How do you keep your children's socks on?

It has to be one of the most irritating things children do.

You know they'd complain their feet are cold straight away, but some children feel the uncontrollable urge to be free from their socks!

Whether you're shopping and the sock mysteriously vanishes, or perhaps eating a meal at a restaurant and a sock makes its way into someone's dinner!

You almost want to scream when your child drops their sock into a puddle whilst taking a stroll with the pushchair. There's a great temptation to put the sock back on their foot whilst it's still dripping wet!

So what's the solution to this mad frustrating obsession your child has?

Well, let's get cracking with some practical solutions to this headache...

1. Sellotape

For a cheap method that's also easy to reapply try good old Sellotape. You can buy Sellotape in jumbo rolls these days so you don't even have to worry about how much you use. In some cases the entire foot may require a thorough coating of the sticky plastic stuff. Ha! Take those socks off NOW you little tyke! ;)

2. Forget the socks

Ok, we've reached that major point in frustration. If your child is clearly so determined to avoid wearing socks completely; ban them. Search the entire house for all your children's socks and burn them. Problem solved. This is also a great way to save money. With less socks to buy you can even save up for that dream holiday. Hint: remember to remove the socks from your child before throwing them onto the fire; it can be easy to forget. ;)

3. Sock-ons

For a slightly nicer way of keeping your children's socks on, and with tongue now firmly out of cheek, try sock-ons. They're an award winning solution that keeps the socks on even on the most determined of children. One size fits all; these clever little devices were invented by a Mum whose baby wouldn't keep his socks on. They're machine washable and come in a variety of different colours to truly accessorise your baby!

And of course you can buy them at Little Sunflowers (Little Sunflower Sock Ons)

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Refer your friends and receive £20!

We recently ran a survey from our newsletter and discovered that lots of our customers are telling other people about us. Obviously we're delighted at this and we can’t thank you enough for recommending us. We thought it's only fair to reward those of you who are spreading the good word.

So we've revamped our refer-a-friend scheme. It's all very simple; for every 5 friends’ email addresses you give us, we'll give you 1 flower credit. What's even better is that for every friend that places an order, we'll give you another credit. So if all 5 friends place an order, you'll get 6 credits.

Once you reach 6 flower credits you'll be rewarded with a £20 gift voucher to spend on whatever you like at Little Sunflowers! It's our way of saying thank you for referring your friends to us and also rewarding you for your efforts. So how many friends can you refer to us?

Who do you know?

If you've got friends or family that have recently given birth, or perhaps have young children, would they be interested in Little Sunflowers? Once you start thinking about it most people can usually come up with at least 5 friends, if not more!

If you refer 10 friends to us we'll give you 2 flower credits just for their email addresses. As long as your friends have an interest in what we're selling, they're likely to place an order with us. Even if you have friends that don't have children, or their children have grown up, they might still be looking to send someone else a gift.

Is there a limit to how many friends I can refer?

No, you can refer as many friends as you like.

So how easy is it?

It really is very simple to refer your friends. Just drop us an email at info@littlesunflowers.com and include your 5 friends' email addresses. The 5 email addresses must be genuine and they can't already be customers with us. If any of the email addresses aren't genuine or are already customers we'll let you know so you can refer someone else if you want.

We'll then send your friends an email to let them know you've referred them. We won't add them to any newsletter or mailing list. We'll only contact them once to let them know you've suggested they visit our website. We won't pass their email address onto anyone else, and we won't contact them again unless they ask us to.

When your friends place their first order with us they'll need to let us know you've referred them. We just need them to pop your name and town/county in the comments box at checkout. We'll then email you to let you know you've got another credit on your account.

It really couldn't be easier and you're free to spend your £20 on anything you like in our shop. You can either receive £20 off your order or you can place an order for £20. We really don't mind. We just appreciate you helping us out by telling your friends about us.

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Sophie la Girafe turns 49

In France there is a toy which is given to nearly every baby. Since 25th May 1961 Sophie la Girafe has been the traditional toy to give to a new born baby. She's a small teething toy that's ideal for children to hold on to. Her legs are just the right size for babies to grasp with their fingers.

But what's interesting is that until 4 years ago you couldn't buy Sophie in the UK at all. In fact it was only 5 years ago that the French manufacturer Vulli decided babies worldwide should start chomping on Sophie.

This year it's predicted that over 50,000 babies will use Sophie la Giraffe as their toy to chomp, drool, chew and squeak on. With more and more parents giving Sophie the thumb of approval, it might not be too long before she's a tradition in this country too!

What's so special about Sophie?

One of Sophie's most fascinating features is that she simply hasn't changed at all in 49 years. With a very retro look to her, Sophie's seen as safe. She's made from natural rubber and food grade paint. There's no PVC, BPA, Phthalates or other nasty chemicals hiding around to harm your child.

Indeed it's probably her safe features that make her so popular amongst so many parents and babies too. There's no need to worry that the toy may wear down or become unsafe for your child. In some cases other teething toys can cause allergic reactions or skin conditions to children, but not Sophie.

What's even more special about Sophie is her price. You might not see the value in spending a fortune on the latest designer baby wear. You might even be annoyed at how most chew toys need replacing after a few days. But with Sophie you'll be able to join the luxury club.

