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With a newborn in the family, most of our time is spent at home these days.
But with an active toddler whom I’d love to be able to spend time one-on-one time with, it does get tricky when the baby needs to be attended to.
So, what can a mum like me do to ease the situation?
Well, find ways to keep either one of them/both of them occupied, of course!
Waddling our way to an indoor playground with both is not quite feasible. And yours truly ain’t the most creative crafter either – how many butterflies can we make out of toilet rolls?
I figured that some age-appropriate toys would keep the baby entertained as he explored and made sense of our world. That would also give me a wee bit of time to read with the toddler, or dance and sing together! Perhaps, a game or tool could help inspire some creativity for the big sister too.
Since heading out to shop was out of the equation, that makes online shopping one of the best inventions ever, especially for busy parents like us. Shopping in the comfort of our own home is definitely less chaotic than lugging both kids, diaper bag and everything else, eh? LOL!
We visited Toddle and discovered that they house a wide range of products for mummies, babies and older kids, ranging from toys, strollers to bath essentials. Convenience at one-stop!
How exactly does Toddle win the hearts of parents?
With so many online stores out there, how does Toddle create a parent-friendly shopping experience?
Besides their vast selection, Toddle prides itself for curating trusted brands that offer quality products and instill confidence among parents. What’s more, additional measures are in place during their product acceptance process, as well as services.
Find out more below!
Product Criteria
The folks at Toddle came up with the Toddle Tags, which are essential criteria for each product to be bench-marked against. For each item listed on their site, it is meticulously tagged with S.H.I.N.E. so parents have a quick understanding.
What is S.H.I.N.E. all about?
I spied something really fun for Leroy, and clicked on the product to find out more. There were a couple of similar products, but I had to go for the one with the owl, naturally! Haha!
Under Toddle Tags, the relevant aspects of S.H.I.N.E. are clearly stated.
The next bit that I like were the comprehensive product details put together for each product.
Product details
Well, many may think that it isn’t anything out of the ordinary for the product details to be included. So, what’s the big deal?
True that the information could be easily gotten from the respective brand owners or distributors. However, many online stores do not realise the importance of including them, or simply putting in a scantily-written one which makes little sense to shoppers. It’s heartening to see that Toddle has put in the effort to include useful product details, as well as dimensions and the age that the items are suitable for – where the latter is often left out.
During our shopping experience, the little glitch we had was not being able to select the colours of the OXO Tot Small and Large Bowl Set that we wanted to get although the product shots showed 2 colour options. But the swift response from the Toddle team had that sorted quickly, and we could easily enter our choice of colour at the checkout page under “Remarks”. Easy peasy!
For parents, the age suitability lends a helping hand when it comes to choosing items. None of us would like to second guess especially when it comes to certain toys, gears or food for our kids. I’d say, the more information provided about the product, the more helpful it is for parents! This is also useful when it comes to gifting; non-parents would also appreciate this information so that they can get the right gifts for kids too!
Buyer’s Guides for Parents
Well, what exactly are buyer’s guides, you may ask?
Despite being a second-time mum, I welcome such information because I know that many first-time parents can get very overwhelmed with the things needed for their new babies #trueexperience
In fact, the buyer’s guides serve up useful information to parents, in different child-related areas of features to look out for in a car seat, all the way to the types of high chairs available and how parents can refine their selection of breast pumps.
Thumbs up for helping to ease decision-making for busy parents!
Ease of Navigation
For time-strapped parents like us, shopping-on-the-go makes a whole lot of difference while we sneak that in during nursing time, or when the kids are sleeping.
The responsive website is mobile-friendly too, so it makes browsing on a smaller screen easy and convenient too!
On the PC, the clean and neat interface at Toddle makes it a breeze to search for the items you need, either by brand or by category. Or simply use the “Search”button to do so.
Service Standards
I must say, this was one of the best online shopping experience by far!
After we checked out our purchases and the transaction went through, it didn’t take too long for our orders to arrive. To be exact: 3 days including the weekends, plus it came on a public holiday, much to our surprise!
Vera was excited when she saw the parcel, and declared that they were her presents! Well, mummy is fair, so both siblings had gifts :)
Little V kept bugging me to unwrap her Melissa & Doug Wooden Favorite Things Stamp Set that fit tiny hands like hers. Since then, we’ve been stamping together, learning about colours and the pictures that appear when printed!
And I’ve to say that the Skip Hop Tree Top Friends – Activity Gym has been one of my best investments to date! It buys me time for breakfast while little Leroy plays on his own for about 15mins.
It has also been a part of his milestones: from watching the little boy stare at his hanging toys with bewilderment, to coo-ing at them. More recently, he has learned to reach out for these toys too! :)
As a mum, seeing the children spend some time together melts my heart. Little V likes crawling in to join her brother. And she innocently invited me in as well, but… I’m much to big to fit in :P
Our overall shopping experience at Toddle was smooth and positive. If you’re looking to get some items for your kids or planning to get gifts for an upcoming party, you know where to shop at!
***Exclusive Perks for Readers of The Hooting Post!***
Enjoy 15% off storewide!
PROMO CODE: THP15
Terms & conditions:
– Valid for purchases above S$70.
-Only valid for log-in customers
– Promotion code can not be combined with any other codes
– Limited to one use per customer
– Valid till 10 June 2016
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Mums and dads, how do you keep your young kids entertained when you need a few minutes away? Do share your tips below!
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