Monday: Real Nappy Week 2013

This is a little flying visit from me as it’s not only the start of Real Nappy Week 2013 (very exciting stuff!) but also the start of a new school term, which means that I’m stupidly busy! I’ve got a week of getting back into the swing of things with my lovely classes as well as a week of meeting lots of lovely mummies and their cloth-bummed (or wannabe cloth-bummed) babies.

It’s going to be a lot of fun!

So, have you registered for The Great British Nappy Hunt yet? If you haven’t, then you need to get your bum in gear and head on over to their site NOW and get hunting asap as the first hunt closes at 9pm tonight. You’ll be emailed a new hunt clue tomorrow morning if you miss out on this one, so don’t fret too much!

The hunt takes you around different cloth retailer websites each day where you have to search for Billy and find out some information about cloth nappies that you may (or may not have) known before. For new cloth bum mummies, it’s a great way to gather information and for us seasoned pros, there’s still lots to discover and find out! It can be a little tricky at times, but if you go to the Great British Nappy Hunt’s Facebook page you can get a lot of helpful little hints and tips (plus some massively stonkingly HUGE clues!)

There’s also a fantastic game of Clothopoly to get involved with, which (I have to be honest) I’ve not had the time to look at as I’ve only really just got in from work and am stopping for two seconds to type this up for you!

Finally – today, the theme of cloth nappy week is Real Choice. Now, when I was a little cloth-bummed baby, there wasn’t really much of an option at all for parents. You had your bog-standard terry nappy, a choice of coloured tips of nappy pins and some plastic pants. My mum said that she eventually got hold of some pink pants, but that was about it!

Well, the amazing thing about cloth nappies now is that they are incredible. There’s just many choices and you can really accessorise your baby’s bum however you feel fit! If you look back at my older blog posts (look up January posts from 2012) you’ll be able to read about all the different types of nappies that you can get, plus if you take part in The Great British Nappy Hunt , you’ll very quickly see a whole host of wonderful, bright, vibrant and funky nappies that you’ll just HAVE to have.

You’ve been warned!

daisytheclothbummum has written this INCREDIBLY quickly and really hopes that there aren’t a zillion eras in it. Happy Real Nappy Week, everyone!

Charlie Banana Nappy Review

I’m consistently amazed and so thankful for just how supportive most nappy companies are towards people, like myself, that are setting up cloth nappy libraries across the country. It’s tough when you’re on such a small (pretty much non-existent) budget and you’re trying to get a good range of nappies that you can show to people. It’s important to have modern cloth nappies that look nice, as well as easy to use, as people are usually genuinely quite surprised at how funky they are!

So, you can imagine how astounded I was at the generosity of Charlie Banana They sent over an incredibly generous amount of Charlie Banana nappies, some sized and some of their brilliant One-Size nappies. You could probably hear my squeals of delight from down the road when I got the package!

I decided that we had to give the CB’s a really good test and set about prewashing them. Then my little Monkey went and got bug after bug after bug. I decided to wait as I didn’t feel that the horrendous antibiotic mess that his body was creating was a good and fair start to testing them and he wasn’t really in the mood for Mummy taking photos of him!

Luckily, he seems to be much more of his usual self now and everything has settled back down to normal, so testing commenced the other day! I have to say that I’ve been really impressed with these nappies.

Charlie Banana nappies are so simple to use. They are pocket nappies that you can slip either a reusable micoterry insert/soaker into or line with a disposable insert. They are lined with fleece that helps pull the moisture away from the skin and there’s a front panel where you can tuck a disposable pad into, if you choose to use them. The nappies I got sent didn’t have disposable inserts with them, so we only tested the reusable option.

The nappies are remarkably slim-fitting and I was slightly concerned that my mega-widdling toddler would outwee them very quickly, which is what we’re finding with most pockets at the moment. This, happily, wasn’t the case and he lasted a good 2-3 hours before I had to change him. We were out in town during two changes and the great thing about these nappies is that they packed down quite small in my changing bag, which is always a bonus!

I got sent two different types of these nappies. The One-Size nappies have elastic on the inside of the pocket that you can pull to different settings as your baby grows, rather than have poppers on the outside of the nappy to adjust the ‘rise’. This gives a really nice, smooth finish on the front of the nappy and worked really well.

My little Monkey is towards the upper end of the nappy sizing, but I borrowed a baby from a friend (like you do!) and tried the nappy on a smaller setting, which was remarkably easy to do. It didn’t look too bulky and we managed to get it fitting really well.

