With 2 babies under the age of 2 in the house as well as a 3 year old, we are always on the look out for any way to save money on the seemingly endless supply of "stuff" that little ones require.
Things like nappies, baby wipes and clothes are the things that we constantly seem to need and they don't come that cheaply - I have to admit, when I had just the one child I was very much somebody who always bought the premium brands. I don't know why really, I just felt confident in the recognisable brand name and swayed by the Mums recommendation of how it was she always used when we were little.
But when babies number 2 and 3 came along, it quickly became apparent that sticking with leading brand names for things like nappies when we're going through more than 60 per week was NOT going to be cheap - and the same went for things like kids snacks too, the premium brands will charge you something along the lines of £2 for a few little snack bars or rice cakes, which is all fine when one multipack will last your one child all week - but when it will be inhaled in probably less than 2 days by your hungry pack of boys, it becomes a more expensive matter altogether!
And so when we were asked to try out a hamper full of the bargain priced baby goodies from Lidl, we were excited to see what the kids would make of them and how much money we could save by switching.
Lidl's own brand nappies and wipes, Toujours, are amazingly cheap - you're looking at a saving of around £6 per pack which you really cannot argue with at all... particularly when you buy as many nappies each month as we do, it works out to be a saving of around £25 per month which from I think is HUGE for such a simple switch!
You would be forgiven for thinking that the quality must be seriously lacking in comparison to the leading brand which would be the reason for such a low price, but you'd be wrong - I think that anybody would be hard pushed to tell the difference if they actually tried both. The nappies do the job they're supposed to extremely well - they don't leak or sag, they don't seem uncomfortable and they are an absolute bargain - what's not to love?!
Lidl's baby clothing range was completely new to me, and I have to admit - I was unsure as to whether I'd be a fan but the outfit we were sent to try for Sailor was very sweet. I haven't had chance to wash it yet to see how it fares, but I would certainly say the clothing range is worth a look.
As for the range of baby foods and snacks, these have been a real hit with our youngest Sailor - although he's now on solids we have given him some of the fruit pouches as snacks and have used some of the jars when we've been eating something that he's found a bit too spicy too, and he seems to really enjoy them. Again, the price difference between these and the leading brands we would usually use is too good to ignore with Lidl's prices starting at just 59 pence for a pouch or a packet of rice cakes!
My favorite discovery of this hamper though, was Lidl's veggies for kids range - the ones we were sent included Cauliflower Clouds, Brocolli Trees, Sweet Potato Piggies, Mini Snack Cucumbers and Mini Snack Peppers...and our personal favourites, Romanescosaurus Rex! These little Romanesco's were a HUGE hit with my lot, I have to admit that I had never tried them with this kind of veg before and I was convinced that they wouldn't even try it given it's unusual appearance and texture - but it's amazing what a bit of dinosaur branding can do, and once they saw the package and heard the name - they were keen to give them a try!
Tyne, my eldest, is a big brocolli fan and he declared that these tasted "just like normal brocolli" and were "Not bad"...high praise indeed from a 3 year old and he ate the whole thing up!
I will definitely be returning to Lidl to seek out the kids veg range, I think it really is such a fantastically simple but effective idea for getting fussy eaters more interested in eating healthily.
I would highly recommend a trip to your local Lidl, as this hamper has demonstrated to me that you never know what treasures and bargains are waiting there for you!
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