Aside from being fine, breathable and helping regulate temperature, a real benefit of Merino wool in the Summer is that it provides excellent natural sun protection.

It absorbs the UV radiation before it can reach your baby or your child’s skin – naturally!

Here are the facts for you.  Research by Haerri et al (2000), Reinert et al (1997) and Hilfiker et al (1996)  shows that

• Merino wool absorbs the UV radiation which damages skin.

• Natural wool absorbs radiation throughout the entire UV spectrum even when completely untreated
  

• This research also shows that it is far better than untreated cotton, linen, nylon, acrylic, silk and polyester.  Polyester (which many sun protection suits are made of) mainly absorbs only low-wavelength UV radiation.

We’ve found ourselves that Merino wool tops are great for beach wear – they’re light and breathable and easy to put on over wet bodies too – and as they’re still insulating when wet, they keep any shivers at bay.   Choose from plain or striped, long-sleeved or short, round-neck or hooded or for babies.  And now we’re very happy to find that the UV protection offered is unbeatable, as a separate study shows.

Gamblicher et al (2001) surveyed 236 different fabrics, assessing their UV protection factor.  Merino wool came out top.

• All of the Merino wool fabrics – 100 of them! – had a UPF of over 40.  This is the equivalent of slathering your skin in chemical sun tan lotion – but without the chemicals.

• In contrast, the majority of other fabrics had much lower UPF, with many offering very little protection at all.

• Nearly 80% of the cotton fabrics had a protection factor of less than 20.

So if you are looking for natural sun protection, a silky fine Merino wool top is the perfect way to go.  Light, breathable, soft and healthy – wonderful wool.

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Last chance to Win this gorgeous snuggly
Organic Merino Wool
Nappy Cover available in red, navy, green and my favourite. Simply let us know why you love real nappies below.

We’ll select one lucky winner on Thursday 25th April

Competition Terms and Conditions

Entering a competition via this website will be seen as acceptance of these rules.

1. Only one entry per household is permitted. Cambridge Baby reserves the right to disqualify all entries from one household if multiple entries are made.

2. Cambridge Baby accepts no responsibility for entries that are lost, delayed or damaged in the post, or for emails which fail to be delivered. Entries may be posted to 48 Hemingfod Road, Cambridge, CB1 3BZ. Your full name, address and email address or telephone number must be supplied and the name of the competition clearly stated in your entry.

5. Illegible or incomplete entries will not be considered as entries to any competition.

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9. Cambridge Baby accepts no responsibility for the use of competition prizes, and in no way endorses any products offered by organisations sponsoring the competitions.

10. Competitions may be listed on various Competition sites including

Competitions Today

UK Competitions

The Prizefinder.com

and elsewhere such as Cambridgebaby Facebook

Swaddling can work wonders to calm babies and prevent them waking and scaring themselves when they fling their arms around. It  worked miracles with my little girl when she was tiny. Merino swaddling blankets are gorgeously soft. They also have the added advantage, that merino helps babies regulate their body temperature and wicks away moisture.

On a  recent programme on Radio 4 Paediatric orthopaedic surgeon Professor Nicholas Clarke highlighted how important it is to swaddle babies correctly, with their hips and legs free to move. Research shows that swaddling babies legs tightly to alter their natural hips open position can increase the risk of hip dysplasia and dislocation.

The Cocooi Swaddling Blanket in Merino Wool is specially designed with a pouch for the legs to allow them to move freely and for you to do a quick nappy change if necessary.

There is even a video to show you how to swaddle correctly. The key thing is to allow room for the hips to move.

Cocooi Swaddling Blanket in Merino Wool

Believe it or not Merino wool is perfect for summer. Its got a higher UPF (UV protection Factor) than cotton. It breathes brilliantly and actually helps to keep you cool when its hot.  Research shows that in hot temperatures Merino wool clothing helps you sleep better than either cotton or synthetic nightwear.

For a chance to WIN this  fine Merino Wool Top like and Share this. When we get to 500 likes. We’ll randomly select a winner.

This is what the computer came up with when we asked it to describe us. I quite liked it.

Nick went to St Anton skiing and came back singing the praises of wool. He was dressed head to toe in wool including his pants.

Nick’s been a massive fan of Merino Wool ever since his sister discovered the benefits of Merino in New Zealand 15 years ago. This year the whole extended family was wearing Cambridge Baby base layers.

The best thing about wool for skiing is that it helps you cope with large temperature changes by reducing the heat transfer between the body and the environment. His woollies kept him warm in freezing blizzard conditions but when the sun came out he didn’t have to strip off  and carry any layers. He was even able to keep some of his layers on for a bit of apres ski dancing!!!

Another benefit of Merino (especially untreated wool like Engel’s) is that it doesn’t get smelly. Merino wool reduces the opportunity for odours to develop because it absorbs sweat and evaporates it into the air. Unlike synthetic fabrics, wool doesn’t retain odours and freshens up just with airing out. In addition, the outer layer of wool fibres have a high concentration of fatty acids, which have anti-bacterial properties. The inner layers of wool fibre  bind with acidic, basic and sulphurous odours that make up body odour.  Nick was able to wear all his gear even his pants for the entire week.

What Nick Wore

Pickapooh Balaclava The teen size fits Nick. He said it was brilliant. He normally hates balaclavas, but this was super soft, didn’t itch and could be rolled up into a hat when the blizzard subsided.

Wool Zip Fleece Super warm, soft and breathable. Great for skiing and everyday wear.

Long Sleeved Merino Vest Soft, warm, breathable layer that doesn’t ad bulk and its anti-bacterial properties mean it doesn’t get smelly.  Nick wears one as a base layer in winter and for cycling.

