Advantages: cute and lovely collectors items
Disadvantages: some can be pricy, many fakes available

...I think that I must have missed out when this craze first hit as it is only in the past few weeks that I have become interested in these addictive little bean teddies. It all started after a day out to the Isle of Wight, we had stopped at the sevices on the way home to get food and stretch our legs. Dillon was playing up so I decided to carry him rather than fight him into his puschair. I decided to look in the shop just to give Dillon new things to look at, there was a shelf full of beanies and I stopped to show him them. I turned away for just a second and heard him chomping on something, I looked down and saw 'cashew' sat on my arm with her ear in Dillons mouth. I was mortified, only because the shop assistant had spotted us so I felt guilty and purchased the bear. He was £5.99 but I have since seen him elsewhere for around ten... Read review

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Advantages: cute and cuddly
Disadvantages: some of them cost a lot

...Beanies are cuddly little toys filled with beans. Millions of beans go into beanies. You can get beanies all different sizes – tiny ones are called Teenies and big ones are called Buddies. They are all very colourful and some have got a little picture of something on the right hand corner near the top. On the beanies, there is a tag that says TY on it. (TY is from Ty Warner, the man who invented beanies.) Inside, it says the beanie’s name, date of birth and a little poem about them. Inside the tag on the Teenies, it just says the name. The Buddies’ tags say their names and a little bit about them. Beanies are different types of animals like kangaroos, mice, dogs, cats, koalas, bears, tigers, leopards and loads more. You can collect beanies or just buy one or two. You can buy them in shops like Athena... Read review

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Advantages: Good choice of foods in varying age ranges, convenient
Disadvantages: work out expensive if using all the time

...Heinz do a wide range of foods in various age ranges. The first age range up to 6 months, come in smaller size cans with a ringpull, so can be used on the move. They look awful, smell awful and taste awful, apart from the stewed fruits and the apricot custard is lovely. They have a funny texture too. I gave tinned food to my son sometimes, and he loved the fishermans pie (awful smell of fish). As they get older, the food gets lumpier and more types of foods are added. Beans, pasta, bolognese and slightly stronger tasting sauces. By the third stage, you get lovely looking sauces with big chunks and some fancy foreign tastes are introduced. These are still a bit bland, but babies love them. When my 3 year old son was ill recently, my doctor told me to give him some bland soup. I watered down a heinz baby meal... Read review

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Advantages: Beanie babies are affordable, small, understuffed, bean filled toys that are enjoyed by children and adults as a toy and/or collectible, that can bring great pleasure to the receiver.
Disadvantages: Collecting can become addicting, but is that really so bad?

...... Read review

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Advantages: Great toys, Large range of designs/animals
Disadvantages: Not worth a great deal,

...... Read review

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Advantages: Cute, Collectable and Cuddly
Disadvantages: Costly, crazily addictive and Caution!Many fakes around!

...Beanie Babies...i am a self confessed avid collector, and, although i am slowly moving onto Steiff collections, beanies still hold some relevance. Beanie Babies are purely stuffed animals, filled with beans (hence the name), they were created by Ty Warner, and therefore are part of the TY inc. company. Beanies were originally just animals, with an ear tag containing a date of birth and a small 4 line poem about the beanie, as the company has expanded they have furthered the products: Beanie Babies-generally the original animals Beanie Buddies- larger versions of Beanie Babies Teenie Beanies- also called by other names- these are the smaller versions, they are often for a particular holiday e.g christmas and Halloween Beanie Kids-self explanatory, bean stuffed kids. there are also many even newer versions, however... Read review

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Advantages: Widely available, wide range
Disadvantages: Urgh yukky, bland, poor nutrition

...I received one jar of Heinz Organic Turkey with Green Beans in a Bounty pack. Given the desperate situation I was having feeding my little one, I decided to give it a go. Smell: I have to say this smelt pretty awful. A bit like your run-of-the-mill baby food smell, a bit like over-cooked canned green beans. Texture: Fairly solid "mash-like" puree, no lumps. Taste: Bland, but fairly unpleasant at the same time. I had a taste before my baby did. I don't like to make her eat anything I wouldn't, but I let her taste it. It was soon deposited back into my hand. Availability: Heinz appears to be available everywhere, Organic and normal, and seems to be stocked in the largest variety of flavours. Price: I can't comment on price given that the only two Heinz products I have tried were given to me. Conclusion: Based... Read review

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Advantages: available in different sizes and styles
Disadvantages: a little pricey

...Though I was unsure as to whether I liked the Tweenies or not when they first appeared on our screens, it wasn't long before I took to them and indeed so did my daughter. Last Easter I bought her the small plush Fizz on a bean bag rather than loads of chocolate as she got plenty of eggs from family and friends anyway. They are a little pricey but it's like any new craze in that department, only being reduced in price when they're not number one in the kids minds anymore. If I recall rightly I paid about £7.99 which seemed to be the going rate at the time. As my daughter has discovered an amazing imagination thus having alot of imaginary friends, Doodles' name came up quite regularly I noticed, so last Christmas I decided that he too would be a welcome member to my daughter's circle of plush friends and I promptly bought the same... Read review

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Advantages: Good size and weight plus brightly coloured
Disadvantages: none

...I brought this toy for my son when he was just 3 months old and he absolutely loved it. It’s quite a popular toy as when ever I go in to any of the bigger Boots store they only have 1 or 2 left or are sold out. It’s a soft toy with a lovely appearance and is brightly coloured to attract babies’ attention. It’s a good size and weight for a baby to hold. The legs all have a number on them from 1-8 as an Octopus only has 8 legs and have a different texture and pattern - i.e. furry, ribbed, bubbly, shiny and velvety. They also contain sounds and filling inside the legs such as squeaky, rattlely, crinkly, beans (like a bean bag) and a musical button, which plays 3 nursery rhymes. All legs are elasticised so they can be pulled out straight and then once you let go they spring back in to place. It has pictures... Read review

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Advantages: The closest baby food to "homecooked"
Disadvantages: The 7 month range seems a bit limited

...Although Holly (8 months) tends to be a good eater, she has often turned her nose up at certain "baby" foods, prefering to eat what the family does. I gave Heinze a try. We had big smiles and alot of drooling. The first one we tried was the "baked beans with bacon and vegetables". I had tried her on regular baked beans before, until the Health Visitor cautioned me about the salt content, so I decided to try the baby version. I think she enjoyed them better as they were a bit more mushy. Since then, we have tried a chocolate pudding and some fruity jars.(which were from the 4 months range). I have also found this range to be a bit cheaper than others. The only one I would probably NOT give her again is the "spagetti hoops with sausage." The hoops are lovely and soft with alot of juice, but the little sausage bits were a bit... Read review

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