The other nappies I was sent were sized ones, which can give a better fit but obviously need replacing with larger sizes as your baby grows. Monkey is now in a Large size and they did give a really good fit and lasted very well indeed. He seemed to be especially taken with the hot pink one (!) and they were so slim that I could even put a pair of fairly skinny jeans over the top of the nappies.

I’m really impressed with the Charlie Banana nappies and I know that they’re going to make a great addition to our nappy library. They are funky, the prints that you can get are fantastic (they have a brilliant ‘fashion collection’ that you can buy) and they work really well.

Thank you so much to Charlie Banana for donating these nappies to the nappy library! They are wonderful.

daisytheclothbummum received these nappies as a donation to a nappy library. I was not paid and all word, thoughts and opinions are my own.

Party Baby Fleece Soaker review

Now, another wonderful item that’s been kindly donated to the nappy library has been undergoing extensive testing over the past few weeks.

The lovely Debbie at Party Baby has donated a fab fleece soaker to the library and, as this soaker is a little too small for my Monkey, I asked a friend of mine to have a go with it.

If you’ve not heard of fleece soakers, then you’re – quite frankly – missing a very major cloth nappying trick. Fleece is a miracle fabric that is one of the best things that you can invest in, in my humble opinion. Fleece works like magic, drawing moisture away from the baby and allowing the skin to breathe. It allows the moisture to wick through the fabric and evaporate away, which is rather brilliant.

So, if you don’t like PUL waterproof covers (especially at night) then fleece (or a wool cover) are a good idea to try. You can get soakers, which are like little shorts that cover the nappy, longies (trousers) or even fleece sleepsuits.

The gorgeous little soaker that Party Baby sent for the library has been a real hit. My friend used it on her little one overnight, over the top of a fitted nappy (she uses Little Lambs) and it’s been brilliant. There’s been no leaky patches, the fleece comes out of the washing machine almost dry and she’s very impressed with it.

The funny thing about fleece is that it’s one of those things that you really have to try for yourself, to see how great it is and how easily it works. Thank you, Debbie, so much for sending over the soaker from Party Baby. I know it’s going to be very popular in the library!

daisytheclothbummum was sent the soaker as a donation to our nappy library. I did not receive any payment and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Boooootiful Bambooty Nappies: Review

Some of the fluffy post that has landed on my doorstep has, quite literally, taken my breath away. I’m building up the nappy collection for my local nappy library/demo kit and I’ve had some very generous donations from local (and not so local) ladies where they’ve given their stashes of nappies away to help others and those have been amazing!

I’ve also had some very generous donations from various nappy companies and Bambooty have been absolutely incredible! They sent over an amazing array of their lovely and funky nappies for inclusion in the nappy library/ demo kit and I can’t express just how grateful I am.

I got a lovely selection, which included

2 – Small Easy Dry – Teddy/Hootybooty

1 – Medium Easy Night – Trains

1 – Medium Easy Day – Strawberry

1 – Easy One Size (this also gives a good idea of sizing for Large and XL) – Dino

2 – Boosters

1 – Roll of Liners

(apologies for the photos – I’m hoping to get my proper camera working again soon!)

The Easy Dry nappies have the added bonus of coming in their own, really cute, little wetbags – which I think is a lovely and very sensible concept. These very trim nappies have all their boosters sewn in (AIO’s) to make them really easy to put on. The bamboo/cotton/microfibre booster can be flapped outwards to make drying times easier and, I have to say, they dried remarkably quickly.

Little Missy-Clothbum came to our aid again and tested out the smaller nappies for us. Her mummy was very taken with the nappies and absolutely loved the prints! She was quite impressed at how absorbent they were as she generally prefers fitted nappies with wraps and really liked the little wetbags as it made it so simple if you’re out and about and need to change a nappy!

We also tried the Easy Night on her (although she is a little bit on the small side for a Medium at the moment). It just about fitted around her, with some very tight poppering up and lasted all night without any problems at all. These nappies have four sewn in soakers that held a remarkable amount of liquid (little Missy wees a lot at night), and are still really quite trim nappies. Again, this nappy dried in a really short amount of time and is a great addition to any nappy collection.

I was excited that my little Monkey was able to test out the Easy One Size nappy and got it prewashed as quickly as I possibly could. This nappy had a dinosaur print on it, which my little man loved as his favourite jigsaw at the moment is a gorgeous Melissa & Doug dinosaur one that he got for his birthday!

