A New Little Person

I haven't been thinking much about nappies lately or been online much. At the start of January we found out we were expecting another baby so I've been suffering a bit from tiredness and evening sickness. The sickness seems to be easing but unfortunately not the tiredness. On Monday morning we had our 12 week scan. I half expected them not to find anything, as this pregnancy still doesn't seem quite real to me, but they did. There was just the one baby thankfully (we don't have enough space for 3 children in our house!). Baby measured spot on 12 weeks and 2 days and it was great to see baby bouncing around. In fact the midwife had a hard time measuring the head circumference as baby just wouldn't stay still. We could see all the body parts on the scan and I am always amazed at how clear the image is. It looked like baby was waving at us and showing off all their brand new fingers. We could even see the line of the jaw bone at one point. As much as I would love to have another baby like Evan (he sleeps, eats everything, and is so angelic whenever we are out), I already think this one is going to be completely different.
We are so excited to be expecting another baby and although most of Evan's nappies are still in a good condition and can be used again, others have become a bit worn. I can't wait to invest in some brand new cloth nappies.

Christmas 2009

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and Happy New 2010! Sorry it's a bit late. I do appreciate it is now February..

We had an eventful Festive period. At the begnning of December we took a weeks holiday and visited Las Vegas! I know what your thinking - Not really a child friendly holiday destination - and I would agree, however Evan loved it. Evan was great on the plane despite spending the best part of a day traveling and hanging around airports. Whilst in Vegas, he even got to meet Father Christmas, which I think he found just a bit unnerving. He also enjoyed watching the gondolas in one of the hotels in fact we had a hard job getting him away from them. Probably by about the 4th day he was mostly in the right time zone and we tried to help him adjust by keeping to his routine best we could. Although he did frequently wake in the night. 

While we were away, we took some flat nappies with us which we used in the night. Every morning we rinsed them out and let them dry over the bath. We did use disposables when we were out during the day but at least the few flat nappies we had reduced the amount of waste we threw away. We didn't have any really messy flat nappies to contend with as they were only ever wet. This is good as the hotel laundry service was quite expensive!

We spent Christmas at home, just the three of us. It was great this year as Evan was really becoming aware of what was happening. He really got into opening all his presents and enjoyed hearing all the stories and songs about Santa (or DaTa as he liked to call him, which is pretty close). We also let him munch away on some chocolate and that soon became his most over used word. Next year will be even better as he will be old enough to really grasp the idea of Christmas.
 

Week 8

I'm so pleased today. Evan has finally walked on his own! As he's been a bit late to get walking, the poor little guy has been back and forth hospitals having tests and being poked and prodded to be assessed for a motor delay. It would seem that the only thing stopping him from walking earlier has been a lack of confidence. I'm just so proud of him. Time to get him a proper pair of shoes.

 

We tried out an all in one nappy this week, the Lollipop PopNGro. I had heard some good reviews about this nappy, but I've always been a bit doubtful about all in one nappies and wondered how successful they would be at preventing leaks. It's a birth to potty nappy, so getting the right settings on the nappy when using for the first time on a toddler takes some trial and error. Initially I tried the PopNGro on the biggest setting with both the extra booster pads, but it leaked around the gussets. Not to be put off, I tried it again. This time on the middle setting and with just the microfibre booster. The nappy seemed to work well with no dampness around the gusset. Unfortunately however poop leaked out the leg and we had to do a pretty hasty nappy change! This is always my concern with all in one nappies as our Nature Babies nappies always leak after a poop but the separate cover always catches any mess and keeps Evan's clothes clean (Evan rarely needs a change of clothes).The cover can then be washed with a wipe or handwashed quickly in the sink and used again. 

 

I will more than likely use the PopNGro again to try to get a better fit around the leg, however right now this isn't going to be the nappy that converts me to an all in one. It is a shame as I did want to like it as many people use the Lollipop PopNGro successfully, however I don't think it is the right nappy for Evan. I'm hoping soon to get a Close Parent Pop-In to try out as I've heard some good things about this nappy too.

Week 7 Halloween and Bonfire Night

Oops I've missed a couple of weeks again. I don't know where the time is going. What with colds and work I just haven't had time to write a blog entry. We've had a fun few weeks though with our little man. We went to the park on Halloween with Evan dressed as a spider. The little guy walked all around the park. He just loves walking right now. We've just taken Evan to his first firework display as well. I thought he wouldn't like the noise but he absolutely loved it and was mesmerised by the fireworks. In fact when the display was finished he asked for "moore".

