The JoJo team have been very busy getting the latest store up and running. We’re so excited to open the doors to our 55th store – in Balham – another welcome addition to the JoJo Maman Bébé family. Our lovely Balham store is our 13th in London – perhaps an unlucky number for some...
Dominic is now 2 and a half years old and to date has shown little interest in using a potty. I think this is partly because I am pregnant and he wants to cling on to being a baby – he keeps referring to...
As with most things baby related, at some point it dawned on us that our son had got over the first few hurdles of being introduced to solid food and that he might be ready to start using cutlery. This came to the fore...
Finally it seems like the long cold winter is behind us and summer is on its way. Whether you’re staying in the UK this summer or venturing further afield, it’s important to make sure your baby is safe in the sun. The main risks...
When you are desperate to get away but just can’t quite commit to the cost and effort of packing the family off to the airport, generally on a dawn flight with a long transfer on a sick-making coach at the other end, why not...
You see the problem is I really liked being the ONE and ONLY office dog. I’m not complaining, but it’s a hard job, and on the whole I’d say I’m pretty good at it, so why the change? Of course I’ve been doing the...
As you may know, the JoJo directors took part in a dash around the country to visit all our stores as part of our 20th birthday celebrations last week. The JoJo store teams were encouraged to go all out and really embrace the special...
How was your experience of giving birth in the UK? I hope it was positive but for many women it isn’t. There are many advocates who work towards dramatic, coherent and permanent improvements in how the UK’s maternity services are managed and practiced but...
It’s just a year like any other but reaching 20 years in business is quite a milestone. People often ask if I ever dreamed that we could get so big. But when you start a fashion company from your kitchen table your ambitions are...
I’m sat on a tiny, tiny plane with just space for one seat on each side of the cabin. It must have just 12 seats in total, there’s no space above for anything larger than a wash bag, we are having a decidedly hideous...
Here at JoJo Maman Bébé, we launched our spring/summer collection with high hopes of glorious sunshine and plans to dust off the barbeque, ready for the promise of hot, long days spent relaxing in the back garden. Perhaps we were a little too optimistic...
Many people think that exercise during pregnancy is dangerous and that women should put their feet up and rest as much as possible. This may sound appealing (at least for a couple of days) but generally exercise during pregnancy, as long as it is...
We’ve been very busy here at JoJo Maman Bébé recently, and we’re pleased to announce that our Guernsey store is now open. Our latest addition, located in the capital – St Peter Port – is our 54th store, and our second outside of the...
Research carried out by property website Rightmove as shown that the North Yorkshire town of Harrogate is the happiest place to live in the UK. The ‘happy at home’ index measured inhabitants’ satisfaction of their area, based on factors like safety, neighbourliness and amenities....
We are delighted to announce that JoJo Maman Bébé officially opened its doors to the people of Norwich today! We’re so excited about our 53rd store, and with it being JoJo’s 20th birthday in a few weeks, it is all the more special. ...
Giving Birth Should & Can Be An Amazing Experience When you feel in control you are better able to mentally manage the stages of labour. Even if special circumstances mean you need medical assistance, by being a part of the decision making process, you...
Awards ceremonies appear to continue to be all the rage; in fact there was a time when we could have spent a day a week entering competitions. Since we are now a ‘mature’ company – this being our 20th year – we don’t really...
We may have just arrived back from shooting most of our AW13 catalogue, but there was some more work to do back in London! Our lovely model babies came to the set at the JoJo offices to pose for more photos, and after a...
The BBC recently reported about Swedish practises when it comes to putting babies down for a nap. Apparently, it’s common to see prams containing snuggly, sleeping babies lined up outside cafes in temperatures of up to -10°C, while their mums are inside having a...
International Women’s Day was created more than 100 years ago at a time when sexual inequality was rife and the dissatisfaction of ‘the fairer sex’ started to gather momentum alongside the birth of some (for the age) radical ideologies. The social networks of the...