Celebrity mums such as Isla Fisher, Naomi Watts, Nicole Richie and Sofia Coppola are amongst just some of the parents that use Sophie. All this luxury sounds like it's going to cost more than the designer baby wear right? Well, you're looking at just £12 to get your hands on this exclusive club.

Is she a gimmick?

The strangest thing about Sophie is that she's genuinely not a gimmick. What's even more surprising is that her massive success over the past 49 years hasn't been backed by a huge marketing campaign. Nearly every new-born in France is given one yet Sophie isn’t main-stream marketed.

She's simply a very effective toy that does the job perfectly. Mums and Dads have been passing their recommendations on for the past 49 years. That's how Sophie got where she is today; a sign of a genuine product that actually works. No advertising required.

So if your child's going through the teething phase, consider Sophie la Giraffe. After all, it is her Birthday!

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Win £50 with our new reviews section!

It's always a good idea to research any product before deciding whether or not to purchase it. After all, the product you want to buy might be the perfect solution. But you just want to know what previous buyers think of the product and if they would recommend it.

So that's why here at Little Sunflowers we thought it would be a good idea to let our customers review the products they've purchased. In our new reviews section you can rate and review any product. It's a great way to help out other parents who are unsure about some of the products on the website.

It's almost a bit like shopping with a friend who has already brought an item you're thinking of buying. It's a great way of getting impartial advice that isn't coming straight from the manufacturer or, indeed, from us! Sometimes descriptions of products might not answer your question, where a review might just clear certain things up.

How to add a review

Adding a review to an item in our shop couldn't be easier. First, find the product you want to review. You can either search for the item or browse through the categories. Once you're on the items page, just scroll down the page. Just underneath the "Add to basket" button you'll see the reviews box.

At the bottom of the reviews box there's a button labelled "Write Review". You'll need to register as a customer to do this, or login with your existing details if you've purchased before. When leaving a review you can write a description of your review along with giving the item a rating. Each review can have up to a 5 star rating.

How to read other reviews

Not all of the products in our store will have a review. But those that do will be visible just under the product description. If you're looking at a product on the site, just scroll down just below the "Add to basket button". If there are any reviews for a product they will appear here.

Each review is accompanied with a rating. These are the golden stars you'll see just to the right of each review; the greater the number of stars, the better the rating. Next to each review you can also see the name of the customer that wrote it.

Be in with a chance of winning a prize

To encourage our customers to help out other parents we're offering you the chance to win a prize. All reviews submitted by the end of May will be entered into a draw to win £50 to spend on our site. It's really simple to be in with a chance of winning - all you have to do is leave a product review. We'll know who you are because you have to be logged in to leave reviews.

So why not be part of the Little Sunflowers community whilst also being in with a chance of winning a prize. Who knows, you might be the next customer that's struggling to decide whether or not to purchase an item for your child. Having an independent review of the product could help you to make the right choice.

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We love our products, but we love them even more when there's a 'story' behind them, and Sock-ons have a great story!

The story behind sock-ons

Proud mother of 5 children Kezi Levin desperately needed to find a solution for her baby son's irritating sock obsession. He obviously didn't like wearing socks, and despite the cold, he would always remove them! When Kezi had to attend a family wedding that year she knew she needed to find a solution that didn't involve dressing him in tights!

Whilst trying to sleep one night Kezi came up with an idea that might just solve the problem. Being unable to knit, she frantically cut up a pair of tights and glued them together to create what would be the first prototype for her new invention. To Kezi's delight, the idea worked!

Kezi used her graphic design business to fund Sock-ons and was able to raise enough money over 3 years to get the product launched. Despite being strongly advised against producing the product herself by many business advisers, Kezi wanted to do this herself. Her sheer determination and wanting to prove people wrong became a successful combination.

What are Sock-ons?

Sock-ons are an ingenious design that prevents your child from removing their socks. The softly woven elastic material locks the babies' socks gently into position. Your baby is then unable to pull their socks off from the toe because the Sock-ons gently lock around the heel of the foot. A simple solution to such a tiresome problem!

Kezi's background at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design helped her to come up with the funky design of the sock-ons. Whilst studying for her education Kezi learnt the hard way how to manage her time effectively whilst going through pregnancy. The time management skills now allow her to run her own graphic design business whilst looking after her five boys.

Award winning design

Kezi's Sock-ons invention was short listed as a finalist in the "Mom Invented" competition. This then encouraged Kezi to work even harder to get her invention produced and on the market. She spent, in total, 5 years getting sock-ons completely off the ground. It was a challenging project which has bought her many new skills and experiences.

In 2008 Kezi's greatest achievement since starting Sock-ons came through winning the baby industry's most prestigious award. Sock-ons won the "Kind Und Jugend Award for innovation 2008". This helped take Kezi and her product into the international market and provides her with continued success.

Simple solution turns into award winning product

For Kezi, all she wanted to do was attend her family wedding without embarrassment! She knew her baby son would throw or drop his sock somewhere completely inappropriate! It's bad enough when your child tries to shout when the vicar asks "Does anyone here know why these two people here cannot get married", but to have to go running into the aisle to retrieve a thrown away sock; well that's more than a little embarrassing!

Having found the perfect solution for her son’s irritating sock relief problem, Kezi was able to use her ambition to push her right to the top. So, she proved people wrong, worked hard at her business, and found a way of staying at home with her children whilst solving a problem many parents share! How inspiring is that?

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