The Easy One Size has the usual BTP poppers on the front of the nappy to alter the size, which means that it can fit your baby all the way through their cloth-nappying time. It has two sewn in absorbant flaps that you can pull outwards to make drying nice and quick and also has a snap-in booster that you can take out if not needed. We used this during the day with no problems whatsoever – even during his heaviest wetting times. The nappy performed brilliantly, there was no leaking around the leg cuffs and it looked very slim under his clothes, which is always a bonus.

Thank you, Bambooty , for sending over such a gorgeous and great range of nappies. They make an excellent addition to any nappy stash and I can’t wait to loan them out/ demo them to more people!

daisytheclothbummum was sent the range of Bambooty nappies as a donation to our nappy library/demo kit. I did not receive any payment for this and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

It’s the thought that counts: The lovely Eve!

I’ve been using cloth nappies for over a year now and, I have to be honest, the excitement and thrill that I used to get from receiving fluffy post in the mail has waned a little. It was bound to, really, as I now have a good range of nappies and can’t really justify getting many more. Well, not until Monkey is outgrowing everything and I can enjoy getting hold of some larger, toddler nappies and training pants!

So, I’m not exactly jaded – but it takes quite a lot to get me very excited and to make me smile nowadays. God – doesn’t that make me sound miserable! I promise I’m not…

However, there was something I got recently that put THE biggest grin on my face. Something that was just so thoughtful and had such a lovely, personal touch, that I just had to share it with you.

The lovely Eve at Baba + Boo was giving away some goody bags recently and I was one of the lucky ladies to get one. I was actually quite excited about getting a goody bag, but it was what was inside it that made it stand out as being so special.

Not only did Eve put into the bag a lovely, spotty nappy that my little man utterly adores (he seriously does – he actually goes and grabs it from the changing unit when it’s time for a new nappy) but she also put in a very clever, very thoughtful ‘Mummy Survival Kit’.

This was so gorgeous! It was a very clever little kit that she had obviously taken a lot of time and care over and it showed just how Eve likes to put the personal touch into everything that she does.

In it was the following (I’m going to use Eve’s words to explain each one!):

Tissue… to soak up the tears (yours and your little one’s)
Cotton Ball… for when you can’t hear yourself think.
Marbles… to replace the ones that you will lose
Kisses (little sweets)…. for back up – you will be giving that many away
Matchsticks… need no explanations other than no sleep and eyelids
String… some spare for when you reach the end of your tether
Penny… for all your thoughts…and because you will need every one.
Tea Bag… to remind you to have 5 minutes to yourself.

I loved this kit. I really did. I’ve read and reread the little note many times and it’s consistently bringing a smile to my face. Thank you so much to the loved Eve at Baba + Boo for our lovely goody bag!

The latest, exciting news from them is that their gorgeous nappies have been shortlisted in the Mother and Baby Awards 2012/2013, which is wonderful news! Best of luck, Eve!

I made this! (Said with lots of excitement!)

I’m going to put up a proper blog post over the next few days, but I just had to break from my weekend to share this with you.

I had THE most lovely day yesterday! I went along to a nappy-class run by the lovely Zoe at Crafty Baba . I have always wanted to have a go at making my own cloth nappies, but really didn’t think that my sewing skills were up to the task.

I have a long way to go before it’s perfect for Monkey and I’ve got the pattern that suits him the best, but how’s this for a first attempt? I’m so impressed! I found out a few things about nappy making that I’ll let you in on, but I’d say that if you can – go on a course. It’s brilliant!

Fluffy Battleground: Toddler vs. the whole nappy stash…

Ok. So I’ve just recently come to discover something quite startling.

Something that has made me have to stop and utterly rethink how I do things.

Something that is generating a bit more washing!

Something that is changing how I go about life with my lovely, fluffy, cloth nappies.

“Well? What is it? What is this astounding revelation that has come to pass?” I hear you cry…

Erm…

Ahem…

It’s…kinda….well…

Toddlers really can WEE!

Oh, oh my goodness! They can really, really REALLY wee. Ok, so my little monkey isn’t totally quite a toddler – he’s more of a cruiser at the moment (although he did stand up on his own for the first time the other day, which was AMAZING!)

Anyway, I digress. Yes, oh deary me. The nappies that we had come to rely on are just not cutting it anymore. He can wee through them in a nanosecond and it’s, quite frankly, an absolute pain in the backside. Suddenly the majority of our pocket nappies have been rendered utterly redundant and I’m having to rethink how we use our nappies completely.

