I popped into Charlie Barley to look for a Christmas gift for my 6 month old nephew. I was drawn…read moreto a really cute, fire-engine red rain jacket as soon as I entered, but alas, it was too big. The prices here weren't too bad - some children's clothing stores can be a bit outrageous, I've recently discovered - but these cute styles were affordable. Most of Charlie Barley's stock was, indeed, clothing, although some basic items were available at the rear of the store: baskets, towels and baby bottles. I'd recommend shopping here if you're looking for baby-to-toddler size clothing for the smartly-dressed child.

The coolest children's clothes and shoes in town. Probably also the most ridiculously expensive…read moretoo, with a whopping £49.99 for a linen shirt and trouser set, £36.99 jelly shoes, or a ludicrous £92.99 for a pair of D & G Junior jeans. Yes, that's right, £92.99!! I had trouble justifying £25 for a cute rockabilly dress in Camden the other week and would never be rich (or stupid) enough to spend a ton on a pair of jeans that'll last a 9month old five minutes. After you've had a sit down and come to terms with your financial inadequacy, check out the slightly cheaper items like the dinosaur rain jackets and matching dungaree sets, cute little hats and tees. But be warned, fellow shoppers. This place bites.

Not having any kids or maternal yearnings, I rarely have a reason to shop at baby and toddler…read moreoutlets. If I did though, I'd probably spend quite a lot of time in Yummies. The board outside invites you to 'Follow the trail of magic and sparkle' an the staff seem to genuinely like children. Always a bonus, I know! Aimed at babies, toddlers, pre-school and youngsters, they sell dolls, wooden toys, building blocks, mobiles and blankets as well as cute and colourful baby grows, trousers, tees, jumpers and winter warmers. Wait! Did I just say 'cute and colourful' in reference to kids! Damn. Maybe that clock has just started ticking...

I think Yummies is a great name for a baby-themed shop. It did, indeed offer an assortment of…read morenon-edible yummies...Things I'll be picking up before Christmas to send to my little nephew in Canada. Baby clothing and many of the toys were made from 100% organic fabrics - wool, cotton and even bamboo. Yummies also sells washable nappies and staff are willing to answer questions regarding use and care. Décor for baby rooms included various trinkets (wooden ones were usually bamboo) and unique, multi-coloured mobiles. Other unique gift ideas included children's world music CDs and personalised lullaby CDs. For parents who've chosen a less popular baby name, these can be ordered from Yummies staff. However, by the end of the afternoon's perusal, I was leaning toward some knit booties and matching trousers - made from natural, organic cotton, of course.

Cheeky Monkeys is a lovely children's store in Rottingdean and my personal favourite, this is where…read moreI come when I need to buy something for my nephew and I'm flat out of ideas. There's lots of original ideas for gifts in here from the award winning mini and maxi micro scooters to Mini IQ books. There's also traditional toys that hark back to a simpler time: wooden animals, knitted booties, lots of classic books, bears, puzzles and handmade clothes. It makes me wish I was 2 again. A lovely seafront location where they also organise 'Boddler's' groups for mums and Toddlers to break loose.

From the owner: TOYS; Automoblox, Wooden Toys, LEGO, Plush Toys, Fraggle Rock, Dr Seuss, Micro Scooters…read more BOOKS; From Miffy to Harry Potter; Tin Tin to Where's Wally and everything in between. GIFTS; For newborn and above. Hand-Made, Locally crafted gifts for children of all ages. PICK'n'MIX!

This really is an amazing shop! It sells everything for the under 5s and you can even get their…read morehair trimmed while you are here. Toys, good quality shoes, adorable clothes its all here!

You know when you see those kids that are casually but precisely dressed like in an advertising…read morecampaign? Well, I'm guessing their parents shop at Toby Tiger. A tiny store in the heart of the North Laines, it sells a breath-taking selection of beautiful, brightly coloured romper suits, pyjamas, skirt, dresses, trousers, tees, hats, mittens, wellies and blankets. Some of them are in tasteful stripes and spots that would compliment Cath Kidston homeware, others are in simple rainbow shades of blue, pink, yellow, green, etc. They also have a selection of tasteful printed garments with dinosaurs, robots, pink apples and embroidered slogans like Drama Queen and Cheeky Monkey. To buy one or two items would set you back £15 to £50. To buy a whole wardrobe that would make your kids look like they're young, hip and advertising-worthy? You might need to remortage.

