When our son Brooks was born, I was fortunate enough to have had a baby shower held in his honour. I received many lovely gifts, some practical and some beautiful.
But since becoming a mother myself, it's not often I find gifts for my baby (or the other babies in my life) that are both practical and beautiful.
It's usually one or the other. You know what I'm talking about parents! Buying for your baby is often hit and miss; you can either get a high quality item with a huge price tag and your baby dislikes it, or you can buy a $2 toy flip phone and your baby will become completely obsessed with it.
Before our son was born, I went to a local baby store with my mom and stocked up on a few different stretchy-style bibs with one button clasps. We picked very neutral, plain-style colours as we chose not to find out our baby's gender.
In July 2019, our son was born and boy, was he a dribbler and a messy eater! We reached for those bibs straight away.
A bib is a bib, right? WRONG! We soon learnt that not all bibs are created equal, and these original bibs I had purchased left such a gap between his chin and neck (hello, liquid dripping down his chin every mealtime). Also, having only one button clasp on the bib made it very difficult for a small newborn neck.
We then moved on to those hard, plastic scoop style bibs that allegedly capture your baby's missed food from their mouths. Ha-ha. Once again, this style of bib was unsuitable for our baby as the plastic neck clasp area was so rigid and hot in our humid climate. Plus, the food ended up everywhere except our baby's mouth anyway!
When you're a parent, you quickly realise you no longer have time for impractical items anymore. Time is precious, as we were tired of constantly having a messy baby, those bibs were not suitable. They went straight into our baby clothes donation box.
I, since, have had the great pleasure of trying and testing a few new sturdy, absorbent and well-made bibs and teethers from Perth-based small business, My Little Love Heart.
Our son Brooks was happy to try and test the large-style bib in a gorgeous black and white striped print. This bib is unlike any other we have tried in the past; it's stylish, practical and perfect for tiny newborns, and toddlers with big, chunky necks like Brooks.
The bib itself:
Has a two-button clasp feature (it grows as your baby grows, from baby to toddler).
The neck hole is snug (but can be adjusted), yet it's not tight nor uncomfortable for baby. This means no annoying, gaping hole where liquids can escape! Yay!
It's absorbency feels like a light towel (on the bib's flip side), yet it's still very light and pleasant for baby to wear even in our hot, humid climate.
It's large enough to cover baby's entire front outfit (it's 32cm long and 18cm wide) which is great news for little messy eaters or those poor babies who suffer from reflux and vomiting.
The bibs come in a range of beautiful prints and colours, including monochrome stripes, boho prints and nature-inspired styles.
The bib fabric is 100% cotton on the front and organic cotton and bamboo on the back, which means it's cool, breathable, soft and ultra-absorbent.
It's hand-made with love by a mama in Perth, Australia!
The bib price is only $14.41 AUD (this is with our 15% off RRP discount code: thejohannessenfamily15) It's an affordable, thoughtful, beautiful and practical hand-made Australian gift for your baby, or for a baby in your life.
Our son Brooks was lucky enough to also receive a matching black and white striped wooden bunny teether (pictured above), to match his new bib!
The wooden ring teether:
Is made of eco-friendly 65mm Beech Hardwood.
Has been safety tested and approved to Australian standards AS/NZS ISO 8124.1:2013.
Has high shock resistance and has natural antibacterial properties, which is great news for our little biting vampires.
Has cute, easy-to-grip bunny ears that you can match in the same print as your baby's bib!
My Little Love Heart also hand-makes gorgeous bandana-style bibs (see our Sage-coloured bib below on Brooks: it's perfect for teething, dribbling babies who need something smaller for car rides etc.), first birthday bibs (perfect for parties and photoshoots), hair accessories, natural-style dummies and dummy accessories and a variety of other creative baby gifts!
If 2020 has taught us anything, supporting small Australian businesses where you can is extremely important. Christmas is fast approaching, and My Little Love Heart's website is open 24/7, ready for your business this holiday season. We hope you check out My Little Love Heart by visiting www.mylittleloveheart.com.au and use the discount code thejohannessenfamily15 for 15% off RRP.
Disclosure: We were on the hunt for comfortable and stylish bibs for our children, which is why we've partnered with My Little Love Heart on today's sponsored post reviewing their bibs and teether. The Johannessen Family was gifted several bibs and a teether to conduct a fair and impartial review. All opinions are 100% our own and reflect our honest experiences with the product. We only share what we believe you’ll find helpful. Thank you to My Little Love Heart for this collaboration opportunity.
We hope you enjoyed our little blog post on how to choose the perfect bib for your baby♡ Any questions or comments? We'd love to hear from you! Tag us at @thejohannessenfamily or contact us!