Marvel Avengers Age of Ultron - in the bedroom

Bedtime has never been very straightforward with Freddy. We have clocked up hundreds of nights of bed sharing and suffered more than our fair share of sleep deprivation while our little boy worked on the technicalities of slumber.  Now at almost six, he has only recently mastered the art of sleeping through the night in his own bed. One of the biggest factors in having him happy to go to bed was making him a bedroom that he loved.

Freddy loves superheroes. He knows all their names, their super powers and the villains they fight. So a superhero theme was the perfect choice for his own personal space. His bedroom has an ace Avengers mural on the wall and he has lots of Iron Man and Captain America toys on display. So when Character World sent Freddy a brand new Marvel Avengers - Age of Ultron duvet cover and cushion for his room, I had one very happy little lad!

Character World is the UK's leading manufacturer of licenced bedroom accessories, and has a huge movie inspired range, which will delight fans of Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, LEGO and DC Comics. The bold, bright designs are created with kids in mind, and help create a bedroom that children will love being in and they will hopefully enjoy sleeping in all night!

The Marvel Avengers Age of Ultron Single Duvet Set and cushion feature realistic, life like images of the superheroes Hulk, Ironman, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye. The duvet is double sided featuring a repeated print of Avengers symbols and logos on one side and the assembled Avengers on the other. The pillow features the Avengers logo on both sides on a sky background. The cushion is very soft and squidgy and has the same print on it as the duvet cover.

The Avengers - Age of Ultron duvet cover and cushion look fantastic and are also made to a high quality. The design is really impressive with sharp, colourful printing. The Character World range is available to purchase from Argos, Asda and Littlewoods. You can also find it online at Amazon.

Having his brand new bedding and cushion has made bedtimes easier as Freddy jumps into his bed and snuggles up with his cushion. They go really well in his superhero bedroom. Marvel is such a great iconic brand and I think it is brilliant to be able to bring it into children's room in such a fun way. The design will appeal to older kids, teens and young adults too.

What Fred did when Daddy's back was turned!

Daddy's back was turned for just a minute at bedtime.  He left Freddy snuggled up in bed, as he popped downstairs for a moment. He hoped Freddy would fall asleep, but he had other ideas. These few moments were all the time it took for Freddy to sneak out of bed, go into Kizzy's room, seek out her make-up bag, find her brand new eyeliner and transform himself using his makeshift face paint. When discovered, he proudly showed off his freshly drawn cheek scar, stubbly chin, moustache and eye-patch strings, declaring that he was no longer Freddy - he was now a pirate.  He was so very pleased with himself that even Kizzy saw the funny side, despite the fact that her make-up had been compromised in the hands of her 4 year old brother.  It always astounds me just how quickly little ones can seek out mischief, it is truly an art form and one that Freddy excels in!  

He really is turning into the most delightfully cheeky and gorgeous boy, who truly makes our lives so much more entertaining.  I had forgotten what it was like to have a boy in the house.  Freddy is a non-stop, whirling dervish of energy when he gets going, climbing on furniture, bouncing on sofas and throwing toys around the room.  He likes to kick things, hit things and knock things over.  All the while he will be pretending to be a superhero or a character from a video game, chasing bad guys and defeating enemies. Aside from this pure gender typical machismo displayed by my four year old, he does still have a soft side.  A cuddly, kissy, gentle, loving side that thrives on the adoration he gets from us all.  With his sisters as his role models he still indulges in a few girly moments now and again, where he pops on a wig from the fancy dress box and calls himself Bellina or Jasmine or Georgina.  So although he is often found creating some sort of havoc involving makeshift weaponry and imaginary force fields, you can still find him looking like this....

How Important are Routines for Children

Trying to crack routines, is one of the biggest challenges of parenting.  Getting little ones into a good bedtime routine is the parenting holy grail that the majority of parents strive for, to ensure everyone gets a good night's sleep!  I'm not a stickler for rigid routine and have always kept a degree of flexibility within our family life. We have let Freddy's own natural rhythm dictate the way we parent him to some extent, but it was a great relief when he started sleeping through the night, adopting his own happy bedtime routine.

