Heinz Family and Moonpig have teamed up to create an exclusive collection of cards for new parents and carers that celebrate the highs, lows and the many ‘poonamis’ of those initial 12 months of parenting. The exclusive card collection launches this September, marking the month when most babies are born in the UK.
A first “smile” that’s actually trapped wind. Poonamis in public. Racking up five hours of blissful, uninterrupted sleep for the first time in months. Moments like this from a parent’s first year – whether joyful, hilarious or unforgettable (sometimes for all the wrong reasons) – have inspired Heinz Family and Moonpig to create the exclusive collection of cards for new parents.
Sometimes heart-warming, sometimes funny, and always relatable, the cards feature seven Smilestones, all inspired by 1,000 real-life parents and carers who took time out (possibly from picking food off the floor, wiping up wee and putting on the millionth wash load of the day) to share with Heinz Family their most memorable moments from their first year of parenting.
UK’S TOP 10 NEW PARENT SMILESTONES[2]:
- Nodding and smiling while receiving unwanted baby advice (45%)
- The first time you got five hours’ uninterrupted sleep (42%)
- The first public ‘poonami’ (38%)
- Laughing and/or crying with your baby together at the same time (37%)
- When your baby smiles for the first time but it’s actually gas (35%)
- Your baby putting something they shouldn’t in their mouth (35%)
- Successfully managing to make your baby burp after a feed (34%)
- Your baby vomiting near you (but not on you) (33%)
- Your baby refusing to eat the food they loved the previous week (33%)
- Finally working out how to unfold the buggy for the first time (32%)
The new card range features seven unique designs each depicting a funny, heart-warming or challenging parenting scenario, or Smilestone. From experiencing your first “poonami” to food fights at dinner time, each card showcases some of the real-life moments new parents can expect to enjoy with their bundle of joy.
Further research delving into those early months of parenting found that the all-consuming new relationship with your baby can have effects on relationships with partners, your own parents, and friendships. Almost half of new parents and carers (47%) say their relationship with their partner has improved – maybe helped by the fact that a third (33%) of new parents said seeing their partner as a parent brought them the most joy in the first year of their baby’s life. However, more than two fifths (45%) say that it hasn’t been easy to maintain old friendships with those who don’t have children[3].
Despite this, bonding with their baby is what brought the most joy to new parents (72%) in the first year of their baby’s life, while 71% said it was all about seeing their baby grow and develop new skills.
So this September, when friends or family celebrate the arrival of their first baby, give them a taste of what’s to come by sending them a special Smilestone card from Heinz Family and Moonpig.
Manya Gupta, Marketing Executive for Heinz Family, commented: “Our first ever card collection celebrates the messy reality of new parenting, and we know that many new parents and carers will be able to relate, because let’s face it, there’s no such thing as perfection when it comes to new parenthood!
“We’re delighted to team up with Moonpig to launch the collection – the relatable and funny humour of their cards felt like the perfect fit to tell the story of the first year of parenting! We hope our cards will bring new parents joy and show them that they’re not alone, we understand and we’re all in it together.”
Dale Boreham Senior Cards Design Manager for Moonpig commented: “The Smilestones card range was a great opportunity for us to shine a light on some of the more “real” parenting milestones and gave us the chance to create a range of fun & relatable cards.
We hope that the likes of the poonami card design or Chundersaurus-rex card will resonate with new parents whilst also bringing back some funny memories to all those who shop the range”.
Heinz Family and Moonpig are also inviting parents and carers to share their own Smilestone moments and three lucky individuals will win a week’s worth of Heinz Family products and a £100 Moonpig voucher. Head over to their Instagram pages to enter from the 22nd September (until 29th September).
The Heinz Family and Moonpig ‘Smilestones’ collection will be on sale at Moonpig.com here from 22nd September 2022, just in time for all those new babies, parents and carers, retailing at £3.49 each.