Shopping for a baby is not easy at all, especially when it's not your baby, but Baby and Company…read moremakes the task easier. Since they are a specialized store for babies, everything you need or want is there. I like how they carry several (not a lot, but just enough) brands to choose from ranging from mid to high-end. They've got bottles, clothes, strollers, diapers, bath tubs, cribs and other baby essentials, as well as toys and accessories. I've also canvassed around for baby things for my own child and they have quite a good selection. The best part is that they carry the regular SM prices, without having to go through the hustle and bustle of SM malls. They also have a baby registry and offer gift cards, making it a great place for baby shower/baptism/birthday registries. :) I know where I'll be shopping in the next coming months!

What I love about Baby and Company is that it has both the expensive, hard-to-find brands and the…read moremore affordable ones all in one store. From bottles to creams to toys, I have a fair amount of options in one store. It's not the most complete but it's got well-curated stock that mothers will appreciate. So, whether I'm shopping for my daughter and looking for best quality item on the shelf or shopping for another kid who won't notice whether I got them a Fisher Price or Lamaze gift, I can find it there. I also don't mind that I can use my SM Advantage card in a store in Powerplant Mall. LOL I always feel like I one-upped Powerplant or something when I do that!

When it comes to my niece and nephew, I err on the safe side. Even if there are many brands…read morespecializing in children's goods, I usually patronize the ones that my mom bought us when we were young. One brand that our family has trusted for a long time now is Enfant. I can attest to the quality of their products because some of their clothes that my mom bought me when I was a kid are still usable up to this day. I like going to the Enfant store because everything I need to buy for my niece and nephew can be found there. Aside from kids' apparels, they also sell baby bottles, toiletries, bags, and baby-friendly furniture. I like their baby clothes because they are made of 100% cotton and are hypoallergenic. I wish, though, that they sell clothes that are more in tune with the modern times, so to speak. Another good reason to buy from this store is the price of their products. I was able to buy a sturdy stroller for my niece for less than PHP 4,000.00. Now, I think that's a bargain.

When you become a godmother, it's time for you to look for places to buy baby clothes and baby…read moreaccessories. You can't just rely on the sales that happen seldom. You will have to come to reality by accepting the fact that anything for the baby is expensive! Whenever my friends and I give gifts to a new mother / friend, we try to pass by Enfant to check out their merchandise. First we ask our mother / friend what she needs for the baby and being the practical friends, we split the cost of something big. Like for example before when my boss gave birth, we bought her a crib in Enfant. Since we were 15 people, the price of the crib divided amongst us wasn't so bad. I think it's the best way to help the mother / friend. You give something that she really needs, which lessens her costs. This is really a mommy's heaven!

I bought a 200 cm linnmon table. The item is perfect it fits my budget BUT they gave me a missing…read moreleg. There's suppose to be 5 legs for a table this long in the middle but they didn't give me. It turns out they edited the image from the website and removed the 5th leg and sells "extra" legs for this kind of table. WHAT A HASSLE! delivery charges are also expensive! They didn't do anything about my complaint and asked me to just buy the leg and have it picked up or delivered (with delivery fee almost the same price as the extra leg) So please beware. They edited out a table leg from other 200cm tables too. Check ikea website for the original images

THIS STORE DOESNT TAKE ACCOUNTABILITY AT ALL. Please save yourself from the hassle... the quality…read moreof their furniture is OK but they have the worst customer support! no matter how mych you complain, no action at all on their behalf! So please buy somewhere else and not from them.