A friend of mine used to work in here, so despite having absolutely no need for anything that they…read moresell, I used to pop in and out quite a lot and just couldn't help myself from nosing around and ooh-ing and aah-ing over all the little clothes and toys As far as babies and kiddies' shops go, this one is a little bit more special than most. Rather than the cheap, plasticky tat that a lot of toy shops sell for kids, most of the toys sold here are wooden, painted in lovely bright colours and seem to be really good quality. Their 'Charlie and Lola' stuff is very cute too especially the t-shirts with funny little slogans. Because the stuff is good quality, branded, or both, expect to pay a bit more for it. But unlike some of the toys out there, these aren't going to break in five minutes flat. The classic wooden designs also mean that they're unlikely to go out of fashion. Because, y'know, there are so many fashion-conscious toddlers about nowadays...

Jo Jo Maman Bebe is a pretty typical baby-themed shop. Racks of baby clothing, ranging from onesies…read moreto fancy dress coats at fairly expensive prices. Basic outfits ran from 12 - 18 each. A tiny hat was 4, and some knit booties were 10. Also available are toys and books; including several bath toys and accessories. Jo Jo offers a maternity section at the back of the shop, including breastfeeding bras, pyjamas and casual attire. Along the ground was a comfy-looking body pillow. I remember when my younger sister was pregnant, she was always looking for one of those...Maybe next time. In summary, I wasn't overly impressed with this shop. There wasn't anything unique about it, and things were a tad pricey.

Jojo Maman Bébé makes me so homesick for France- the cute name, the window displays with french…read morecursive writing, all the lovely babies clothes in practical shapes and striped fabric! They have brilliant cashmere babies clothes and hats that I want in my size. And the maternity wear is so reasonably priced and good quality! This is the perfect place to stock up on good maternity basics- skirts, trousers, t-shirts in every length and colour that you could need to get you through nine months of bellydom. They have all sorts of practical baby things as well- blankets, mobiles, toys, diaper bags. I checked out their website after I went in to see the quality and was so impressed by the even larger range of goodies online, I happily ordered a gift for my friend to be sent to her door.

Gossypium is a fabric and cotton shop, specialising in cotton throws, clothes and the like…read more Ethically made, sourced and fairtrade, this is a great place to pick anything you need in terms of cotton. It seems a strange thing to focus on: I'm never sure what to look for when going in. However, it is a great place if you know what they stock. I had a quick look in when looking for some new clothes, and found Gossypium's stuff very nice. It looks very good on, although it is a bit stiff (100% cotton isn't very stretchy), and is a bit on the expensive side. Nevertheless, it is nicely made, often with quirky designs and the like, and a great addition to any wardrobe. I can't quite recommend Gossypium as much as I'd like to: the fairtrade and ethical sourcing here is commendable, but it also means you can push the price up. This is actually one of my bigger niggles: why do have to pay so much more for ethically sourced, fairtrade and organic stuff? I can't cost £2-3 each time to do all of that! Anyway, I like the sentiments, and the stuff on offer is great, if a little out of price range.

Selling organic, fair trade cotton yoga wear, bed lined and kids clothes, Gossypium is the kind of…read moreplace that attracts and reviles me at the same time. Obviously fair trade and organic = good. You can imagine that the people that shop there regularly have lovely, ethical, happy family lives. But something about the fact that they specialise in yoga wear, and that in my fantasy of the clientèle everyone is shiny and ethical and liberal, and probably bakes organic cookies with their happy healthy kiddies at the weekend, after picking them up from their bassoon lesson and taking them for a walk in the woods just makes me feel a bit sick. It's just a bit too smug. But then this negative reaction is probably just a manifestation of my unresolved middle-class guilt issues. That's one of the problems of being liberal and having a humanities degree from an era where everything is post-modern and 'meta' - you develop liberal sensibilities, but alongside it you develop a self-critical, self-reflexive awareness which means that you simultaneously feel smug and hate yourself for it. And then you analyse it in circular thought processes like these. It's very dull, and going into shops like Gossypium just dredges it all up when I could have been happy enough watching Gossip Girl and thinking about nothing. Er... anyway, back to Gossypium. The other thing about the target market is that they generally have a bit of money to spend, and, as part of their ethical lifestyles are more likely to splash out on a yoga top that will last them longer and therefore be less wasteful. As a result you are looking at about £20 for a plain tee, £40 for a patterned top, and so on. Plus they have started doing these boxer shorts which they dye after making them, rather than dying the fabric then putting them together - something about a less wasteful process, but the end result is, they look second hand. A bit gross for underwear items.