Baby Aid Brave Little Star to the Rescue!

Fiona takes a look at the Baby Aid Brave Little Star Gel Pack with her two rough and tumble boys…and keeps her fingers crossed she won’t actually have to use it…

This was a tricky review for me to write. As you know we like to give all items we have in for review a thorough work out, so it was with mixed feelings I learned I was to test the Baby Aid Brave Little Star. Whilst not actively wanting either of my rough and tumble little boys to injure themselves, a bump or knock would be required to test out the effectiveness of the soothing gel pack…

If you are not familiar with Baby Aid I suggest you pop over to their website and have a look around, they are a company founded by mumpreneur Lorna Smith when she saw a niche in the availability of First Aid items suitable for young children that were in a mum friendly format. Focusing on First Aid kits and items selected especially for young children and their most common injuries, Baby Aid has gone from strength to strength expanding their range to include all kind of useful first aid items for child safety and injury preparedness.

Costing £4.80 the Baby Aid Brave Little Star Gel Soother Pack is a new addition to the Baby Aid range, and as my first aid kit in this area previously consisted of a wet flannel or a bag of peas in a towel, I was quite excited to have a dedicated soother for the kids, and before it even got its first use just having it to hand-made me feel like a more prepared mummy.

So, a few first impressions; nice high quality packaging and item, clear instructions and guidance, cheerful kid friendly design, and the pack includes some stickers perfect for cheering up after a bump. Once out of the packet the first job was to remove the annoying sticky stuff on the back of the star and once done it can be popped straight into the fridge to keep it cool – note: don’t do what I did and get it out the packet and have a play but then neglect to actually put it in the fridge, you will kick yourself when only a few hours later it is called into action and rather than charging to the rescue with it you are left grabbing a smelly old flannel! You can use the Brave Little Star either warm or cold, depending upon your situation, we found it is easiest to keep it permanently cold in the fridge, and then if it is required warm you can pop it into a mug of warm water for a few minutes to heat it up.

So, it was with bated breath we awaited out first use of the Brave Little Star, with a toddler just turned two years old (Isaac), and a walking one year old (Oscar) in the house it was only a matter of time before some calamity occurred, and my oh my when it did happen was it a good ‘un!

To set the scene; I had been treated to a restful evening in the bath, whilst my husband and my visiting mother put the kids to bed for me. So I ran the water and filled the lovely hot bath tuning out the shouts for mummy and repeated inane questions from daddy, I stepped into the bath, settled down, opened my book and… ‘BANG’………WWWWWWWAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH. ohhh yes, Oscar had fallen over toddling down the hall and had unfortunately caught his forehead directly on the sticky out corner of the skirting board. Straight away I could tell from the cry that there has been some upset caused, and by the time daddy made it to the top of the stairs with him I was already up and out of my bath. Poor old Oscar had a lump the size of an egg on his head, so, quick as a flash daddy was dispatched to grab the Brave Little Star while Oscar cuddled with a dripping wet mummy. A quick call to NHS Direct later and they confirm he should be fine but a cold compress should be applied (easier said than done with a one year old!).

So, applied it was, although initially it was precariously balanced upon the top of mount bump on Oscars head I was really impressed with how it moulded around the shape of the bump nicely and by the time Oscar had finished his bedtime milk (and my bath had gone cold), all was well with the world, the bump looked a lot less angry, and the Baby Aid Brave Little Star got a big mummy thumbs up. Okay so you could use a cold flannel, but it wouldn’t work so well (the Little Star stays cold for a really long time), and it wouldn’t give you quite so much mummy job satisfaction as knowing you were prepared and when the chips were down you had the tools for the job.

One small thing I was pleased to note, the contents of the Star are non-toxic, in the excitement of the moment at one point Oscar got hold of the Star and as most teething tots will do – put it straight in his mouth, although it seems plenty sturdy enough to take a few bites it’s just one less thing to worry about when you are in an emotional injury situation.

Since then we’ve had a couple more uses from the Star I’m afraid, nothing quite so dramatic as the first big bump, but a few knocks and scrapes. Isaac managed to bump his shin and got a bit upset – which is unusual for him, so we cracked out the Brave Little Star, after a quick rummage around I even found the stickers that came with it, and as I am sure you will know, stickers are mighty powerful healers in the toddler world so all was forgotten soon enough.

Would I buy it? Yes! It’s worth the money for peace of mind at least, and it really does do a great job. Since trying it out I have been making a list of other things that really I should have in place from the Baby Aid website – there’s really no excuse to be without them…especially if your children are as full of the joys of youth as mine are!

Fiona x