If I could win a prize for being a loyal customer of some store here in the Philippines, this store…read morewould certainly be Mothercare. I lost track of how many times I've been there since I moved to Manila being 5-6 months pregnant. When I was feeling about to pop with the big tummy, all I wanted was a time saver store where I could find everything I needed - for me and for the baby! The convenience is the main reason why I like Mothercare. There you can find children's clothes, strollers, cribs, changing tables, baby bouncers and rockers, maternity clothes, bottles, pacifiers, teddy bears, bath tubes, nursing pads, post-partum belly wraps and so on. I've bought many clothes for my baby there. My maternity nightdress is also from Mothercare and I love using it to breastfeed. Here I share some useful tips: TIP 1- For some products, the price is almost the same than in similar stores. Other items can have prohibitive prices! So COMPARE prices. The set with bed seets, bumpers and pillow, for example, is very expensive. Almost the same price than the moses, what doesn't make sense to me. TIP 2 - They sell some Medela products, which are quite difficult to find here in Manila. Instead of going to Medela House, in Quezon City, you can buy breast pumps, bottles and so on at Mothercare : ) I love this facility! And I love Medela. TIP 3 - They sell Mustela products too, so you don't have to look for a kiosk in the mall. TIP 4 - They sell Belly Bandit post-partum wraps. TIP 5 - Don't throw your purchase receipts away. When you reach 30k you can apply for their loyalty card and enjoy some discounts and promos.

If you're a mom or a mom-to-be, you must visit Mothercare. It's like every mother's rite of…read morepassage. You'll find all the basic things you need from birth to toddler years. Whether you're looking for a portable bath tub, a moses basket, a high chair or a complete set of bedding for your new crib, they literally have everything. They have great mommy products as well -- from comfortable maternity clothes to belly bandits, cocoa butter to prevent stretch marks or nursing bras to fit that ever-growing new body. For first-time mommies, I suggest you get the frogsuit sets as these are super effective for getting newborns to sleep in their first few days outside the womb. Even if they are a bit expensive, these are super worth it because of the quality of the clothes. Here's a tip: make sure you shop there during Christmas season and Halloween, they have cute costume frogsuits and onesies -- you can get reindeer designs or make your kids into little elves -- really adorable!

The UK toy store Early Learning Centre was opened in Greenbelt 5 early last year. It has a lot of…read morecool items for kids aged 0 to 6 years. The store divides its selection into several categories: Action& Adventure, Art & Creativity, Baby & Toddler, Let's Pretend, Music & Learning, Puzzles & Games; and Sports & Activity. These categories should already give you an idea of how extensive their product lines are. Little boys will enjoy the wide selection of cars, dinosaurs, farms, basketball games and more. Little girls, on the other hand, can enjoy paint, coloring materials, cooking items, dolls and more. Then there are the gender-neutral toys like wooden block games, flash cards, musical toys, learning packs and others. I've bought my 3-year-old girl to this place several times and she enjoys being able to freely pick up a toy and look at it. This makes it easier for me to buy toys for her because I see exactly how interested she is in each toy before I consider purchasing it. ELC is one of the few toy stores around that actually manufacture their own brand. Their toys follow European standards and are guaranteed to be hazard-free and non-toxic. Though priced a bit more than what you'd find in other toy stores, I think it's really worth it for the peace of mind and the brand's focus on child development.

I've always been a Hobbes & Landes fan even before having a kid. Like comic book stores and…read morecollectible toy store, this is my idea of a Big Girl's Toy Shop. I love all the geeky things I can find here, from the new Monopoly game to some science sets (I've always wanted my own chemistry set as a kid but no one ever thought of giving me such a geeky gift). Now that I always have a toddler in tow, I have to stop by Hobbes & Landes every time we go to Greenbelt. Aside from muscle memory at work, I really just love taking my daughter there because the little Lego table keeps her occupied for a good solid hour. When she's done playing, she can always look at the miniature animal models that she loves. And while she's busy looking at the fish tank or playing with the Legos, mommy can go back to her days of geekery and look at the latest cool toys they have to offer.

It's my personal mantra, that any gifts that I give to kids are educational and something they can…read moreuse for long time. This store is something that helps me fulfill this mantra. You can pick up wide variety of educational toys, be it the Lego or the puzzle games. But my personal favorite is the wide variety of science themed toys that this place sells. My best pick so far has been a basic telescope (cost me around 3,000 peso) that I gifted to a friend's child. It was basic and affordable enough to kindle interest around stars, planet and galaxy. My second best pick would be a binocular (around1000 peso) which was a great gift to enable a kid to explore things around. Also, if you happen to look around, this place also sells craft materials like clay's, paint materials, art kits that you assemble and explore the creative side of your kids.