Men Wool Silk Long Johns Soft, warm, breathable and flexible. Again these are brilliant for cycling. Nick took some synthetic long johns with him so that he could compare them with wool. But after one day’s wear he found them intolerably itchy and was pleased to be back to his woollies the following day.

Wool pants There aren’t many pants you can wear for a week. Comfy, soft flexible and warm. Great for running, skiing and cycling and other sports. Their breathability may even improve your fertility compared to synthetic cycle shorts.

Lambs Wool and Alpaca sock These make brilliant ski socks. As they are very smooth and slide easily in the boot. Alpaca wool is even warmer than sheeps wool so they’ll keep your feet super toasty.

Welcome to our third Christmas Special.  We’re offering free gift wrap on the item of your choice – and it’s hand-made, ethically produced wrapping paper too (of course!).  To take up this Advent offer, watch the video clip below and find out

What would Connie like for Christmas?

Enter the answer at checkout, in the voucher code box, and we’ll wrap for you the item of your choice.  Tell us which one to wrap in the notes box, also at checkout.  While our stocks of gorgeous paper last!

And, to win a lovely pair of wool or suede slippers for your child or yourself in our Christmas Slipper Prize Draw, email the answer to team@cambridgebaby.co.uk.

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We’d love to know what your children are thinking of as Christmas approaches!   Comment and let us know.    For bonus entries into our Christmas Slipper Prize Draw, tweet this link, share with your friends, share on facebook or on your blog -just tell us and we’ll give you an extra entry for each share!  Thank you for spreading the word!

The small print….  no purchase necessary to enter the Christmas Slipper Prize Draw – just follow the instructions.  Enter by 20th December 2012.  If you can’t see the video just email us to enter at team@cambridgebaby.co.uk – and we’ll also let you know how to gain your gift wrap this week.  This fairly traded offer ends soon on 19th December 2012 (so make the most of it) or when our stocks of hand-made paper run out!

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As we enter further into advent, we’ve put together another clip for you with two lovely offers!  This week’s question is…

What would Eleanor like for Christmas?

Enter the answer at checkout for £10 off any of our sumptuous Alpaca children’s jumpers!   Email us the answer for (another) entry into our Christmas Slipper Draw – win a lovely pair of wool or suede slippers for your child or yourself.

We’d love to know what your children are thinking of!   Comment and let us know.    And for bonus entries into our Christmas Slipper Prize Draw, tweet this link, share with your friends, share on facebook or on your blog -just tell us and we’ll give you an extra entry for each share!  Thank you for spreading the word!  And a bonus entry for your comments too.  xx

The small print….  no purchase necessary to enter the Christmas Slipper Prize Draw – just follow the instructions.  Enter by 20th December 2012.  If you can’t see the video just email us to enter at team@cambridgebaby.co.uk – and we’ll also let you know how to gain £10 off Alpaca children’s jumpers (you can see some here!) this week.  This fabulous alpaca offer ends soon on 12th December 2012 (so make the most of it)!

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We had some fun with some of our children in the garden, lighting candles to celebrate advent.  They came out with some very funny things about Christmas – and we decided to put together an Advent Calendar Special for you.

So watch this clip – and if you watch carefully you could win 15% off all Winter coats plus an entry into our Christmas Slipper prize draw!

For bonus entries into our Christmas Slipper Prize Draw, tweet this link, share with your friends, share on facebook or on your blog – let us know and we’ll give you an extra entry for each share!  Thank you for spreading the word!

The small print….  no purchase necessary to enter the Christmas Slipper Prize Draw – just follow the instructions.  Enter by 20th December 2012.  If you can’t see the video just email us to enter at team@cambridgebaby.co.uk – and we’ll also let you know how to claim 15% off Winter coats this week – this fabulous coats offer ends on 10th December 2012 so make the most of it!

My little boy is 19 months old. He doesn’t do sleeping through. Which means its a very long time since any of us had an undisturbed night of sleep. Many people, including me have said its a good job he’s cute.

Luckily for me my husband is a saint and since I stopped feeding him in the night he’s done the brunt of the night missions. But I still wonder if I had undisturbed sleep whether many of the daily mishaps could be avoided.

Every night two or three times a night we hear plaintive cries of Mama, Dadda, and most of the time he is sitting or standing in the cot. If you don’t go to him immediately (no chance to get warmly dressed) he gets worked up into a frenzy. Sometimes patting works, sometimes you’ve got to make the chilly trek to the fridge to get some milk and then you’re really awake. What worked getting my daughter to sleep through hasn’t worked for my son. We’ve tried most things, but at the end of the day he just loves cuddles.

My neighbour wisely said you just need to work out why he’s waking up in the first place. However, there seems to be no pattern.

We’ve tried all combination of bed clothes. Cotton pyjamas, Baby grows, fleecy baby grows but still no luck.  Having heard all the claims of children sleeping through with Merino wool sleeping bags  I was going to buy him one. But he’s not used to sleeping bags and cried “stuck, stuck” when I tried one.  Helen suggested Merino wool all-in-one-Pyjamas.

They are brilliant. A beautiful ruby red colour with a little  embroidered sheep. On the first night I dressed him in a merino wool/silk vest underneath and then the pyjamas on top. He then poured goats milk all over himself….  argh!!…  but it just brushed off without soaking in.  And so I learnt first-hand about wool’s water-resistant qualities.  Another amazing thing about Merino is that although it has liquid repellent qualities, it can also absorb up to 35% of its own weight in liquid without feeling wet. Making it perfect for dribbly teething children!

Anyway the best bit is that he slept all the way through – the first time ever!  What luxury for me to get rest until 6am… and my husband… and my little boy too.

Whether it was the comfort, warmth or breathability of Merino I’m not sure but I cannot recommend Merino wool Pyjamas highly enough – so lovely, such relief for us all.