About 1,000 years ago, we started stocking the wonderful Mama Packs – eco-friendly alternatives to the Bounty packs which I’m sure most of you will be familiar with. I must say I didn’t really know what to expect in terms of how they would sell; could Mama Packs really take on Bounty and stand side-by-side on their own terms? The answer it seems is a resounding “yes”. I love them – I’ve given them to friends who are expecting or know someone who is and every time we get sent a new batch I have to take a quick peep into one to see what’s inside (the contents does vary depending on which companies add their samples at the time).
But don’t just take my word for it – here’s what a couple of our fab reviewers had to say about the packs:
Emma Bradley writes: “The lovely people at DaisychainBaby gave me the chance to have a sneaky peek in one of their mama packs. I can honestly say I’m impressed. Each time I’ve been pregnant I have enjoyed getting any samples I can. The supermarket goody bags are nearly always disappointing because they tend to contain the mass produced brands and lots of paper and leaflets. This mama pack is different from the outset. Firstly the products and information comes in an eco friendly bag – no plastic in sight. The contents are a mix of foodie products, creams and literature. I loved the Maclaren creams and the Rude Health porridge was so yummy. I dispatched the OH to find me a much bigger box!
The literature consisted of useful government information on child benefit and NHS literature on breastfeeding. However what I really liked was the pack of business cards that advertised one off specialist bespoke services like dragonflair a company that makes personalised, handmade baby gifts and clothes.
I really recommend this for new mums to be. My blog at emmaand3.blog.co.uk looks at life with my beautiful family if anyone wants to take a peek into my world!”
Nicki Cawood, mum of two and author of Curly and Candid adds her thoughts (whilst she was pregnant with Taylor!): “As well as the week by week steps of pregnancy and planning, the big fun whilst waiting for baby is collecting freebies and testing products for me and for baby. What can I say, it’s the Yorkshire in me! I remember being excited by the idea of the Bounty packs last time I was pregnant and being somewhat disappointed when I got them. I have to say that this time I wasn’t any more enthusiastic. In my “Mum to be pack” I received a tiny (truly tiny) pot of Sudocreme, a pampers pack with a dvd that show me what my womb looked like from the inside out apparently (I gave this a miss), one first size nappy and a slim pack of baby wipes. And paper, lots and lots of paper!! All promotional leaflets (including one for BFC – Books For Children, the book club you join but never seem to be able to get out of!), a Bounty “book” similar to the Emma’s dairy one you get from the midwife and little else. I kept the nappy, used the wipes on Kieran’s post-chocolate face and put the Sudocreme in the first box. Everything else was thrown out, what a waste!
Somewhat disillusioned, I can hardly explain how thrilled I was when my MamaPack arrived from DaisychainBaby! Beautifully wrapped in easy to recycled brown paper was a not so small cotton bag. Opening the bag and delving in was like opening a Christmas stocking! Now the contents of a Mamapack vary from bag to back but I will list just some of the contents of mine: an individually wrapped TeaPigs t-bag (caffeine free chamomile flower), a Natracare individually wrapped panty liner and breast pads, a very decent-sized tube of Palmers cocoa butter massage cream (I will definitely be getting some more of this, it is fantastic and smells yummy!), some organic cereal from RudeHealth, some Pregnacare cream, some GinGins (hard candy double strength ginger sweets which were fantastic for morning sickness- had I discovered these earlier on I would have ordered a cupboard-full!), a Weleda baby sample for Calendula change cream, more cream from Maclaren for Mum & baby, a beautiful pin from Million Mums, a charity dedicated to speaking out again the needless deaths of women in childbirth, an ECloth (great for glass and mirrors!) and some SoapNuts! Now the soapnuts I was a bit dubious about but what it tells you on the instructions is very true, I will save a small fortune on washing powder using these, it works out at approximately 3p a wash, less if you are a bit more conservative like I am. There was very little in the way of paper, certainly no “useless” paper, but I was impressed to find a small bag with a selection of business cards for businesses listed on wahm.co.uk (mums who work from home) offering relevant businesses and services. I am enjoying ploughing through these and will be logging onto WAHM when I’m done to see what else is on there!
Receiving the Mamapack was lovely, because as well as being packed with useful practical samples it really felt like I had received a treat! I had intended to write this as a comparison between the Bounty & Mamapack but to be honest, there simply isn’t any comparison! I have already recommended this to other Mum-to-be’s and will continue to do so (may even get myself another one a little further down the road lol!).”
A huge thank you to Emma and Nicki for their reviews – head on over to Mama Packs and join their friendly forum, and if you want your very own Mama Pack, then get one here – £2.50 with no P&P!
If you are interested in being a future reviewer for DaisychainBaby.co.uk, then please email linsatdaisychainbabydotcodotuk