We heard last week that Aston Martin has teamed up with pram maker Silver Cross to unveil the new luxury version of the popular Surf Travel System. With its alloy wheels, Italian suede seat and the same leather used in the legendary cars, the...
I and the rest of the JoJo shoot team have just returned from 2 weeks in Dorset, having shot the majority of our AW13 kids’ collection and our whole maternity collection. Despite the snow, rain, wind, freeeezing cold and blinding sun we managed to...
Some children are being sent to school with just cold chips or a packet of biscuits for lunch, a survey published this week has revealed. The Children’s Food Trust, which carried out the poll, revealed some unsettling insights into children’s diets. The results showed...
They’ve done a brilliant job of inviting a superb mix of retailers to meet me at our stand, which yet again, is one of the most creative at the show. No mean feat considering they are attempting to show Spring and Winter collections but...
Rewind 6 years and work day mornings consisted of hitting the snooze button several times followed by a total panic getting showered, dressed and a blatant disregard for any sort of sensible breakfast. Four years ago and mornings were spent in a haze of...
Unsurprisingly, here at the JoJo Maman Bébé office, we always have babies on the brain. With not one, but two JoJo babies born last month, and the imminent arrival of the royal baby, the baby-o-meter has gone into overdrive. Talking of the royal baby,...
It is wonderful to be guest writing today for JoJo Maman Bebe! I am Maggy, mum of two – a boy (5) and girl (3) and I write a craft blog, Red Ted Art. I remember having my first child Red Ted almost 5...
I’d like you to meet my brilliant uncle … There’s nothing like having a famous uncle. As a small child, growing up in the relatively sheltered city of Brussels (where my father was working) and then near Abergavenny in the Welsh countryside, my imagination...
‘When your mind is free of fear and tension, your body can be free of pain and will function as it was created to do so.’ This sentence was said by Marie Mongan, founder of the HypnoBirthing Institute and HypnoBirthing® – The Mongan...
Its the day after Boxing Day and I’m sat on an Aeroflot plane to Moscow. I’ve just been offered something completely unrecognisable as supper and have already grown bored of trying to feign interest in the all-Russian in-flight magazine. Nice photos but haven’t got...
My son Jago will be almost two this Christmas. He has already been delighted by our mini-Christmas tree and I can’t wait to see his face when he is confronted by the inevitable parcel mountain at his grandparents on Christmas Day. As we all...
I love Christmas and the frenzy of excitement during build-up, but the reality is that between September and December we are frantic at JoJo, plus there’s always a lot more parties and school events to fit in. I have to be clever to make...
I am a mum to two boys (and a dog!) and writing to share news of the new app I have just launched; mementobox, a ‘virtual’ baby journal. I have worked on the app with my husband (a consultant IT Project Manager), and whilst...
Ever Earth Ramp Racer – Instant hit! This toy was beautifully packaged in recycled board and I loved that there wasn’t tonnes of excess packaging or plastic ties to work through to get the product out, especially with two expectant boys eagerly waiting to see it....
There are some topics which will always cause opinions to fly and so last week it happened again with the launch of this product – The Breast Milk Baby. Designed for young girls, this toy has predictably caused a storm. Girls wear an apron...
As Christmas is approaching so is the deadline for our new season catalogue! As some of you may know we were looking for little models to join us on our trip to Brittany for our Spring Summer 2013 catalogue shoot. We recruited some lovely...
A new baby is always a joy. As parents we will cut back on ourselves in hard times but still do our very best for the children. The past few years have been hard to trade through but good nursery retailers continue to flourish as...
I am in a lull – what is known as a lunch-time lull. We are exhibiting at the world’s biggest ‘everything a mother and baby might need’ Trade Show called ABC Kids Expo which this year is in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. It certainly is...
Of course I can’t condone using children as labour in any way and abhor the idea that any child misses out growing up in the security of a loving environment where they can learn through play and creativity. But what about getting them to...
