Water colouring

Hype Baby is long overdue to release some kind of hot list relating to our top picks over the years. One of Mr. Cheek’s toys that would definitely make the grade is Tomy’s Aquadraw Deluxe mat. This mess-free drawing pad comes with water-filling pens and cute stencils, helps your kid learn numbers and alphabet, and is very portable for holidays and such. The only drawback is that it takes up a fair amount of space.

Now Tomy has come up with the Aqua Draw 'N' Go placemat which is just the right size to take on days out. The placemat comes in a handy carry tube and uses the same principles of ‘water colouring’ to entertain baby. It should also save parents from stressing over how to scrub crayon off the walls at that swish restaurant. Order direct from Tomy or see their web site for stockists.

Zap those night terrors!

Jessica Walker must be one of the most popular mums on the planet. First, she wooed our taste buds with Jessica Walker Chocolates. Now she’s come up with an ingenious idea to help kids (and weary parents) sleep easier at night. The Anti Monster Spray, invented to help combat the bedtime fears of her son Zak, is a fast acting lavender spray that can be squirted all around your baby’s bedroom to zap away those creepy critters lurking in the dark.

The lavender oil contains calming properties that help ease nervy nippers into slumber land – and it’s a well known fact that beasties and bogeymen cannot stand the scent. This rigorously tested spray can also be used as room freshener, pillow spray and laundry deodoriser. Order the spray and more gear from the growing Anti Monster range at Walker’s web site.

Eat and Discover Tray

If your bubba is anything like our cheeky one, then he probably spends dinner time playing with his food rather than putting said nourishment into his needy belly. Fear not, desperate parents, help is at hand.

Not content with conquering the realms of video, books and educational play, Baby Einstein have come up with an ingenious range of mealtime accessories designed to make fussy eaters concentrate. Their Eat and Discover Tray is a snappy little dish that features separate compartments, rounded sides to make scooping food out easier and lids that flip open and closed to keep baby amused. So even if your little terror now spends most of dinner playing with his tray well hey, at least he’s learning something. Available at Mothercare.

Moov Baby moov

Every mum loves a product that can multitask as well as she does. With holiday season approaching, we’ve been on the lookout for baby travel bags and we’re mighty impressed by Vertbaudet’s Babymoov 2-in-1 super travel bed.

This roomy changing bag features five large storage pockets for nappies etc as well as two insulated pockets for jars of baby food. But the wow factor comes when you unfold the shoulder bag into a dinky little carry cot that’s fit to hold your nipper until around 9kg. Bag a Babymoov via the Vertbaudet web site.