There’s no point in trying to hide it - I’m definitely a self-confessed magazine junkie. Good quality magazines are a fantastic way to zone out for a while, and get your mind off the day to day. My Child has always been a favourite as it is consistently filled with meaningful, relevant articles on pregnancy, birth and beyond, as well as stylish fashion spreads for little ones. 

The latest edition of My child (Summer Edition) is on stands today and features some great articles on eco-friendly parenting, starting kinder, large families as well as insightful articles on child rearing and preparing for birth.  My Child is of such quality that its one of those magazines that as a mother you wont throw away, as you will refer back to it for the great resource that it is.

If you’re yet to experience My Child, make sure you take up on our current offer -

SPEND $100 AT BEBE ONLINE AND RECEIVE THE LATEST MY CHILD MAGAZINE FREE WITH YOUR ORDER*

This is in addition to our current “free freight over $100″ offer…talk about a great deal! 

*Offer valid from 28th November while stocks last. Offer open to online orders only (not valid on in-store orders) 

This is one for the Bugaboo fans - of which we know there are many! Bugaboo have just launched Bugaboo Friends, a new online community for parents, grandparents and anyone who is interested in staying on the go. Bugaboo friends inspires its community to move and explore new places. With this initiative Bugaboo wants to share product information, product performance and functionality through the stories of consumers, your experiences and exciting personal discoveries.

Check out bugaboo.com a fantastic feature of this campaign: three GO films of real Bugaboo users showing how they use their Bugaboo stroller in their own lives.

Keep an eye out for some exciting Bugaboo news coming soon to the bebe blog. In the meantime, check out bugaboo.com. 

Have you ever wondered why children love to roll down hills, swing upside down and spin around and around? This movement in all directions helps with  development of the vestibular apparatus, a system of canals within the inner ear covered in tiny hair-like structures called cilia. As fluid washes through these canals over the cilia, messages are sent to your child’s brain helping him learn about balance. A child with an immature vestibular system and poor balance may be labelled as ‘clumsy’ or he may have trouble sitting still and he may fidget and constantly wriggle or suffer from motion sickness.

To help stimulate your child’s vestibular system, playing outdoors is fun - let him roll down hills; swing on swings or ride a merry go round. Inside, you can sit in an empty office chair and slowly spin your child, first one way and then the other; gently spin im in a washing basket or spin as you give him a piggy back ride. Always spin back the other way to ‘unwind’ and remember that little and often is best- not more than a minute at a time.

You can help your toddler to develop balance, coordination, muscle tone, visual and auditory skills by giving lots of opportunities for physical activity.

You can assist hand-eye coordination through ball games and bubbles - letting your child watch, chase and catch bubbles. It’s great to also encourage role-playing and pretending. This encourages children to keep moving, silly walks, being animals, dressing up and dancing.

Hang up the car keys - and walk to the park!

For more great tips to enhance your toddler’s development, see Toddler Tactics by Pinky McKay available here at Bebe, or visit Pinky’s website for information about her Toddler Tactics workshops for parents.

We have a number of great in-store events including the exciting re-opening of our re-furbished flagship store!  Keep an eye out here for dates, and  information on  bebe’s annual in-store expo, weekly in-store story time sessions,  one-off sales and exclusive product launches for some great new products for 2009.

Design-Led Parents are always on the lookout for decent pieces of interior design. bebe feedback is that Height Charts are, at best, mounted on our children’s bed room walls and are, well, tolerated. 

Tolerant parents fear no longer ! Kideko have just released Height Charts that match their already much loved Bed Linen range. Height Chart themes are “Monster”, “Love” and “Sunshine”.

Kideko is dedicated to producing simple, modern and inspiring bedding and bedroom accessories for children. Whilst Kideko generally produce their own designs in-house, the ‘Monster’ collection was created by world renowned design agency Airside.

Based in the UK, Airside has a reputation for creative, original and funny design work for a range of clients: from bands like Lemon Jelly and Pet Shop Boys, to multi-national corporations. “Monster” was created by Richard Hogg, one of his parting gifts to Airside before he became a freelance designer.

So, Height Charts with Street Cred - what are you waiting for ? Your offspring are growing as we speak and, let’s face it, crude carvings on public door frames just won’t cut the mustard people .  Check out the Kideko height charts here..