With tall parents it wasn’t going to be long before Ethan outgrew his cot, so with his second birthday looming (on Christmas Day!) we decided to try moving him from his cot to a bed. My sister very kindly passed on my nephew’s first...
Well if you did and if you, like I, tried to be efficient and contact the Child Benefit Charge call centre to register the fact that you no longer qualified, you may just be a tiny bit irritated? Or maybe, as in my case,...
Most people reading this blog would have heard the news that Lance Bombardier Lynette Pearce went into labour during her 34th week of pregnancy and gave birth to a baby boy on 18th September, whilst serving in Afghanistan. One can hardly imagine the range...
It’s been 24 years since I applied for University but my headmaster’s words still loom large: ” If you’re going to get to university you must learn to say NO to the extra-curricular activities…..!” Organising a fundraising Fun Run (try saying that after a...
We all know that it is so tricky to be perfect. Actually, we all know it is impossible to be perfect – I just do my best and quite often I don’t think it is good enough so I keep trying harder (or drink...
I remember the first time I saw my own child’s silhouette portrait. Casting my eyes over the delicate cut black paper, I was amazed at each little detail the artist had made using only a tiny pair of scissors. Then the moment came of...
When I’m not having fun with my 2 gorgeous daughters, Gracie & Haddie, I run a wedding planning company called Magic Dust. Launched in 2006 after leaving the crazy world of magazine publishing – I was Commercial Director on Grazia when it launched in...
JoJo works so hard – pleasing many customers across the world – a well earnt play is long overdue but this Playtime is far from a run around in a park or playground… Playtime is a twice yearly Trade Show bringing lots of very...
I can’t tell you how often I have told my children to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and on the whole they are brilliant at remembering their P’s and Q’s. In fact, I think most children are pretty good at this these days. I’m...
A ‘free’ red football kit Jago has started going to football training for toddlers. We definitely don’t have a budding Ronaldo on our hands. His main ball skill seems to be ‘why not just throw it in the goal’ so much easier than this...
Following my blog about when (and how) to stop breastfeeding, once you feel you and your baby are ready, I wanted to write about the challenge that some women face when they do decide to stop, as some find themselves feeling down or even depressed...
From the start of the academic school year until we collapse on Boxing day I’m stressed. There is no point denying the fact that I probably go a bit mad and I may even admit, begrudgingly, that I’m a tinsy-winsy bit difficult to live...
Before I had my daughter Lyla (now 2), I was jokingly known as ‘The Fixer’. I ran events of all shapes and sizes all over the world and I always knew a man who knew a man; if I needed something, I knew where...
Of all the unusual places work trips have taken me to, I’d probably count Pakistan as up there. Whilst there is no need for me to travel there with JoJo Maman Bébé, I have been to Lahore 3 times now with previous jobs, so...
I used to refuse to leave the UK in the summer holidays. I could not see the point. The weather was good here and the roads generally clear, making trips to Wales or staying in London a real pleasure. Why head for the sun...
I never buy glossy magazines but with the hoo ha about Miranda Kerr’s interview in the July edition of Harper’s Bazaar, my husband was dispatched to dutifully search and return with a copy. I wanted to read first hand what Miranda had said and...
The highest caesarean section rate recorded in a hospital in England (2011), Scotland (2010) and Wales (2011) was 36.3%, 32% and 34.3% respectively. This is high – very high. And although the World Health Organisation officially withdrew its recommended caesarean percentage rate of 10%...
I have decided to write about stopping breastfeeding (after 6 months and once it has become firmly established and part of yours and your baby’s routine), and particularly my own experiences, as this is a little talked about issue. Most of the bump out...
While the British summer seems to still be eluding us, we’ve been hard at work here at JoJo Maman Bébé and have just finished putting together our Autumn Winter catalogue. We really love it and hope you’re looking forward to seeing the new range!...
Being a working mum is the ultimate juggling act. Trying to balance the demands of work and family often leaves me feeling tired, guilty and like I’m just keeping my head above water. But while part of me would love to stay home with...
