Wizards of Oz – Bubbaroo Baby Sleepwear Review

I have a real soft spot for Australians…sure, they can get a bit cocky when we play them at cricket or rugby, but on the whole they are alright with me. I have always loved the idea of taking a month off and flying half way around the world to just go exploring. I think it all stems from watching Neighbours in the 1980s & 90s. I might bump into Natalie Imbruglia while I’m there and who knows where it might lead…?

*sigh*

Oh, yes, ahem…Australia. Now, my real work has always revolved around the internet and for as long as I can remember there has been a steady stream of excellent online and digital solutions coming out of Australia. Now that my world also revolves around parenting again I can see that the same appears to apply to the nursery industry – I adore our Boori nursery furniture and have come to love Bubbaroo, a gem of a sleepwear brand.

Maybe, like their sport, they are just excellent at everything?*

I discovered Bubbaroo towards the end of last summer after they were recommended to me by a friend, and having read some previous reviews online and had a look through the website I decided to give them a go with their rather fetchingly named Joey Swag.

The Joey Swag is a baby sleeping bag – there are lots of baby sleeping bags out there from many different brands and at many different price points. This one, however, is quite simply the best one we have tried.

The devil is in the detail, and it is in the details that Bubbaroo excels and overtakes its better well known rivals. Now, before I go into spec mode I have to point out that we first tried the Joey Swag when baby M was very young and we were having a few problems getting her to sleep and even more problems getting her to stay asleep for any length of time. We reached for the Joey Swag a little earlier than we planned to and, no word of a lie, she slept like a…erm…baby that first time, and the photo here is of her doing just that on that very night.

It was fab – she slept for over 5 hours, a feat not yet achieved before that point. She just loved being in it and it seemed to calm her much quicker. So we stuck with it and she stuck with the sleeping…happy days.

Now, I am a BIG fan of baby sleeping bags. I have slight paranoia about sheets and blankets and with good reason from an incident with my first baby 10 years ago and have sworn by cellular blankets. Even then though I much prefer the safety of a sleeping bag as there is nothing that can accidentally get pulled up over baby’s head with those and they stay warm all night as nothing can be kicked off either.

The Joey Swag is beautifully made – very soft materials with a soft cotton exterior and the quality of the trim and the stitching is perfect. They are very tastefully designed – no garish colours of patterns, which I have never understood on a sleep item…calm is good…we like calm. The palette of colours that Bubbaroo use are all very chic with 6 designs to choose from. We chose ‘White with Stone Binding’, and this is the one shown in the photograph.

The attention to detail with Bubbaroo appears when you really take a close look at the product – I have mentioned the fabric and the stitching and finishing, but when you look at the zips you see that they are YKK. There are two zips up the front which makes life very easy when it comes to nappy change time. I also like this feature as it means that the handle part of the zip can be kept away from your baby’s chin by zipping up the two zips to meet halfway down the garment. The press studs under the arms are of very good quality and the real jewel in the crown is the fact that these sleeping bags can be used with a 3 or 5 point harness system.

So, you can use this sleeping bag with a car seat or pretty much any type of pram system or pushchair. Now, we have only taken advantage of this feature on two occasions in the last 4 months when a slightly later night than normal was planned. Upon arriving back at home simply being able to lift a sleeping M from the car seat straight into the crib without having to change her clothes or get her dressed for sleep was so simple and convenient that you could almost take it for granted…but don’t, it’s great product design.

The packaging that Bubbaroo products arrive in is first rate too, and they are boxed and ready to be gifted to anyone. Included in the box is a handy temperature door hanger which reminds you what baby should be wearing at different room temperatures. Not one tog value suits all conditions with the same clothing on and a too warm or too cold baby wakes up! So pay attention you there at the back!

The Joey Swag is available from the Bubbaroo website and is priced at £24.95. They are available for 4 different age-groups; 0-6 months, 6-18 months, 18-36 months and 3 to 6 years! 4 different tog weights are available too from 0.5 tog to 3.5 tog.

We will be buying more from Bubbaroo as M approaches the 5 month mark as she will be ready for the next size up at that point.

I highly recommend the Bubbaroo Joey Swag, and this is based on my own personal use with my baby over many weeks. I have not been paid or asked to write this review.

*Except soccer, we will always have that…but they are getting better and better!