These our our picks for great value (yet high impact!) toys this Christmas. Watch your little one’s face light up when they un-wrap one of these best selling bebe toys. Don’t forget to mention Christmas Wrap at the time of your order, as Santa’s little helpers just love to give your gifts that special touch.

A. Brio Race Car, $16.95

B. Brio Stacking Clown, $29.95 

C. Bajo Abacus, $29.95

D. Crocodile Creek Numbers Playball, $17.95

E. Bajo Pyramid Ball Stacker, $24.95

F. Bajo Airplane with pilot, $29.95

G. Baby Earth, $29.95

We have been seeking contemporary kids rugs for years now, and had not even come close to anything we would put in our own kid’s room/play room UNTIL now!

US Design company DwellStudio continue to delight us with their contemporary nursery designs and have released these rugs to a just a couple of exclusive contemporary children’s stores. How lucky are we?!

These hand-tufted 100% New Zealand wool rugs will put the finishing touch on your room with luxurious, fun and colourful palattes and designs made to compliment all interiors. The timeless designs can easily transition from the nursery to the bedroom, or into the play room/general living area. Available in two sizes, and four unique designs - the DwellStudio Plus Multi Rug (large) shown above left works exceptionally well for large spaces (our play room is ready and waiting for one!). For those of you after something smaller than this, check out the DwellStudio Plus Multi Rug, and  DwellStudio Plus Petal Rug (shown top right).  The DwellStudio Gio Rug (shown bottom right) is also available in the larger size for maximum impact!

 A welcome addition to the bebe range, these DwellStudio rugs have been provided in an exclusive and limited supply just in time for Christmas..

Want to win this year’s hottest high chair?  Well grab your camera & get clicking!  To celebrate the launch of bebe online’s new feature bebe @ home, Bloom and bebe are giving away a Bloom Fresco Loft high chair valued at $749.95. This innovative chair could be yours just by sending us a photo of a bebe product in action in your home.  

The Bloom Fresco Loft revolutionalises baby chair design and brings premium quality infant fashion into the contemporary home for the first time.  Available in two chair colours (white or black) with a selection of  Microsuede cushions or Leatherette Cushions to choose from.  We love the fresco loft for its superior form and function and its unique ability to extend an extra 15cm making meal times at the breakfast bar or counter top.

Entering is as simple as sending us a photo, and the winning is just as easy as you get to choose the colour combination of your choice! Read more about this competition here..
Read more about the Bloom Fresco Loft High Chair and check out the Bloom’s full range of contemporary nursery pieces here..

With many of you planning for some travel during this festive season, strollers are high on the priorit list of holiday purchases.  A light weight and compact stroller can make a huge difference to the overall comfort and sanity of a trip,  and the desired outcome of a well slept toddler.  Our strollers have been tried and tested not only for their size, portability and comfort but also for day to day use as quality strollers. We dont sell throw away umbrella light weight strollers, as we believe every purchase must be built to last. From light weight options such as Quinny Zapp and Silvercross Dazzle, to Bugaboo and Stokke Xplory, we stock only the best of class in this category.

Dont hesitate to call, email of visit us for advice and infortmation on comparing strollers. Drop in for  a demo if you’re near by, as we’re always happy to show you in person how they can work for you. And to help you out with your pre-holiday purchases we are giving a

FREE BEBE $20 GIFT VOUCHER* WITH ALL STROLLERS (& PRAMS) PURCHASED THIS WEEK.

Check out our range of strollers and prams here…

*All stroller/pram purchases up to 23/11/08. Voucher is to be redeemed on future full priced purchases before 31/12/08.

Talk about a great bedside companion!  A year ago when my son started to fear the darkness and his midnight trips to the bathroom, we tried him on a couple of different night lights. First was too bright, second was not bright enough. Next one broke down (twice) and the one after that stopped after 4-5 hours, right when nighttime blackness kicks in. We’ve found a perfect solution in the Candela Tooli Lamp, which has become a friendly nighttime companion.

The famous Candela night lamps were previously manufactured by Vessel. It then took over 12 months to get these gems back into Australia. The new and improved Candela Tooli Night lamp is now manufactured by Oxo, and a welcome addition to bebe’s product range.  Simple to use even for young children (they illuminate when lifted from the charger base), these lights will assure your little one off into dreamland.

Check out the Candela Tooli 2 Night Lamp set here..