Review: Mothercare Madrid Car Seat

I'm not going to lie, the world of car seats is a minefield to me and when it came to choosing Ava's next seat I was stumped. There are so many seats out there, each with different features and ranging from budget to eye-wateringly expensive. We plan to buy a new car soon, and didn't want to spend a fortune only to realise the seat wouldn't then fit in our new car but unfortunately we couldn't keep Ava in her infant carrier much longer. That girl has got to be sitting up and seeing what is going on in the world!

 

 

 

With that in mind, we eventually settled on the Mothercare Madrid Combination car seat, which retails at £90 (but was a steal at £45 when we bought it!). This is a group 1 seat which is suitable from birth to 18kg (approx 4 years) and can be either rear or forward facing. With new guidelines coming into force requiring children to rear-face until they reach fifteen months, I knew I wanted a car seat which would allow this, and then further use once Ava is ready to face forward. The seat has a five-point safety harness, with individual harness tensioners for added safety and extra deep side wings for impact protection. It also reclines on it's own axis, and has three positions.

 

The installation instructions are my biggest gripe with the seat- they are rubbish! There are no words, just pictures which are quite obscure and hard to make sense of! I ended up watching a tutorial on Youtube, and googling for further explanation. As a result, the seat took much longer than anticipated to install but I think this would easily be fixed if they just added some text to the instructions! This isn't an isofix seat, so the belt does obstruct your way when getting the child into the seat. At the moment this isn't a problem as Ava is small enough to fit through the top gap, although when she's bigger I'll have to put her in from the other side. Saying that though, by that point she will probably be ready to forward-face and there wont be an issue, but keep it in mind in case you maybe also have another car seat at the other side.

 

 

 

Once (finally) in, the seat does feel really secure and looks protective. The cover is well padded and seems comfortable, and there is a removable insert and headrest for younger babies. I will say though that the seat is very upright, so personally I wouldn't use it for a newborn. Ava has just turned 8 months, and has been sitting up confidently for about 2 months so it is perfect for her, but I'd be hesitant to use it before six months. At the moment we are rear-facing, and I can only get the seat to recline into one position, but Ava has fallen asleep a few times and it's been perfect- her head doesn't fall forward which is something I worried about. The side wings are perfect for this too as sometimes her head will fall to the side slightly, but these support her and prevent it from falling too far. I am looking forward to trying out the rest of the recline positions once we move to forward facing, although it'll be just my luck that she stops napping then!

 

 

 

I think the seat looks great too, and definitely more expensive than the £45 we paid for it! It is also available in red (although be aware that I've seen this in real life and I'd definitely say it is pink). The cream insert can be separated, and the whole cover is removable so can be washed if any accidents occur. So far, both Ava and I are loving the seat, and she is thoroughly enjoying being able to sit up in the car. I actually wish I'd moved her a little earlier and saved myself some moaning car journeys!

Pros
- Price
- Can rear or forward face
- Can use from birth if required
- Removable, washable covers
- Five-point harness, easily adjustable straps
- Deep side wings
- Comfortable
- Reclines ( three when forward-facing)

Cons
- Can only recline once when rear-facing
- Instructions difficult to follow
- Seat belt causes some obstruction when putting baby in
- Bulky (base also takes up some of the middle seat)

The NSpa Mum to Be Range: First Impressions

Warding off stretch marks seems to be a mightily expensive business, with most products specific for pregnancy ranging anything from £10 to £25 or even higher. At a time when your purse strings are being stretched to the max with the million and one baby things you need to buy, shelling out for nine months worth of lotions and potions tends to bring on the mum guilt. For the first sixteen weeks I used the Palmer's Cocoa Butter Skin Therapy Oil (£9.99 for 150ml) which seems to have done the job preventing stretch marks on my tummy but- controversial opinion coming up- I really hate the chocolatey smell.

 

 

So I was chuffed to come across the nspa Mum to Be range at Asda, which usually retails for £4-10 but is included in the current Baby and Toddler Event, so I got each of my products for a mere £3 each! The range includes bump butter, stretch mark oil, nipple balm, bust firming cream, bath and shower crème and a cooling leg and foot gel. I noticed that the bump butter had been voted best new mum/maternity skincare product in the 2014 Mother and Baby awards and for £3 you can't really argue with that, so I picked it up along with the oil and the bust firming cream to try. Here are my thoughts after using them for the past week or so...

 

 

Nourishing Stretch Mark Oil (£6/150ml)

This 'luxurious blend of rosehip, jojoba and almond oil' is my favourite product so far, mainly because it smells so much better than the Palmers oil! The scent is so light and fresh, almost floral but with some definite citrus notes and not overpowering at all. One of the things I've hated about oils in the past is the greasy feeling while it's absorbing, and I usually have to wear gloves to apply them because I can't stand the feeling in between my fingers! This one seems to be the complete opposite, it absorbs so much faster and I can get dressed straight after applying without worrying it will seep through my clothes. I can also apply this without gloves or having to scrub my hands afterwards, which earns major points in my book!

 

Moisturising Bump Butter (£6/200ml)

The formulation of this encompasses everything I love in a body butter: thick but melts into the skin and feels ultra moisturising. Like the oil, this also contains rosehip oil and vitamin E but has a shea butter base, so the scent is more typical of that, although there are similarities between the two. At first I applied this morning and night, but unfortunately this brought me out in a rash. However, I think this was because it wasn't being absorbed before I got dressed into my horrid synthetic work top in the morning, which was then causing the irritation. I now just slather a thick layer on at night before putting on my pyjamas and letting it sink in and there haven't been any more problems.

 

 

Firming Bust Cream (£5/100ml)

To be honest, I don't really have much of an opinion on this yet. I picked it up on a whim, but it's probably not something I really need. Apart from some stretch marks from not applying anything until fourteen weeks (I stupidly thought I wouldn't have to worry about stretch marks on my chest!), my boobs haven't suffered any other effects of pregnancy. This will probably come in handier later on in my pregnancy when everything starts heading south! Like the bump butter, this contains shea butter, rosehip oil and vitamins B and E, but is much more like a lotion in consistency. The addition of spirulina (a seaweed extract) promises to tone and firm the skin, and also promises a noticeable difference in the arms and thighs.

Overall, I've been won over by the Mum to Be range, and will be continuing to use the stretch mark oil and bump butter throughout the rest of my pregnancy. For the price you really can't go wrong, and the packaging looks lovely sitting out on your dressing table. Obviously I can't comment on their effectiveness at reducing/ preventing stretch marks, but my first impressions are certainly good. I'll report back with an update in a couple of months. Fingers crossed!

What products did you find effective at preventing stretch marks during pregnancy?