How to beat butt rash

Raisingkids product tester Suzanne Bryson has spent a month road-testing two new nappy creams for us on her five-month-old daughter. Here's her verdict on Zinco Spray and new US contender Butt Paste (we kid you not!)

The Zincospray was brilliant. I loved the fact it is a spray which I found really useful in the changing bag as I did not have the worry of the lid coming off. The cream itself has a pleasant smell and is a nice consistency. It was thick enough to leave a layer on the bottom but thin enough to spray with ease from the bottle and be absorbed easily by the skin. This cream did work very well on my daughter’s nappy rash.

Boudreaux's Butt Paste had a very unusual smell which I did not particularly like. The consistency was very thick and worked wonders as a protective barrier so while using this cream my daughter did not get nappy rash. The cream was easy to apply and was also easy to clean off at each nappy change.

The Gone-Away World

Introducing The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway - a story about friendship and love (and ninjas). Featuring battles, alarms, terrible upheavals and disasters. Also containing digressions and disquisitions; showdowns and throwdowns; monsters, marvels and miracles. One or two pages feature profundity, but these the discerning reader may choose to ignore.

Though more suitable for adults than children (too much swearing) this is a riotous adventure with some fantastic characters. The story takes place in a well realised post-apocalyptic world with various factions trying to control and rebuild society. It's very funny too.

The structure of the book is a bit of a mess, there's no need for it to jump abruptly backwards and forwards a couple of times and it's way too long, but these faults are leavened by plenty of action and some great characters - Ronnie Cheung: the toughest military instructor alive, Ike Thermite: vocal leader of a mime troupe, Zaher Bey: charismatic rebel leader and many more.

There's also a terrific fight scene between an old man (he's Master Wu, a martial arts expert) and some ninja warriors that have been sent to kill him.

Recommended.

Radiohead

RK's online midwife Genevieve has been product testing a Pure DAB Tempus-1S radio for the past few weeks. Here's her report:

'The reception we got from this DAB radio was excellent. Bearing in mind that I have other radios in the house and have to have them very carefully positioned to pick up the stations - it didn't matter where I put the Pure radio, reception and sound quality was brilliant as well. My children really enjoyed playing with the sounds for the alarm etc. They all had different favourites, bird song, waves and thunderstorm were voted tops. I also liked the way you could just tap the handle to get information about what you were listening to etc. I only wish there were more things on the radio for children because I loved listening to stories on the radio as a child.'

Faster than a speeding pram

We've always had a thing for Firebox and its range of fun gadgets, but this new Superbaby babygro complete with its own cape is the business! Up up and away

It costs a mere £14.95 of your earth pounds - which is nothing for the best baby gift you'll see this year.

http://www.firebox.com/product/2146

Spicy Crisps

They say: Walkers Sensations Szechuan Spice captures the unique mixture of sweet, sour, aromatic and fragrant for which Asian cuisine is famed. Combining the intensely aromatic taste of ginger, zesty lemongrass and fragrant coriander, a dash of soy sauce and a warming kick of chilli, Walkers Sensations Szechuan Spice is a crunchier potato crisp bursting with irresistible flavours.

I say: Mmmmm tasty.

Posh Brekkie

This may sound unforgivably bling, but on the last day of my daughter's school holiday I decided to take her into London for a blow-out breakfast. Sadly the celebrity hangout The Wolseley was completely full, so we made instead for Fortnums and thank goodness we did. I'm seriously fussy about a cooked breakfast and I have to say the one here was the business. Em had two hens eggs with toast soldiers and some super fresh orange juice. I had the works and shared my sausages with her. The staff were lovely - I think they enjoyed having a small child in to make a change from all the hedge fund traders - and Em upped her game accordingly, being unbelievably well behaved. I'm not saying it wasn't expensive, but for once in a blue moon treat, it was lovely.

Clean hands, green conscience

There was a bit of an unseemly scuffle in the office when a parcel of lovely toiletries from Patently Obvious arrived. I managed to nab a bottle of the Lavender and Rosemary for home and can now report back. The selling point of the products is that they're eco-friendly without being so wishy-washy that they don't actually clean. I liked the smell (reminds me of the way clothes smell when you wash them with Ecover) and I thought it did a nice job, although I wasn't too keen on the dispenser which was a bit overly-squirty - that's the technical term for it, you know. Anyway - you can find them exclusively in larger Boots stores.

Catherine

Champagne socialites

Now this is the kind of invitation we'd like to receive more of in the office. It's from Transworld Publishers inviting us to the launch of the publication of Seven Secrets of Successful Parenting. But what caught our eye was the logo in the bottom right hand of the invitation and the note saying 'champagne provided by Moet & Chandon.' Who could resist?

What are willies for?

This came in yesterday and was an immediate hit. The illustrations are really funny and we particularly loved some of the critical questions answered such as 'Can you stop being in love?', 'Does the pain last forever?' and 'Do you have to be naked to make love?'

It's aimed at boys aged 9-13, but some of the questions are still giving us pause for thought in our 30s!

Pop-up monsters

Our producer Michael bought a copy of the Encyclopedia Prehistorica Mega-Beasts for a friend's son and when it was delivered here we couldn't help having a little peep. Problem was we then didn't want to give it back. This is a simply beautiful book - chock full of gorgeous pop-ups and something to treasure for years to come.

Clever little nightlight

The blurb for the grobag night light sounds a bit like the introduction to a new superhero - by day, it's an ordinary run-of-the mill lightbulb but when night falls, it metamorphises into a nightlight. What we particularly like is the fact that you don't have to install a dimmer switch in your children's bedroom. Anything that gets us out of doing DIY is a good thing in our book!