Routines become much more important as your child gets older and has to become a part of the world outside of their own home, with the routine of being at nursery and school to contend with.  Routines can help children deal with change as they get used to the comfort, familiarity and security of repetitive behaviors.

Personally I like to strike a balance of routine and flexibility in our home, that reflects the day to day changes of family life.  I provide the structure and safety of routine, but also have the freedom to throw it all out of the window to be spontaneous if necessary.  Freddy likes to know what was going on in his life and enjoys the order of his day, but much of his routine is child led.  It works well for us and he is a happy, confident child.

To help parents with achieving routines and to help children cope with change, Nick Jr have launched their Step by Step campaign, headed by TV favourite Dora the Explorer.  We were sent some print outs and some Dora goodies. There are a range of downloadable charts that you can print out and share with your little ones to help establish good routines.  I like that the child is involved with planning the steps and is a part of the process.  For slightly older children, taking ownership of the structure of the day makes everyday routines a far happier affair.  Children will enjoy ticking off all the steps on their bedtime routine chart as they take each step along with Dora!

You can find the printables along with a whole host of ideas to help children enjoy all of life's adventures  at http://www.nickjr.co.uk/shows/dora/stepbystep/ 

To watch a recording of a live WebTV show on children's routines go to http://www.studiotalk.tv/show/how-important-are-routines-for-children

Reading as part of the Bedtime Routine

Fairy Non-Bio, with the help of Timmy Time, have come together to discuss the importance of reading to your little ones at bed time to help them sleep.

According to new research commissioned by Fairy, 8 out of 10 mums read to their children every night at bedtime.  The survey of 1,000 UK mums (with children aged up to seven) took an in-depth look at bedtime routines.  Whilst dads are playing a much bigger role in parenting, this research uncovered that bedtime is still mostly the woman's domain. (Although in my house Daddy is solely in charge of bed times and gets Freddy off to bed every night.  He still enjoys sharing a book with him at bedtime though!)

Working Mums Make Bedtime Work

61% of working mums said that they have to rush through the routine in order to get their child into bed on time, but that bedtime reading remains a priority for them. In fact, 16% of mums would shorten bath time in order to have time to read with the average amount of time spent reading to their children being 11 minutes.

Reading clearly plays a key role in establishing successful bedtime routines and is helpful when settling down children for the night. Other reasons given for reading to kids at bedtime include aiding their development, encouraging an interest in books and bonding with children.

Bedtime Routine: Successful or Stressful?

35% of parents said that their child tends to settle down quickly and easily most nights, with a further 43% saying this is the case 3 or 4 nights of the week.  Unfortunately, bedtime isn't always easy and some parents struggle with the nightly routine. 1% of mums find this part of the day is stressful, and 2% admit to dreading bedtime.

Finding the right bedtime routine that works for both parent and child is important and incorporating reading is a great way of helping children to settle.  Snuggling up under a blanket and sharing a good book is a lovely, calming way to end the day.

Fairy's Timmy Time on pack promotion

Fairy knows how important reading is - it is an important step in a child’s development, boosting speech and vocabulary and teaching essential literacy skills.

To encourage parents to read to their children, Fairy has renewed the partnership with Timmy Time, which includes an on-pack promotion offering a free bedtime book with every purchase of Fairy Non Bio or Fabric Softener.  The colourful paperbacks featuring  Timmy's Bedtime Tales are perfect for reading together.

You and your little one can share the exciting adventures of Timmy, the little lamb with a lot to learn! 

For more information on Fairy visit www.softeningyourworld.com or for more information on Fairy partnership with Timmy Time please visit www.timmytime.tv/fairy

The Fairy range is proud to have been reviewed by Allergy UK and awarded their British Allergy Foundation Seal of Approval.

We have been sent some Fairy Gel and Timmy Time books from Fairy.