Review: Sleepover fun with Snuggle Sac

This week the small boy had his first sleepover. His slightly older cousin came over for the night and the excitement was palpable. In anticipation of the event we were sent a Pirate Snuggle Sac from Ollie and Leila to try out, and boy did we put it through its paces!

The Snuggle Sac is a cozy sleeping bag which is made of fleece with a 100% cotton lining. We chose the pirate one because who doesn’t love pirates. But they come in a wide range of designs including Harry Potter, lions, dogs and fairies etc. They are designed to look a bit like dressing up costumes, so you can pretend to be a pirate whilst you’re curled up for a sleep.

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The Snuggle Sac measures 180cm x 70cm and is the perfect size for my five year old, leaving lots of room for him to grow into over the years.

What I particularly like about it is there is a pouch for you to slip in a pillow. The pillow doesn’t go walkies in the night, something which used to really annoy me when I was in sleeping bags as a child. There is your standard sleeping bag zip along one side and pirate feet hanging off the bottom. It’s lots of fun.

Snuggle Sac

The Snuggle Sac comes in its own tote bag, which is great for packing it away when it’s not in use. Although it’s been designed to be used both for camping trips and sleepovers and to replace normal bedding, I think we’ll be using it a lot over the summer for our holidays and for sleepovers. We’re off to the Just So Festival in August, so this will be perfect for then.

Snuggle Sac

We unpacked the Snuggle Sac and the boys went bonkers for it. They loved it and couldn’t wait to try it out. At bedtime we took it upstairs and made a bed on the floor for his cousin, tucked a pillow into the pouch, zipped him up and he soon nodded off. Perfect. Well at least the Snuggle Sac was perfect.

Snuggle Sac

Near midnight, after a bout of coughing cousin Joe was sick on himself, his cuddly toy and the Snuggle Sac (see, I told you we put it through its paces!). So his bed was stripped and the Snuggle Sac washed and hung out to dry. I have to say it washed really well and dried pretty quickly on a sunny day.

It was a shame it didn’t make it through the night, but we know it works, is popular and importantly when dealing with small sticky boys, it washes really well. I know my boy will want to sleep in it tonight and for the next few nights, but then we’ll pack it away in its tote bag ready for our holiday.

Snuggle Sac

The Snuggle Sacs cost £45 here and I think they are lovely fun sleeping bag for kids. They also do adult versions (though sadly not in pirate designs) and Snuggle Sacs for smaller children and babies. I think if you’re planning a family camping trip, or you have lots of sleepovers coming up, these are a great sleeping solution. We love ours!

Note: We were sent a Snuggle Sac for review purposes. All images and opinions are our own.

Is camping the best kind of holiday for children?

Having been brought up in a family of happy campers, it seems pretty natural to me to teach the small boy all about the mysteries of the dome tent and how best to bundle up sleeping bags. Due to my very bad back, camping is a harder option for us; but I’ve got a camp bed and extra painkillers, so nothing can stop us now! Is camping the best kind of holiday for children?

Sleeping bags

I have incredibly fond memories of nights spent under canvas; giggling away with my brother when we should have been sleeping; listening to the grown ups drinking wine around the barbecue and chatting late into the night; warming a kettle on the last embers of the fire. Lovely memories and something I’d love to share with the small boy. Camping is such an adventure, you don’t have to pitch your tent half way up a mountain either; a nice campsite with a power shower is still camping. Glamping is still camping.

To prepare for our first camping trip we took a look at what camping equipment we already had and thought about what we needed.

We have a few camping bits and bobs left over from our pre-baby camping days; a serviceable tent, a small camping stove, a range of camping pans and a handy lantern. Sadly the padded mat we used to use and our ancient sleeping bags have met an untimely end at the hands of whatever insects reside in our loft.

The sleeping bags would probably be horribly musty now and probably beyond the help of a good airing anyway; it’s no great loss, plus it gives the small boy the chance to pick his own, which will help him to hopefully take a bit of pride in it.

As an interim indoor option we decided to take his cosy Snuggle Sac. It’s not waterproof or really designed for proper camping, but it will keep him warm at night. When he’s a bit older he can upgrade to a bigger, more camping appropriate sleeping bag if he wants to.

We nipped to our local camping shop; picked up a fresh canister of gas for our stove, some extra tent pegs and some new camping chairs. Before we knew it we were good to go and ready for all kinds of adventures.

Is camping the best kind of holiday for children? I’d say so. We’ve taken him on lots of different kinds of breaks, but he loves running about, enjoying nature and being free. It’s worth roughing it for a few days just to get back to nature and to see the joy on his face when he paddles in a stream; or finds a beautiful spiders web.

Quillow … a quilt & a pillow

The English summer being what it is, often throws up a few cold, damp days to keep you on your toes. It’s not really worth putting the heating on, when you can just snuggle under a blanket until the sun peeps through the clouds again. I am rather fond of my latest acquisition, the Dormeo Quillow. It is a cushion which cunningly unfolds into a blanket.

I picked it up because I thought it’d be a really handy thing to take on holiday with us. We’re staying in a cottage and it can get a bit nippy in the evenings, plus it’s useful to take out in the car to snuggle under if it gets cold. I thought it’d be great for a camping trip we’re planning later this year too.

The Quillow from mattress specialists Dormeo is a double sided blanket, on one side it is soft microfibre, and on the other it is a Cashmere and Moreno wool blend, which is so warm and cozy. The blanket cleverly folds up and tucks away into a pillow. It’s a really simple manoeuvre and you don’t need three hands to do it either.

I love that my Dormeo Quillow has a duel purpose, which makes it ideal for around the home, or for a compact solution for your holiday. It’s earning it’s keep around the holiday cottage, especially at night when the temperature drops. I’m looking forward to taking it camping with us when I think it’ll come into it’s own during the day as a comfy cushion, and at night when the sun drops and it turns chilly.

Around the home it blends in beautifully with the neutral scheme we’ve got going on. I love it. It’s one of those things you didn’t know you needed until you get one, and as summer eventually turns into autumn, I can see my Dormeo Quillow coming into its own.

Quillow

Disclaimer: I was sent a Dormeo Quillow free of charge for review purposes, this hasn’t influenced my opinion, it’s a lovely, useful pillow/blanket.