When it comes to choosing to have a baby, our finances of course play their part, but not having a choice when it comes to going back to work, due to the astronomical costs of childcare in the UK, is quite a depressing reality....
We all know the Department of Health’s advice that we should start weaning our darling sprogs when they reach 6 months and not a moment before. Even if our little ones are performing impressive contortionist acts in order to get to our cake (in...
There are some topics which cause such a furore that even as an industry professional I’m left staggered by the range of opinions, so goodness only knows what a woman who’s just given birth may feel. Whether you choose to breastfeed or not, everyone...
Bad Cheese Jokes It is one of the defining moments of being a parent, hearing your child utter their first ever word. Despite huge amounts of parental coaching Jago’s first word turned out not to be mum or dad but ‘cheese’. It is possible...
There has been a fair amount of controversy in the world of weaning in the last month after Alicia Silverstone released a video on her website that shows her feeding her eleven month year old son directly from her mouth to his. You can...
Travelling with a toddler is pretty daunting. Not only do you have to survive the flight (12 hours to South Africa in our case) but for a small person they sure pack big. The items we’d earmarked as essential for our visit to the...
You’ve decided on a home water birth – excellent – but how do you prepare for it and what equipment will you need? Nowadays choosing to give birth at home in water is a viable, safe and popular option for most women. 1 –...
When I was a little girl I played outside in my Wendy house, on my swings or my preferred play time activity, making mud-pies! I have never in my life been able to use any kind of game console or in fact any game...
Its a strange thing but I think I am amongst many mothers who never minded being woken up in the night by their newborn babies. That total exhaustion when you have just had an hour or two in bed and are woken for another...
Ok so Studland in Dorset, while lovely, is not what you’d first think of as paradise. It’s not your idilic tropical island with all the warmth and the crystal blue sea and allure of a foreign land anyway. But, if you’re a parent looking...
As most parents soon find out, with a new baby comes a lot of kit and a great deal of it is plastic or melamine. How much of this ends up in landfill is a worrying thought when you consider it’s the next generation...
I recently wrote a blog for Jojo about baby-led and traditional weaning and was surprised by the amount of debate about which was the ‘correct’ method, with parents arguing very strongly for both camps. While most agreed that a mixture of methods was suitable...
Of course with teenage children I’m a little on the old side to have friends having babies, but whilst there is not the rush I knew 10 years ago, there are still a few brave souls pregnant in their 40’s and of course a...
When I found out Amba was going to be born earlier than expected, my heart just shattered. I didn’t know what to expect, I didn’t know how I’d cope. At 29 weeks and weighing 2 pound 5 ounces it was hard for us to...
The last 18 months have been a crazy and remarkable rollercoaster for me. Probably like a lot of you reading this. I fell (very surprisingly but very brilliantly) pregnant on my honeymoon, and in the blink of an eye I had gone from cocktail-sipping,...
Last week the news was full of the new list from The National Trust; 50 things to do before you are 11 3/4 years old. The media responded with plenty of “Signs of the Times” doom and gloom about how the Security Services are not...
A water obsessed road-runner Our son, Jago, is now 15 months old. During the last couple of few weeks he has perfected a freestyle form of walk/running oddly reminiscent of the road-runner cartoon character. This newly discovered mobility has opened up a wide range...
It’s not often in a man’s life, that he is catapulted entirely out of his comfort zone and thrust into an environment where he does not have a central role. Initially, for expecting parents the physiology of childbirth is the great unknown but for...
My son played for AFC Wimbledon today. Is that not every Dad’s and some Mum’s dream? Your child is conceived and within days, in my case at least, your partner is predicting great sporting achievements. Daughters will win Wimbledon a la Chrissie Evett or...
The other day I lost Arthur’s coat – it was a mild day and I had slung it over my bag as we walked back from the park, which means it probably fell off somewhere en route. I do hope some lovely little boy...
