Rockin Hood

"Oooh it's a poncho", said my mother-in-law. Well yes, I guess it is - but a Rockin Hood sounds so much funkier ! Whatever you want to call it, it's a brilliant way of keeping baby warm but not overheated, especially while using public transport or doing the xmas shopping, when you're constantly going from stuffy overheated buses or shops to the freezing cold wintry weather outside. It's hard enough (not to mention time-consuming) wiggling uncooperative baby-arms into coats that are usually way too big (so the arms get lost in the folds of material ) or a bit on the small side (and you're worried you'll break baby's arm off before getting it through the hole !!), but when you then end up in a boiling hot indoor-environment five minutes later, it's a real pain in the bum to have to pull it off and start all over again. Especially if you're using a baby carrier, car seat or pushchair and baby is strapped in. And especially when baby gets fed up with all the pulling about and starts wailing loudly, so you get filthy looks from all the other kid-free public transport-users and xmas-shoppers ! I know, I've been there many times !

The Rockin Hood is dead easy to get on - it just plops over baby's head and there's one velcro fastening at the neck. You can put the hood up or leave it down - but it's so snuggly and soft that Pierre actually prefers to have it up (unlike his coat hoods). I can tell because he turns his face sideways so the fleecey-material is against his skin, opens his mouth against it and smiles !! And the dangly tassels at the ears look so cute !

Taking it off is a breeze too, you just undo the velcro and whip it off over baby's head. No fiddly arms to bend and manoeuver and it's so soft and tickly, Pierre thinks it's a good game, however many times I pull it on and off (quite a lot if we're shopping on a busy Saturday).

It's bulkier than a baby coat when folded up but it's very lightweight. It fits easily into the pushchair bag but if you're using a baby carrier, don't forget to take a bag to stash it in while you're shopping.

What I absolutely love is the way it combines perfectly with baby-carrying and breastfeeding. I don't always put a coat on Pierre when he goes in his baby-carrier because the heat of my body sometimes makes him get too hot. But now the weather is turning colder and it rains more often, the Rockin Hood is a fabulous piece of kit. Without taking him out of the baby carrier or even opening the shoulder clips to get more space, I can pop the hood over his head and pull it down the back of the baby-carrier - the front piece stays bunched up around his neck like a scarf, his tummy (which isn't covered by the hood) is kept warm by my body heat and the fleece is long enough to cover his feet. It's showerproof too which is brilliant with baby-carriers, as - unlike prams and pushchairs - they don't come with rainshields !

For discreet breastfeeding in public, you can put the hood on baby and use it to cover yourself up, or you can put it on yourself instead and wrap it around baby - without putting up the hood, if you don't want to look silly (although I put the hood up to make Pierre laugh - and it also made the guy on the next park bench laugh too !! )

It's a one-size-fits-all and is designed to be big enough for a baby or toddler to totally snuggle up in. It can be machine-washed at 40° and can go in the tumble drier, but it dries out so quickly it doesn't actually need to. There are various colours available - pink, blue and green (with a cute sheep pattern) made of 100% spun polyester fleece or, if you want an organic option, ecru, made of 55% hemp and 45% organic cotton. They do tell you on the website that, although they wanted to offer an organic option, they feel it doesn't work as well as the polyester ones, because while polyester is showerproof, hemp is very absorbent. You have been warned ! They also say - but I think this is just for the organic hoodie - "the fleece is likely to shrink on first wash - but the hoodies have been made large to accommodate initial shrinkage."

When you think that it works as a poncho, a pram blanket, a breastfeeding aid, and a "coat" compatible with baby-carriers, it works out at really good value. I take mine everywhere with us now when we're out and about and it's in constant use.

star rating : 5/5

RRP : £19.50

available from Mothers Of Innovation