Still Potty Training and Stinky Nappies

Since my last blog entry Evan has had a bad case of chicken pox. Everyone says it's better they get chicken pox when young, but try telling a 2 year old not to scratch, especially when the 2 year old likes to scratch himself to pieces even when he isn't covered in itchy spots. Poor little chap was covered from head to toe and spent nearly two weeks with socks on his hands. Most of the spots cleared up and he only has a few faint scars left. 

The chicken pox did delay us starting potty training, although it is very difficult to potty train when he spends most of his time in nappies during the week in nursery. We have had some great successes though with him using the potty on weekends. We have had a couple of bouts of nappy rash lately as well which is quite unusual for Evan and letting him run around in "big boy pants" really helped clear that up as well as encouraging him to use the potty. In July I have 2 days holiday so I'm hoping to get Evan out of daytime nappies while I'm off work.

 

We did try the Minki Yoyo training pants. Unfortunately it seemed quite small (we had a large which should have fit). I stuffed a terry booster pad in the pocket but the nappy didn't go around him properly and gave him a builders bum! Perhaps I should have expected this as there was a digger on the front of the nappy! :-D I'm not sure if it might be a dodgy nappy though as it seems a little puckered.

 

Our nappies have been really stinky lately (which may have been the cause of Evan's nappy rash). Anyway we seem to have solved that problem by doing a cold water rinse before washing and changing the washing detergent to one spoonful of Grandmas Soapflakes, one spoonful of sanitiser and a dash of bicarbonate of soda in the powder drawer with a splash of vinegar where the conditioner normally goes. Apart from being less stinky they also seem a little softer too. It's lovely now the nice weather has come and I can dry nappies outside again.

 

We've also had our 20 week scan since my last blog entry. Again baby bump was bouncing around all over the place. We chose not to find out the sex of the baby as we prefer the surprise. All seems well with baby bump and he or she is giving me a good kicking.

Potty Training and new nappies

Just a quick post as I know I haven't been posting on the blog very often lately. I think there maybe an end in sight for Evan's nappy wearing days. He has successfully used the potty 3 times now. He recently moved up to the toddler group in nursery and I think that has encouraged him to use the potty as nearly all the toddlers are either potty training or are able to take themselves to the toilet.

When it came to potty training I have previously been told to just go straight for trainer pants however training pants are not absorbent enough to catch a full wee (as my son effectively demonstrated for me recently), also the nursery would prefer to use pull ups. The nursery have been great at using Evan's cloth nappies so I really don't want to complain about them not using training pants and I can understand why they prefer pull ups.

Now this is my problem. We have used cloth nappies on Evan since he was just a couple of weeks old and I don't want to have to start using disposable pull ups so I have been trying to find a suitable cloth alternative. I currently like the look of the Minki Yoyo and I'm hoping that I will soon receive one secondhand to try out. So will keep you posted on how I get on with that.

As for other news, Baby Bump has been growing well, that is if the size of my belly is anything to go by (I'm already in the maternity trousers).  Baby has also been doing some flips and giving me a few kicks too. I have already bought a couple of new nappies, secondhand Lollipop softee and micro. I love how fast they dry

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!