GAH!

GRRRRRR!

ARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!

I’m sure that there’s quite a few of you sat there, reading this and pretty much laughing at/with me. You’ve probably been there… had the lovely moment where you realise, a mere few minutes after changing your little darling that they’re absolutely sodden with wee….and you have NO MORE CLEAN TROUSERS/ SHORTS IN THE HOUSE.

It’s quite headbanging-against-wall-repeatedly annoying!

So, what’s the solution? Come on then, Daisy – surely you should know…you are, after all, the self-proclaimed nappy-blogging queen…

Errrr…

Well – I think I’m getting there! I’ve found that switching to fitted nappies with a good wrap over the top seems to do the trick. Most pockets are finding the sudden wee torrents a little challenging (although there are a couple of brands, including Baba+Boo and Rumparooz that have coped remarkable well). I’ve found that using fleece liners has made the problem worse at times as all they do is repel the sudden gush of wee, bouncing it back so it leaks out of the leg holes really quickly. Using fleecy liners, like the Little Lamb ones, seems to do the trick right now. My lovely Itti Bitti nappies are coping most of the time, but he’s even managed to beat the bamboo at times.

Have any of you suddenly found your baby turning from a normal, run-of-the-mill widdler into a full blown heavy wetter? It’s interesting that this change seems to have come at a time when little Monkey is now more in control of his own body. He’s cruising, starting to stand independently and is turning into a proper little boy.

It’ll be potty training before I know it… Eeek!!!

A cloth bum mum blogging about disposables? In a good way? Really!

Now, before you all start to gang up in mobs with pitchforks, screaming at me – saying

HOW DARE YOU….How dare you write about non-cloth nappies…

I need to let you know a thing or two!

Firstly, don’t worry. Don’t fret. My cloth nappies are still very much in the house and, no, I’m not converting to the dark side – I promise. In fact, I’m having serious cloth withdrawal at the moment and I cannot stress enough how much I want to be using them again!

But…and it’s a big BUT. There are a few times in life where cloth nappies just really aren’t practical or applicable, at all. And we’ve found ourselves smack bang in the middle of one.

This is also the reason why I’ve been rather rubbish at blogging over the past few weeks, for which I apologise. There just haven’t been enough hours in the day and I don’t have a magic remote for freezing time! God – wouldn’t that be fab – those would make me a FORTUNE!

Anyway – back to my post before I go off on a flight of fantasy about how fab magic remotes are. Oooh – you could even customise them and make them sparkly and … and….and…

Soooo. Yes. We’ve found ourselves in a situation where cloth nappies just aren’t an option for a week or so. Our little Master Clothbum has had an operation which has left him with a catheter. In this case we have to do something called ‘double-nappying’

This effectively means that he has to have one nappy that has a hole cut out in the middle (with micropore-type tape around it to seal off the edges) which a catheter can stick through. Then a second nappy goes over the top. This just helps to keep everything as dry as possible so that he can heal. It’s only for a short period of time, but it’s made me very aware of a few things:-

I would NEVER cut a hole in a normal disposable nappy. Those horrendous crystals that come out are full of nasty chemicals which I don’t want to risk getting ANYWHERE near my baby’s skin.
Also, they swell up massively when full of urine, which is a worry when there’s an open-ended catheter there. NO thank you! Even though the nurse specialists tried to reassure me that it would be absolutely fine, I just wasn’t buying it. They are sealed for a reason. They can cause chemical burns on skin. Yuck!

That I would never double-nappy with normal disposables. There are studies indicating that they keep the temperature around the testicles too high, which could be one of the factors contributing to the increase in male infertility. This isn’t proven, yet, but why would I risk that? One nappy would be bad enough, but to layer two on him just isn’t an option I’d consider.

That even though we’re using the most natural disposables that we can, nappy rash is creeping in. I’ve never really seen it before and I don’t want to again. My lovely, breathable cloth nappies are just so much better for his skin!

That the nurses at the hospital, brilliant as they are, don’t really have much of a clue when it comes to other nappies that can be used. They didn’t once mention alternatives such as Naty Naturecare nappies (that are a corn-based filling), Moltex nappies or cloth nappies that can be used for the top nappy. I had to show the nurse what I was talking about – and she looked utterly confused.