Tried a new nappy this week, the Lollipop Softee. I loved the look of this nappy. It is so soft and cuddly. The nappy looked like it had been used many times before and had been washed many times, but yet it was still lovely and soft. The softee is a 2 part nappy so we used it with our motherease airflow covers. The nappy has Velcro tabs and it fitted great. We used the Softee during the day for 4 hours and over night for 11 hours and there were no leaks. After washing I was impressed at how quickly the Softee dried. In fact it was virtually dry after spinning in the washing machine. Less than an hour on the radiator and it was ready to go again.

I was really pleased with the fit, ease of use and performance of this nappy and I would say the Lollipop Softee is a great nappy.

Week 6: A tiring week

This week I have been incredibly tired so I have been a bit slow at posting this blog entry. I guess that is what happens when you're trying to be a mum and working full time. Actually I did have a day off work this week, as Evan was unwell. When I went to get him up Thursday morning he had been sick. He's had a bit of an upset tummy for a little while, which makes me glad for the 2 part nappies, as they have protected his clothes from any mess.

Anyway, Thursday afternoon Evan seemed a bit better and wanted to go out so we bundled ourselves into the car and shot off round Fife visiting doctors surgeries with posters advertising my Nappuccino. That is another thing I have been busy with lately. In my role as a Lollipop real nappy advisor I have organized a Nappuccino in St Andrews with the Fife Real Nappy Network. It's my first one and with just 3 weeks to go, I thought it best to start advertising. See the Go Real events page if you are interested in knowing more about it.

This weekend we've been visiting Evan's Nana and Granddad. Normally we use disposables when we visit, but the past couple of times it's been difficult to find biodegradable nappies in the right size and have had to use – dare I say it – Pampers. Not this time though. I decided we should take the "Real Nappy Travel Challenge" and took with us some flat nappies, a nippa, and the Tots Bots Cover. After use we just bagged up the nappies in biodegradable nappy sacks and as we were just staying 2 nights, took them all home in our wet nappy bag for washing. The nappies were so easy to use and didn't leak once (I think I'm getting really good at folding them) and because they were flat nappies they didn't take up much room in the over night bag.

Over the whole weekend we used just 2 disposables. One of which leaked terribly on the way home and we spent 50 minutes in the baby changing room at McDonalds cleaning up. I can't help but think if Evan had been in his 2 part nappy it wouldn't have been so bad. Evan was quite bemused by it all but I would rather forget about the whole ordeal, as it was quite unpleasant especially as we had run out of wipes!

Week 5 A little accident

I write this with a certain amount of guilt but I feel it is important to say so others will learn from our mistake.

This week Evan had an accident. He tumbled out of his cot and landed on his head!

It was awful to watch but there was nothing I could have done. It was all over before I had realised what had happened. He was fine and was up walking around the furniture and laughing away just minutes after his fall and seemed to be unaware of what had happened. I think it affected me more than it did him. I was all ready to take him up A+E but I phoned our health visitor who told us not to worry as this sort of thing happens from time to time and he would probably be fine. She advised us to keep an eye on him and if he seemed unwell then to take him to the hospital. It shook me and my husband up though especially as the reason he fell was because we hadn't lowered the base of his cot. Suffice to say as soon as we were home from work that day the cot base was lowered. He can barely see over the top now and until he learns how to shimmy up the cot bars he won't be escaping/falling out.

So the moral of the story is, babies grow fast (sometimes faster than we realise), so make sure the cot base is at an appropriate height.

In case anyone was wondering, Evan is still fine. In fact I brought it up at Evan's appointment with the paediatrician yesterday and the doctor was unconcerned.

Week 4 Flat Nappies Revisited

I'm not going to hide the fact that I am a huge fan of shaped nappies, two part ones in particular. However I have thought recently that maybe I am too hard on the flat nappies. After all that style of nappy has been used successfully longer than any other. So with this in mind I decided to try the terry towels on my son again. Now that he's a busy 18 month old toddler, I thought it would be difficult but instead I was pleasantly surprised.

I found folding the flat nappy awkward initially simply because I was unsure how to fold it (keeping in mind that I was doing it from memory and the last time I used a flat nappy was over a year ago). I used the kite fold as it was the one my mum said she used on me. It's quite an easy fold to do and after a couple of goes I got it right. Evan was well behaved and I managed to get the nappy under him without it unfolding and the liner staying in place. I used the Nappy Nippa to fasten the nappy and a Tots Bots Velcro cover (my favourite cover blue with stars!) over the top. I like these covers, not just because they have a snazzy pattern, but they seem to have a generous fit. The cover worked well with the folded nappy.

Although the flat nappy was bulky on Evan when he was new, now that he is bigger it didn't seem all that bulky. I still prefer the shaped nappies but in an emergency I know I can always use the terry squares and with practice they can be just as easy to use as any shaped nappy.