If you meet with any new parents in the first few months of parenthood, talk will inevitably turn to weaning. Hours will be spent discussing the merits of baby-led against the traditional puree approach, and vice versa, and usually one will be chosen over...
Of course I know that I am not damaging my boys, but in the days leading up to a business trip I get more and more stressed. It has always been the case. It starts about two weeks before I am due to leave...
So here we are in New York for the March edition of Children’s Club. Myself, Laura and this time Karen as well – her very first time in the Big Apple. Trade at the show has been brisk again and we are all pleasingly...
We have just returned from Whitstable after shooting for our AW12 catalogue. We had a wonderful time, the kids were fantastic, as were the parents… and the fish and chips weren’t bad either! The weather even held out for us! All in all a...
This is the time of year when getting away, or planning to get away, is at the forefront of our minds (although to be honest it was always at the forefront of my mind in Arthur’s first year…) Unfortunately, if you’re not blessed with...
Here at JoJo it is company policy not to recruit our child models through agencies, we prefer to use our customers and employees little ones. So when we decided on Whitstable for the AW12 catalogue shoot the next challenge was to recruit our little...
European Russia stretches from the borders of Belarus and Ukraine to the Ural mountains which are over 1000km east of Moscow. Even without the rest of the Russian Federation it is by far the largest country in Europe so the sales opportunity for JoJo...
These rainbow cookies are a real treat to make. Not only that, but they’re delicious to eat and a delight to look at. Kids can get involved with this recipe as the cookie dough is a cinch to make and coloured marzipan is just...
As I sit here waiting to take off, it’s actually with a certain amount of trepidation. I’m flying to Moscow to meet with a company we are trialling distribution rights with to grow JoJo in Russia. Not something we’ve done before but given the...
In the design department at JoJo we work about 1 year in advance and over the past couple of months I have been busy designing the core ranges for next summer such as all our Breton & twill basics and with that finished I...
Weaning is a big deal, there’s no doubt about it. It’s the first time you have to really think about what you’re putting in your baby that doesn’t involve a bottle or a boob. Having said that, it really isn’t worth getting too stressed...
……..as it turns out, quite like bottoms: everybody has one. However, I’m in the unusual position of having a different one now to the one I had as a younger man (I may have broken this metaphor). I was smacked as a child. Not...
The story of a blue turtle Twenty years ago in the Pacific Ocean 28,000 bath toys fell off a cargo ship. There was a red beaver, a blue turtle, a green frog and a yellow duck. On the packaging in colourful letters were the...
It’s sort of ironic that we, a company whose success is dependent on pro-creation, is now based in a former Catholic convent. I’d like to think that the nuns would have enjoyed our designs and approved of our work ethic and company ethos. May...
It’s done. We are in. Yes, we have finally moved our design and buying office. For the past 12 years we have spent most of our working days (often stretching late into the night) in a lovely space on Bennerley Road in Battersea. This...
Yes it’s completely true. I am in heaven and so are my boys – or at least I think they are but since I have not seen them for two hours I can’t be totally sure. I love my children, I’m passionate about my...
For the past few years I have been a trustee of Nema, our great little charity based in Mozambique. Founded by Amy who runs the lovely Guludo Eco Beach Lodge, we at JoJo help out how we can doing the book keeping supporting health...
I am not usually home in time to see the One Show but recently caught an episode where they were talking about the black squirrel. Not being sure whether this was a very early April fool or some other practical joke, I decided to...
I’ve begun to realise that life with a baby is one bumpy ride of good patches and bad – often nothing to do with the baby but life in general – and that I am now most definitely in a good patch. Casting aside...
One morning, Dilpa who is one of our lovely web team didn’t turn up for work … we soon found out why. Read on to hear her remarkable birth story. We in the Battersea design and marketing office can’t wait to meet little baby...
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| Laura Tenison | JoJo Guest | ||
| Founder & MD | |||
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| Trewin | JoJo Team | ||
| Eco Dad | |||
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| Mark Jeynes | |||
| Head of International Wholesale |