That it’s just astounding how much waste disposable nappy users create. I know that I’ve blogged about this before, but what I’ve said has been based more on facts/figures that my own personal experience, as I really don’t have much. We do use a disposable at night (at times) but we hardly have anything to throw away at the end of a week. I’ve been horrified at just how much waste we’ve created in just five days. It’s awful to think how much it’d be over a whole birth-to-potty period. I know we’re using double the amount of nappies for this short period, but that’s the equivalent of two week’s worth of waste. It’s quite shocking.

This whole experience has really cemented my belief that cloth nappies are the way forward. Well, that cloth nappies should have never been taken over by disposables in the way that they have. Yes, they’re very useful things for when you’re on holiday, but cloth is so easy to use, so economical and so SO much better for the environment that it saddens me that more people don’t use them.

However. And this is a really important however. Cloth, in this situation, just wouldn’t work for the inner nappy. It’s providing a function like a bandage – protecting him. So, for that reason I’m very grateful that some sensible companies have created good, more natural, alternatives that I’ve been able to buy quite easily from local shops.

Roll on us being back in cloth properly! Our bins, bin men and our finances will be SO much happier!

gNappy Giveaway Winners!

As is typical of life – as soon as the weather shows ANY sign of looking decent, Mr Monkey Clothbum comes down with a streaming cold! So, that was our decision made for the day – lots and lots of messy play and playing with toys at home whilst Monkey (and Mummy, actually) got better.

He’s now at that stage where I can’t get him easily interested in anything – HE has to decide that he it’s worth his time. So, over the past few days I have been trying to get him playing with the ‘hat’ so that we could do our gNappy GIVEAWAY He just wasn’t interested in putting his hands inside it at all. Lots of other things went in ….

But no paper was coming out!

But today was obviously the day! I handed him over the toy and he went straight for it, picking out two pieces of paper pretty quickly!

I had to grab them off him rather fast as he then decided that he had to get all the others out and spend time playing with each one – with a very serious, studious expression on his face!

So! Yes! We have our two lovely, lucky winners! Well done to you both and I’ll be in contact to get address details!

Thank you to everyone who took part and thank you so much to the lovely people at gNappies for letting me have these wonderful nappies to giveaway!

Return of the Weekend Catch-Up!

Well, I’m sat here at my computer, kind of wondering where to begin. You see – I have so much to write about and so much to say that I’m almost at a standstill. What do I put first?

I suppose THE thing that most of you want to know about is my fantastic gNappy giveaway! It closed yesterday at 5pm and I have to say a very big thank you to all your lovely people who took part in it. Mr Monkey Clothbum will be having fun waving bits of paper around soon as he does the draw, so keep an eye on the blog and you’ll find out who the two lucky winners are.

Best of luck to you all!

Next, is an apology! When I first started this blog I was on maternity leave. I think that part of me missed my job (I’m a teacher) and I used the blog as a way to get information out there and as a fantastic way of communicating with people. It turned from a small little blog designed for a few friends who were interested in using cloth nappies into one that lots of people have subscribed to! I’d never really thought about it becoming bigger than a few people, so that really surprised me! I have to say that I’m always amazed and very touched when people email me with either comments or questions – and I try my best to help out where I can.

So, I went back to work in April and I wasn’t 100% prepared for just how shattered I’d be at night! Blogging went slightly on the back burner and for that, I apologise. However, I have spared you the joys of reading the ramblings of a mad woman – so for that I reckon you should all be eternally grateful!

Being back at work has been challenging but very rewarding. It’s been lovely being back in the classroom and Monkey thoroughly enjoys his nursery, which is great. He often claps with excitement when we walk up to the nursery door in the mornings and is always incredibly excited to see his key worker, bless him! Nursery has provided him with lots of social interaction and it’s so funny to watch him copying his peers. The latest thing that he’s attempting is blowing kisses – something that is, apparently rather difficult. The trick is to avoid hitting yourself in the face when you come back in for another kiss!!!

I have a few product reviews waiting in the pipeline to go onto the blog, which you’ll be seeing pop up in the next week or so. Due to this wonderful Summer weather that we’re not having, I’ve had a few fantastic sinus and chest infections, so that’s also made me slower with getting things on here for you. What IS it with this weather at the moment? I actually nearly put the heating on yesterday – which is mental considering that it’s mid July!

Anyway – so, yes – it’s now the Summer holidays and I promise that I’ll try to be a better blogger! We’ve got an immensely busy Summer ahead of us, with Monkey having his first birthday – so it’s going to be lots of fun! Hope you’re all making the most of your weekend, even if it is drizzling with rain like it is here.

I was contemplating going to the zoo today…hmmmm….