vessel. There is also a restored 16th century tower house.

As you make your way around the various attractions there are people acting out what life was like in this era. They show the crowds how they cooked, what they ate, how they made clothes and the weapons they used. This was a lovely bonus and captured my 3 years old attention. It was very informative and done in an interesting manner. They invite people and children to participate.

There is a forest walk around Craggaunowen so bring the willies! We forgot ours and got a bit on the mucky side acting like Peppa Pig!  There are loads of rocks to jump off in the forest which is how my three year old would spend her day if we let her! :-)

There is also a castle to explore which was built in 1550. If you are lucky you will spot some Soay Sheep and wild boar which are all specimens of the prehistoric era.  Craggaunowen has a great tea room and picnic area to enjoy. It is open daily from 10am to 5pm during the summer. A family ticket will set you back a modest €21.50. A great price for a great day out!

Give it a go and let me know what you think!?

Don't forget to follow us on facebook @ Countryside Mumsie Blog and also Instagram @ countryside_mumsie

Orla & Kerri Xx

Juicing: what's the big craze?

Everywhere we look it's juices! The latest 'must-have' gadget seems to be the Nutribullet and the latest in-trend craze is juicing! So, what is it all about?

While thinking about getting ready for back to school season, juicing was one routine I really wanted to get into. The amount of goodness in one glass will set you up for the day and hopfully help fight off any nasty coughs and colds that the winter brings. 

A family member bought the all mighty, all praised NutriBullet before Christmas. We thought it would be used a few time and be back in the box by mid January! How wrong we were! It's a great sucess. And now we too have joined this juicing craze. Being completely specticle of the over priced glorified food processors we went an alternative route; juice delivery. 

Bottle of Juice outside our door early one morning

We are extremely lucky that the amazing Grace from Cork Nurtional Clinic has set up a fantastic service wherby she makes the juices and delivers them fresh to our door each morining before 7am! We simply drink our juice throughout the day, leave the empty bottle outside the door at night and in the morining, hey presto a fresh new bottle of juice!

We said to Grace we just wanted a juice that would detox us slightly, but just overall a healthy kick to our day really. The juice we get is just that; Ginger, Kale, Pear, Cucumber, Celery and sometimes an apple. In the bottle there is enough for a glass in the morning and a glass after work for both Dad and I but our son  hates it! The taste is tough at the start but it definitely gets easier. The benefits are unbelievable! Coming from a total sceptic, I have been won over! Im not sure if its all in my head, but im feeling healthier, ive have more energy, my skin is clearer, its just overall a positive! 

Will we buy the Nutribullet and do it ourselves? Origionaly my answer on this was : No, not for the time being. The service Grace in Cork Nutrition Clinic provides is fantastic. Maybe im being lazy, but untill I see us sticking at this craze for a (good) couple of weeks longer we wont be making the purchase. Unfortunately since first drafting this post, Grace has been in touch to say she's no longer doing the juice delivery service for a few weeks due to her work schedule!!!! We're devastated! So what are we going to do!!! I will  make them myself in the food processor and see how it goes!! Stay posted! 

So if you havnt already, why not join in on the juicing craze? Either make them yourself or contact someone like Grace in The Cork Nutrition Clinc. 

We'd love to hear your thoughts, comments or recipe ideas for juices! xx

Kerri and Orla x

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