I'm a huge fan of chocolate brownies, I'm also very particular about them.  So often we get sold things under the guise of Brownie when what we get is a firm, dry chocolate sponge.  That is not a brownie.  Brownie should be thick, dense, moist and a wonderful marriage of gooey meets crumbly.

I was craving cake something chronic yesterday.  I had my chocolate head on and nothing else would do.  So I decided to make this messy, indulgent, filthily calorific concoction.  If chocolate had sex, this would be the orgasm.

Being dairy free and egg free should perhaps make me somewhat healthier in my approach to food.  That's utter bollocks though.  It just means you sulk more and work twice as hard to find crap you can eat.  One of these little gems is, bourbon biscuits!  (Generally supermarket own brand versions of these are both egg and dairy free)  So to make up for all the things I can't eat, I end up finding something I can eat and then proceed to eat four times more of that.  A few years ago I made some delicious Oreo cupcakes.  I don't have any Oreos but I do have Bourbon Creams.....

Review: Scratch Sleeves

Little Moomin has Eczema. Awful Eczema.  All over her gorgeous face.  Three courses of Hydrocortisone cream and three different moisturisers (one of which made her howl) later and we're in the  midst of yet another flare up.

During the day I can distract her or at worse put socks on her hands.  Yes, socks.  She makes impressively short work of removing 'scratch mits' within mere seconds.  Night is a whole new ball game, aptly called 'baby scratches her face off'.  She can now remove socks from her hands within seconds too and despite them being cotton they're still textured and ever so mildly abrasive.

Some retailers sell sleepsuits with nifty fold over cuffs that become mits yet it would appear that once your baby outgrows size 3-6 months you'd have more luck acquiring rocking horse shit.

Then there's the conundrum of not always needing a sleepsuit with sleeping bags dependent on temperature due to overheating risks.

Then I found Scratch Sleeves.

I don't get much time to type at the moment so the review is through videos.  Bare in mind I'm not a 'v-blogger', It's one handed using my phone and I'm sleep deprived.

First impressions...




Part 2



Since the videos were made we've been using the Scratch Sleeves for around a month or so.  Poor Moomin's eczema is worse than ever at the moment so they've been a god send at night

There's no getting around the fact that they're expensive... more so when, in my opinion, one pair simply isn't enough.  If needed for day and night I'd suggest a minimum of 3-4 pairs. It's not even a 'want', once you've tried them you'll quickly realise they fall very much into the 'need' category if you have a baby/child with eczema.  Then there's the fact they're sized so you'll then have to purchase in the next size up when they grow as too small will be restrictive and uncomfortable yet too big and they'll be able to slip their hands out, so it really is important you buy the exact size you currently need.  It's a shame they can't engineer a comfortable adjustment yet the obvious button or press stud options would probably be uncomfortable for baby.  I'd also like to see these available on prescription as I genuinely believe they're that essential!  No matter how much she rubs her face (and believe me she rubs a lot) I can sleep knowing she's not drawing blood or clawing strips from her face as opposed to putting matchsticks in my eyes to keep them open so I can constantly retrieve/return mittens/socks to her hands throughout the night because all it takes is one scratch and there's blood.

Even more impressive is the fact she genuinely doesn't seem to mind wearing them!

I'm sold on them.  Unfortunately we only have the one pair so we save them for nights and she's growing quick so as soon as the purse strings allow we'll be buying at least two more (whilst starting to save for two more to make four) as she's getting quicker and quicker and removing socks from her hands which she needs to wear during the day.

It was only when I forgot they were in the wash pile and had to resort to socks one night that I fully realised how much we'd come to rely on them! What a crap night's sleep that was!

Obviously they won't cure eczema but anything that makes it more bearable is worth it's weight in gold.  It's heartbreaking seeing your baby in so much discomfort.  I can't stop her rubbing but with these I can at least minimise the damage she can do to herself!

You can purchase these direct from www.scratchsleeves.co.uk  or via Amazon.


***I purchased these myself and felt compelled to review them.  All opinions expressed are genuine and my own.